SERMON II.

PSA L. cxxxix. 7, 8, 9, 10.

Whither shall I go from the Spirit ? oz whither shall I flee from thy Pretence? If I afcend into Heaven, thou art there. If I make my Bed in Hell, thou art there. If I take the Wings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermot Parts of the Sea: Even there fhall thy Hand lead me, and thy Right-hand shall hold me.

T

HE Omnipzefence of GOD is set forth in this Pfalm with a Sublimity of Thought, and Style peculiar to the facred Writers.

It is a Matter worth obferving, how far the learned Men amongst the GREEKS and RoMANS, who fo much excelled the Jews in other Sciences, came behind them in Divinity; and that their POETS especially, whofe

D 2

whofe Fancy, upon other Occafions, fhews itself in fuch sprightly Reprefentations, should, upon the nobleft Subject, where the GoD of NATURE was their Theme, be fo very short in their Praises, and fo often fink into fomething* unworthy, low, or fabulous.

THERE can no other Reason be well affigned for this, but that God was to the whole Heathen World, what he was once to the Athenians, an UNKNOWN GOD; and that they fpoke of him feebly, because they knew him but imperfectly. Whereas the PROPHETS and holy Penmen of the Jewish Nation write of their Creator with that divine Force and Energy, which stirred within them, and shew by their Works, that they were supported by the INSPIRATION of that GOD, they praised. What a lively Senfe does the HOLY Pfalmift here express of his own Low ORIGIN, his Weakness and Dependency! He fees himself,

* Of this there are many Inftances in the much-admired Defcription of Neptune, though the Work of the greatest Post, that ever wrote: For after

ἄταλλε δὲ κήτὲ ὑπ ̓ αυτῷ

Πάντοθεν ἐκ κευθμώνα.

The GOD is forced to faften his Horfes himself, for Fear left they fhould run away. His DEITY being thus a Mixture of Power and Weakness, the POET's Defcription is likely to vary with the Subject, and appear in fome Parts as low, as it is in others fublime. The English Reader may perufe the whole Paffage in Pope's Tranflation of HOMER's Iliad, Book 13.

as

as it were, loft in the IMMENSITY of his CREATOR, who views the fecret Workings of his Soul, nay, to whose Presence every thing that exifts in NATURE, Earth, Air, and Sea, and HEAVEN and HELL, are open !

* Whither fhall I go then from thy Spirit! or whither fhall I go then from thy Prefence ! If I climb up into Heaven, thou art there. If Tgo down into Hell, thou art there alfo. If I take the Wings of the Morning, and remain in the uttermoft Parts of the Sea, even there fhall thy Hand lead me, and thy Right-hand fhall bold me.

As thefe Words afford an Occafion of fpeaking of the OMNIPRESENCE of GOD, I fhall proceed in the following Method, and treat firft,

Ift. Or that ATTRIBUTE in the Abstract, and fhew the Nature and Properties of Oм

NIPRESENCE.

2dly. I SHALL confider it as connected with its Subject, and prove, that GoD is omniprefent.

3dly. I SHALL explain the Manner of GOD's Omniprefence, and how we may beft form a Conception of it.

* Common Prayer Tranflation.

4thly, and lastly, I SHALL fhew the Use and Application of this Doctrine.

.

ift. I AM to difcourfe of Omniprefence in the Abstract, and to fhew the Nature and Properties of that Attribute.

THE Word OMNIPRESENT feems to need no Interpretation: If it does, it may be fufficient to fay, that it fignifieth all-prefent, or prefent every-where. The Word then appears to be of a compounded Signification, and expreffes both the Attribute, and the Measure of it, which it declares to be infinite: For All-prefence is Prefence of which there is no End.

Now, it is to be obferved of certain Attributes, that when they are compounded with the Word all, they make the Thing, to which they are attributed, a fingular or individual BEING. For Inftance, it is impoffible that there should be two BEINGS all-prefent, or of whose Presence there is no End: For fuppofing one Being that is all-prefent, then is its Prefence infinite, and comprehends every thing. Suppose another Being that is all-prefent, then is its Prefence likewife infinite, and comprehends every thing. But, if it comprehends every thing, it must comprehend that former Being: Therefore that former Being is not of infinite

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