THE Great Intention of this Psalm is, to Dispose us for the noble Employ­ments of the Heavenly World, where the Perfected Spirits, (among whom our Deceased Brother bears a joyful part,) are incessant and unwearied in their Eternal Ac­knowledgments, their Hallelujahs and Adorations to their Almighty Sovereign, the Immense Foun­tain of their Blessedness. Here therefore the Holy Psalmist begins the Melody; and with an elevated Note raises his own Devotion, summon­ing all his Powers to engage herein; and ex­cites the Reasonable and Religious World to joyn in the Harmony, that there may be one constant and endless Symphony in the Celebra­tion of the Praises of our God.

[Page 2]This is the Duty and Service which Men and Angels owe to their Exalted Sovereign, a Sacrifice truly grateful and pleasing to Him, the best exercise of their Powers, and the height of their Felicity.

THE Arguments which the Psalmist uses to enforce this Exhortation, as they abound with sufficient Consolation, to revive our drooping Spirits, and render us sedate and easy under the most weighty Afflictions, that break in upon us in a mutable World; so are they truly strong and powerful upon the Devout Ingenuous, to pay this reasonable Homage to their Supream Lord, and Gracious Benefactor.

HE argues from the Gracious Nature of God, and the stability of His Covenant and promised Mercy; he argues from the Consideration of the Divine Beneficence, to ourselves in particular, and to the Church of God in the World: he argues from the Divine Sov'reignty. Empire and Dominions over all Visible and Invisible Worlds; the active Spirits that minister round His Throne, who do His Commandment, hearkening to the voice of His Word; and all His other Works in all places of His Dominion, which silently speak His Praise.

AND thro' the whole, how grave and weighty are his Accents? and yet how brisk and lively doe his Notes run? while his Song is adorned with so many beautiful Ideas of a GOD, as are e­nough to lay every Evil Spirit, and keep on the [Page 3] joyful Sound, triumphant over the noisy Discords of our mournful passions.

ONE would be ready to think, that the Holy Psalmist was reduced to our present necessity, when we consider him in the midst of a Song of Praise touching the heavier Airs; as tho', like us, he were under the sensible Conviction, (possibly by the Loss of his Absalem,) that a Man tho' never so well furnished and endowed, and never so dear to us, yet his days are as Grass; as a flower of the Field, so he flourisheth; the wind passeth over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But what a sweet Harmony does he compose to this? when he meditates, that tho' God thus chide, yet He will not keep His Anger for ever; He deals not with us after our Sins, nor rewards us according to our Iniquities; He knows our frame, and pit­tieth us as a Father pittieth his Children: so does he raise himself above the Melancholy, stretch his pinions and soar away to the Ever­lasting Mercies, and the Righteousness of God to Childrens Children.

SO far should any present Afflictions he might labour of, be from interrupting his Acknowledg­ments to his God, or make him forgetful of His Benefits, that even these shall become a part of his Song, and he knows how to Bless the Lord under them. And so I return to my Text: Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name. Where we have,

[Page 4]1. A Duty Excited to; Bless the Lord, Bless His Holy Name. A high Duty, and always in­cumbent on us in our various Conditions and Circumstances of Life; and to be performed in a more set and solemn manner in times of re­markable Prosperity or Adversity; as will easily be seen when in its proper place we consider the nature of this Duty.

2. THE manner of our performing this Duty in directed, viz. with our Souls, and all that is with­in us. So the Psalmist calls upon himself, and repeats the [...] again and again, and so should we: and we need to Chastize ourselves for our sloth and negligence, in not returning to the Lord answerable to the Benefits received from Him, and our want of a suitable Deport­ment when under His Afflicting Hand.

3. THE Reasons by which the Duty is enfor­ced: 'Tis our Lord whom we are to Bless; and His Name, which is Great and worthy to be Praised; is Holy, and to be Reverenced and Adored with Sincerity and Humility of Soul. His Name; that is God considered in Himself, and the tran­scendent Excellencies of His Nature. His Name; God considered as manifesting Himself to us in His works of Mercy or of Judgment. So are we to Sing of Mercy and of Judgment. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name.

IN the further Prosecution of these Words I shall by Divine Assistance, endeavour these Three change; viz.

[Page 5]I. TO shew what is meant by Blessing the Name of the Lord, which will open to us the nature of this Duty, and let us see what 'tis to Bless God.

II. I shall mention some Reason why we should Bless the Lord; which will shew us our Obligation to the Duty.

III. I shall set before you after what man­ner this Duty is to be performed by us.

According to this method I am,

I. To shew what is meant by Blessing the Name of the Lord, or when we may be said to Bless God. The phrase to Bless God must al­ways be understood with certain Limitations and Restrictions; as will be seen by taking a view of the various Acceptations of it, as it respects the several Relations of them that Bless and those that are Blessed.

