Sermons and Discourses Volume 4, Sermon 10 – Title page 12
That God is the only Happineſs of Man.
PSALM Lxxiij.25.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I deſire beſides thee.
THE deſign of this Pſalm is to vindicate the Goodneſs and Juſtice of the Divine Providence, notwithſtanding the proſperous eſtate of the wicked and the afflicted condition of good men many times in this World. And in the firſt place, the Pſalmiſt, whoever he was, whether David or Aſaph, lays down this for a moſt certain Truth, that God is good to good men:Ver. 1. Of a truth God is good to Iſrael, to ſuch as are of a clean heart.
And yet for all this he tells us, that at ſome times he was under no ſmall temptation to queſtion the truth of this Principle, when he beheld the promiſcuous diſpenſation of things here below; that the wicked are often proſperous, and good men expoſed to great calamities in this life; as if God either neglected humane affairs, or had a greater kindneſs for the workers of iniquity than for pious and good men: As for me, my foot had well-nigh ſlipp'd, Ver. 2.for I was envious at the fooliſh, when I ſaw the proſperity of the wicked.
This, he ſays, was a very great ſlumbling-block to good men, and tempted them to doubt of the Providence of God: Therefore his People return hither, Ver. 10.and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them; and they ſay, Doth God know, and is there knowledge in the moſt High? This Sentence is ſomewhat obſcurely rendred in our Tranſlation, ſo as to make the ſence of it difficult; which is plainly this: Therefore his people return hither; that is, therefore good men come to this, in the greatneſs of their affliction, and in the bitterneſs of their ſoul, to queſtion God's knowledge and care of humane affairs.
Behold, ſay they,Ver. 12. theſe are the ungodly, and yet they are the proſperous in the world, they increaſe in riches: To what purpoſe then is it for any man to be Religious and Vertuous? Verily, Ver. 13.I have cleanſed my heart in vain, and waſhed my hands in innocency: In vain have I endeavoured after purity of heart and innocency of life, ſince ſo little good comes of it; nay, ſo far from that, that I have been in continual trouble and affliction:Ver. 14. All the day long have I been plagued, and chaſtned every morning.
Such thoughts as theſe often came into his mind, and gave him great trouble and diſquiet: But he preſently corrects himſelf: If I ſay I will ſpeak thus, Ver. 15.I ſhould offend againſt the generation of thy Children; that is, I ſhould go againſt the ſenſe of all pious and good men, who have always believed the Providence of God notwithſtanding this Objection: Which at laſt he tells us he had raiſed on purpoſe to try if he could find the ſolution of it: I thought to know this, Ver. 16.which was grievous in mine eyes: And then he reſolves all into the unſearchable Wiſdom of the Divine Providence, which if we fully underſtood from firſt to laſt, we ſhould ſee good reaſon to be ſatisfied with the equity of it: When I go into the Sanctuary of God, Ver. 17, 18.then ſhall I underſtand the end of theſe men? How thou didſt ſet them in ſlippery places, &c. This ſatisfied him, that when-ever the ſecret deſign of God's Providence ſhould be unfolded, whether in this World or the other, how ſtrange and croſs ſoever things might ſeem to be at preſent, yet in the iſſue and concluſion it would appear, that neither are bad men ſo happy, nor good men ſo miſerable, as at preſent they may ſeem to be.
So that upon a full debate of this matter, the Pſalmiſt concludes, that theſe Objections againſt Providence do ſpring from our ignorance, and ſhort and imperfect view of things; whereas if we ſaw the whole deſign from beginning to end, it would appear to be very reaſonable and regular. Thus my heart was grieved; ſo fooliſh was I and ignorant, Ver. 21.and as a beaſt before thee. And in regard to himſelf, he tells us, that he ſaw great reaſon to acknowledge God's tender care over him in particular, and that he could find no ſecurity or comfort for himſelf, but in God alone:Ver. 23. Nevertheleſs I am continually with thee; thou haſt holden me by thy right hand: Thou ſhalt guide me with thy counſel, and afterwards receive me to glory; as if he had ſaid, I am ſenſible of thy conſtant preſence with me, and care of me; and do entirely depend upon thy guidance and direction, not doubting but that my preſent troubles and afflictions will have a happy and glorious iſſue.
And at laſt he breaks out into a kind of exultation and triumph for the mighty conſolation which he found in the firm belief of the Being and Providence of God, as the great ſtay and ſupport of his Soul in the worſt condition that could befall him; in the words of the Text, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I deſire beſides thee. If a man were to chuſe a happineſs for himſelf, and were to ranſack Heaven and Earth for it, after all his ſearch and enquiry he would at laſt fix upon God as the chief happineſs of man, and the true and only reſt and center of our Souls. This then is the plain meaning of the Text, That nothing in the world but God can make man happy: Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I deſire beſides thee.
