the Lord of hoasts Yea that sometimes very pious men being out of humour and somewhat discomposed by the urgent pressures of affliction the disappointments and crosses incident to all men here in this region of trouble are apt to complain and express themselves dissatisfied saying with Job It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God What advantage will it be unto me and what profit shall I have if I be cleansed from my sin or with David Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency For all the day long I have been plagued and chastned every morning To these considerations disadvantagious in this respect to Piety may be added that the constant and certain profits emergent from it although incomparably more substantial and to the mind more sensible then any other are not yet so gross and palpable that men who from being immersed in earth and flesh are blind in errour dull of apprehension vain and inconsiderate in their judgments tainted and vitiated in their palates can discern their worth or relish their sweetness Hence it is that so many follow the judgment and practice of those in Job who say unto God Depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways What is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit should we have if we pray unto him For voiding which prejudices and the recommendation of S. Paul's project I shall as I said propose some of those innumerable advantages by considering which the immense profitableness of Piety will appear And first I shall mention those Considerations which more plainly do import Universality then shall touch some Benefits thereof seeming more particular yet in effect vastly large and of a very diffusive influence 1. First then we may consider that Piety is exceeding usefull for all sorts of men in all capacities all states all relations fitting and disposing them to manage all their respective concernments to discharge all their peculiar duties in a proper just and decent manner It rendreth all Superiours equal and moderate in their administrations mild courteous and affable in their converse benign and condescensive in all their demeanour toward their Inferiours Correspondently it disposeth Inferiours to be sincere and faithfull modest loving respectfull diligent apt willingly to yield due subjection and service It inclineth Princes to be just gentle benign carefull for their Subjects good apt to administer Justice uprightly to protect Right to encourage Vertue to check Wickedness Answerably it renders Subjects loyal submissive obedient quiet and peaceable ready to yield due Honour to pay the Tributes and bear the Burthens imposed to discharge all Duties and observe all Laws prescribed by their Governours conscionably patiently chearfully without reluctancy grudging or murmuring It maketh Parents loving gentle provident for their Childrens good education and comfortable subsistence Children again dutifull respectfull gratefull apt to requite their Parents Husbands from it become affectionate and compliant to their Wives Wives submissive and obedient to their Husbands It disposeth Friends to be Friends indeed full of cordial affection and good will entirely faithfull firmly constant industriously carefull and active in performing all good offices mutually It engageth men to be diligent in their Calling faithfull to their Trusts contented and peaceable in their Station and thereby serviceable to Publick good It rendereth all men just and punctual in their Dealing orderly and quiet in their Behaviour courteous and complaisant in their Conversation friendly and charitable upon all occasions apt to assist to relieve to comfort one another It tieth all Relations more fastly and strongly assureth and augmenteth all Endearments enforceth and establisheth all Obligations by the firm bands of Conscience set aside which no Engagement can hold sure against temptations of Interest or Pleasure Much difference there is between performing these Duties out of natural temper fear of punishment hope of temporal reward selfish design regard to credit or other the like Principles and the discharging them out of religious Conscience this alone will keep men tight uniform resolute and stable whereas all other Principles are loose and slippery will soon be shaken and faulter In consequence to those Practices springing from it Piety removeth oppression violence faction disorders and murmurings out of the State schisms and scandals out of the Church pride and haughtiness sloth and luxury detraction and sycophantry out of the Court corruption and partiality out of Judicatures clamours and tumults out of the Street brawlings grudges and jealousies out of Families extortion and cozenage out of Trade strifes emulations slanderous backbitings bitter and foul language out of Conversation in all places in all Societies it produceth it advanceth it establisheth order peace safety prosperity all that is good all that is lovely or handsome all that is convenient or pleasant for humane society and common life It is that which as the Wise man saith exalteth a nation it is that which establisheth a throne It is indeed the best prop and guard that can be of Government and of the Commonweal for it settleth the Body politick in a sound constitution of health it firmly cementeth the parts thereof it putteth all things into a right order and steddy course It procureth mutual respect and affection between Governours and Subjects whence ariseth safety ease and pleasure to both It rendreth men truly good that is just and honest sober and considerate modest and peaceable and thence apt without any constraint or stir to yield every one their due not affected to needless change not disposed to raise any disturbance It putteth men in good humour and keepeth them in it whence things pass smoothly and pleasantly It