1. 'TIS used from Superiours to their Inferi­ours; which indeed is the most proper use of the phrase to Bless: and it means the Superi­ours conferring upon the Inferiour such Good things as he absolutely needs for his well being, and which he can in no other way come at the possession of. And so tis most truly applicable to God, who only can properly and in a strict sense be said to Bless; who Blesses His People by conferring upon them such Temporal and Spiritual Blessings, which none but He can be­stow. [Page 6] Thus when God tells Moses how Aaron in His Name should Bless and People, we find it to mean the Bestowment of the Divine Favour upon them. Numb. VI. 24, 25, 26. The Lord Bless thee, and keep thee, the Lord make His Face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His Countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And hence God Himself says to Abraham, Gen. XXII. 17. In Blessing I will Bless thee: which is Explained by declaring what great things He would do for him and his Seed after him. And this made Jacob so earnest in his wrestling with the Angel of the Covenant, and so resolutely cry out, I will not let thee go, except thou Bless me, Gen. XXXII. 26.

2. SOMETIMES the phrase is used between Equals, who are said to Bless one an other; as a Man his fellow Creature: and then it means either their mutual acts of love and friendship, which the Laws of Justice and Charity oblige them to. As when 'tis said, Matth. V. 44. Bless them that Curse you: that is, let no ill carriage of theirs who curse and persecute you, hinder you from doing all the good offices of love and kind­ness to them which your Profession obliges you to, and you mutually owe to one another. Or else it means our wishing well to one another, and sincerely praying to God to Bless our Fellow­Creature. Hence we read, Psal. CXXIX. 8. The Blessing of the Lord be upon you, we Bless you in the Name of the Lord. So Jacob called for the Children of his Son Joseph that he might Bless them; Gen. XLVIII. 9. which he does in the [Page 7] form of a Solemn Prayer, saying, God before whom my Fathers, Abraham and Isaac did walk; the God that fed me all my life long unto this day; the Angel which redeemed me from all Evil, Bless the Lads, verse 15, 16.

3. THE phrase to Bless is used from Inferi­ours to Superiours; and so I am lead into the sense and meaning of it in my Text, viz. as Man's Blessing God.

NOW 'tis plain that in the two first senses we cannot be said to Bless God. For, if thou be Righteous, what givest thou Him, what receiveth He of thine Hand, ^(a). If He were hungry He would not tell thee; for the World is His, with the fulness thereof ^(b). The Infinite God has all Everlastingly in Himself, that is Essential to His own Glory and Happiness; and no additi­ons can be made thereto by all that Men or An­gels are capable of.

NOR can we pretend to render to the Lord any proper mutual acts of Kindness. We are Beholden to God for all that we have and are; in Him we live, move, and have our being, ^(c). and from Him, the Father of Lights, comes down every good and perfect Gift we enjoy ^(d). But God is not, nor can He be Beholden to us for any thing. We are ever Dependent and con­stantly in need of Him; But God is utterly in­dependent upon any thing out of Himself, and needeth us not.

[Page 8]NOR can we so much as wish any thing to the Essential Glory and Happiness of God, which He has not already and will never be without. Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty to Perfection ^(e)? And since our most stretched Conceptions are not able to reach the Infinite fulness there is in God, how can we entertain a thought of any further degrees of Perfection as necessary to compleat the Glory of his Nature and the Felicity of His State. So that in these respects God is exalted above all Blessing and Praise ^(f). Yea He Iopa­bieth the Praises of His Israel ^(g): and His Saints Bless Him ^(h).

THEY do so, either by Acknowledging the Perfections of the Divine Nature, and speaking of His Greatness and the Glory of His Majesty; which is to Laud and Praise His Name: Or, they do so by a grateful sense of the many Instances of His Bounty, and the multiplied Benefits He communicates to them, and suitable returns there­for; which is Thanksgiving; Or they do so, when under the Afflicting Hand of God with Deep Humility and an entire Resignation of Soul they maintain an awful sense of the Divine Supremacy, unbiased Rectitude and unerring Wisdom; which is proper Adoration. In each of these senses Man may be said to Bless God.

Thus,

1. WE Bless the Name of the Lord when we think highly of Him, and speak His Praise. So [Page 9] the Psalmist, Psal 34. 1. I will Bless the Lord at all times, His Praise shall continually be in my mouth. And hence we find the Levites with some of the Fathers saying to the People, Neh. IX. 5. Stand up and Bless the Lord your God forever; and Blessed be thy Glorious Name; and then they go on to celebrate His Praise in speaking of His Excel­lencies and the Glorious effects of them. So David is said to Bless the Lord before all the Congre­gation, 1 Chron. XXIX. 10. Thine O Lord, is the Greatness, the Power, the Glory, the Victory, and the Majesty, &c.

