were such an Heart in them that they would fear me and keep my Commandments always that it might be well with them c. Where he speaks as if it were not in his own Power to bless them unless they would fear and obey him always because God cannot do that at all which he cannot do consistently with his Wisdom Justice and Honour And however Divine Providence may please to order things in those Nations who are not so nearly related to him yet we cannot but think he will deal with us Christians who are now become what they were his peculiar People by the very same Measures he dealt with them that is Bless us or Curse us according as we observe or break his Holy Laws But I see no reason to question his making this distinction even among Infidels who know not the Laws of Jesus Christ if we may judge of what he doth now by what he did in ancient times When the Heathens themselves observed this difference as appears by the Writers of the Roman Story who take notice that while they were strict observers of the Law of Nations and continued Religious frugal industrious sober and moderate as they were in their beginning God's Blessing rested upon them and they prospered wonderfully whithersoever they went But when they grew impious luxurious broke their Faith abounded with all manner of Vice they soon dwindled grew weak and lost their large Dominions they had in the World And had they been at the first rise of their Empire as vain as the Greeks to use the Words of a great Divine of our own in the days before us Dr. Jackson as Luxurious as the Asiaticks as Perfidious as the Carthaginians as uncivil and Barbarous as many other Nations whom they conquer'd they could not have been so constantly fortunate in their Enterprizes at home and abroad as they were for many years God indeed is a debter to no body but such is his Bounty such his love to Righteousness of whatsoever sort it be That he will not suffer moral Vertue civil Justice Honesty and Truth and constant execution of Laws which in their kind and degree are good to be wholly unrewarded But by such means any Nation in the World may be exalted above those who are otherways disposed How much more then may Christian People expect this Favour from the Lord in the faithful observance of his holy Laws Did true Righteousness for instance prevail in this Christian Kingdom what an happy People might we be As happy as we have made our selves notorious to all the World for the Punishments God hath inflicted on us What were the late Civil Wars and the woful Effects of them but the Calamities which God sent upon a sinful People for our disobedience to him And since the wonderful Restoration of the Royal Family and the Monarchy What were the Pestilence the Fire and other Judgments which presently ensued but tokens of God's continued displeasure against us for our abuse of his loving-kindness We rioted upon his Mercies We waxed fat and kicked against him we abandon'd our selves to Lust Pride and Idleness and to all manner of Debauchery nay to Irreligion Atheism and Infidelity for which cause those heavy Calamities fell upon us And what was the effect of them After we had felt the smart of so many terrible Judgments we fell into such implacable Animosities and deadly Hatreds one against another that we drew upon our selves the greatest Plague of all that of Popery Which had set up its Chappels Schools and Convents among us and had not God's Mercy prevented by our late marvellous Deliverance would have brought in those Whipps and Gibbets and Racks and Fires and other Instruments of Crueity wherewith we have seen it torturing the Bodies and Souls of innumerable good Men and Women in France and in other places And shall we still adventure to continue an unreformed Nation because God hath spared us from utter ruine After all this is come upon us for our evil Deeds as Ezra speaks and for our great Trespass and after he hath given us such a Deliverance as this which we have lately received shall we again break his Commandments What a strange thing will it be not to believe our own Experience though we would not believe God's Holy Word Which now one would think should have greater credit with us when we have seen it so fully verified in our selves that Sin is a reproach to any People Which in reason should move us to try the Truth of the other part of my Text of which I have now treated and by working Righteousness satisfy our selves how it will exalt us As I have proved it will not only by its own natural Consequences there being no Vertue which tends not to greaten a Nation that lives in the practice of it but by the special Blessing of the Almighty whose Method this is which he constantly observes to bless the righteous and compass him with his favour as with a shield Hear this Wise-man once more Prov. x. 29. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity The way of the Lord that is this is the divine Method to give strength and power to upright men or the very observance of the Rules of vertue which may be meant here by the way of the Lord the keeping close to God's Laws and walking in his ways inspires the Upright with courage and resolution when any evil threatens them but the workers of iniquity are seeble and poor spirited and shall be broken in pieces by that destruction which is coming upon them His Father gives the reason of it Psal xii ult The righteous Lord loveth righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Let us love righteousness then that we may be beloved of the Lord. And if we have any Authority let upright men have our countenance and favour as the glory and strength of the Nation the Chariots and Horse-men for the safegard of their Countrey that the righteous Lord may countenance us in all our ways and proceedings and we may find him propitious to us on all occasions That 's the use we ought to make of what hath been said 1. First Let every one of us being convinced of these Truths and seriously reflecting on them resolve to consult the safety and happiness of the Kingdom of which we are Members by betaking our selves hereafter to a religious course of life in all holiness and righteousness all our days Let us begin it this day by making it a day not only of humiliation but of serious and unfeigned repentance Let it conclude in solemn Resolutions of amendment of life That as by Wickedness this Nation hath been laid low and made despicable in the eyes of all our Neighbours who neither loved nor feared us because we had forsaken both our own and their true Interest so we may raise the Reputation of it and make it great eminent
