12.

Thou haft turn'd for me my Mourning into Dan- PL. 30. 11, cing; thou haft put off my Sackcloth, and girded me with Gladness. To the end that my Glory may fing Praise to thee, and not be filent: O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

(2.) Another Advantage that attends our praifing of God, is, that it will reftrain us from the commission of Sin, and quicken us in the performance of the neceffary Duties of our Holy Religion. Chriftians will be able, thro the Grace of God, to baffle the most violent Temptations to Sin, while they retain a vigo rous fenfe of the Divine Goodnefs on their Souls; for they argue thus with themselves? "Has God by a peculiar and diftinguishing

cr

Providence watch'd over and defended us? "Has he fcatter'd the Proud in the Imagina"tions of their Hearts? Has he encompafs'd "us about with his Favour as with a Shield? "Has he indulg'd us with the Bleffings of the "upper and the nether Spring? Has his right "Hand and his holy Arm gotten us the Vic"tory over our Enemies? And fhall we dare "again to break his holy Commandment? "God forbid. How can we do this great "Wickedness, and fin against God?" Again, with regard to the Duties of Religion, none are fo likely to perform them as those whofe Hearts are inflam'd with the Love of God; there is no Motive more powerful to engage us in a teddy Courfe of Obedience: fo much the Royal Pfalmift intimates in these words; For thy Loving-Kindness is before mine eyes, and I Pfal. 26. 3è have walk'd in thy truth. So long as we keep the Loving-Kindness of God in view, it will make us freddy and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lords And proportionable

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to

to the vigorous fense we have of the Divine Fa vours, will be our Care to honour and please God. If our Hearts are enlarg'd with a fenfe of his Love, we shall run fwiftly in the way of his Precepts.

Those Men that are rightly difpos'd for the work of Praife, and who retain a quick fenfe of their Obligations to Heaven, will argue themselves into a conformity to the Divine Precepts after this manner: "We are unwor"thy to breathe in God's Air, or to tread on "his Earth; we are lefs than the leaft of all "his Mercies; we are before him as nothing, "yea, lefs than nothing, and vanity; we are guil

ty rebellious Creatures; we have abus'd his "Patience, defpis'd his Goodness, affronted "his Holiness, dar'd his Power, and provok'd "him to Anger most bitterly by our repeated "Abominations; yet hath he loaded us with

his Benefits: the Lines are fallen to us in plea"fant places, and we have a goodly Heritage: "What shall we render to God for all his Benefits? "We will take the Cup of Salvation, and call

upon the Name of the Lord. Nothing can be "too much for us to do or fuffer for him, who

is our Hope and Help, our Fortress and "Strong Tower, our kind and generous Bene "factor, our Shield and our exceeding great Re"ward." Now if fuch an Advantage as this does neceffarily attend the regular Discharge of the Duty of Praife, how great is our Obligation to perform it?

(3.) Another Advantage attending the work of Praife, is, that it will give the Soul fuch a view of God's abfolute Perfections and relative Goodness, as will greatly humble it. No Perfon ever fet fuch an Example of Humility, as

the

the incarnate Son of God, because no Perfon had fo comprehenfive a Knowledg of the Perfections of the Godhead: O how great, how furprizing is this ravishing Mystery! The bleffed Jefus was holy and harmless, undefil'd and feparate from Sinners; he had not the leaft Pollution to humble and abafe him, yea, he thought it no robbery to be equal with God, yet he humbled himself, and became obedient even to the Death of the Crofs. But tho we profefs to be the Difciples of this bleffed Lord, we are encompafs'd about with manifold Sins, and yet are fo vain as to think too highly of our felves. Now a Soul that is often engag'd in the work of praising God, gains fuch a view of the Divine Excellency, as difcovers its own Guilt and Deformity, and fo keeps it at the foot of God: For the clearer our Conceptions are of the Divine Attributes, the deeper fenfe we Thall get of our own Ignorance and Weakness. This effect it had upon Job: I have heard of thee Job 42. 5. by the Hearing of the Ear; but now mine Eye feeth thee: Wherefore I abhor my felf, and repent in Duft and Alhes. Now 'tis no flight favour to have our Humility increas'd, which is not only a bright Ornament to the Christian Life, but it is that on which God fets a high value, and to which he has made great Promifes: The Pfal. 25.9. Meek will be guide in Judgment, the Meek will be teach his way.

(4.) Those that are not backward in prailing God for the Mercies they have receiv'd, are ordinarily favour'd with richer Benefits. The juft Tribute of Praise they send up to Heaven, does not return empty. 'Tis remarkable in Nature, that the Vapours which are exhal'd by the Sun, and afcend towards Heaven, make

way for fruitful Showers: fo the Praises (as well as the Prayers) we dire& upwards, draw Pf, 67.5,6. down for us a liberal Supply. Let the People praife thee, O God, let the People praife thee; then fhall the Earth yield her Increase, and God, even our God, fhall bless us. Whereas an ungrateful Silence will ftop the Current of Divine Favours, and fhut up the Bowels of Mercy it felf. And now who that has the least spark of Ingenuity can want a Difpofition to engage in a Work fo pleasant and eafy, fo honourable and advantageous, that does tend to the enlarging the Powers of our Minds, and the perfecting of our Natures, and happily fecures to us future Bleffings? The Worship of the Jews under the Old Teftament was costly and troublefome; but what God requires of us under the New, is the eafy and cheap Sacrifice of Praife, the Calves of our Lips.

Finally, I might argue our Obligations to praise God from the Nature and Excellency of the Duty it felf. Praife is juftly to be prefer'd before Prayer, as being the more noble and excellent piece of Service. Our Obligation to pray, commenc'd with our Guilt; but Praife was the proper imploy of Man in Paradife, as it fhall be hereafter in Heaven. Now that which was the Duty of reasonable Creatures in Innocency, and remains to be fo fince the Fall, and fhall be their Imployment in Heaven, ought to have the preference to other parts of Worfhip, Praife is a work common to the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant. Thofe that are admitted nearest to the Throne of God, and have the brightest views of his Glory, are always ingag'd in this agreeable Service: The Language of Heaven is Hallelujah. Tis

in the work of Praise that we have near and clofe Communion with Angels and the Spirits of just Men made perfect, as well as with him. who is the Head of all Principalities and Powers.

The united Thanksgivings and Praises of a whole Kingdom, is as if Heaven was come down upon Earth, or as if we had begun our Heaven here. In a word, as our Obligations to praise God are eternal, fo the work of Praife, like the Object we adore, fhall last for ever. But what refin'd Delights will mix with our Songs, when we strike up in concert with the whole Hoft of Heaven, we shall not perfectly know, till we are got out of this World, that's full of Difcord and Hatred, into the other where there is nothing but Harmony and Love. But I proceed to the last thing I propos'd, viz.

To make fome Improvement futable to the folemn and joyful Occafion of our prefent meeting.

Waving feveral Inferences that might be drawn from what has been discours'd, I fhall mention but two, and haften to a Clofe.

ift, If we are under fuch great, Obligations as you have heard to praise God for the mighty Acts of his diftinguishing Providence, then 'tis reasonable the fignal Favours these Kingdoms have fhar'd should be tranfmitted to Pofterity.

What History can furnish us with such a surprizing Series of Bleffings, as has attended thefe Nations from the happy Revolution in 1688, to this very day? None either antient or modern, except what we meet with in the Holy Scriptures.

Therefore