Sermons on Psalm 119, Sermons · Sermon 189
SERM. CLXXXIX.
PSALM CXIX. VER. 175.
Let my Soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy Iudgments help me.
THis Verse containeth three things.
I. Davids Petition for Life, Let my soul live.
II. His Argument from the End, and it shall praise thee.
III. The ground of his Hope and Confidence, And let thy Iudgments help me.
I. Davids Petition for Life; Let my soul live. My soul, that is, my self; the soul is put for the whole Man. The contrary, Iudges 16. 30. Let me dye with the Philistines, (said Sampson) Heb. Marg. Let my soul dye. His Life was sought after by the cruelty of his Enemies, and he desireth God to keep him alive.
II. His Argument from the End; And it shall praise thee. The Glorifying of God was his Aim: The fruit of all Gods Benefits is to profit us, and praise God. Now David professeth that all the days of his Life, he should live in the sense and acknowledgement of such a Benefit.
III. The ground of his Hope and Confidence, in the last Chuse; And let thy Iudgments help me. Our hopes of Help are grounded on Gods Judgment, whereby is meant his Word. There are Judgments Decreed, and Judgments Executed; Doctrinal Judgments, and Providential Judgments: That place intimateth the Distinction, Eccl. 8. 11. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the Sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. There is sententia lata & dilata. Here Gods Judgments are put for the sentence pronounced; and chiefly for one part of them, the Promises of Grace. As also Psal. 119. 43. I hope in thy Iudgmens. Promises are the Objects of Hope.
The Points are Two.
Doctrine. I. That we may beg the Continuation of Life, for the honouring of God.
Doctrine II. That Gods Iudgments are a great help and relief to his People, who desire to praise him, even when they are in danger of their lives.
For the First,
That we may beg the Continuation of Life, for the honouring of God.
This Point must be divided into two Parts.
I. That the Principal End for which a Man should Live and desire Life, is to Praise and Glorifie God.
II. That we may desire Life upon these Ends.
I. That the Principal End for which a Man should Live, and desire Life, is to Praise and Glorifie God. This appeareth,
1. By direct Scriptures; Rom. 14. 7, 8. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth unto himself, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we dye, we dye unto the Lord: whether we live therefore or dye, we are the Lords. And Phil. 1. 20, 21. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as alwayes, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or death: For to me to live is Christ, and to dye is gain.
2. By the Prayers of the Saints; as Psal. 119. 17. Deal bountifully with thy servant that I may live, &c. And Psal. 118. 17. I shall not dye, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. This was Davids Hope in the Prolongation of Life, that he should have farther opportunities to Honour God. But of this more at large, Verse the 17 of this Psalm.
3. By the Arguments urged in Prayer; Psal. 6. 5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks? And Psal. 30. 9. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the Pit? shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy Truth? Psal. 88. 11, 12, 13. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise, and praise thee, Selah? shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy Righteousness in the land of forgetfulness, &c. And Isa. 38. 18, 19. For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit, cannot hope for thy Truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, &c. A man may Praise God in Heaven, but from their Bodies no service is performed for along while in the other World; there is no such service there as here: As reducing the stray, instructing the ignorant, propagating Godliness to others who want it, by our Counsels and Example.
4. By Reasons.
(1.) Life is given us by God at first; Acts 17. 25. He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And Verse 28. In him we live, and move, and have our being. Now all things that come from God, must be used for him; Rom. 11. 36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things, &c. Angels, Men, Beasts, inanimate Creatures: he expecteth more from Men, than from Beasts; and from Saints, than from Men: Life was given for this End, and therefore not to be desired and loved but for this End, even Gods Glory. How grievous a thing is it to go out of the World, er'e we know why we came into the World! We live, not barely to eat and drink, as brute Beasts live, we live not to live as Heathens; The End of our Life is service, and Obedience to God; yea, and 'tis the Life of our Lives, the perfection of them. Well then, since we live by God, we must live to him.
