them the means of Committing greater Wickedness The Ignorant God may Pardon and accept notwithstanding the Errours and imperfections of their Praise but not the wicked because 't is mere Confidence and Presumption in them and so far are such people from setting forth God's Glory that they rather lessen it for the Praise of Ill Men is Scandal and as it would call a Good Man's Name in Question to have a Wicked Man Commend Him so the Thanksgiving of the Unrighteous making God as it were on their side would be some Kind of Detraction Even from Infinite Goodness and Holyness it self But the Praise of the Righteous is Comely in the Sight of all men and greatly advances God's Glory For Praise is an Act of Justice and every act of Justice is beautiful in it self much more when set off by the Lustre of other Virtues The Natural Notions which all men have of what is fit and just makes them pleas'd when they see good men Act accordingly When they see those Who have receiv'd most from God most careful to Praise Him for it and that particularly because they think that this is no light humour no sudden fancy which seizes them for a moment but built upon a Solid Foundation and therefore likely to Continue and to have an Influence upon the Remaining part of their Lives If then the Righteous are most Humble most ready to acknowledge their Unworthiness of God's Goodness If they have a more quickly and lively Sence of it and are more tenderly affected with it If they have always a Solid Foundation of True Joy in a Good Conscience and if there is a peculiar Fitness and Congruity between Praise and other Christian Virtues then it follows that the Righteous are most proper to perform the Duty of Thanksgiving And this was the first Thing which I proposed I proceed now to the second II. To Enforce this Duty by the Consideration of its great Object and the Benefits which we receive from Him The Proper Object of our Praise the Psalmist leads us to in the first words of the Text. Rejoyce in the Lord in Him that is in the Knowledge that we have of His Divine Excellencies and in the Experience that we have that those Excellencies are beneficial to Us. Some take the Word in to Limit our Praise to God's Essential Goodness but this undoubtedly Restrains it too much For thô God is so perfect in Himself that the Contemplation of Him Heightned by a lively Faith may afford great Joy and Delight to some good Men yet His Essential Goodness is seldom apprehended sufficiently by all People to produce Publick Praise But it is necessary that mankind should feel the Beneficial Effects of it for this purpose Thus thô the beauty of the Sun Consider'd in it self may justly cause admiration yet it wou'd never be magnify'd so universally but that Men Enjoy the Light and the Warmth of it But above all this is Confirmed by the Psalmist in the following part of this Psalm for He does not tye Himself up strictly to the Contemplation of the Divine Nature as to its Essential Excellencies only but Considers 'em as they relate to His Works and are Beneficial to His Creatures and that particularly as to His Godness His Wisdom and Power I shall follow Him exactly in the same Method 1. Rejoyce in the Lord in regard of His Goodness For great nay infinite is His Goodness And because nothing can be more lovely than supreme Goodness the Prophet crys out How great is His Goodness and How great is His Beauty Whatever is pleasing to Us below is so because we take it to be good that is suppose it to partake of this Fountain of Everflowing Goodness How then should we be surprized and transported with Joy if we lifted up our thought to Him Who is Goodness it self and thro His vast abundance pours it upon Every Creature But yet this would not be sufficient for His Universal Praise unless we consider His Goodness in His Works Thus our Psalmist v. 5. of this Psalm The Earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord full indeed on Every side for which way soever we turn with what Sweet Variety do New Wonders and New Blessings meet Us. How do the Seasons succeed in beauteous Order and Carry Health and Plenty round the World Thou crownest the Year with thy Goodness and thy Paths drop Fatness They drop upon the Pastures in the Wilderness and the little Hills rejoyce on every side the Pastures are Cloathed with Flocks the Valleys also are cover'd over with Corn one would think the Prophet described our own Country they Shout for Joy they also Sing And whence proceeds this Joy what is it they Sing but Their Creator's Praise Shall inanimate Creatures be so Just Shall not only the Heavens but inferiour Parts of the Creation declare their Maker's Glory by observing that Order in which He first put them And shall man only be unthankful And that Because He is at Liberty and God expects a more noble Offering from His Free-Will Praise and Gratitude of Choice and not of Necessity This would be unpardonable in any Wretch in the whole World but much more in any one of this Nation for what