a Nation For the understanding of which it must be considered that the Providence of God is the great and first Mover which turns about all the Wheels of Humane Affairs and orders how and whither they shall go Whereby they are many times carried far otherwise than we design and contrive This is a Truth so often noted in this Book that from thence we may conclude it is a Matter of very great Moment for it is not easy to number all the Places xvi â— The Preparations of the Heart in Man and the answer of the Tongue is from the Lord who gives that is what Success he pleases to Mens Deliberations and Discourses And Ver. 9. A Man's Heart deviseth his Way i. e. designs and End and the Means to it but the Lord directeth his steps to such an issue perhaps as he never thought of And again ver 33. of the same Chapter The Lot is cast into the Lap but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. The same we read xlx 21. There are many Devices in a Man's Heart nevertheless the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand And XX. 24. Man's goings are of the Lord how can a Man then understand his own way That is as no Man can take one step towards any thing he designs without permission from above So it is impossible for him to know what the Success will be of that which he projects xxi 1. The King's Heart on whose motions we know the Fate of Kingdoms depend is in the Hand of the Lord as the Rivers of Water he turneth it whithersoever he will Once more Vers 30 31. of the same Chapter There is no Wisdom nor Vnderstanding nor Counsel against the Lord. The Horse is prepared against the Day of Battel but safety is of the Lord i. e. Whatsoever warlike Preparations any Prince shall make though never so great and never so well conducted and managed all is to no purpose unless the LORD favour his Arms and give good success to his Counsels and Designs Which is the very Ground and Reason of our meeting here this day to implore his Blessing upon their Majesties and their Forces by Sea and Land Whereby we make a solemn acknowledgment of the Truth of what I have now said that the disposal of all Events depends upon the Providence of God Which we ought therefore by all means to engage to be on our Side Particularly by humble and fervent and frequent Prayer to him Which the Holy Scripture calls seeking the Face that is the Favour of God who alone can make our way prosperous and in whose fear as this wise Man speaks xiv 26. is strong Confidence of good Success that is in all Enterprizes and Protection in all Dangers But if we have any serious belief of God and of his Providence we cannot imagine that it can be engaged to favour us by our Prayers alone They must never be omitted but if we address our selves to God with no resolutions of amendment this very wise Man hath told us our Doom in the xv 8. The Sacrifice of the Wicked is an abomination to the Lord He will reject it especially when he brings it with a wicked Mind xxi 27. as if he thought by his Sacrifices to bribe the Divine Majesty and perswade him to wink at his Sins But on the other side he tells us in the very same Breath The Prayer of the Vpright is his delight Which he repeats in the 29th Verse The Lord is far from the Wicked but he heareth the Prayer of the Righteous Who devoutly acknowledging the Divine Providence and also studying sincerely to observe his Commands prevail with him to give them what they desire his Favour Protection and Blessing to prosper them in all their Undertakings The Wicked worketh a deceitful Work but to him that soweth Righteousness shall be a sure Reward He deceives himself that is who thinks to raise himself to Greatness by wicked Devices in which he may prosper a while but the Event at last will disappoint his Expectations When truly religious Men shall infallibly reap the Fruit of their pious just and charitable Labours for the good of others The like we read xii 3. A Man shall not be established by Wickedness but the Root of the Righteous shall not be moved And here in this Chapter Vers 11. The House of the Wicked shall be overthrown but the Tabernacle of the Righteous shall flourish There was a great difference between an House and a Tabernacle the former being built strong and firm to endure for an Age or several Generations but the other a Tabernacle was reared up only for a Time slightly jointed and put together to be taken down and carried on a sudden any whither And such is the Providence of God the wise Man observes over the Righteous that he makes his weak Tabernacle abide and flourish when the very House of the Wicked not only decays but is overturned Thus the World hath seen many Potent Princes put down from their Seat and small ones raised up in their stead according to the discourse of the pious Father of this wise Man who bids us mark what he saith Psalm xxxiii where after he had said Vers 16. 17. There is no King saved by the multitude of an Host a mighty Man is not delivered by much strength An Horse is a vain thing thing to save a Man c. He adds immediately Vers 18. Behold take notice of this the Eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him of such he will take a special care and exercise a most tender and watchful Providence over them upon them that hope in his Mercy to deliver their Soul from Death and to keep them alive in time of Famine To preserve them that is in the greatest Dangers and deliver them out of the greatest Straits And truly the Providence of God is in justice ingaged to give Countenance and Incouragement to true Piety and Vertue in the World And though it do not move always so swiftly as we expect and desire yet we may observe there have been such Revolutions of Providence in all Nations in one Age or other as have sufficiently demonstrated how much God concerns himself to bless those who live in observance of him and to punish those who do otherwise I will not presume now that it is time to draw towards a Conclusion to lay before you the story of the Jews over whom this wise King reigned but only say that as God had chosen them from among all Nations to be his People planted them in a chosen Land and blessed them with wise and holy Laws promised them all manner of Felicity upon condition of their Obedience So notwithstanding this peculiar relation to him the same Providence which promised them Protection Safety and Prosperity if they obeyed him threatned to abandon them unto inevitable Ruin if they forsook him and rebelled against him Whence those remarkable words Deut. v. 29. 