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with it, that thanks may be given by many. It was the practice of David, in Ps. Ixvi. 16, ' Come ! I will tell you what the Lord hath done for my soul.' And in Ps. xxxiv. 4, and in Ps. cxlii, 7, ' Bring my soul out of trouble, that I may praise thy name,' and what shall others do ? ' Then the righteous shall compass me about, for thou hast dealt bountifully with me : ' shewing that it is the fashion of righteous men, when God hath dealt graciously with any of his children, they compass him about, to be acquainted with the passages of divine providence, and God's goodness towards them, ' The righteous shall compass me about, for thou hast dealt bountifully with me.'
Holy David, in Ps. ciii. 20-22, he stirs up every creature to praise God, even the creatures of hail, of storms, and winds, and everything, even the blessed angels, as we see in the latter end of that psalm, as if thanksgiving were an employment fit for angels ; and indeed so it is. And, as if all his own praise were not enough, except all the creatures in heaven and earth should join with him in that blessed melody to praise God ; the angels, and all creatures praise God. Let us stir up one another to this exercise.
How do the creatures praise God ? They do praise God by the tongue. Although they have a kind of secret praise which God hears well enough, for they do their duty in their place willingly and cheerfully ; but they praise God in om- tongues. Eveiy creature gives us occasion of praising God.
' That thanks may be given by many,' &c.
Many give thanks here for one, St Paul, for the minister. We see here God's end, that many should praise God, not only for themselves, but for others, especially for those by whom God conveys and derives good unto them, whether outward or spiritual good. The apostle exhorts us ' to pray for all men,' 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2 ; ' for kings,' yea, though they were persecuting kings at that time. And surely if we ought to pray to God for all mankind, we ought to praise God for all sorts of men, especially for governors and ministers, &c., because God by them bestows his greatest blessings. Obey the magistrate. ' Let every soul be subject to the higher powers ; for the powers that are, are ordained of God, and he is the minister of God for thy good,' Rom. xiii. 1. So the governors and ministers of God are for our good. We ought therefore, as to pray for them, that they may execute their office for our good, so to praise God for the good we have by them. You know David stirred up the people to mourn for Saul, though a tyrant. ' He clothed you and your daughters,' saith he, ' with scarlet,' 2 Sam. i. 24. If they should praise God for a persecuting king, and moum for him when he was gone, much more should we for those that are good.
And so likewise for pastors, we ought to praise God for them, and all that have good by them will pray to God, and praise God for them. And undoubtedly it is a sign of a man that hath no good by them, that prays not for them, and that praiseth not God by them. We ought to praise God in that proportion, as well as to pray to God one for another.
And this should stir us up to be good to many, that many may praise God, not only for themselves, but for us. If it be our duty to pray for those that we derive good by, and to praise God for them, then let us labour to be such as may communicate to others. Good is diflusive, and good men are like the box in the gospel, that when it was opened, all the house smelled of it, John xii. 3.
The heathen philosopher said that a just man, a good man, is a common good, hke a public stream, like a public conduit, that every man hath a
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share in. Therefore, as the wise man saith, ' \Vlicn good men are exalted, the city rojoiceth,' Prov. xi, 10, many rejoice. Who would not, therefore, labour in this respect to be good, to have a public disposition, to have a large heart, to do all the good we can, that so we may not only have more prayers to God for us, but we may have more praise to God for us, that God may gain by it, ' that thanks may be given by many on our behalf?'
Let us take notice of our negligence in this kind, and be stirred up to this blessed duty. And, therefore, consider wherein it consists.
1. It consists in our taliiiuj notice of the favours of God to ourselves and others, and in valuing the good things that we praise God for, to esteem them. The childi-en of Israel, they did not bless God for the manna, they did not value it, ' This manna, this manna,' in scorn, Num. xi. 6. So in Ps. cvi. 7, ' They neglected God's pleasant things, they set light by them.' Hos. viii. 12, ' He gave them the great things of his law, and they accounted them as slight, as strange things,' not worthy to be regarded.