(2.) 'Tis Preserved by him; 'Tis Gods Prerogative to kill, and make alive; to wound, and to heal: Deut. 32. 39. Our Life dependeth wholly of him. 'Tis said, Iob 12. 10. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. God hath a Dominion over all his Creatures, over every living thing, and man in especial, to dispose of them according to his Pleasure; not an hair of our heads can fall to the ground without him; Matth. 10. 29, 30. Our Life is wholly in his hands, we cannot add one Cubit to our Stature, make one hair white or black at our pleasure. Life cannot be taken away without him, how Casual so ever the stroke is: Exod. 21. 13. If a man lye not in wait for his brother, but God delivereth him into his hand, &c. Well then, in all Reason we should serve and glorifie him, who by his Providential influence continueth Life to us every Moment; Deut. 30. 20. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and obey his Voice, and cleave unto him for he is thy life, and the length of thy days. 'Tis a Charge against Belshazzar, Dan. 5. 23. God in whose hand thy Breath is, and whose are all thy wayes, hast that not glorified. We must not look upon our selves as made for our selves, but for God; he gave us life, and keepeth it, that, we may wholly be at his disposing; while we have it, we must have it for God, that he may be Glorified in the use of it: and when he cometh to take it away, he may be Glorified by our submitting to his Dominion, 'Tis a Presumption and incroachment on Gods Right to seek satisfaction to our selves in any State, without a subordination and subserviency to his Glory. He that giveth and preserveth Life, may dispose of it at his Pleasure: and our Life so continually preserved by him, ought to be devoted to him.
(3.) When he preserveth it in any eminent Danger; 'tis twice given. I say in such Preservations our life is 'twice received from God; in our Birth, and as spared in the Danger: And therefore in all Justice it ought to be dedicated to his service; 2 Cor. 1. 9, 10. But we had the sentence of death in our selves, that we should not trust in our selves, but in God which raiseth the dead; who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we … that he will yet deliver us. Many times there is but a step between us and death, as if God were putting the old Bond in suit, and executing the sentence of the Law upon us: Deliverance in such a Case, is called a Pardon and Remission; and even in the Case of the Wicked and Impenitent: Psal. 78. 38. He being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not. 'Twas but properly a Reprieve for the time, a forbearance of the Temporal Judgment, not executing the Sentence, or not destroying the Sinner presently; much more to a Godly Man: Isa. 38. 17. Loved my soul from the Grave. To be loved out of a danger, and loved out of a sickness, that is a blessed thing, a great Obligation upon us.
(4.) We must surrender our Life to him again; and therefore while we have it, we must employ it for him: Luk. 19. 23. into his hands we must resign our spirits; every one must give an account of himself to God, what Honour he hath by our Lives.
5. We shall never glorifie him in Heaven, unless we glorifie God on Earth first, or carefully serve him, Ioh. 17. 4, 5. I have glorified thee on earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do: And now, O Father, glorifie me, with thine own self, with the Glory which I had with thee before the world was; Here is our Trial, our present service; Saints Above are foreign: That's our Reward, to Glorifie God in Heaven.
II. That we may desire Life upon these Ends. As Psal. 39. 12. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence and be no more. A little time of Relaxation, to serve and glorifie thee e're I dye.
1. Long Life is in it self a Blessing taken into the Promises, though more frequently in the Old Testament than in the New. Of this, see more at large, Verse the 17.
2. 'Tis well sought, when this is our Scope; for then the Request is Lawful both for Matter and End: Iam. 4. 3. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your Lusts. Life should not be loved, but for further glorifying of God; for all our Natural Interests must be subordinate to our great End.
Well then, We may Lawfully pray for long Life with submission to the Will of God, and that Death may not come upon us suddenly, but according to the ordinary Course of Nature.
But How will this stand with the desires of Dissolution, and willingness to Depart, and to be with Christ? Which certainly all Christians that believe Eternity, should cherish in their Hearts?
To this I Answer,
I. By Concession.
II. By Correction.
I. By Concession. 'Tis True, We are to train up our selves in an expectation of our Dissolution, &c. See Verse the 17th. more fully. But,
II. By Correction. Though it be expedient to desire Death, yet we are not anxiously to long after it, till the time come. For,
First, They do not simply desire Death for its self, but as a means to enjoy those better things which follow after Death; Phil. 1. 23. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. 'Tis not our Duty to love Death, as Death, No; so 'tis an Evil which we must patiently bear, and may holily deprecate it; but because of the Good beyond it, 'Tis our Duty to love God, to long after Communion with him, and to be perfected in Holiness; had it not been an evil to be avoided and dreaded, Christ had never prayed against it. And 2 Cor. 5. 4. For we that are in this Tabernable do groan, being burthened, not for that we would be uncloathed, but cloathed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of Life. It were an unnatural desire, to desire Death, as Death. A Creature cannot desire its own dedestruction; Jesus Christ before he manifested his submission, did first manifest the innocent desires of Nature; Father let the Cup pass. The separation of the soul from the Body, and the Bodies remaining under Corruption, is in it self Evil, and the fruit of sin; Rom. 5. 12, And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Grace is not given to Reconcile us to Corruption, or to make Death, as Death, desirable, or to cross the inclinations of innocent Nature. But,
2. Upon these Terms, Death is sweetned to them, and they readily submit to it. Though it be not to be desired as it is Death, yet Heaven and Eternal Happiness beyond it, is still matter of Desire to us. Death is Gods Threatning; and we are not Threatned with Benefits, but Evils; and Evils of Punishment are not to be desired, but chearfully submitted unto for an higher End. Nature abhorreth and feareth Death, but yet Grace desireth Glory. The soul is loth to part with the body, but yet 'tis far lother to miss Christ, and be without him. A man is loth to lose a Leg or an Arm, yet to preserve the whole Body, he is contented to part with it. In short, the soul is bound to the body, with a double band, the one Natural, the other Voluntary by Love and Affection, desiring and seeking its welfare. The Voluntary bond is governed and ordered by Religion, till the Natural bond be loosed, either in the ordinary Course of Nature, or at the Will of God.