That Man of himſelf is not ſufficient for his own happineſs, is evident upon many accounts: Becauſe he is liable to ſo many evils and calamities, which he can neither prevent, nor remedy: He is full of wants which he cannot ſupply; compaſſed about with infirmities which he can only complain of, but is not able to redreſs: He is obnoxious to dangers which he muſt always fear, becauſe he can never ſufficiently provide againſt them.
Conſider Man by himſelf, and from under the conduct and protection of a ſuperior and more powerful Being, and he is in a moſt diſconſolate and forlorn condition: Secure of nothing that he enjoys, and liable to be diſappointed of every thing that he hopes for: He is apt to grieve for what he cannot help, and perhaps the juſteſt cauſe of his grief is that he cannot help it; for if he could, inſtead of grieving for it, he would help it: He cannot refrain from deſiring a great many things which he would fain have, but is never likely to obtain, becauſe they are out of his power; and it troubles him both that they are ſo, and that he cannot help his being troubled at it.
Thus man walketh in a vain ſhew, and diſquieteth himſelf in vain; courting happineſs in a thouſand ſhapes, and the faſter he follows it, the ſwifter it flies from him. Almoſt every thing promiſeth happineſs to us at a diſtance, ſuch a ſtep of Honour, ſuch a pitch of Eſtate, ſuch a Fortune or Match for a Child: But when we come nearer to it, either we fall ſhort of it, or it falls ſhort of our expectation; and it is hard to ſay which of theſe is the greateſt diſappointment. Our hopes are uſually bigger than enjoyment can ſatisfie, and an evil long fear'd, beſides that it may never come, is many times more painful and troubleſome than the evil it ſelf when it comes.
In a word, man is born to trouble as the ſparks fly upwards. He comes into the world naked and unarm'd, and from himſelf more deſtitute of the natural means of his ſecurity and ſupport than any other Creature whatſoever, as it were on purpoſe to ſhew that he is more peculiarly the care of a Superior Providence: And as man, of all the Creatures of this lower World, is only made to own and acknowledge a Deity; ſo God in great Wiſdom hath ſo order'd things, that none of the other Creatures ſhould have ſo much need of Him, and ſo much reaſon to acknowledge their neceſſary dependance upon him. So that the words of David are the very ſenſe and voice of Nature, declaring to us that Mankind is born into the World upon terms of greater dependence upon the Providence of God than other Creatures: Thou art he, ſays David there to God,Pſal. 22.9, 10, 11. that tookeſt me out of the womb, thou madeſt me to hope, or thou didſt keep me in ſafety, when I was upon my mother's breaſts: I was caſt upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly: Be not far from me, for trouble is near: Trouble is always near to us, and therefore it is happy for us that God is never far from any of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.
And when we are grown up, we are liable to a great many miſchiefs and dangers, every moment of our lives; and, without the Providence of God, continually inſecure not only of the good things of this life, but even of life it ſelf: So that when we come to be men, we cannot but wonder how ever we arriv'd at that ſtate, and how we have continued in it ſo long, conſidering the infinite difficulties and dangers which have continually attended us: That in running the gantlope of a long life, when ſo many hands have been lifted up againſt us, and ſo many ſtrokes levell'd at us, we have eſcaped ſo free, and with ſo few marks and ſcars upon us: That when we are beſieged with ſo many dangers, and ſo many arrows of death are perpetually flying about us, to which we do ſo many ways lie open, we ſhould yet hold out twenty, forty, ſixty years, and ſome of us perhaps longer, and do ſtill ſtand at the mark untouch'd, at leaſt not dangerouſly wounded by any of them: And conſidering likewiſe this fearful and wonderful frame of a humane Body, this infinitely complicated Engine; in which, to the due performance of the ſeveral functions and offices of life, ſo many ſtrings and ſprings, ſo many receptacles and channels are neceſſary, and all in their right frame and order; and in which, beſides the infinite imperceptible and ſecret ways of mortality, there are ſo many ſluces and flood-gates to let Death in and Life out, that it is next to a miracle, though we take but little notice of it, that every one of us did not die every day ſince we were born▪ I ſay, conſidering the nice and curious frame of our Bodies, and the innumerable contingencies and hazards of humane Life, which is ſet in ſo ſlippery a place, that we ſtill continue in the land of the living, we cannot aſcribe to any thing but the watchful Providence of Almighty God, who holds our ſoul in life, and ſuffers not our foot to be moved.