2. WE Bless God by our Thanksgiving; a thankful acknowledgment of His Mercies, and suitable returns to Him therefor. Thus in this Psalm CIII. 2. Bless the Lord O my Soul, and for­get not all His Benefits. So the Psalm CXLV. which is a Psalm of Thanksgiving, uttering the memory of the Goodness of God in the Care and Kindness of Divine Providence unto all His Crea­tures, but especially them that fear Him, begins ver.1. I will extol thee myGod, O King, and I will Bless thy Name for ever and ever: and it concludes in the same strain; verse 21. My mouth shall speak the Praise of the Lord, and let all flesh Bless His Holy Name for ever & ever.

3. THUS we Bless God by a suitable Deport­ment under Divine Chastisements; when from a sense of the Hand of God upon us, in all the Sorrows that befall us, we are patient and sub­missive, silent and adoring, and our Corrections produce the desired Effects in our Amendment. [Page 10] Thus we find even a Nebuchadnezzar, under a sense of the Holy Hand of God which had lain heavy upon him, saying, Dan. IV. 34. I lift up mine eyes unto Heaven and my understanding returned to me, and I Blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever; and this he does by acknowledging the Dominion and Sovereignty of God, and himself as nothing before Him; none can stay His Hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou? His works are Truth and His ways Judgment; and those that walk in pride, He is able to abase, ver. 35, 37. Well then may we except to find a Holy Job in this Devout frame, when the heavy Ty­dings of his multiplied Losses roll in thick upon him, till they are all compleated in the fatal finish­ing stroke of the untimely Death of his Children: In the Distress hereof, he arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head, and fell down upon the Ground and Worshipped; saying, God hath given, and God hath taken away, Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Job I. 20, 21. Agreeable to the Psalmist, who un­der a sense of the Divine Chidings, says, Bless the Lord, O my Soul. Thus we see what is meant by Blessing the Name of the Lord. I pass to the Second thing proposed, viz.

II. TO mention some Reasons, why we should Bless the Name of the Lord; which shews us our Obligation to this Duty. A High Duty 'tis, what God requires of us, and well becomes us as Reasonable and Religious Creatures: what the Holy Name of God, the Benefits we receive from Him, and His Relation to us, challenges at our hands,

[Page 11]1. THE Holy Name of God, which is God Him­self and His Adorable Excellencies and Per­fections demands the Tribute of Praise from us. The Name of God it is God Himself, cloathed with Light as with a Garment, and compassed with Glory as with a Vesture. 'Tis Infinite Ma­jesty and Greatness, Incomprehensible Power and Wisdom, unrivalled Goodness Mercy and Truth and Holiness, possessing an Universal and Ever­lasting Empire and Dominion. The Glorious Perfections of God are each of them God Him­self; His Nature so made known unto us; and are therefore called His Name, because God dis­covers Himself to us by them, and gives us some glimpse of His Glory; which appears so bright to the contemplative mind, as to dazzle us with the Lustre of them, and fill us with holy Admi­ration and Love. All of this Name of God de­mands the Tribute of Praise from us: for 'tis in itself truly Excellent and Glorious, a Beauty so heightened and conspicuous, that the greatest created Excellency is but a glimmering, mere Darkness compared with the unviewable Bright­ness of it. And because the Name of God is so Excellent, it deserves our highest esteem and constant praises, which is the least Homage we can give to a Being the Perfections of whose Nature exceed our most enlarged conceptions, nor can Angels approach the Seat of them with­out veiled Faces. So the Psalmist calls upon all Creatures to Praise the Lord, for His Name alone is Excellent, His Glory is above Earth and Heaven, Psal. CXLVIII. 13.

[Page 12]THUS we are to Praise God for His Infinite Majesty and Greatness: For He is High above all Gods, and none among the Sons of the Mighty may be likened unto Him. Come let us Sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our Salvation; for the Lord is a Great God, and a Great King above all Gods, Psal XCV. 1, 3. O Sing to the Lord a new Song, Sing unto the Lord all the Earth, Sing unto the Lord, Bless His Name; Honour and Majesty are before Him, Strength and Beauty are in His Sanctuary, Psal. XCVI. 1, 2, 6. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, His Greatness is unsearchable, Psal. CXLV. 3.

