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God deals familiarly with men! His condescensions to his own clay are astonishing. All that I shall observe at present about it shall be under these three heads, wherein I find the matter of my present meditations summed up by the Psalmist, "Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man that thou makest account of him?" Psal. cxliv. 3.

1. In this scripture you have represented, the immense and transcendent greatness of God, who is infinitely above us and all our thoughts, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea," Job xi. 7, 9. "The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him," 2 Chron. ii. 6. "He is glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders," Exod. xv. 11. When the scripture speaks of him comparatively, see how it expresses his greatness! "Behold the nations are as the drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: Behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof for a burnt-offering. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are accounted to him less than nothing, and vanity," Isa. xl. 15, 17. When the holiest men have addressed themselves to him, see with what humility and deep adoration they have spoken of him, and to him!" Wo is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts," Isa. vi. 5.-Nay, what sense the very angels of heaven have of that glorious majesty, you may see in ver. 2, 3; "Each one had six wings, with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.".

2. We may see here also the baseness, vileness, and utter unworthiness of man, yea, of the holiest and best of men, before God. Psal. xxxix. 5, "Verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity." Every man," take where you will; and every man "at his best

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state," or standing in his freshest glory, is not only vanity, but altogether vanity." For only consider the best of men in their extraction, in their constitution, and in their outward condition. In their extraction, they are 64 by nature children of wrath, even as others." The blood that runs in our veins, is as much tainted as theirs in hell. Consider them in their constitution and natural temper, and though grace has deposed sin from the throne in them, yet O what offensive and God-provoking corruptions daily break out in the best hearts! Consider them in their outward condition, and they are inferior, for the most part to others.

And now let us consider and admire, that ever this great and blessed God, should be so much concerned as you have heard he is in all his providencès, about such vile, despicable worms as we are! He needs us not, but is perfectly blessed and happy in himself without us. "Can a man be profitable to God?" No; the holiest of men can add nothing to him; yet see how great account he makes of us.-Does not his eternal love bespeak the dear account he made of us? Eph. i. 4, 5. How anci

ent, how free, and how astonishing is this act of grace! This is that design which all providences are in pursuit of, and will not rest till they have executed.-Does not the gift of his only Son out of his bosom bespeak this truth, that God makes great account of this vile thing, man? Never was man so magnified before. If David could say, "When I consider the heavens, the work of thy hands, the moon and stars which thou hast ordained, Lord, what is man?" how much more may we say, When we consider thy Son, that lay in thy bosom, his infinite excellency, and unspeakable dearness to thee, Lord, what is man, that such a Christ should be delivered to death for him? for him, and not for fallen angels? for him, when in a state of enmity with God?-Does not the assiduity of his providential care for us, speak his esteem of us? "Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." Isa. xxxvii. 1. "He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous," Job xxxvi. 7, no, not a moment all their days; for were he to do so, a thousand mischiefs in that moment would rush in upon them, and ruin them. Does not the tenderness of his Providence speak

his esteem of us? "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you," Isa. Ivi. 13. He comforts us by refreshing providences, as an indulgent mother comforts her tender child.

CHAPTER III.

The Duty of Reflecting on the Operations of Providence.

WE come now to prove it to be the duty of the people of God, to reflect upon the performances of Providence for them at all times, but especially in times of straits and troubles.

This I will prove to be your unquestionable duty, by the following particulars

1. This is our duty, because God has expressly commanded it.

He has called his people to make the most serious reflections upon his works, whether of mercy or judgment. When that most dreadful of all judgments was executed upon his professing people for their apostasy from God, and God had removed the symbols of his presence from among them, the rest are "bid to go," by their meditations, to send at least their thoughts, "to Shiloh," and "see what God did to it," Jer. vii. 12. God calls on us to consider and review our mercies also "Remember, O my people, from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the faithfulness of the Lord.' And as for God's works of Providence about the creatures, we are called to consider them, that we may prop up our faith by that consideration for our own supplies, Mat. vi. 28.

2. It is plain, that this is our duty, because the neglect of it is everywhere in scripture condemned as a sin. To be of a heedless unobservant temper is very displeasing to God; nay, it is a sin which God threatens and denounces woe against in his word, Psal. xxviii. 4, 5; Isa. v. 12, 13. Yea, God not only threatens, but smites

men with visible judgments for this sin, Job xxxiv. 26,

27.

3. Without due observation of the work of Providence, no praise can be rendered to God for any of them. Praise and thanksgiving for mercies depend upon this observation of them, and cannot be performed without it. Psal. cvii. is spent in narratives of God's providential care of men; to his people in straits, ver. 4, 6; to prisoners in their bonds, ver. 10, 12; to men that lie languishing in beds of sickness, ver. 17, 19; to seamen on the stormy ocean, ver. 23; to men in times of famine, ver. 33, 40; yea, his Providence is displayed in all those changes that fall out in the world, debasing the high and exalting the low, ver. 40, 41: and at every paragraph men are still called upon to praise God for each of these providences. But ver. 43, shows you what a necessary ingredient to that duty observation is; "Whoso is wise, and will observe those things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." So that of necessity God must be defrauded of his praise if this duty be neglected.

Thus

4. Without this, we lose the usefulness and benefit of all the works of God for us or others, which would be an unspeakable loss indeed to us. This is the food our faith lives upon in days of distress. From providences past, saints argue fresh and new ones to come. David, "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine," 1 Sam. xvii. 37. Thus Paul, "Who hath delivered, and in whom also we trust, that he will yet deliver," 2 Cor. i. 10. If these be forgotten, or not considered, the hands of faith hang down; "How is it that ye do not remember, neither consider?" Mat. xvi. 9. This is a topic from which the saints draw their arguments in prayer for new mercies; as Moses in Numb. xiv. 19, when he prays for continued or new pardons for the people, from what was past; "As thou hast forgiven them from Egypt until now." So the church in Isa. li, 9, 10. pleads for new providences, on the same ground that Moses pleaded for new pardon.

5. It is a vile slighting of God, not to observe what of

himself he manifests in his providences. For in all providences he comes nigh to us. He does so in his judgments, "I will come nigh to you in judgment," Mal. iii. 5. He comes nigh in mercies also, Psal. cxlv. 18, "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him." Yea, he is said to visit us by his providence, when he corrects, Hos. ix. 7; and when he saves and delivers, Psal. cvi. 4. These visitations of God preserve our spirits, Job x. 12; and it is a wonderful condescension in the great God to visit us so often, 66 every morning, and every moment." But not to take notice of it, is a vile and brutish contempt of God, Isa. i. 3; Zeph. iii. 2. You would not do so by a man for whom you have any respect. character of the wicked not to regard God's favors, Isa. xxvi. 10; or frowns, Jer. v. 3.

It is the

6. In a word, men can never order their addresses to God in prayer, suitably to their conditions, without due observation of his Providences. Your prayers are to be suitable to your conditions; sometimes we are called to praise, sometimes to humiliation. In the way of his judgments you are to wait for him, to prepare to meet him, Now your business is to turn away his anger, which you see approaching; and now you are called on to praise him for mercies received; but then you must first observe them. Thus you find the matter of David's psalms still varied, according to the providences that befell him; but an inobservant, heedless spirit, can never do this,

CHAPTER IV.

Directions for Reflecting on the Dispensations of Providence.

And

LET us next proceed to show in what manner we are to reflect on the performances of Providence for us. certainly it is not every slight and transient glance, nor every cold, unaffecting rehearsal of his providences towards you, that will pass with God for a discharge of this great duty. No, it is another manner of business than most men understand it to be. O that we were but

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