To the ſame merciful Providence of God we owe, that whilſt we continue in life we have any comfortable poſſeſſion and enjoyment of our ſelves and of that which makes us men, I mean our Reaſon and Underſtanding: That our Imagination is not let looſe upon us, to haunt and torment us with melancholick freaks and fears: That we are not deliver'd up to the horrors of a gloomy and guilty mind: That every day we do not fall into frenzy and diſtraction, which next to wickedneſs and vice is the ſoreſt calamity, and ſaddeſt diſguiſe of humane Nature: I ſay, next to wickedneſs and vice, which is a wilful frenzy, a madneſs not from misfortune but from choice; whereas the other proceeds from natural and neceſſary cauſes, ſuch as are in a great meaſure out of our power; ſo that we are perpetually liable to it, from any ſecret and ſudden diſorder of the Brain, from the violence of a Diſeaſe, or the vehement tranſport of any Paſſion.
Now if things were under no government, what could hinder ſo many probable evils from breaking in upon us, and from treading upon the heels of one another? like the calamities of Job, when the hedge which God had ſet about him and all that he had, was broken down and removed.
So that if there were no God to take care of us, we could be ſecure of no ſort, no degree of happineſs in this World; no not for one moment: And there would be no other World for us to be happy in, and to make amends to us for all the fears and dangers, all the troubles and calamities of this preſent life: For God and another World ſtand and fall together: Without Him there can be no Life after this; and if our hopes of happineſs were only in this Life, Man of all other Beings in this lower World would certainly be the moſt miſerable.
I cannot ſay that all the Evils which I have mentioned would happen to all, if the Providence of God did not rule the World; but that every man would be in danger of them all, and have nothing to ſupport and comfort him againſt the fear of that danger. For the Nature of Man, conſider'd by it ſelf, is plainly inſufficient for its own happineſs; ſo that we muſt neceſſarily look abroad, and ſeek for it ſomewhere elſe: And who can ſhew us that good that is equal to all the wants and neceſſities, all the capacities and deſires, all the fears and hopes of humane Nature? Whatſoever can anſwer all theſe, muſt have theſe following Properties:
Firſt, It muſt be an All-ſufficient good.
Secondly, It muſt be perfect goodneſs.
Thirdly, It muſt be firm and unchangeable in it ſelf.
Fourthly, It muſt be ſuch a good as none can deprive us of, and take away from us.
Fifthly, It muſt be eternal.
Sixthly, It muſt be able to ſupport and comfort us in every condition, and under all the accidents and adverſities of humane Life.
Laſtly, It muſt be ſuch a good as can give perfect reſt and tranquillity to our minds.
Nothing that is ſhort of all this can make us happy: And no Creature, no not the whole Creation, can pretend to be all this to us. All theſe Properties meet only in God, who is the perfect and ſupreme Good; as I ſhall endeavour, in the following Diſcourſe, more particularly to ſhew; and conſequently, That God is the only happineſs of Man.
Firſt, God is an All-ſufficient Good. And this does import two things; Wiſdom to contrive our happineſs, and Power to effect it; for neither of theſe without the other is ſufficient, and both theſe in the higheſt and moſt eminent degree are in God.
He is infinitely Wiſe to deſign and contrive our happineſs; becauſe he knows what Happineſs is, and how to frame us ſo as to be capable of the happineſs he deſigns for us; and how to order and diſpoſe all other things ſo, as that they ſhall be no hindrance and impediment to it.
He perfectly underſtands all the poſſibilities of things, and how to fit means to any end. He knows all our wants, and how to ſupply them; all our hopes and deſires, and how to ſatisfie them: He fore-ſees all the dangers and evils which threaten us, and knows how to prevent or divert them, if he think fit; or if he permit them to come, how to ſupport us under them, or to deliver us out of them, or to turn them to our greater benefit and advantage in the laſt iſſue and reſult of things.
His Wiſdom cannot be ſurprized by any accident which he did not fore-ſee, and which he is not ſufficiently provided againſt. The wiſdom of men is but ſhort and imperfect, and liable to infinite errors and miſtakes: In many caſes men know not what is ſafeſt and beſt for them, nor whether this or that will conduce moſt to their happineſs: Nay it often happens that thoſe very means which the wiſeſt men chuſe for their ſecurity do prove the occaſions of their ruine, and they are thrown down by thoſe very ways whereby they thought to raiſe and to eſtabliſh themſelves.
Eſpecially if God breathe upon the Counſels of men, how are their deſigns blaſted? How are they infatuated and foil'd in their deepeſt contrivances, and ſnared in the work of their own hands? When it is of the Lord, the wiſdom of the greateſt Politicians is turned into fooliſhneſs: For there is no wiſdom, nor underſtanding, nor counſel againſt the Lord.
But the Divine Wiſdom, being founded upon infinite knowledge, is thereby ſecur'd againſt all poſſibility of error and miſtake. God perfectly knows the natures and the powers of all his Creatures, and therefore can never be miſtaken in the uſe and application of them to any of his purpoſes: So that none of his deſigns of love and mercy to the Sons of men can miſcarry for want of good contrivance, or wiſe conduct.