GOD is to be Praised for His uncontroulable and unlimitted Power and Might; which is equal to His Will, and does whatsoever pleaseth Him in the Heavens, the Earth, the Sea, and all Deep places; by which He stretched out the Heavens like a Curtain, and laid the Beams of His Cham­bers upon the Waters, stretched out the North over the empty place, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing; before whom the Pillars of Heaven tremble, and the Earth melteth like wax at His presence. Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord Glory and Strength, give unto the Lord the Glory due unto His Name, Psal.XXIX. 1,2. And because God exalteth Himself in His own Strength, therefore should we Sing and Praise His Power, Psal. XXI. 13.

THE Infinite Wisdom of God challenges our Praises. He is wife in Counsel as well as won­drous in Working; who by wisdom made the [Page 13] Heavens; His Works also are manifold, and in Wisdom has He made them all, and with equal Counsel and Design orders all their Station and various mutations. To the only Wise God be the Honour and Glory, 1 Tim. I. 17. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to Sing Praises to our God;—for His Understanding is Infinite, Psal. CXLVII. 1, 5.

THUS God is to be Praised for His Essential Goodness and Mercy; who is Good, and does Good even to all, and His tender Mercies are over all His Works: the Goodness of whose Nature is the unfailing Fountain whence Men and Angels are supplied with all those Streams that support them in Life and compleat their felicity; whose Mercy is high above the Hea­vens, and is the sure Basis of their Comfort that put their Trust in Him. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is Good, for His Mercy endureth for ever, Psal. CVII. 1. And so, Psal. CVIII init. O God, my Heart is fixed, I will sing and give Praise, even with my Glory; I will Praise thee, O God, among the People, and I will sing Praises unto thee among the Nations; for thy Mercy is great above the Heavens.

'O the Truth and Fidelity of God is to be Praised: His unchangeable Faithfulness to Him­self, and to His Word and Promises. He is the Unchangeable Jehovah, without variation or sha­dow of turning; whose Word is made fast in Heaven, His Faithfulness reacheth unto the Clouds; the Word that hath gone out of His mouth remaineth stedfast for ever; He is of one [Page 14] Mind, and who can turn Him. So the Psalmist, Psal. C. 1, 5. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye Lands,—enter into His Courts with Praise,—and Bless His Name,—His Truth endureth to all Generations. And, Psal. CXVII. is a short but full Celebration hereof; O Praise the Lord, all ye Na­tions; Praise Him all ye People,—the Truth of the Lord endureth for ever; Praise ye the Lord.

AND thus are we to Praise God for His un­biased Righteousness and Justice; the Founda­tion of whose Throne is Righteousness and Judg­ment; and He is Righteous in all His Works. Hence says the Psalmist, Psal. XLVIII. 10. Ac­cording to thy Name, O God, so is thy Praise unto the Ends of the Earth; thy Right Hand is full of Righteousness. And the CXLIX Psalm, seems to have been composed on purpose to celebrate the Righteousness of God, even in the Judgments which He executeth in the World.

FINALLY the unspotted Holiness of God de­mands our Praises. Bless His Holy Name; the Essential Purity of the Divine Nature, and the Holiness of His Works. The Holiness of God is as the Brightness of all His other Perfections, peculiarly the Glory of God; and shines Illustri­ous in His Word, and in all the Works of His Hands. For this the Holy Angels Praise Him, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, Rev. IV. 8. And so must we at the call of the De­vout Psalmist, Psal. XCIX. 5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His Footstool, for He is Holy. And so, Psal. XCVII. 12. Rejoyce in the Lord, ye [Page 15] Righteous, and give thanks at the Remembrance of His Holiness.

THUS do all the Glorious Perfections of God challenge our Praises; and when we consider the Adorable Excellencies of the Divine Nature, harmonizing in the Amazing wonders of our Redemption by Jesus Christ, as the Prospect is still more amiable and pleasant, so our Praises should be the more raised; intensely devout, and unwearied. And then,

2. THE Many and Great Benefits we receive from God lay us under Obligation to a Dutiful Thanksgiving. Benefits from whomsoever com­municated are an Obligation upon the Receiver to Thank the Donor; and one would think, that 'tis the least we can do to be sensible of the Favours we receive, and Thank the Author of them. So 'tis accounted among Men. And the more and greater the Benefits conferred upon us by our gracious Sovereign are; and the more multiplyed and extensive they are, the stronger are our Obligations to return our sincere and hearty Thanksgiving. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all His Benefits. To mention some of them, as they lie in a delightful variety, in this Psalm.