instance of God's Goodness towards Us shall I name First The many Deliverances which we have Had from Open Violence but more from Secret Treachery or the Incredible Wealth that has floated into Us from so many distant Nations and the Plenty Healthfulness and Security of this Happy Island Happy indeed in all these Respects but much more Happy in being instructed so soon in the Saving Knowledge of Jesus Christ and when this began to be obscur'd by Ignorance and Superstition in being bless'd so soon with so Judicious and Impartial a Reformation If we look abroad into the Rest of the World How many Countries are at Present the Seats of War and Expos'd to the Bloody Incursions of their Enemies as well as the Necessities of their Friends And yet even War it self cannot be Worse than the miserable Peace of those other Countries which groan under Idolatrous Superstition and are impoverish'd by its Avarice or dispeopled by its Cruelty While all the While we Enjoy our Liberties and our Laws under a Wise and Gracious Administration and need fear no Disturbance under our Vines and Fig Trees unless we force it upon our selves by our own Dissentions 2. Rejoyce in Him because of His Wisdom 't is by this He governs and disposes of all things as in Wisdom He made 'em all Some have thought it did not consist with the Honour of so Great a Being to trouble Himself with the Government of the World as if He were Endow'd with Infinite Knowledge and Almighty Power only to Sleep away Eternity as if there were no Grandeur but in Sloath no Majesty but in Stupidity It cannot be doubted but the same God who gave all things their being does give 'em also their manner of being nor
gladly acknowledge and adore His Goodness Whereas Wicked men very slowly discover it or very slowly Confess it They are taken up so Entirely with the World and themselves that they regard not the works of the Lord nor Consider the Operation of His Hands But attribute Every Extraordinary Event to Chance or to Necessity or else look upon it as the Natural Effect of Human Force or Prudence and Consequently undervalue it and despise it And tho an Ill man may possibly discern God's Goodness in some Publick and remarkable Blessing Yet this Will not move Him much He is too wise to admire any thing long and therefore takes no notice of it or forgets it immediately And indeed Praise is so Spiritual and so Heavenly a Duty that it is no wonder if it can take no Hold upon Such a mind as is weigh'd down by Sensual Desires and besotted in its Vices But on the other side as the Righteous discover God's benefits quickly so they are touch'd with them sensibly They are Entirely absolutely taken up with the Contemplation of His Love and the Gracious Evidences of it Break out so delightfully upon them that they are Continually falling into Raptures of praise and thanksgiving Such a Condition as this Holy David seems to be in frequently The Sense of God's Benefits make such a Lively impression upon Him that He cannot mention them without Extasie and He seems to labour With Holy Joy and to be in Pain How to Express it O God thou art my God early will I seek Thee my Soul thirsteth for Thee my flesh longeth for Thee Because thy Loving Kindness is better than life my lips shall praise Thee My Soul shall be satisfy'd as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall Praise Thee with joyful Lips Thou art my God and I will praise Thee Thou art my God and I will exalt Thee O Give Thanks unto the Lord for He is good and His Mercy Endureth for Ever There are many other Passages in the Psalms of this Kind But These may show sufficiently How fit the Righteous are to offer Praise and that particularly Because They soonest discern the Effects of God's Goodness and When they do so are touch'd with a more tender sense of it III. Another Reason why the Righteous are most proper to perform this Duty is because they have always a solid foundation of True Joy in a Good Conscience Joy is Essential to Thanksgiving 't is impossible to be grateful without we are pleas'd first But the sense of Guilt will never suffer this Innocence is the Only Ground of lasting Joy this is that Happy Spring of good Humour and Vivacity which gives a pleasing Air to all our Words and Actions This is that which brings down Heaven to Us or at least begins it here While God Himself vouchsafes to dwell in the pure and Spotless Heart O the unspeakable Happiness of a Good Conscience This makes us at the same Time Easie to our selves delightful to our Friends and Dear to our God 'T is True Wicked men will often make some show of Satisfaction and Joy But in this They are the greatest Hypocrites in the World Alas to be pleas'd with a Well told story to be delighted with witty and malicious Censure to be Exalted with the spirits of strong liquors is not to be joyful Sen. Ep. 23. mihi Crede Res severa est verum gaudium True joy does not Consist in Wild and thoughtless Gayety but is a Sober and Severe thing Because 't is the Effect of