And as he is perfectly wiſe to contrive our happineſs, ſo is he infinitely powerful to effect it, and to remove out of the way all the obſtacles and impediments of it. We may underſtand many times what would conduce to our happineſs, but may not be able to compaſs it; but nothing is out of the reach of Omnipotency: Many things are difficult to us, but nothing is too hard for God: Many things are impoſſible with us, but with God all things are poſſible. For He is the Fountain and Original of all Power, from whom it is deriv'd and upon whom it depends, and to whom it is perfectly ſubject and ſubordinate: He can do all things at once, and in an inſtant, and with the greateſt eaſe; and no created Power can put any difficulty in his way, much leſs make any effectual reſiſtance; becauſe Omnipotency can check, and countermand, and bear down before it all other Powers.
So that if God be on our ſide, who can be againſt us? We may ſafely commit our Souls into his hands, for he is able to keep that which is committed to him. He can give us all good things, and deliver us from all evil, for his is the Kingdom and the glorious Power. Though all Creatures ſhould fail us, we may rely upon God, and live upon his All-ſufficiency for our ſupply; and may ſay with the Prophet, Though the Fig-tree ſhould not bloſſom, neither Fruit be in the Vine; though the labour of the Olive ſhould fail, and the Fields ſhould yield no meat; though the Flock ſhould be cut off from the Fold, and there ſhould be no Herd in the Stalls; yet would I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my Salvation.
Secondly, As God is an All-ſufficient Good, ſo He is perfect Goodneſs. He is willing to communicate happineſs to us, and to employ his Power and Wiſdom for our good. He made us that he might make us happy, and nothing can hinder us from being ſo but our ſelves. Such is his goodneſs, that he would have all men to be ſaved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth: And when we have provoked him by our ſins, he is long-ſuffering to us-ward, not willing that any ſhould periſh, but that all ſhould come to repentance: For he delighteth not in the death of a ſinner, but rather that he ſhould turn from his wickedneſs and live. So that if any of us be miſerable, it is our own choice; if we periſh, our deſtruction is of our ſelves: For as the Wiſeman, in one of the Apocryphal Books, ſays excellently, God made not death, neither hath he pleaſure in the deſtruction of the living: But men ſeek death in the error of their life, and pull deſtruction upon themſelves, with the works of their own hands.
So great is the goodneſs of God to mankind, that he hath omitted nothing that is neceſſary to our happineſs. He deſign'd it for us at firſt, and to that end he hath endowed us with Powers and Faculties whereby we are capable of knowing, and loving, and obeying, and enjoying Him the chief Good. And when we had forfeited all this by the wilful tranſgreſſion and diſobedience of the firſt Parents of mankind, and were miſerably bruiſed and maimed by their fall, God of his infinite mercy was pleas'd to reſtore us to a new capacity of happineſs, by ſending his only Son to ſuffer in our nature, and in our ſtead; and thereby to become a Propitiation for the ſins of the whole World, and the Author of eternal Salvation to them that believe and obey him. And he hath likewiſe promiſed to give us his Holy Spirit, to enable us to that Faith and Obedience which the Goſpel requires of us, as the neceſſary conditions of our eternal Salvation.
Thirdly, God is alſo a firm and unchangeable Good. Notwithſtanding his infinite Wiſdom, and Power, and Goodneſs, we might be miſerable if God were mutable. For that cannot be a happineſs which depends upon uncertainties, and perhaps one of the greateſt aggravations of miſery is to fall from happineſs, to have been once happy and afterwards to ceaſe to be ſo: And that would unavoidably happen to us, if the cauſe of our happineſs could change, and the foundation of it be removed. If God could be otherwiſe than powerful, and wiſe, and good, all our hopes of happineſs would be ſhaken, and would fall to the ground. But the Divine nature is not ſubject to any change: As he is the Father of lights, and the Author of every good and perfect gift, ſo with him is no variableneſs, neither ſhadow of turning. All the things of this World are mutable, and for that reaſon, had they no other imperfection belonging to them, cannot make us happy.
Fourthly, God is ſuch a good as none can deprive us of and take away from us. If the things of this World were unchangeable in their nature, and not liable to any decay, yet they cannot make us happy; becauſe we may be cheated of them by fraud, or robb'd of them by violence: But God cannot be taken from us. Nothing but our Sins can part God and us: Who ſhall ſeparate us, Rom. 8.35.ſaith the Apoſtle, from the love of God? ſhall tribulation, or diſtreſs, or perſecution, or famine, or nakedneſs, or peril, or ſword? We may be ſtripp'd of all our worldly Comforts and Enjoyments, by the violence of men; but none of all theſe can ſeparate us from God: I am perſuaded, v. 38, 39.as the Apoſtle goes on with great triumph, that neither death nor life; nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers; nor heighth, nor depth, nor things preſent, nor things to come, nor any other Creature, ſhall be able to ſeparate us from the love of God which is in Chriſt Jeſus, our Lord. Nor any other Creature: Here is a ſufficient induction of particulars, and nothing left out of this Catalogue but one, and that is Sin, which is none of God's Creatures, but our own: This indeed deliberately conſented to, and wilfully continued in, will finally part God and us, and for ever hinder us from being happy.