cherisheth worth and encourageth industry whence Vertue flourisheth and Wealth is encreased whence the occasions and means of disorder are stopt the pretences for sedition and faction are cut off In fine it certainly procureth the benediction of God the source of all welfare and prosperity whence When it goeth well with the righteous the city rejoyceth and When the righteous are in authority the people rejoyce saith the great Politician Solomon It is therefore the concernment of all men who as the Psalmist speaketh desire to live well and would fain see good days it is the special interest of great Persons of the Magistracy the Nobility the Gentry of all persons that have any considerable interest in the world who would safely and sweetly enjoy their dignity power or wealth by all means to protect and promote Piety as the best instrument of their security and undisturbedly enjoying the accommodations of their state 'T is in all respects their best wisedom and policy that which will as well preserve their outward state here as satisfie their Consciences within and save their Souls hereafter All the Machiavilian arts and tricks all the sleights and fetches of worldly craft do signifie nothing
of that Honour which is required of us toward God is that internal esteem and reverence which we should bear in our hearts towards him importing that we have impressed upon our minds such conceptions about him as are worthy of him sutable to the perfection of his nature to the eminency of his state to the just quality of his works and actions that we apprehend him to be what he really is in his nature superlatively good wise powerfull holy and just that we ascribe unto him the production and conservation of all beings together with an intire superintendency over and absolute disposal of all events that we conceive our selves obliged to submit unto and acquiesce in all his dispensations of Providence as most wise and most righteous to rely upon the declarations of his mind whether in way of assertion or promise as infallibly true and certain In such acts of mind the honouring of God doth primarily consist In Acts I say not in speculative Opinions concerning the Divine Excellencies such as all men have who are not downright Atheists or Infidels floating in the fancy or dormant in the mind but in continually-present lively effectual acts of apprehension and judgment sinking down into the heart and affections and quickning them to a congruous reall performance Such an apprehension of God's Power as shall make us to dread his irresistible hand shall cause us to despair of prospering in bad courses shall dispose us to confide in him as able to perform what-ever he wills us to expect from him such an opinion of his Wisedom as shall keep us from questioning whether that is best which God declares to be so as shall hinder us from presuming in compliance with our own shallow reason or vain fancy to doe any thing against God's judgment and advice such a conceit of God's Justice as shall render us carefull to perform what his Law promises to reward and fearfull to commit what it threatens to punish such a persuasion concerning God's Goodness as shall kindle in us an hearty affection toward him shall make us very sensible of his bounty and ready to yield returns of duty and gratitude unto him as shall preserve us from being distrustfull of his Providence or doubtfull in our need and distress of finding relief from him such a vigorous and fruitfull esteem of God in all respects as shall produce in as dispositions of mind and actions of life agreeable to our various relations and obligations to him becoming us as his creatures and children as his subjects and servants This is indeed the Soul of the duty which being absent all exteriour how specious soever either professions or performances are but as pictures having in them somewhat of resemblance in shape and colour nothing of life yea rather as carkases not onely dead and senseless but rotten and filthy in God's sight This people saith God do honour me with their lips but their heart is far from me Such honour is indeed no honour at all but impudent abuse and profane mockery for what can be more abominably vain then for a man to court and cajoul him who knows his whole heart who sees that he either minds not or means not what he says It behoves us therefore by all proper means by contemplating the Works and actions of God his admirable works of Nature the wise proceedings of his Providence the glorious dispensations of his Grace by meditating on his Word by praying for his Grace by observing his Laws and will to raise up in our hearts to foment and cherish this internal Reverence which is the true spring of all Piety the principle which forms and actuates that other sort coming next to be touched on being the Body of our due Honour to God concurring in its order to the integrity thereof as without which the interiour part would be a kind of Ghost too thin in substance too remote from sense too destitute of good fruit and use 2. This Bodily part consists in outward expressions and performances whereby we declare our esteem and reverence of God and produce or promote the like in others For our thus honouring God respects those two ends and effects the uttering our own the exciting in others a reverence toward him And it we may first view in the general or gross bulk thereof then survey its principal members First in general God is honoured by a willing and carefull practice of all Piety and Vertue for conscience sake or in avowed obedience to his holy will This is the most natural expression of our Reverence toward him and the most effectual way of promoting the same in others A Subject cannot better demonstrate the Reverence he bears toward his Prince then by with a chearfull diligence observing his Laws for by so doing he