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and illustrious by the faithful practice of true Religion and Vertue 2. And let us not only make this Resolution but make it good by calling it often to mind by representing to our selves the advantages of sincere piety even in this present life by setling this persuasion in our mind that it is the Interest of the Nation to be religious Which cannot fail to sway our affection to it and what we love we always pursue till we have attained it If we love then our selves if we love our Nation if we love their Majesties our Government our Countrey we shall love righteousness 3. And since Righteousness exalteth a Nation it is our interest to do all we can to exalt righteousness and advance it to the greatest heigth by being zealous of good works We have been very zealous for things of little moment in comparison with the weighty matters of God's Laws very zealous to undo one another and to ruine our Country Let us now be as zealous for our common safety and preservation by bending our most earnest endeavours to provoke one another to love and to good works to be sincerely good our selves and to make others so likewise as much as lies in our power That is devoutly pious strictly just and merciful temperate and sober diligent and industrious in our several Callings and Offices publick spirited zealously concerned for the common good kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any as earnest against revenge as perhaps we have been for it studying the things that make for peace labouring to convince men of their errors with the meekness of wisdom bearing with those whom we cannot convince by no means quarrelling one with another about different Opinions but joining with one heart and one Soul for the defence of our Religion and our Countrey our Laws and Liberties Then we may promise to our selves the Divine Protection and Blessing God will make us great and powerful and we shall tread upon the necks of our Enemies He will hear our Prayers which we have now made unto him and I hope will continue to make every day because nothing as you have heard can prosper without his Blessing for the safety of Their Majesties and the Success of Their Arms in Their present great Undertaking for the necessary defence of Their People We need not fear what man can do unto us no nor fear the arrows of the Almighty I mean the raging Pestilence nor devouring Fire nor that Flood neither which St. John saw the Dragon pour out of his mouth to drown the Church that is Popish Persecution That grand Oppressor who hath raised himself by methods quite contrary to this of Solomon and as if he intended to disprove the truth of God's word hath indeavoured to exalt his Nation by nothing but Fraud and Forgery Perfidiousness and Perjury by breaking his Faith and violating Leagues and Solemn Treaties by Wrong and Robbery nay by the utmost degree of Cruelty and Barbarity this haughty Oppressor I say who hath ruin'd many other Countries as well as his own shall not be able to hurt us But God will succeed their Majesties in the War wherein we are now engaged against him and make them go on prosperously because of truth meekness and righteousness For since that Nation hath so highly affronted the Divine Majesty as well as abused all Mankind with whom they have had to do as sure as God is in Heaven he will lay them low because they have been so Atheistical as to advance themselves by all manner of Falshood and Treachery Injustice and Cruelty having mockt at those Vertues Truth and Honesty c. without which the World cannot subsist but must be turned into a Wilderness We cannot appoint Times and Seasons unto the Almighty Wisdom but if the universal desire of all Nations could prevail with God we might be confident the time is come wherein he will bring down the high looks of the proud if I may apply the words of the Psalmist to this matter and save the poor afflicted people upon whom he hath trampled with scornful pride and cruelty He and his Adherents cannot long prosper one would think by such impious Politicks as they have practised but the righteous Lord who sitteth in the Throne judging right will make all the World see by the judgment he will execute upon them that he loveth the righteous but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth Vpon the wicked he will rain snares fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be their portion to drink But suppose God should defer this Vengeance for some time and suffer him to be a further scourge to a sinful World nay should let him be the rod of his anger to chastise us for our ingratitude to him yet these three things are certainly true 1. First That he will not always bear with impious Oppressors but though hand join in hand as Solomon speaks xi 21. though one oppressor join to help another the wicked shall not go unpunished 2. And that Punishment will be very terrible when it comes For though mercy will soon pardon the meanest as it is in the Book of Wisdom vi 4. yet mighty men shall be mightily tormented because being Ministers of his Kingdom they abused his Power and that wantonly having abundant means to please themselves without doing the least hurt unto others 3. And this Comfort in the mean time may be administred unto all those who have amended their lives and grown better by God's former Judgments or by our late Deliverance that they will find God favourable unto them to protect and deliver them in the needful time of trouble should it please him to let it come again to try them So we are assured by this Wise-man who hath left us Instructions of this kind also You may find a great many together in the beginning of the Eleventh Chapter v. 3 4 5 6. which are all I shall mention The integrity of the upright shall guide them but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them Riches profit not in the day of wrath but righteousness delivereth from death The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness The Sense of all which is this That the highest Wisdom is to be sincerely good There is no Policy comparable to perfect Integrity Which in difficult times will guide and direct a man unto the surest way for his preservation When nothing else will secure him but contrary Courses inevitably lead him unto his ruin God of his Infinite Mercy grant That as we understand these things so we may consider them and lay them to heart yea lay them up in our heart and reflect upon them as frequently as they are repeated in this Book that we