our Having Moderated our Passions and Appetites of our Having absolutely Conquer'd our Vices and not the Act of Indulging them Besides tho God's Blessings are never so Great or so Publick the Wicked cannot have the Confidence to think that they were bestowed for their sakes or belong to them in the least but the thoughts of their Guilt must strike them with shame and sorrow when they behold the joy of the Righteous and Consider that they Have nothing to do with the Cause of it But the Righteous may apply Gods mercies without presumption to themselves They may reflect with pleasure upon their former Prayers and Humiliations and look upon themselves without Vanity as Benefactors to their Country for the Goodness of one Private man brings down blessings upon the Publick and prevails more at Home than the Strength and Policy of many in the Field And as these Arguments of God's Goodness must cause Joy and Satisfaction in a Righteous Man so His Heart by Being Kept still in order by a Constant Course of Virtue is always Ready and as it were in Tune to Sound forth the Praise of God IV. The Righteous are most Proper to Praise Him Because of the fitness and Congruity which there is between Praise and other Virtues This is that Reason which the Psalmist gives Here in Particular included in those Words Praise is Comely for the Upright As the Beauty of the Body Consists in the Exact Dimensions of Every part and the Symmetry and Proportion of the whole So does the Beauty of the Soul Consist in the Exercise of All Christian Virtues and in the mutual Relation which they have to each other and if any one be Wanting 't is a plain Deformity and will be perceiv'd immediately Thus should those who are Righteous in other Respects be Negligent in their Praise they themselves Hold the light by which they are discover'd and those Virtues which they have will show the Deformity of their Ingratitude and make it the more inexcusable But when the Upright joyn Thanksgiving to their other Works of Righteousness all is compleat and uniform this is Agreeable to their other Actions it bears proportion with them and receives a peculiar Grace from them and in this Consists that Comliness of Praise and that Beauty of Thanksgiving which makes it pleasing and Acceptable in the Sight of God and Man On the other side What should Praise do alone without any other Virtue What Absurdity and Hypocrisie is it for ill men to Pretend to it As a Well Shap'd Garment would not become a Crooked Body so the Praise of God can never become a Wicked Heart therefore as St. Basil says upon this place it is probable that our Saviour Rebuk'd the Devils and would not Suffer them to Confess Him Because Such Mouths were not fit to Pronounce such a Name To this purpose is that of the Psalmist Psal l. 16. upon the Wicked God saith What hast thou to do to declare my Statutes or that thou shouldst take my Covenant in thy mouth Seeing thou Hatest Instruction and Castest my words behind thee What indeed has He to do to Pronounce the Name of God under pretence of shewing forth His Glory Who has been us'd to pollute it Every moment by His Oaths and Blasphemies Or how can He pretend to praise the bounteous giver of all things Who has been a Disgrace to His Goodness and Turn'd His own Benefits Against Him by making
A SERMON Preach'd at WHITE-HALL ON Sunday September 8. 1695. BEING The Day of Thanksgiving for the taking of Namur and the Safety of His MAJESTY'S Person BY J. Adams A. M. Rector of St. Alban Woodstreet Published by Order of the Lords Iustices London Printed for Thomas Bennet at the Half Moon in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1695. A SERMON Preach'd at WHITE-HALL c. ON PSALM xxxiii 1. Rejoyce in the Lord O ye Righteous for Praise is Comely for the Vpright PRaise is so easy so pleasant and so profitable a Duty so readily acknowledg'd by Reason and-so justly claim'd by Revelation that there has never been much pains requir'd to persuade men to the performance of it But as all the Passions are difficultly govern'd when they rise to Excess so Joy which is the ground of this Duty is not only unruly in its own Nature but men are apt to Encourage it so much and give it such a loose upon any Publick Occasion that they seldom stay to consider the great Object of their Praise or what are the proper Qualifications to make it Acceptable But the Psalmist leads us to both these in this Excellent Psalm and whoever peruses it with attention will find that He had Consider'd well the adorable perfections of God before He presum'd to Rejoyce in Him and that He could never have been so Great a Master of Thanksgiving had not His Piety qualify'd Him for being a Prophet and the uprightness of His Heart made it worthy of Inspiration and from hence it is that He breaks out into this Holy Rapture Rejoyce in the Lord O ye Righteous for Praise is Comely for the Upright The Persons which the Psalmist calls upon here in particular are the Righteous and accordingly I shall endeavour to