declares that he acknowledgeth the Authority and revereth the Majesty which enacted them that he approves the Wisedom which devised them and the Goodness which designed them for publick benefit that he dreads his Prince's Power which can maintain them and his Justice which will vindicate them that he relies upon his Fidelity in making good what of protection or of recompence he propounds to the observers of them No less pregnant a signification of our Reverence toward God do we yield in our gladly and strictly obeying his Laws thereby evidencing our submission to God's sovereign Authority our esteem of his Wisedom and Goodness our awfull regard to his Power and Justice our confidence in him and dependence upon his word As also the practice of wholsome Laws visibly producing good fruits peace and prosperity in the commonwealth doth conciliate respect unto the Prince he thereby appearing wise and good able to discern and willing to chuse what conferrs to publick benefit so actions conformable to the Divine Law being by God's wise and gracious disposal both in themselves comely and lovely and in effect as S. Paul saith good and profitable to men conducing indeed not onely to private but also to publick welfare to the rendring humane Society comfortable to the settling and securing common tranquillity the performance of them must needs bring great commendation to the authour and ordainer of them By observing them we shall as S. Peter speaks set forth the vertues of him that called us to such a practice The light and lustre of good works done in regard to Divine command will cause men to see clearly the Excellencies of our most wise and gracious Lord will consequently induce and excite them to glorifie our Father which is in Heaven In this saith our Saviour is my Father glorified if you bear much fruit The goodliness to the sight the pleasantness to the tast which is ever perceptible in those fruits which genuine Piety beareth the beauty men see in a calm mind and a sober conversation the sweetness they tast from works of justice and charity will certainly produce veneration to the Doctrine which teacheth such things and to the
Authority which enjoyns them It is an aggravation of Impiety often insisted upon in Scripture that it slurrs as it were and defames God brings reproach and obloquy upon him causes his Name to be profaned to be cursed to be blasphemed and 't is answerably a commendation of Piety that by the practice thereof we not onely procure many great advantages to our selves many blessings and comforts here all joys and felicities hereafter but do also thereby beget esteem to God himself and sanctifie his ever-blessed Name cause him to be regarded and reverenced his Name to be praised and blessed among men It is by exemplary Piety by providing things honest in the sight of all men by doing things honourable and laudable such are all things which God hath been pleased to command us that we shall be sure to fulfill that precept of S. Paul of doing all things to the glory of God which is the Body of that duty we speak of Secondly But there are deserving a particular inspection some members thereof which in a peculiar and eminent manner do constitute this Honour some acts which more signally conduce to the illustration of God's glory Such are 1. The frequent and constant performance in a serious and reverent manner of all religious Duties or Devotions immediately addressed to God or conversant about him that which the Psalmist styles Giving the Lord the honour due to his Name worshipping the Lord in the beauty of Holiness 2. Using all things peculiarly related unto God his holy Name his holy Word his holy Places the places where his honour dwelleth his holy Times religious Fasts and Festivities with especial respect 3. Yielding due observance to the Deputies and Ministers of God both Civil and Ecclesiastical as such or because of their relation to God the doing of which God declares that he interprets and accepts as done unto himself 4. Freely spending what God hath given us out of respect unto him in works of Piety Charity and Mercy that which the Wise man calls Honouring the Lord with our substance 5. All penitential Acts by which we submit unto God and humble our selves before him As Achan by confessing of his sin is said to give glory to the Lord God of Israel 6. Chearfull undergoing afflictions losses disgraces for the profession of God's truth or for obedience to God's commands As S. Peter is said by his death suffered upon such accounts to glorifie God These signal instances of this duty represented as such in Holy Scripture for brevitie's sake I pass over craving leave onely to consider one most pertinent to our present business and indeed a very comprehensive one which is this 7. We shall especially honour God by discharging faithfully those offices which God hath intrusted us with by improving diligently those talents which God hath committed to us by using carefully those means and opportunities which God hath vouchsafed us of doing him service and promoting his glory Thus he to whom God hath given Wealth if he expend it not to the nourishment of pride and luxury not onely to the gratifying his own pleasure or humour but to the furtherance of God's honour or to the succour of his indigent neighbour in any pious or charitable way he doth thereby in especiall manner honour God He also on whom God hath bestowed Wit and parts if he employ them not so much in contriving projects to advance his own petty interests or in procuring vain applause to himself as in advantageously setting forth God's praise handsomely recommending goodness dexterously engaging men in ways of vertue doing which things is true wit and excellent policy indeed he doth thereby remarkably honour God He likewise that hath Honour conferr'd upon him if he subordinate it