But if we be careful to avoid this, which only can ſeparate between God and us, nothing can deprive us of Him: The aids and influences of his Grace none can intercept and hinder: the joys and comforts of his Holy Spirit none can take from us: All other things may leave us and forſake us: We may be debarr'd of our beſt friends, and baniſh'd from all our acquaintance; but men can ſend us no whither from the preſence of God: Our Communication with Heaven cannot be prevented or interrupted. Our Prayers and our Souls will always find the way thither from the uttermoſt parts of the Earth.
Fifthly, God is an eternal God: And nothing but what is ſo can make us happy. Man having an immortal Spirit, and being deſign'd for an endleſs duration, muſt have a happineſs proportionable: For which reaſon nothing in this World can make us happy, becauſe we ſhall abide and remain after it: When a very few years are paſt and gone, and much ſooner for any thing we know, all the things of this World will leave us, or elſe we ſhall be taken away from them, But God is from everlaſting to everlaſting: He is the ſame, and his years fail not: Therefore well might David fix his happineſs upon God alone, and ſay, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I deſire beſides thee: When my heart faileth, and my ſtrength faileth, God is the ſtrength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Sixthly, God is able to ſupport and comfort us, in every condition, and under all the accidents and adverſities of humane Life. Outward afflictions may hurt our Body, but they cannot reach our Soul; and ſo long as that remains unwounded, the ſpirit of a man can bear his infirmities. God is intimate to our Souls, and hath ſecret ways whereby to convey the joys and comforts of his Holy Spirit into our Hearts, under the bittereſt afflictions and ſharpeſt ſufferings: He can enable us by his Grace to poſſeſs our ſouls in patience, when all other things are taken from us: When there is nothing but trouble about us, He can give us peace and joy in believing: When we are perſecuted, afflicted, and tormented, He can give us that raviſhing ſight of the Glories of another World, that ſtedfaſt aſſurance of a future Bleſſedneſs, as ſhall quite extinguiſh all ſenſe of preſent ſufferings: How did many of the primitive Chriſtian Martyrs, in the midſt of their torments, and under the very pangs of death rejoice in the hope of the glory of God?
There are none of us but may happen to fall into thoſe circumſtances of danger, and of bodily pains and ſufferings, as to have no hopes of relief and comfort but from God; none in all the World to truſt to but Him only: And in the greateſt Evils that can befall us in this life, He is a ſure refuge and ſanctuary; and to repeat the words of the Pſalmiſt after the Text, When our heart fails, and our ſtrength fails, God is the ſtrength of our hearts, and our portion for ever.
Now what would any of us do in ſuch a Caſe, if it were not for God? Humane nature is liable to deſperate ſtraits and exigencies: And he is not happy who is not provided againſt the worſt that may happen. It is ſad to be reduced to ſuch a condition, as to be deſtitute of all comfort and hope: And yet men may be brought to that extremity, that if it were not for God they would not know which way to turn themſelves, or how to entertain their thoughts with any comfortable conſiderations under their preſent anguiſh.
All men naturally reſort to God in extremity, and cry out to him for help: Even the moſt profane and Atheiſtical, when they are deſtitute of all other comfort, will run to God, and take hold of him, and cling about him. But God hath no pleaſure in fools; in thoſe who neglect and deſpiſe him in their proſperity, though they owe that alſo entirely to him; but when the evil day comes, then they lay hold of him as their only refuge: When all things go well with them, God is not in all their thoughts; but in their affliction they will ſeek him early: Then they will cry, Lord, Lord; but he will ſay to them in that day, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, for I know you not.
Here will be the great unhappineſs of ſuch perſons, that God will then appear terrible to them, ſo as they ſhall not be able, when they look up to him, to abide his frowns: And at the ſame time that they are forc'd to acknowledge him, and to ſupplicate to him for mercy and forgiveneſs, they ſhall be ready to deſpair of it: Then, thoſe terrible threatnings of God's Word will come to their minds; Becauſe I called, and ye refuſed; I ſtretched out my hand, Prov. 1.24, 25, &c.and no man regarded: But ye ſet at nought all my counſel, and would have none of my reproof; I alſo will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as deſolation, and your deſtruction cometh as a whirlwind; when diſtreſs and anguiſh cometh upon you: Then ſhall they call upon me, but I will not anſwer; they ſhall ſeek me early, but they ſhall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not chuſe the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counſel, they deſpiſed all my reproof: Therefore ſhall they eat the fruit of their own ways, and be filled with their own devices: The eaſe of the ſimple ſhall ſlay them, and the proſperity of fools ſhall deſtroy them. To which I will add that terrible Paſſage in the Prophet, concerning the perverſe and obſtinate Jews, They are a People of no underſtanding, Iſa. 27.11.therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will ſhew them no favour. And men are miſerable Creatures indeed, when God their Maker doth abandon them, and hath ſo far hardened his heart againſt them, that he can have no pity and compaſſion for them.
