of the Lord: Blessed are they that keep bis Teftimonies, and that feek him with the whole Heart. And foon after cries out, O that my Ways were made fo direct, that I might keep thy Statutes !-When he confiders the Perfection of the Laws of God, and the happy Effects they produce in the Minds of those who make them their Rule of Life, he often exclaims, Open thou mine Eyes, that I may behold the wondrous Things of thy Law.—When he attends to the' Wisdom of obferving those Laws, and to the contrary Folly, as well as Wickedness of neglecting them, he then prays with Earneftnefs, O give me Underftanding, and I shall keep thy Law, yea, I Shall obferve it with my whole Heart!-And when he remembers, that the Afflictions which God had laid upon him were one Means of bringing him to a due Senfe of his Duty, he then declares his Gratitude in the Words of the Text, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy Statutes.—Or in other Words, I am thankful to thee, O God, for the feverest Difpenfations of thy Providence; because, as he before expreffes it, Before I was afflicted I went wrong, but now have I kept thy Word. -This happy Effect made the Means of producing it, however grievous in themselves, a Bleffing; the gracious Defign of Almighty God, in caufing him to fuffer, was to bring him to his present Joy of Heart; and he therefore, who now felt

the

the inexpreffible Comforts of confidering his Ways, and walking in the Law of the Lord; he, to whom the Laws of God were now dearer than thoufands of Gold and Silver, readily acknowledges his juft Senfe, that all the Judgments of the Lord are right in themselves, (v. 75.) and that he, of very Faithfulness and Affection to him, had caufed him to be troubled; and very affectionately and gratefully cries out in the Words of the Text, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy Statutes.--So that these Words imply the Pfalmift's Senfe of the Benefits he had reaped from the Afflictions he had fuffered; and, when thus understood, they naturally lead me in fpeaking to them,

I. To enquire why God makes Use of Afflictions to promote the fpiritual Advantages of the Afflicted, and to teach them the Statutes of the Lord. And,

II. To fhew the proper Ufe to be made of them, as well by those who are not at prefent vifited with any great Share of them, as by those who are.

I. I am to enquire why God makes Ufe of Afflictions to procure the fpiritual Advantage of Men, and to teach them the Statutes of the Lord. And this, I think, will be very evident, and the Wisdom and Goodness of God in choofing them as proper Means for those VOL. II. gracious

gracious Ends, will be very manifeft, if we attend to these three Particulars:

1. That Afflictions naturally tend to give Men juft and humble Thoughts of themfelves, and of their own Works; by fhewing them their natural Incapacity for Happiness, and their immediate Dependance on Divine Providence.

2. That Afflictions naturally tend to teach Men the Emptinefs and Uncertainty of all earthly and external Advantages; and to draw them off from placing too great a Confidence in them, or fetting their Affections too strongly upon them. And, 3. That Afflictions naturally tend to set the confiderate Man upon Enquiries into Futurity; and upon Endeavours to attain that Happiness hereafter, which is not to be attained or expected here.

1. First then I obferve, that one Reason why it pleases God fo often to make use of Afflictions to bring Men to a Sense of their Duty to him, is, that they naturally tend to give Men juft and humble Thoughts of themfelves and of their own Works, by fhewing them their natural Incapacity for Happiness, and their immediate Dependance on his Providence.-Vain Man would fain be wife and independent, tho' he always comes into the World, and often goes out of it, like a wild

2

Afs's

Afs's Colt.-He would fain be thought of mighty Importance to others, and to have mighty Talents and Perfections in himself.And this indeed is the lefs Matter of Surprize, because if he can perfuade others that he has these Excellencies, many Advantages will arife to himself from the Reputation of them. But that he should fo eafily be able to perfuade himself that he has them; that he should be able to fancy himself a kind of independent Being; fhould boast and value himself upon what he has received, as if he had not received it; and should form great Schemes of Action, and enter upon them without any Reference to him who made and who fupports him this is only to be accounted for by the Degeneracy of his Nature, and the Short-fightedness or Blindness of his boafted Understanding.And yet we fee, that this Vanity and Corruption is fo interwoven in our Nature, that perhaps not one of the Sons of Men is totally free from it.-The meanest often expose themselves to Ridicule by it; and the most worthy too often obfcure and difcredit the greatest Endowments by affecting an oftentatious Shew of them.-And were this all, the Evil would not be great, or its Confequences dreadful.-But the Mifery is, that the fame Spirit of Vanity, which inclines us to value and depend upon ourselves, draws us off from our Dependance on our great Maker and Preferver.The fame Pride of Heart, 0 2 which

which raises in us lofty Ideas of our own Abilities, and flatters us, that we are able to prescribe Laws to others, naturally leads to and produces a Neglect and a Contempt of the Laws of God. It not restrained in time, it exalts Men at laft unto the Seat of the Scornful; and then, as the Wife Man expreffes it, they hate true Knowledge, and will not choofe the Fear of the Lord; they will have none of his Counfel, they defpife all his Reproof. -And hence appears the Goodness of Almighty God in making Ufe of Afflictions to bring Men back to a Senfe of their Duty; because they naturally tend to cure them of this fatal Difeafe, which fo often leads them to tranfgrefs it.It is laying the Ax to the Root of the Tree; in as much as it is appealing to their very Senfes to convince them, that with all their boafted Attainments they are nothing in themselves, but what his Hand has made them. It is making them feel, that it is he robo lifteth up and pulleth down, who giveth Life and taketh it away, at his own good Pleasure.-And, as every Man has more or lefs of this Malady in him, hence may appear one Reason why it pleafes the Almighty to place us in this Vale of Mifery, as preparatory to our true Happiness; namely, because every one has likewife here his Share of Sufferings to undergo, as a proper Means to wean him from too fond a Love of himself, and lead him to the Fountain of everlasting Bliss.