to God's honour if he use his own credit as an instrument of bringing credit to goodness thereby adorning and illustrating Piety he by so doing doth eminently practise this duty The like may be said of any other good quality any capacity or advantage of doing good by the right use thereof we honour God for that men beholding the worth of such good gifts and feeling the benefit emergent from them will be apt to bless the donour of them as did they in the Gospel who seeing our Saviour cure the Paralytick man did presently glorifie God who had given such power unto men But especially they to whom Power and Authority is committed as they have the chief capacity so they are under an especial obligation thus to honour God they are particularly concerned to hear and observe that Royall proclamation Give unto the Lord O ye mighty give unto the Lord glory and strength Give unto the Lord the honour due unto his name When such persons like King Nebuchadnezzar returned to his right senses do seriously acknowledge their power and eminency derived from God alone when they profess subjection unto him and express it in their practice not onely driving others by their power but drawing them by their example to piety and goodness when they cause God's Name to be duly worshipped and his Laws to be strictly observed when they favour and encourage Vertue discourage and chastise wickedness when they take care that justice be impartially administred innocence protected necessity relieved all iniquity and oppression all violence and disorder yea so much as may be all affliction and wretchedness be prevented or removed when they by all means strive to promote both the service of God and the happiness of men dispensing equally and benignly to the family over which their Lord hath set them their meat in due season providing that men under them may live a peaceable and quiet life in all godliness and honesty doing which is the business allotted to them the interest as it were of God which he declares himself concernedly to tender and by their ministry to prosecute when they carefully doe such things then do they indeed approve themselves worthy honourers of their High Master and Heavenly King then do they truly act God's part and represent his person decently When the actions of these visible Gods are so divinely good and beneficial men will be easily induced yea can hardly forbear to reverence and magnifie the invisible Founder of their Authority By so doing as they will set before mens eyes the best pattern of Loyalty as they will impress upon mens hearts the strongest argument for Obedience and respect toward themselves as they shall both more plainly inform and more effectually persuade people to the performance of their duty unto them then by all the law and all the force in the world as they will thereby consequently best secure and maintain their own honour and their own welfare for men will never be heartily loyal and submissive to Authority till they become really good nor will they ever be very good till they see their Leaders such so they will together greatly advance
the praise and glory of Him in whose name they rule to whose favour they owe their power and dignity in whose hand as the Prophet saith is their breath and whose are all their ways For all men will be ready most awfully to dread Him unto whom they see Princes themselves humbly to stoop and bow no man will be ashamed or unwilling to serve Him whom he shall observe that his Lords and Governours do concern themselves to worship the world cannot but have a good opinion of Him a participation of whose power and majesty yields such excellent fruits it will not fail to adore Him whose shadows and images are so venerable 'T is a most notorious thing both to reason and in experience what extreme advantage Great persons have especially by the influence of their practice to bring God himself as it were into credit how much it is in their power easily to render Piety a thing in fashion and request For in what they doe they never are alone or are ill attended whither they goe they carry the world along with them they lead crowds of people after them as well when they goe in the right way as when they run astray The custom of living well no less then other modes and garbs will be soon convey'd and propagated from the Court the City and Country will readily draw good manners thence good manners truly so called not onely superficial forms of civility but real practices of goodness For the main body of men goeth not quà eundum sed quà itur not according to rules and reasons but after examples and authorities especially of great persons who are like stars shining in high and conspicuous places by which men steer their course their actions are to be reckon'd not as single or solitary ones but are like their persons of a publick and representative nature involving the practice of others who are by them awed or shamed into compliance Their good example especially hath this advantage that men can find no excuse can have no pretence why they should not follow it Piety is not onely beautified but fortified by their dignity it not onely shines in them with a clearer lustre but with a mightier force and influence a word a look the least intimation from them will doe more good then others best eloquence clearest reason most earnest endeavours For it is in them if they would apply themselves to it as the wisest Prince implies to scatter iniquity with their eyes A smile of theirs were able to enliven Vertue and diffuse it all about a frown might suffice to mortifie and dissipate wickedness Such apparently is their power of honouring God and in proportion thereto surely great is their obligation to doe it of them peculiarly God expects it and all equity exacts it What the meaner rank of servants who are employ'd in baser drudgeries