Seventhly and Laſtly, Which is conſequent upon all the reſt, God is ſuch a Good as can give perfect reſt and tranquillity to our minds. And that which cannot do this, though it had all the Properties before mentioned, cannot make us happy. For he is not happy who does not think himſelf ſo, what-ever cauſe he may have to think ſo. Now what in reaſon can give us diſquiet, if we do firmly believe that there is a God, and that his Providence rules and governs all things for the beſt; and that God is all that to good Men which hath now been ſaid of Him? Why ſhould not our minds be in perfect repoſe, when we are ſecure of the chief Good, and have found out that which can make us happy, and is willing to make us ſo, if we be not wanting to our ſelves, and by our wilful obſtinacy and rebellion againſt him do not oppoſe and fruſtrate this deſign?
If a conſiderate Man were permitted to his own choice, to wiſh the greateſt good to himſelf that he could poſſibly deviſe; after he had ſearched Heaven and Earth, the reſult of all his wiſhes would be that there were juſt ſuch a Being as we muſt neceſſarily conceive God to be: Nor would he chuſe any other Friend or Benefactor; any other Protector for himſelf or Governor for the whole World, than infinite Power conducted and managed by infinite Wiſdom and Goodneſs; which is the true Notion of a God: After all his enquiry he would come to the Pſalmiſt's concluſion here in the Text, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I deſire beſides thee.
Vain Man is apt to ſeek for happineſs elſewhere, but this proceeds from want of due conſideration: For when all things are well weigh'd, and all accounts rightly caſt up and adjuſted, we ſhall at laſt ſettle in David's reſolution of that great Queſtion, What is the chief Good of man? Pſal. 4.6, 7, 8.There be many, ſays he, that ſay, Who will ſhew us any good? That is, Men are generally inquiſitive after happineſs, but greatly divided in their Opinions about it: Moſt men place it in the preſent enjoyments of this World, but David for his part pitches upon God, in whom he was fully convinc'd that the happineſs of Man does conſiſt: There be many that ſay, Who will ſhew us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us: Thou haſt put gladneſs in my heart, more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increaſed. The great joy of the men of this World is in a plentiful Harveſt, and the abundance of the good things of this life: But David had found that which gave more joy and gladneſs to his heart, the favour of God and the light of his countenance: This gave perfect reſt and tranquillity to his mind, ſo that he needed not to enquire any further: For ſo it follows in the next words, I will both lay me down in peace, and reſt; for thou, Lord, only makeſt me to dwell in ſafety: The Hebrew word ſignifies confidence or ſecurity: Here, and no-where elſe, his mind found reſt, and was in perfect eaſe and ſecurity.
I ſhall now only make two or three Inferences from this Diſcourſe, and ſo conclude.
Firſt, This plainly ſhews us the great unreaſonableneſs and folly of Atheiſm, which would baniſh the belief of God and his Providence out of the World: Which as it is moſt impious in reſpect of God, ſo is it moſt malicious to Men; becauſe it ſtrikes at the very foundation of our happineſs, and perfectly undermines it. For if there were no God, Man would evidently be the moſt unhappy of all other Beings here below; becauſe his unhappineſs would be laid in the very frame of his nature, in that which diſtinguiſhes him from all other Beings below him, I mean in his Reaſon and Underſtanding: And he would be ſo much more miſerable than the Beaſts, by how much he hath a farther reach, and a larger proſpect of future evils; a quicker apprehenſion, and a deeper and more laſting reſentment of them.
So that if any man could ſee reaſon to ſtagger his belief of a God, or of his Providence, as I am ſure there is infinite reaſon to the contrary; yet the belief of theſe things is ſo much for the intereſt, and comfort, and happineſs of Mankind, that a Wiſe man would be heartily troubled to part with a Principle ſo favourable to his quiet, and that does ſo exactly anſwer all the natural deſires and hopes and fears of Men, and is ſo equally calculated both for our comfort in this World, and for our happineſs in the other. For when a man's thoughts have ranged and wandered as far as they can, his mind can find no reſt, no probable foundation of happineſs but God only; no other reaſonable, no nor tolerable Hypotheſis and Scheme of things for a Wiſe man to rely upon, and to live and die by. For no other Principle but this, firmly believed, and truly lived up to by an anſwerable practice, was ever able to ſupport the generality of Mankind, and to miniſter true conſolation to them under the calamities of life, and the pangs of death.