(1.) THE Forgiveness of Sin; the justifying, and accepting of us to the Grace of Adoption, and Reconciliation thro' the Propitiatory Sacri­fice of our Blessed Redeemer, is such a matchless Benefit as we are for ever obliged to Bless the [Page 16] Holy Name of God for. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, who Forgiveth thine Iniquities, ver. 3. Tis God only that forgiveth Iniquity, and for the Accomplishment of this Glorious work, hath drawn out the Bowels of His Mercy to us, and sent His Eternal Son to become on Offering and a Sacrifice for Sin; in whom we have Redemp­tion, thro' His Blood, even the Forgiveness of Sin, according to the riches of His Grace. This is deservedly mention'd in the first place, as the Fountain from whence all other Mercies flow. What an unspeakable Gift in this to a miserable World? That the Eternal Father should make a Sacrifice of His own Son; that thro' Him the chief of Sinners might have their Iniquities for­given, be justifyed before Him, and accepted as His Children. For this are we obliged, and we can never enough Bless the Name of the Lord; This should inspire our Breasts with Thankful Acknowledgments, and fill our Mouths with Songs of Praise. O give Thanks unto the Lord, for His Mercy endureth for ever; so let the Redeemed of the Lord say. Psal. CVII. 1, 2. O Lord, I will praise thee, tho thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me, Isai. XII. 1. So sang the Holy Zacharias, Luk. I. 68, 69. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and Redeemed His Peo­ple, and hath raised up an born of Salvation for us, in the House of His Servant David, &c.

(2.) THE Health we enjoy is an Obligation upon us to return Thanks to God. Bless the Lord, who Healeth thy Diseases, ver. 3. Thus whe­ther [Page 17] we consider God as having actually Healed any of us of our Diseases; or as the God who only can Heal, and who keeps us in Health. We are often, it may be the most of us, labouring under indispositions, pains and maladies, incident to our frame and brittle Constitution; and it may be we have sometimes been brought very Low, even to the Edges of the Grave; but thro' the Goodness of God, we have had our Pains asswaged, our Maladies cured, our Diseases Heal­ed; and surely those of us who have so experi­enced the Divine Goodness, will say, not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy Name alone O Lord be all the Glory. He sent His Word, and Healed them, O that Men would praise the Lord for His Goodness, and for His wonderful works to the Children of Men; and let them Sacrifice the Sacrifices of Thanksgiving, and declare His works with re­joycing, Psal CVII. 20, 21, 22. The Living, the Living He shall Praise thee; as we desire to do this Day, giving Thanks to God for that won­derful measure of Health He has favoured our Land with; and when Pestilential Distempers have set footing upon our Shoars, God has spo­ken the Word, I will put none of these Diseases upon thee, for I am the Lord that Healeth thee, and they have not been able to walk abroad in Darkness, nor wast at noon Day. I will thank­fully say of the Lord He is our refuge, and our fortress, our God, in Him will we trust; surely He hath deli­vered thee from the noisome pestilence, He hath covered thee with His feathers;—only with thine Eyes hast thou beheld it,—no Evil has befallen thee, neither [...] any Plague come nigh thy Dwelling, vid. Psal. XCI.

[Page 18](3.) THAT God Redeemeth our Life from De­struction is a further Bond upon us to give Thanks unto Him and Bless His Name. See ver. 4. He is our Life, and the Length of our Days, Deut. XXX. 20. And how often has He graciously interpo­sed to keep us in Life, and Lengthen out our Days, by giving His Angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways, to bear us up, as in their Arms, least at any time we should dash our feet against a Stone. Innumerable are the Snares and Casualties that surround us, the least of which, armed with a permission from God, would soon prey upon us. How often has the Divine Arm been put underneath us, and saved us from the destructive Accidents which else would have broke in upon us, unobserved by us? And many a time, may we now say, had not the Lord been on our side we had been swallowed up by the Threatning Dangers, and the proud Waves had gone over us, and the Deep had in­closed us: The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand, the Lord hath preserved thee from all Evil. It becomes us to say with the Psalmist, Psal. XXXIV. ult. I will Bless the Lord at all times,—O magnifie the Lord with me, I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. He hath done so particularly in His Guard upon our Sea Coast, and the wonders He hath wrought for us there, for which we give thanks to His Name this Day. When the Sons of Violence had invaded us, and the Cruel and Blood-thirsty lay hovering over us with a formidable power; God hath redeemed [Page 19] not only our Substance, but our Lives from Destruction, by taking those Pirates into His own Hands, He blew upon them in His Anger, and drove them with His fierce Tempest, till our Shoars proved their Destruction. They went down into the Warers like lead, saving a few that fell into our hands for an Example unto others. For this we take up our Song of Praise in the Psal. CXXIV. 6,7,8. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us a prey to their Teeth; our Soul is escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler, the Snare is broken and we are escaped: our Help is in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth. And Psal. LXVI. 2,3,5,7,8,9. Sing forth the honour of His Name, make His Praise Glorious; say unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works?—come and see the works of God; He is terrible in His doings towards the Children of men;—let not the Rebellions exalt themselves; O Bless our God ye People, & make the voice of His Praise to be heard; which holdeth our Soul in Life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.