3. There are certain Circumstances in Death, which do invite us to ask longer Life in order to this End; As,
1. Gods Children would not have the occasion of well-doing or self-denying Obedience taken from them too soon; so great is their love and desire of Gratitude to God, that they would yet longer Praise God in this self-denying way, Death would shut their mouths.
2. They would not be taken away in a Cloud, or before they see the issue of some present Trials on the Church or them; they have no Will to dye till the sense of Wrath be removed: Psal. 27. 13. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the Living.
3. They may have some design afoot for God, and therefore are desirous of a little more time to attain this design, therefore pray to God to prolong their Lives a while, Rom. 15. 31, 32. Now I heseech you Brethren for the Lord Iesus Christs sake, and for the Love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your Prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea: and that my service which I have done for Jerusalem may be accepted of the Saints, that I may come unto you with joy by the VVill of God, and may with you be refreshed.
4. To breed up their Children in the Nurture of the Lord, and that they may be usefull in their Familyes, as Iacob desired to see Ioseph.
5. We may beg it that we may not fall into the Hands of Men, lose our Life by Murtherers; Psal. 31. 15. My Times are in thy Hand, deliver me from the hand of mine Enemyes, and from them that persecute me. The Dispensation of all Mercies, Comforts, Troubles, Life, Death, are in Gods Hand; not in Mans Power: therefore we pray that it may rest there; that we may not be given up to the Will of those that hate us.
All These Desires have a respect to the Glory of God, and if conceived with submission and trust, that God will do what is for the best, they are all lawful.
Use of all, 1. Exhortation it presseth you,
1. To Consecrate your selves to God. Rom. 12. 1. I beseech you therefore Brethren, by the Mercies of God, that ye present your Bodies a Living Sacrifice, Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your Reasonable Service. Under the Law the Bodyes of Beasts were to be slain, yours is a Living Sacrifice; both were set apart for God, the one to dye, the other to live to God.
2. Having given up your selves to God, use your selves for God; there will be an enquiry what share God hath in your Time. Acts. 27. 23. The God whose I am, and whom I serve.
3. Praise the Lord, with Heart, Mouth, and Life; a Christians Conversation is nothing but an Hymn to God; 1 Pet. 2. 9. But ye are a Chosen Generation, a Royal Priest-hood, a Holy Nation, a Peculiar People; that ye should shew forth the praises of him; who hath called you out of darkness, into his Marvellous Light. The Virtues of God his Attributes.
4. When …er you pray for continuance of Life in any danger or distress, either for your self or others, propound this as the end, not so much for our own Satisfaction, as the honour of God: A Christian is not content to have the use of the benefit to himself alone.
1. For Self; Every man desireth Life; the whole World, would all and every of them put this request to God; Let my Soul live: but very few consider why they should live. Some desire Life only to please the flesh, and that they may enjoy the Delights of the present World, A Brutish wish! A Heathen could say, He doth not deserve the name of a Man, qui unam diem velit esse in voluptate, &c. Certainly not of a Christian, that would desire Life merely to enjoy the Delights of the flesh! These would not leave their Hogs Trough to go home to their Father. Some there are, who desire Life to see their Children well bestowed, or to free their Estate from incumbrance; and are loth to part from their Natural Relations, Wife, Children, Friends: This is a natural Respect, and should be subordinate to an higher End. Though this Desire, keeping its place, may be Lawful; yet out of its place, sinful: We use to profess, Psal. 73. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
In short, two Motives I will urge, why the Glory of God should have the chief Respect in our Affections.