And if there were not ſomething real in the Principles of Religion, it is impoſſible that they ſhould have ſo remarkable and ſo regular an effect to ſupport our minds in every condition, upon ſo great a number of perſons of different degrees of underſtanding, of all ranks and conditions, young and old, learned and unlearned, in ſo many diſtant Places, and in all Ages of the World, the Records whereof are come down to us: I ſay ſo real, and ſo frequent, and ſo regular an effect as this is, cannot with any colour of reaſon be aſcribed either to blind Chance, or meer Imagination, but muſt have a real, and regular, and uniform cauſe proportionable to ſo great and general an effect.
I remember that Grotius, in his excellent Book of the Truth of the Chriſtian Religion, hath this obſervation, That God did not intend that the Principles of Religion ſhould have the utmoſt evidence that any thing is capable of, and ſuch as is ſufficient to anſwer and bear down all ſorts of captious Cavils and Objections againſt it; but ſo much as is abundantly ſufficient to ſatisfie a ſober and impartial Enquirer after Truth, one that hath no other intereſt but to find out Truth; and when he hath found it, to yield to it: If it were otherwiſe, and the Principles of Religion were as glaring and evident as the Sun ſhining at Noon-day, as there could hardly be any vertue in ſuch a Faith, ſo Infidelity would be next to an impoſſibility.
All that I would expect from any man, that ſhall ſay that he cannot ſee ſufficient reaſon to believe the Being and the Providence of God, is this; That he would offer ſome other Principles; that he would advance any other Hypotheſis and Scheme of things that is more agreeable to the common and natural Notions of Men, and to all Appearances of things in the World; and that does bid more fairly for the comfort and happineſs of Mankind, than theſe Principles of the Being of a God, and of his watchful Providence over the children of men, do plainly do: And till this be clearly done, the Principles of Religion which have generally been received by Mankind, and have obtain'd in the World in all Ages, cannot fairly be diſcarded, and ought not to be diſturbed and put out of Poſſeſſion. And this, I think, puts this whole matter upon a very fair and reaſonable Iſſue, and that nothing more needs to be ſaid concerning it.
Secondly, From what hath been ſaid, in the foregoing Diſcourſe, it naturally follows, That God is the only Object of our truſt and confidence, and therefore to him alone, and to no other, we ought to addreſs all our Prayers and Supplications for mercy and grace to help in time of need. But now, according to the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome, the Pſalmiſt here puts a very odd and ſtrange Queſtion, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? To which they muſt give a quite different anſwer from what the Pſalmiſt plainly intended; namely, that God was the ſole Object of his hope and truſt, and that upon Him alone he relied as his only comfort and happineſs: But to this Aſſertion of the Pſalmiſt the Church of Rome can by no means agree: They underſtand this matter much better than the Pſalmiſt did; namely, that beſides God there are in Heaven innumerable Angels and Saints, in whom we are to repoſe great truſt and confidence, and to whom alſo we are to addreſs ſolemn Prayers and Supplications, not only for temporal good things, but for the pardon of our Sins, for the increaſe of our Graces, and for eternal Life. That there are in Heaven particular Advocates and Patrons for all exigencies and occaſions, againſt all ſorts of dangers and diſeaſes, for all Graces and Vertues, and, in a word, for all temporal, ſpiritual, and eternal Bleſſings; to whom we may apply our ſelves, without troubling God and our Bleſſed Saviour, who alſo is God bleſſed for evermore, by preſuming upon every occaſion to make our immediate Addreſſes to Him▪ For as they would make us believe, though Abraham was ignorant of it, and David knew it not, the bleſſed Spirits above, both Angels and Saints, do not only intercede with God for us for all ſorts of Bleſſings, but we may make direct and immediate Addreſſes to them to beſtow theſe Bleſſings upon us: For ſo they do in the Church of Rome, as is evident, beyond all denial, from ſeveral of their Prayers in their moſt publick and authentick Liturgies.
They would indeed fain palliate this matter, by telling us, that by theſe direct and immediate Addreſſes to Angels and Saints to beſtow Grace and eternal Life upon them, they mean no more but only to pray to them that they would be pleaſed to intercede with God for theſe Bleſſings to be beſtowed upon them by their Mediation: But if they mean no mean, why do they ſay more than they mean? Why do they uſe ſuch expreſſions as to the common ſenſe and underſtanding of Mankind do ſignifie a great deal more than they ſay they mean; ſuch expreſſions, as they themſelves do acknowledge, if they be underſtood according to the moſt obvious ſence of the words, would render them guilty of flat Idolatry? Eſpecially when they know, that they are charged with Idolatry upon this account; and ſince to clear themſelves of it they will not alter their Prayers, they juſtly lie under the ſuſpicion of it.