whose fare is more course whose wages are more scant who stand at greater distance from their Lord and receive no such ample or express marks of his favour what these doe is of some consequence indeed but doth not import so much to the Master's reputation their good word concerning him their good carriage toward him doth not credit him so much But those whom he employs in matters of highest trust and importance to his affairs whom he places in the nearest degree unto himself seats even in his own throne upon his own tribunal whom he feeds plentifully and daintily maintains in a handsome garb allows largely as their deportment doth much reflect on their Lord's esteem as they are highly capable of advancing his repute so all the rules of ingenuity and gratitude all the laws of justice and equity do oblige them earnestly to endeavour it And it is indeed no less their concernment to doe so For if there be disorders prejudicial to the Master's honour and interest frequently committed in the family 't is those servants must be responsible if due order be there kept to his glory and advantage they shall chiefly be commended and peculiarly hear the Euge bone serve They must be loaded with other mens faults or crowned for other mens vertues as their behaviour hath respectively contributed to them Those universal Rules of equity proposed in the Gospel will in God's reckoning with and requiting men be punctually observed To whomsoever much is given of him much shall be required answerable to the improvement of what is delivered in trust shall the acceptance be I have insisted somewhat more largely on this point because our Text hath a particular aspect thereon the words being uttered upon occasion of Eli then Judge in Israel his not using authority to these purposes his forbearing to redress a grievous abuse committed by his own Sons to the disservice and dishonour of God Whence to persons of his rank is this law especially directed upon them is this duty chiefly incumbent on them assuredly as sure as God is true if they will observe the Duty the Reward shall be conferred God will certainly not onely preserve the Honour they have already but will accumulate more Honours on them These are general Truths the particular application of them is ours God I pray vouchsafe his grace and blessing that it may be made to our benefit and comfort III. I should now shew why the Duty is required of us or how reasonable it is I must not and the matter is so palpable that I need not spend many words on that God surely doth not exact honour from us because he needs it because he is the better for it because he for its self delights therein For beside that he cannot want any thing without himself that he cannot any-wise need mortal breath to praise him or hands of flesh to serve him who hath millions of better creatures then we absolutely at his devotion and can with a word create millions of millions more fitter then we to honour him the best estimation we can have of him is much below him the best expression we can make is very unworthy of him He is infinitely excellent beyond what we can imagine or declare his Name is exalted above all blessing and praise his glory is above the earth and heaven So that all our endeavours to honour him are in comparison to what is due but defects and in a manner disparagements to him 'T is onely then which should affect our ingenuity to consider his pure goodness that moves him for our benefit and advantage to demand it of us 1. For that to honour God is the most proper work of Reason that for which primarily we were design'd and framed for as other things were made to afford the matter and occasion so Man was designed to exercise the act of glorifying God whence the performance thereof doth preserve and perfect our nature to neglect it being unnatural and monstrous 2. For that also it is a most pleasant duty He is not a man hath lost all natural
shall be uncertain and unstable in all their ways And in this distribution of time Devotion surely should not lack its share it rather justly claimeth the choicest portion to be allotted thereto as being incomparably the noblest part of our duty and mainest concernment of our lives The feeding our Souls and nourishing our spiritual life the refreshing our spirits with those no less pleasant then wholsome exercises the driving on our correspondence and commerce with Heaven the improving our friendship and interest with God are affairs which above all others do best deserve and most need being secured They must not therefore be left at random to be done by the bye as it hitteth by chance or as the fancy taketh us If we do not depute vacant seasons and fix periodical returns for Devotion engaging our selves by firm resolution and inuring our minds by constant usage to the strict observance of them secluding from them as from sacred enclosures all other businesses we shall often be dangerously tempted to neglect it we shall be commonly listless to it prone to defer it easily seduced from it by the encroachment of other affairs or enticement of other pleasures It is requisite that our Souls also no less then our Bodies should have their meals settled at such intervalls as the maintenance of their life their health their strength and vigour do require that they may not perish or languish for want of timely repasts that a good appetite may duly spring up prompting and instigating to them that a sound temper and robust constitution of Soul may be preserved by them Prayers are the bulwarks of Piety and good Conscience the which ought to be placed so as to flank and relieve one another together with the interjacent spaces of our life that the enemy the sin which doth so easily beset us may not come on between or at any time assault us without a force sufficiently near to reach and repell him In determining