t Cf. Ps. X. 5 ; xix. 9 ; xxxvi. 6 ; Ixxii. 1 ; cxix. 7, et alibi — G.
X ' Judgments and' omitted in B, C. — G.
g ' Yet if ... of correction' omitted in B, C — G.
II ' Now' omitted in B, C— G. % ' Before ourselves,' omitted in B, C— G,
*-»'Was'inB C— G.
tt The question ' What,' &c., omitted in B, C— G.
jj 'Mine/ in B.C.— G.
86 judgment's reason.
understand my* o-wn ways. I have been careless there ; and because I did
not judj^'e myself, it is just with God to judge me. We see here the necessity
from the text : when we judge ourselves, we shall not bo judged ; therefore,
' when we are judged, we have been negligent in this duty of judging ourselves. f
Well, to hasten ;]; if this be so, if it be a duty that we are backward to, and yet it is a holy and useful duty, then wo come, in the next place, to some directions how to carry ourselves in it.
(1.) First, in judging ourselves, let us call and cite ourselves before our- selves, and fall to a reckoning both with our persons and the state wherein we stand, and likewise the actions that come from us ; what is good in us, and what is ill ; what omitted, and what committed ; what corruption is mingled with our best performances, and such like, as we shall see after. First, call ourselves to a reckoning, and see whetiier we can give account to ourselves or no. And if we cannot give account to our- selves, much less can we to the all-seeing eye and justice of God. I would fain have a worldling give account to himself, why the elder he gi'ows the more worldly he should be ; he cannot give an account to himself for it. I would have a profane swearer give account to himself, why he dallies with the great and terrible majesty of God, as if he were greater than he, when he pronouneeth ' that he will not hold him guiltless that talceth his name in vain,' Exod. :xx. 7. I would fain know of those that spend the prime of their time and years in the service of the devil, and bring their rotten old age to God, what account \hej can give to their own hearts. I would have any sinner, that lives in a course of sin, give account to his own heart : thou wretched man, canst thou not give an account to thyself ? God is greater than thy heart ; how dost thcu think to stand before the judgment- seat of God ere long ? The first thing, therefore, is to arraign ourselves at our own bar. I exclude not others that have calling to examine others, but especially present ourselves.
(2.) And when we iind anything amiss, then besides tJiis arraifininrf of ourselves, we must give sentence ar/ainst ourselves. That is the second thing in discussing : as David, Ps. Ixxiii. 22, ' So foolish was I, and as a beast,' when he had entertained a thought that God neglected his church, and regarded it no more ; he had a dishonourable thought of God raised in his heart. * Oh,' saith he, ' I was ashamed, so foolish, and so like a beast was I.' And so you have the prodigal; and Dan. ix. 4, seq., and Ezra ix. (j. seq., for examples how to pass a censure upon ourselves, when we find anything amiss ; and labour that those affections that are in us towards ill, as grief, and shame, and sorrow, may be stirred up in us, by setting ourselves in grief, and shame, and sorrow, as we should, to turn the stream of our affec- tions the right way.
When we find anything amiss in our own hearts, when we have given sentence and judgment upon ourselves ; §
(3.) Then proceed to execution : let them go together, judgment and exe- cution. This th« apostle calls an holy revenge, 2 Cor. vii. 11. If we have been proud, let us abase ourselves. If we have been base in the duties of charity and good works to others, let us now, as Zaccheus, labour for the contrary, Luke xix. 8. If we have misspent our precious time, let us labour
* ' Mine' in B, C— G.
t The sentence ' We see here,' &c., omitted in B, C — G.
X ' To hasten,' and 'If this he so,' not in B, C, and reads simply, ' If this he a duty,'&c.-G.
§ The sentence ' When we find,' &c., omitted in B^ C— G.
judgment's reason. 87
now to redeem the time, to do the contrary good. This course we ought to take.
And for the things that wo ought to sift, and to try, and to judge, they are not only our persons, but whatsoever comes from us : we are to judge all our actions, not only our^ ill actions, but our good actions. There is much dross mingled with our gold : let us examine our best actions. Nay, and not only our outward, but go to the very root. When we find a fault in any outward action, follow it to the very corrupt spring. Those that have a plant, that bears venomous fruit, they dig it at the root ; so when any bad fruit comes from us, go to the root, strike thei"e at it ; follow sin to its burrow, its first hatching place, to the very heart. Thus David doth, Ps. li. 5 : he goes to his birth sin. What, should I speak, saith he, of the sins that I have committed ? ' In sin was I conceived.' In all actual sins look to the corrupt root and puddle whence they come ; as, Oh, what is this word that I have spoken ? what is this action ? I have a corrupt nature, that is ready to yield to an hundred such upon the like occasion ; and thereupon go to the heart, and to * the soul, and censure that ; for that is worse than any particular act whatsoever.