(4.) GOD's crowning us with loving kindness and tender mercies calls upon us to Bless His Holy Name, ver. 4. He encompasses His People with love and favour as with a Shield, and thro' the Mercy of the Most High their Prosperity sits like a Crown upon their Heads. His Fatherly Love and Affection takes care of them, He gives them to see the Light of His Countenance, and to rejoyce in His Smiles. He hath furnished us with those various Gifts and Qualifications which are in some good measure suitable to our Posts and Employments. He gives and spares many [Page 20] of our Delightful Friends with whom we solace ourselves, and take counsel together. He orders our path for us, directs us in our way, and gives us to see a Comfortable issue of our Labours and rejoyce in the works of our Hands. Blessed be the Lord my Strength, thro' whom the Sons of His People are as Plants grown up in their Youth, their Daughters as Corner Stones, polished after the simili­tude of a Palace: their Garners are full affording all manner of Store; their Sheep bring forth Thousands, and ten thousands in their Streets; their Oxen are strong to Labour; and there is no breaking in nor going out, nor cause of complaining in their Streets, Psal. CXLIV. 1, 12, 13, 14.

OR if we meet with adverse Circumstances, has not the tender Mercy of God been exercised towards us? and His pity like that of a Father to His Children been manifested to us under them? He chastises us only when 'tis needful, and then in measure with His tenderest Com­passion stirred by the feeling of our Infirmities. He has punished us less than our Iniquities de­serve; proportioned our tryals to our Strength; He has given forth Strength to encounter Afflicti­ons, supported us under our Difficulties, has found out a way for our escape out of many of them, and we trust will make them all turn to our Advantage. Thus does God crown us with loving kindness and tender mercy, and we do all of us more or less experience it; that even in our worst Circumstances we have yet so many Mercies as out weigh our Chastisements: and because of His loving kindness, therefore our lip should [Page 21] praise Him, Psal. LXIII. 3. Yea, we should sing in the ways of the Lord, for great is the Glory of the Lord; tho' the Lord be High yet He hath respect un­to the lowly; tho' I walk in the midst of trouble thou wilt revive me;—the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me, thy Mercy O Lord endureth for ever, Psal. CXXXVIII. 5. to the end.

(5.) THAT God satisfieth our Mouth with Good things obliges us to Thankfulness, ver. 5. All Eyes wait upon Him, and He giveth them their Meat in due season; He fulfilleth the desire of them that fear Him. From the inexhaustible stores of His Goodness He communicates to us a full supply to all our wants; and daily loads us with His Benefits. He gives us our Food and Raiment, convenient for us, by which our frail Bodies are nourished and refreshed, and guarded against the inclemencies of the Air and injuries of the Weather. He deals forth unto us not spa­ringly and with a slack hand, barely enough to keep Soul and Body together; but He allows us for our Conveniency Delight and Entertain­ment as well as for Necessity, giving us all things richly to enjoy: tho' not for the satisfying our carnal greedy Appetites, and for the pampering our unruly Lusts; yet for our comfortable sup­port in the House of our Pilgrimage and to carry us well to our Journeys end; and suffers us not to lack any thing that would be Good for us Our Thank-Offerings would be due, if God should bestow upon us no more than the crumbs that fall from His Table, but how much more when He has spread so large a Table for us and [Page 22] so plentifully furnished it, filling our Mouths with good things and our Hearts with rejoycing. For this we are Assembled together to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord, who has this Year so abundantly satisfyed us with His Good­ness; and the more affectionate should our Ac­knowledgments be, the Smoke of our Burnt­Offering ascend with the greater fervour, and our Peace-Offerings be the more Liberal, when we consider that the Heavens have dropped down fatness to us in Answer, we trust, to our Ardent Prayers therefor. When the early scorch­ing Drought threatned utterly to lay waste our pleasant fruit, and burn up every green thing, we cryed unto the Lord our God, and our cry came up into His Holy dwelling place, and He granted us our Request. Yea when our Pious Rulers had but determined to call upon this Peo­ple to seek the Lord in our Distress, before we called the Lord answered us, and e'er the solemn Day approached He showered down upon us His plentiful Rain, by which the latter Herbage was wonderfully recovered, and our Land has yielded a comfortable encrease.— Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion, unto Thee, shall the vow be performed, O thou that bearest Prayer;—thou vi­sitest the Earth, & waterest it, thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water, thou preparest them Corn when thou hast so provided for it,—thou blessest the springing thereof; thou crownest the Year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness; they drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoyce on every side; the pastures are cloathed with flocks, the vallies also are covered over [Page 23] with Corn, they shout for Joy, they also Sing, Psal. LXV. 1, 2, 9, to the end.

