IX. The oath of God engaged and interposed in this matter is another evidence of the truth insisted on. Now, because this is annexed unto the covenant before mentioned, and is its establish- ment, I shall pass it over the more briefly. And in it we may con- sider,—
First, The nature of the oath of God. The ai^ostle. tells us that " He sware by himself;" and he gives this reason of it, "Because he had no greater to swear by," Heb. vi. IS. An oath for the confirma- tion of any thing is an invocation of a supreme power that can judge
47G AN EXPOSITION UPON PSALM CXXX. [Ver.4.
of the truth that is spoken, and vindicate the breach of the engage- ment. This God hath none other but himself: " Because he coidd swear by no greater, he sware by hhnself" Now, this God doth, — First, By express afirmation that he hath so sworn by himself, which was the form of the first solemn oath of God: Gen. xxii. 16, " By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord.'" The meaning whereof is, "I have taken it upon myself as I am God; or let me not be so, if I perform not this tiling." And this is expressed by his soul: Jer. li. 14, " The Lord of hosts hath sworn by his soul;" that is, " by himself," as we render the words. Secondly, God doth it by the especial interposi- tion of some .such property of his nature as is suited to give credit and confirmation to the word spoken ; — as of his holiness, Ps. Ixxxix. 35, " I have sworn by my holiness;" so also Amos iv. 2; — sometimes by his life, "As I live, saith the Lord" C^r'*^, "I live, saith God"), " it shall be so;" — and sometimes by his name, Jer. xliv. 26. God as it were engage th the honour and glory of the properties of his nature for the certain accomplishment of the things mentioned. And this is evident from the manner of the expression, as in that place of Ps. Ixxxix. 35, " Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David." So we ; in the original the words are ellip- tical: " If I lie unto David;" that is, " Let me not be so, nor be es- teemed to be so, if I lie unto David."
Secondly, For the end of his oath. God doth not give it to make his word or promise sure and steadfast, but to give assurance and security unto us of theh accomplishment. Every word of God is sure and certain, truth itself, because it is his; and he might justly require of us the belief of it without any farther attestation : but yet, knowing what great objections Satan and our own unbelieving hearts will raise against his promises, at least as to our own concern- ment in them, to confirm our minds, and to take away all pretences of unbelief, he interposeth his oath in this matter. What can re- mam of distrust in such a case? If there be a matter in doubt be- tween men, and an oath be interposed in the confirmation of that which is called in question, it is " an end," as the apostle tells us, "unto them of all strife," Heb. vi. 16. How much more ought it to be so on the part of God, when his oath is engaged ! And the apostle declares this end of his oath; it is " to show the immutability of his counsel," verse 1 7. His counsel was declared before in the promise; but now some doubt or strife may arise whether, on one occasion or other, God may not change his counsel, or whether he hath not changed it with such conditions as to render it useless unto us. In what case soever it be, to remove all doubts and suspicions of this nature, God adds his oath, manifesting the unquestionable immutability of his counsel and promises. What, therefore, is thus
Ver.4.] EVIDENCE OF FORGIVENESS V/ITH GOD. 477
confirmed is ascertained unto the height of what any thing is capable of; and not to believe it is the height of impiety.
Thirdly, In this interposition of God by an oath there is unspeaJc- able condescension of grace, which is both an exceeding great mo- tive unto faith and a great aggi'avation of unbelief; for what are we, that the holy and blessed God should thus condescend unto us, as, for our satisfaction and surety, to engage himself by an oath? One said well of old, " Felices nos quorum causa Deus jurat! O infe- lices, si nee juranti Deo credimus;" — " It is an inestimable advantage that God should for our sakes engage himself by his oath. So it will be our misery if we believe him not when he swears unto us." What can we now object against what is thus confirmed? what pretence, colour, or excuse can we have for our unbelief? How just, how righteous, how holy must their destruction be, who, upon this strange, wonderful, and unexpected warranty, refuse to set to their seal that God is true !
These things being premised, we may consider how variously God hath engaged his oath that there is forgiveness with him. First, He swear eth that he hath no i^leasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he repent and live: Ezek. xxxiii. 11, " As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Now, without forgiveness in him every sinner must die, and that without remedy. Confirming, therefore, with his oath that it is his will the sinner should return, repent, and live, he doth in the first place swear by himself that there is forgiveness with him for these sinners that shall so repent and turn unto him.