ration, and thy power to every one that is to come.a This is given out as the Song of Moses and the Lamb; "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy Name? Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty."

How they magnify his mercy and goodness both towards his own people, and his creatures in general!-O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, that thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the children of men!"-Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright: Praise the Lord with harp: Sing unto him with the psaltery."-" The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. I will extol thee my God, O King, I will bless thy name for ever and ever. "d-Men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts, they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. To insert all that might be mentioned to this purpose, were to transcribe a great part of the Bible.

In what raptures do we often find them, in the contemplation of his faithfulness and truth, his justice and righteousness, his eternity, the boundlessness of his presence, the greatness of his works, the extensiveness of his dominion, the

a Ps. lxxi. 18.

b Ibid. xxxi. 19,
d Ibid, cxlv. 1, &c.

e Ibid. xxxiii. 1,

&c.

perpetuity of his kingdom, the exactness of his government!-Who is a strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee!" -Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reaches unto the clouds."-Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth or the world, from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God.But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee."-The works of the Lord are great, sought out of them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious. -All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy Saints shall bless thee; they shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious Majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

His glory, in general, which results from his several excellencies in conjunction, how loftily is it often celebrated, with the expression of the most loyal desires, that it may be every where renowned, and with greatest complacency, in as far as it is apprehended so to be.-The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever. They shall sing in the ways of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord. Be thou exalted above the heavens.

a Ps. lxxxix. 8.

d 1 Kings viii. 27.

b Ibid. xxxvi. 5.
e Ps. cxi. 3.

c Ibid. xc. 2.

f Ibid. cxlv. 10.

Let thy glory be above all the earth.-Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is excellent, his glory is above the earth and the heavens. When you read such passages as these, -whether they be eulogies or commendations of him, or doxologies and direct attributions of glory to him, you are to bethink yourselves, with what temper of heart these things were uttered! with how raised and exalted a spirit! what high delight and pleasure was conceived in glorifying God, or in beholding him glorious! How large and unbounded a heart, and how full of his praise, still every where discovers itself in such strains; -when all nations, when all creatures, when every thing that hath breath, when heaven and earth are invited together, to join in the concert, and bear a part in his praises!

And, now, eye him under the same notions, under which you have seen him so magnified, that in the same way you may have your own heart wrought up to the same pitch and temper towards him. Should it not provoke an emulation, and make you covet to be amidst the throng of loyal and devoted souls, when you see them ascending, as if they were all incense! when you behold them dissolving and melting away in delight and love, and ready to expire, even fainting that they can do no more, designing that their very last breath shall go forth in the close of a song? "I will sing unto the Lord, as long as I live, I will sing praise to my God while I have my being!" How becoming is it, to resolve, This shall be my aim and

a Ps. civ. 31. Ibid. cxxxviii. 5.
b Ibid. cxlviii. 13.

Ibid. lvii. 7. 11, c Ibid. civ. 33.

ambition, to fly the same, and, if it were possible, a greater height.

Read over such psalms as are more especially designed for the magnifying of God;a and when you see, what were the things that were most taking to so spiritual and pious hearts, thence receive instruction, and aim to have your hearts alike affected and transported with the same things. Frame the supposition, that you are meant, that the invitation is directed to you, "O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise to him with psalms; for the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." Think with yourselves, Is he not as great as he was? Is he not as much our Maker as he was theirs? Is it not now as true, that the Lord reigneth, and is high above all the earth, and exalted far above all gods? Now, since these were the considerations, upon which so great complacency was taken in him, set the same before your own eyes. And since these were proposed as the matter of so common a joy, and the creation seems designed for a musical instrument of as many strings as there are creatures in heaven and earth, awake, and make haste to get your heart fixed; lest the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad, the world and all that dwell therein,-lest the sea roar, and the fulness thereof, the floods clap their hands, the fields and the hills be joyful together, and all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord,-while you only are silent and unconcerned.

a Ps. viii. xlviii. xcv. xcvi. xcvii. xcviii. xcix., &c.

CHAPTER VII.

The same Subject continued.

SERIOUSLY Consider the kind and nature of that joy and delight in God, wherewith the hearts of holy men of old did so exceedingly abound;which is to be collected from the expressed ground and reasons of it, wheresoever you have any discovery of that joy itself. This general and principal character may be given of it, that it was a sincerely devout and loyal joy; not a mean narrow selfish pleasure, not a hugging of themselves in this apprehension merely, 'It is well with me, I am safe and happy whatsoever becomes of the world.' This was still the burden of their song; The Lord is great and glorious and excellent; He is exalted, and most high over all. And it is to be observed, that as this was the common and more usual strain and temper of holy souls, in the ages whereof the Scriptures give us any account; so were doubts and fears and troubled thoughts, concerning their own interest in God, a great deal less usual and common in those days. So that, in proportion to the other pious and holy exercises of such as truly feared God and were devoted to him, there is little account given to