these seasons and measures of time according to just proportion honest prudence weighing the several conditions capacities and circumstances of each person must arbitrate For some difference is to be made between a Merchant and a Monk between those who follow a Court and those who reside in a Cloister or a College Some men having great encumbrances of business and duty by necessity imposed on them which consume much of their time and engage their thoughts of them in reason neither so frequent recourses to nor so long continuance in prayer can be demanded as from those who enjoy more abundant leisure and freer scope of thoughts But some fit times all may and must allow which no avocation of business no distraction of care should purloin from them Certain seasons and periods of this kind Nature it self in correspondence to her unalterable revolutions doth seem to define and prescribe those which the Royal Prophet recommendeth when he faith It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy Name O thou most High To shew forth thy loving-kindness every morning and thy faithfulness every night Every Day we do recover and receive a new life from God every Morning we do commence business or revive it from our bed of rest and security we then issue forth exposing our selves to the cares and toils to the dangers troubles and temptations of the world then especially therefore it is reasonable that we should sacrifice thanks to the gracious Preserver of our life and the faithfull Restorer of its supports and comforts that we should crave his direction and help in the pursuit of our honest undertakings that to his protection from sin and mischief we should recommend our selves and our affairs that by offering up to him the first-fruits of our diurnal labours we should consecrate and consign them all to his blessing that as we are then wont to salute all the world so then chiefly with humble obeisance we should accost him who is ever present with us and continually watchfull over us Then also peculiarly Devotion is most seasonable because then our minds being less prepossessed and pestered with other cares our fancies becoming lively and gay our memories fresh and prompt our spirits copious and brisk we are better disposed for it Every Night also reason calleth for these Duties requiring that we should close our business and wind up all our cares in Devotion that we should then bless God for his gracious preservation of us from the manifold hazzards and the sins to which we stood obnoxious that we should implore his mercy for the manifold neglects and transgressions of our duty which through the day past we have incurred that our minds being then so tired with study and care our spirits so wasted with labour and toil that we cannot any longer sustain our selves but do of our own accord sink down into a posture of death we should as dying men resign our Souls into God's hand depositing our selves and our concernments into his custody who alone doth never sleep nor slumber praying that he would guard us from all the dangers and disturbances incident to us in that state of forgetfulness and interregnum of our Reason that he would grant us a happy resurrection in safety and health with a good and chearfull mind enabling us thereafter comfortably to enjoy our selves and delightfully to serve him Thus if we do constantly bound and circumscribe our days dedicating those most remarkable breaks of time unto God's service since beginning and end do comprehend the whole seeing in the computation and style of Moses Evening and Morning do constitute a Day we may with some good congruity be said to pray incessantly Especially if at the middle distance between those extremes we are wont to interpose somewhat of Devotion For as then usually our spirits being somewhat shattered and spent do need a recruit enabling us to pass through the residue of the day with its incumbent business so then it would doe well and may be requisite in a meal of Devotion to refresh our Souls with spiritual sustenance drawn from the never-failing store-house of Divine grace which may so fortifie us that with due vigour and alacrity we may perform the ensuing duties to God's honour and our own comfort Thus to practise was the resolution of the Psalmist that great Master of Devotion Evening said he and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud And this was the custom of the noble Daniel from which no occasion could divert no hazzard could deterr him He kneeled saith the story upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God These are times which it is necessary or very expedient that all men even persons of highest rank and greatest employment should observe These even of old were the practices of Religious persons not expressely prescribed by God's Law but assumed by themselves good reason suggesting them to the first practisers and the
of publick society what possibility will remain of subsistence of safety of content unto us what but confusion want violence and disquiet As we are concerned with our utmost endeavours to promote to wish and pray for to delight and rejoyce in the publick good of mankind the peace of our Country the prosperity of Sion so we are to bless and thank him by whose gracious help and furtherance they are attained If we consult all History Sacred and Civil we shall find it to contain hardly any thing else considerable but the earnest endeavours of good men for publick benefit and their thankful acknowledgments to the Divine goodness for it Moses David Nehemiah S. Paul all the Prophets and all the Apostles what other things memorable did they do but serve God in procuring publick Good and bless God for conferring it Neither only as we are combined with others in common interest but without selfish respects purely out of charity and humanity and