And yet admitting what they ſay in this matter to be true, and that by theſe expreſſions in their Prayers they intend no more but the ſolemn Invocation of Angels and Saints, that they would intercede with God to beſtow theſe Bleſſings upon them for the ſake of their Merits, and upon their Mediation: Yet this ſurely is a great deal too much, and cannot be done without a high entrenchment upon the Office of the only Mediator between God and Man, the Man Chriſt Jeſus: But let them not deceive themſelves, God is not mocked: The Lord our God is a jealous God, and He will not give his Glory to another.
I have not yet inſtanced in the groſſeſt part of their Superſtition, not to ſay downright Idolatry, in this kind; I mean, in their extravagant Worſhip of the bleſſed Virgin and Mother of our Lord; whom they blaſphemouſly call the Queen of Heaven; and whom, by a new ſtyle, unknown to the Scriptures and Primitive Antiquity, they think to dignifie with the modiſh Title of our Lady; as if that could be any addition of honour to Her, whom the Angel declared to be bleſſed among Women: Who, if ſhe know any thing of the follies of Her Worſhippers here below, with what diſdain and indignation, do we think She hears thoſe infinite Prayers that are made to Her, and that Sacrilegious Worſhip which is given Her in that Church, and which makes both pages of their Religion; and which for the frequency of it, both in their publick and private Devotions, is very much beyond what they give to God and Chriſt? As if there were none in Heaven but She, nor any thing upon Earth to be worſhipped in compariſon of Her Image.
Nay, ſo far have they carried this extravagant Folly, and how much farther they would have carried it, had not the Reformation given a check to it, God only knows: So far, I ſay, have they proceeded in this Folly, as, in that famous Book of their Devotions, called Our Lady's Pſalter, not only to apply to Her ſome part of this Pſalm, out of which I have taken my Text, beginning it thus: How good is God to Iſrael, to them that worſhip his Bleſſed Mother? But they have likewiſe profanely burleſqued, I cannot afford it a better term, this whole Book of Pſalms, applying to Her almoſt the higheſt things that are there ſaid concerning God and our Bleſſed Saviour. Hear, O Heavens, and give ear, O Earth, and be ye horribly aſtoniſhed, to ſee the beſt and wiſeſt Religion in the World transform'd into Superſtition and Folly; and to ſee the moſt learned Perſons in that Communion ſet themſelves in good earneſt to juſtifie all theſe follies and abſurdities by a grave and groundleſs pretence to Infallibility.
Thirdly and Laſtly, This ſhews us how neceſſary the favour of God is to every man's happineſs: And there is but one way to gain his friendſhip and favour, by becoming holy and good as He is: Then may we rejoice and glory in God, as the Pſalmiſt here does, and ſay, Whom have I in Heaven but thee? and there is none upon Earth that I deſire beſides thee. A wicked Man dreads God above all things in the World, and he has great reaſon to do ſo: For he is not a God that hath pleaſure in wickedneſs, neither ſhall evil dwell with him: The fooliſh ſhall not ſtand in his ſight, he hateth all the workers of iniquity. When by ſin we depart from God, we forſake our own happineſs: Salvation is far from the wicked, Pſal. 119.ſays David. And again, a little after the Text, They that are far from thee ſhall periſh, but it is good for me to draw near to God. Now by Holineſs and Goodneſs we draw near to Him, who alone can make us happy.
It is certainly the common intereſt of mankind there ſhould be a God, becauſe we cannot poſſibly be happy without Him: But then it is no man's intereſt to be wicked, becauſe thereby we make Him our Enemy in whoſe favour is life, and upon whom all our hopes of happineſs do depend.
To conclude, If we would have God for our Happineſs, we muſt be ſure to make Him our Friend; and then we may promiſe to our ſelves all thoſe advantages which the Friendſhip of ſo great and powerful a Patron can give us: And there is but one way to eſtabliſh a firm Friendſhip between God and us, and that is, by doing his Will, and living in obedience to his Laws: Ye are my friends, ſaith our Bleſſed Lord, if ye do whatſoever I command you: This is the love of God, ſaith St. John, that we keep his commandments: And to love God is the way to be made partakers of thoſe glorious things which God hath prepared for them that love Him: Such as eye hath not ſeen, nor ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of man: Which God of his infinite Goodneſs grant we may all at laſt be made partakers of, for his Mercies ſake in Jeſus Chriſt; To whom with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghoſt, be all honour and glory, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.
A Thankſgiving-Sermon for the late Victory at Sea. IN A SERMON Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITE-HALL, Octob. the 27th. 1692.