show 1. That Good and Righteous Men are most Oblig'd to the Duty of Praise and most fit to perform it 2. What is the True and Proper Object of Praise and the Reasonableness of it Applying Each particular to the present Occasion 1. That Good and Righteous Men are most Oblig'd to the Duty of Praise c. There are many of God's Blessings that are Universal in Regard to these the Duty of Thanksgiving should be of as large Extent But since some Men partake more particularly of His Favour since 't is with regard to the Righteous and sometimes for their sakes only that Whole Kingdoms and Nations Enjoy Publick Benefits They are in a more particular manner oblig'd to Gratitude and Thanksgiving They ought to be the most Early and most Active in their Praise and that too in Order to the spreading and promoting of God's Glory The Example of Good Men will always have an Influence upon the Worst part of Mankind for those Who deride Piety and Virtue in Private are Glad to imitate them in Publick There is such a Natural Beauty in Goodness as Commands Esteem and Veneration therefore People Readily joyn with those who are Righteous and out of an Opinion of their understanding and integrity take their Actions upon trust without farther Examination Whatever then can any ways Contribute to God's Glory What outward respect soever ought to be paid to Him in any part of Devotion This should be undertaken Chiefly by the Righteous not only in Consideration of What they owe to Their God but also of what they owe to their Neighbour Especially in matters of Praise and Thanksgiving Which are so pleasing and delightful in themselves that Every Body will readily joyn in the Offering of them But the Righteous are not only more Oblig'd to this Excellent Duty upon these Accounts but they are also most fit to Perform it and that for these Reasons 1. Because such Men are always Humble and Ready to Acknowledge their Unworthiness of God's Gooodness 2. Because They have a Quick and Lively Sense of it and are apt to be tenderly and passionately affected with it 3. Because They have always a Solid Foundation of True Joy in a Good Conscience 4. Because of that fitness and Congruity which there is between Praise and other Vertues I. The Righteous are most fit to perform the Duty of Praise because they are always Humble and ready to acknowledge their unworthiness of God's Goodness Humility is the chief ground of Gratitude and Praise and Nothing makes men wanting in these Virtues so much as Pride But where is Humility to be found to that Degree as in the Righteous The Sum of All Religion is the Knowledge of God and the Knowledge of our selves The more We know of God the more perfect and Excellent we find Him the more we Know of our selves we discover the more Weakness and Misery But no one can be so sensible How Wide these Extreams are as the Righteous man and Therefore no one can be so Humble so ready to acknowledge His Unworthiness of God's Goodness whenever it is manifested towards Him There are too many men that look upon Gods Benefits as their Due there are others that think the designs they have Compass'd the Estates they have Rais'd their Success in Peace or War is all thro their Own Prudence and Industry and therefore are more ready to Sacrifice to their Net as the Prophet speaks to themselves than to their God This kind of Pride Moses foresaw in the Israelites and therefore he warns them Deut. viii 14.17 That after God had shown such Great Wonders for them they should beware least they should forget the Lord and say in their Hearts my Power and the might of my Hands hath done this How much more Reasonable is that of Holy Jacob when he reflected from how many Dangers God had delivered him I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies nor of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto me Alas If we Consider what God has done for us and yet the Stubborness and Ingratitude of a great part of this sinful Nation That neither the long Experience of God's Goodness nor the terrours of his Justice have been able to move us to Repentance but that old Heresies in our Faith are again reviv'd with the greatest Confidence that instead of mending in our Practice we have plainly grown worse and added the Vices of War to those of Peace If we Consider this how much more justly ought we to acknowledge that we are not worthy of the least of God's temporal mercies nor of that truth that saving Truth of the Gospel which He has show'd unto Us in a more Excellent manner than to any other Nation and Humble our selves into Praise and thanksgiving accordingly II. The Righteous have a quick and lively sense of God's Goodness and are apt to be Tenderly and Passionately affected with it and therefore are most fit to praise Him Good men are Acquainted with the Ways of God their thoughts are always taken up and Possest By Him nor are their Understandings Corrupted by prejudice or Weakned By intemperance so that they perceive Him immediately in His Works of mercy and