1. The benefit it giveth; Hope of prolonging Life, if this desire be true and real. And it giveth certain Assurance of not perishing for ever. The one it doth, for God doth all things with respect to his Glory. Psal. 119. 94. The other also, for he will glorifie those, that glorifie him.
2. This is the Temper of a sincere Christian, surely to a Believer. 'Tis a piece of Self-denial, to be kept out of Heaven longer: Therefore it must be sweetned with some valuable Compensation; something there must be to calm the Mind, and contentedly to spare the enjoyment of it for a while: Now next to the good pleasure of God, which is the Reason of Reasons, there is some Benefit we pitch upon, there is nothing worthy to be compared but our service: If God may have Glory, if our Lives may do good, a Gracious heart must be satisfied with Gracious Reasons.
2. For others. If we make it our Request, we must have the same Aims in this Case, that the Faith and Grace of others may benefit them, Mar. 2. 5. When Iesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsie, thy sins be forgiven thee. Now in such Requests bare natural Reasons should not move us, but that God may not loose an Instrument of his Glory; and that his Power and Providence may be more seen in the World in the Recovery. 'Tis good to beg of God, for God. Psal. 115. 1. Not unto us, but unto thy Name give glory. It should be accounted as a Mercy unto us, Phil. 2. 27. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death, but God had mercy on him: and not on him onelyonly, but on me also, least I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
5. This End is known by the Use in Having, and submission in asking.
(1.) The use in Having; how we use a Mercy when we have it, if we do indeed live to the Glory of God, and the rather for these Experiences.
(2.) Submission in Asking; whether we sight, or are Crowned; Work, or receive our Reward: For God is the best Judge of what is most for his own Glory.
Use. II. Is Direction; but of this, See Verse the 17.
I come now to the second Point.
Doctrine. II. That Gods Iudgments are a great help and relief to his People, who desire to praise him, even when they are in danger of their lives.
Here I shall shew,
I. What are Gods Judgments?
II. How they are an Help?
I. What is the meaning of Misphalim, Judgements here?
1. God Governeth the World, that is called Judgement; Psal. 9. 7. 8. He hath prepared his Throne for Iudgment, he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister Iudgement in uprightness. So Ioh. 5. 22. When the Government is put into the hands of Christ, 'tis said, For the Father judgeth no man: but hath committed all Iudgment unto the Son.
2. God governeth the World according to this Word; there is his Judgment concerning Things and Persons, stating what is good and evil: The Reward of the one, and Punishment of the other; Psal. 19. 9. The Iudgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. The Precept is the Rule of our Duty, the sanction of Gods Process. Therefore in Scripture, the Punishments of the wicked, are sometimes called Judgements; so also the Rewards of the Righteous, as ver. 43. of this Psalm. The Word pronounceth concerning every mans Condition. His delivering of the Righteous, Psal. 78. 8, 9. Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven, the Lord arose to judgment to save the people of the earth. The moderation of their Affliction, Ier. 10. 24. Correct me but with Iudgment; that is, his Merciful Judgment, according to the New Covenant Dispensations. Punishment of Sins, that they are Judgments, we are sufficiently convinced of, and sensible of it. Well then, he prayeth that That of the Word may be executed either, 1. By breaking his Enemies, and giving them the Merit of their doings: or, 2. That his Promises may be accomplished, by sending him help and relief in his Troubles.
3. This Government is to be observed, for it confirmeth the Word; Heb. 2. 2. For if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect, &c. And he punisheth them as the Congregation have heard. Carnal men attribute all to Chance, but Gods People observe his Word.
II. Now these Judgments must needs be for an help to Gods People, because the Word of God speaketh more good to them, than it doth to others: and if God judgeth according to his Word, they may conclude, that his Children are never finally forsaken, nor will their Enemies escape unpunished. There will be an accomplishment of Promises, and an execution of Threatnings, which is a Comfort to them that walk uprightly.
1. In the General Case 'tis a Relief to us, for God hath a provident care over all those that desire to honour and glorifie him, their hopes will not altogether be frustrate, keep his Commandments, and it will turn to good: They shall have seasonable preservation according to Gods promised and wonted Mercies.
2. In the particular Case of Contests and Conflicts with the Wicked, he will punish Enemies, and Reward the Faithful: This is the Tenour of the Word. And to this Word of God he ascribed his Deliverance. Not this power, or this means, but thy Judgments help me. God doth not deceive us with vain Promises, when matters are strangely carried on in the World, Here is our Comfort.