ingenuous pity are we obliged to thank God for the Benefits he is pleased to impart to others If upon these accounts we are commanded to do good to all men to rejoyce with those that rejoyce to love even those that hate us and bless those that curse us 't is by fair consequence surely intended that we should also bless God for the good issue of our honest endeavours or of our good wishes for them And verily could we become endowed with this excellent quality of delighting in others good and heartily thanking God for it we needed not to envy the wealth and splendour of the greatest Princes not the wisdom of the profoundest Doctours not the religion of the devoutest Anchorets no nor the happiness of the highest Angels for upon this supposition as the glory of all is God's so the content in all would be ours All the fruit they can perceive of their happy condition of what kind soever is to rejoyce in it themselves and to praise God for it and this should we then do as well as they My Neighbour's good Success is mine if I equally triumph therein his Riches are mine if I delight to see him enjoy them his Health is mine if it refresh my spirits his Vertue mine if I by it am better'd and have hearty complacence therein By this means a man derives a confluence of all joy upon himself and makes himself as it were the centre of all Felicity enriches himself with the plenty and satiates himself with the pleasure of the whole world reserving to God the praise he enjoys the satisfaction of all good that happens to any Thus we see David frequently thanking God not for his Favour only and mercy shewed peculiarly to himself but for his common munificence toward all for to use his own phrases his goodness is to all and his tender mercies over all his works for executing judgment in behalf of the oppressed for feeding the hungry for loosening the prisoners for opening the eyes of the blind for raising them that are bowed down for preserving the strangers and relieving the fatherless and widow for lifting up the meek for loving and caring for and defending the righteous for opening his hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing for giving to the beast his food and to the young ravens when they cry unto him in a word for his goodness to every particular creature not excluding the most contemptible nor the most savage of all And how affectionately doth Saint Paul every-where thank God for the growth in Grace and spiritual Wisdom for the patience in affliction and perseverance in faith of those good Christians he writes unto So should with an unrestrained exuberance both our Charity to men and our Gratitude to God abound But moreover 5. We are obliged to give thanks not only for pleasant and prosperous occurrences of Providence but for those also which are adverse to our desire and distastful unto our natural sense for Poverty Sickness Disgrace for all the Sorrows and Troubles the Disasters and Disappointments that befal us We are bound to pay thanks not for our Food only but for our Physick also which though ingrateful to our palate is profitable for our health We are obliged in the School of Providence not only for the good Instructions but for the seasonable Corrections also vouchsafed unto us whereby though our senses are offended our manners are bettered What-ever proceeds from good purpose and tends to a happy end that is graciously designed and effectually conduces to our good is a fit subject of Thanksgiving and such may all Adversities prove unto us They proceed usually from love and kind intention toward us for Whom God loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth and I know O Lord saith David that thy judgments are right and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me in faithfulness that is with a sincere intention of doing me good God throughly knows our constitution what is noxious to our health and what may remedy our distempers and therefore accordingly disposeth to us pro jucundis aptissima quaeque in stead of pleasant Hony he sometimes prescribes wholsome wormwood for us We are our selves greatly ignorant of what is conducible to our real good and were the choice of our condition wholly permitted to us should make very foolish very disadvantageous elections We should be sure all of us embrace a rich and plentiful Estate whenas God knows that would make us slothful and luxurious swell us with pride and haughty thoughts encumber us with anxious cares and expose us to dangerous temptations would render us forgetful of our selves and neglectful of him Therefore he wisely disposeth Poverty unto us Poverty the mother of Sobriety the nurse of Industry the mistress of Wisdom which will make us understand our selves and our dependence on him and force us to have recourse unto his help And is there not reason we should be thankful for the means by which we are delivered from those desperate mischiefs and obtain these excellent advantages We should all certainly chuse the favour and applause of men but this God also knows would corrupt our minds with vain conceit would intoxicate our fancies with spurious pleasure would tempt us to ascribe immoderately to our selves and sacrilegiously to deprive God of his due honour Therefore he advisedly suffers us to incur the Disgrace and Displeasure the Hatred and Contempt of men that so we may place our glory only in the hopes of his Favour and may pursue more earnestly the purer delights of a good Conscience And doth not this part of Divine Providence highly merit our thanks We would all climb into high Places not considering the precipices on which they stand nor the vertiginousness of our own brains but God keeps us safe in the humble Valleys allotting to us employments which we are more capable to manage We should perhaps insolently abuse Power were it committed to us we should