(6.) AND if God renews our Youth like the Ea­gle, this calls for our Thanksgiving, ver. 5. This being an hard Text and difficult to be under­stood, I shall only say upon it, that if any, who thro' the Favour of God are spared to Old Age, under such Circumstances as calls for their La­bour and Industry, yet have their strength and vigour like that of Youth, and the Birds of prey, continued to them answerable to their work in a time when the infirmities of Age usually seal up the hands from Labour. Or if under the weakness of the Body bowed down with Age, the intellectual Powers remain quick and lively as in the vigour of Youth: Or if we suppose the Words to refer to the Resurrection state, when our Bodies shall be raised, refined, and spiritua­lized: considering the Words in either of these senses, in some or other of which Expositors ge­nerally understand them, certainly it calls upon us to Bless the Lord, who so maketh the Man of an Hundred Years Old as a Child in Vigour, (Isai. LXV. 20.) or that we hope to partake of the Glorious Resurrection of our Bodies, and the Blessed Consequents of it.

(7.) THE Lord executeth Righteousness and Judg­ment for all that are Oppressed, ver. 6. Which I take to include in it, those Civil Liberties and Privileges, which render a People safe and easy. When God raiseth them up Kings to be nursing Fathers, and setteth to Rule over them Able Men, [Page 24] fearing God and hating Covetousness. When He gives the King His Judgments, and His Righ­teousness to the Kings Son, and the under Offi­cers, and they Judge the People with Righteous­ness, and the Poor with Judgment; the Moun­tains bring forth Peace and the little Hills by Righteousness; Justice is dispensed like Showers, and flows down the Streets like a River, which refresheth the Earth, and maketh the Righteous to flourish.

AND surely this calls for our Thanksgivings this Day, That God hath so over-ruled Affairs among the Nations, and the Spirits of the Peo­ple, as maugre all the secret cabals against it, to bring to the Throne of Great Britain a Protestant Prince of the Illustrious House of Hanover, under the Shadow of whose Wise and Just Admini­strations we may set our selves down in quiet, and joyfully eat of the fruit of our own Vine and Fig-Tree, without the distressing fears of the Usurpations of a Popish and consequently a Ty­rannical Pretender; That God has appeared in the Mount of Difficulty, as a Man of War sub­duing the People under him, breaking the force of a powerful Invasion, by dispiriting their weak Chiefs and baffling the Counsels of their Wise, and turning the Rout back by the way by which they came, covering them with Shame and Con­tempt: that He has more lately interposed His watchful Eye, to spy out the hidden works of darkness, and bring to Light the dark design of intreaguing Statesmen, and break to pieces the new formed Model for a Foreign Invasion; and [Page 25] that in the midst of the Tumults of a strangely uneasy Faction at Home, and the envious Con­trivance of Popish Enemies Abroad, God has graciously preserved the Life of our Sovereign King GEORGE, and His Royal Offspring, and now happily secured the Crown upon His Head, and redeemed the Nation to that easy Tranquility it enjoys at this Day: And that we have those immediately over us, who seek our Welfare, and Feed us according to the Integrity of their Hearts, and Guide us according to the Skilfulness of their Hands; God also being with them to prosper them therein; and our Borders flourish with peace. Let Israel rejoyce in Him that made them, and the Children of Zion be joy­ful in their King, Psal. CXLIX. 2. I will sing a new Song unto Thee, O God, upon a Psaltery, and an Instrument of Ten Strings will I sing Praises unto thee; it is He that giveth Salvation unto Kings, who de­livereth David His Servant from the burtful Sword, Psal. CXLIV. 9, 10. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doth wondrous things; and blessed be His Glorious Name of ever, and let the whole Earth be filled with His Glory. Amen and Amen, Psal. LXXII. 18, 19.

(8.) TO add no more, He hath made known His Ways unto Moses His Acts unto the Chil­dren of Israel, ver. 7. Which I take to refer to the Revelation of the Divine Will and Command­ment; that unto them were committed the live­ly Oracles of God; the Ark and Temple of the Lord was among them, and God had shewn them the Pattern of His House, the outgoing and the [Page 26] incoming thereof, and had Consecrated His Priests to wait upon them at His Altar; with them had ratifyed His Covenant, and given them the assured promise of the Messiah, the hope of Israel and the Saviour thereof.

AND has not God favoured us with His Gos­pel, and visited these Ends of the Earth, which once were regions of Darkness with a Great Light, and published in our Ears the Glad Tydings of great Joy, that to us there is born a Saviour? Has He not reared up His Tabernacle among us, and multiplied His Synagogues in our Land? Has He not prepared for us a River, by putting it into the Hearts of our Fathers to lay the Foun­dations of the School of the Prophets, the Streams whereof are many, run far and wide, and rejoyce the whole City of our God? This challenges our Thankful Acknowledgments, and for this we now lift up our hands on high, and Bless the Name of the Lord. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God, in the mountain of His holiness: Beautiful for Scituation, the joy of the whole Earth is Mount Sion, in the sides of the north, the City of the Great King: God is known in her pa­laces for a refuge; Let Mount Sion rejoyce, let the Daughters of Judah be glad, Psal. XLVIII. 1,2,3, 11. I will sing of the mercy of the Lord for ever, for, Blessed are the People that know the joyful Sound, that walk, O Lord, in the Light of thy Countenance, Psal. LXXXIX. 1, 15. We will go into His Tabernacle, we will worship at His Footstool;—for the Lord hath chosen Zion, He hath desired it for His Habita­tion; this is my Rest for ever; here will I dwell for I [Page 27] have desired it;—I will also cloath her Priests with Salvation, and her Saints shall shout aloud for Joy, Psal. CXXXII. 7, 13, 14, 16. He shewed His Word unto Jacob, His Statutes and Judgments unto Israel; He hath not dealt so with every Na­tion, and as for His Judgments they have not known them: Praise ye the Lord, Psal. CXLVII. 19, 20.

AND if God hath so smiled upon the Pious and Generous Endeavours of the Government, as to open a door for the spreading of the Gos­pel in its Truth and Purity among the Abori­riginal Natives of our Eastern Country; it be­comes us to give Thanks unto the Lord, who openeth the Gate of Righteousness, that the Peo­ple may go thereinto and Praise Him; this Gate of the Lord, into which the Righteous enter:—Blessed are they who so come in the Name of the Lord: and Blessed be God who giveth His Commandment on Earth, His Word runneth swiftly; who has given His Son for a Covenant to the People, and a Light to lighten the Gen­tiles, to open the Blind Eyes, and be for Salva­tion to all the End of the Earth.

To proceed,

3. THE Relation which God stands in to us, as our Creator, our Sovereign, and our Judge, demands that we Bless His Name, by the most humble Submission and Adoration.

FIRST, We owe this Duty to God as we are His Creatures, the Workmanship of His Hands, which He hath formed, and not we our selves. He made us for this very end and purpose, to get to Himself a Great Name: This People have I [Page 28] formed for my self to shew forth my praise: says God. Isai. XLIII.21. And all the Creatures on Earth do and shall Praise Him, in their way and man­ner, according to their Nature and Capacities. 'Tis but just we give suitable acknowledgments to Man for any curious piece of Workmanship he is the Author of; and how much more ought we to Bless that God whose we are, and by whom we are fearfully and wonderfully made, Psal. CXXXIX. 14. God will have Glory from us whether we will or no: Angels behold our Ad­mirable contrivance, and Praise our Maker, as those Morning Stars sang together when the Foundations of the World were laid. But we are reasonable Creatures; and God expects an active Homage from us; that we ourselves give Glory to Him. And that not only by the Ce­lebration of His Perfections appearing in our make, but in all the manifestations thereof in the course of His Providence towards us. That we remember we are His Creatures, who have our intire dependance upon Him; and accordingly pay the profoundest Submission to Him, by a silent humble prostrate Adoration before Him, in what form soever He sees cause to mould and fashion us. O come let us worship, and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker: for He is our God, and we are the People of His Pasture, the Sheep of His Hands, Psal. XCV.6,7. Go down to the House of the Potter; faith the Lord,—the Vessel that He made of Clay was marred in His Hands—O House of Israel cannot I do with you as the Potter saith the Lord; as the Clay is in the Potters hand, so are ye in my Hands, Jer. XVIII. init. God not only form­eth [Page 29] our Clay, but He gave Essence to it also, and therefore our Obligation is the stronger to adore all the turns of His Hand.

SECONDLY, And this is part of that Natural Homage which we owe to God, as our Sovereign Lord and King, whose right it is to Rule. We owe it to our Sovereign, to Bless His Name all the ways we are capable of: to Praise Him who sitteth upon the Circle of the Earth, and before whom the Inhabitants thereof are as Grasshoppers. The Lord shall reign for ever, thy God, O Zion, unto all Generations; Praise ye the Lord, Psal. CXLVI.10. O clap your hands all ye People;—God is gone up with a Shout, the Lord with the sound of the Trumpet; sing Praises to our God, sing Praises; sing Praises un­to our King, sing Praises: for God is the King of all the Earth; sing ye Praises to Him with understand­ing, Psal. XLVII. 1, 5, 6, 7. Can any thing be more decent, than always to speak honourably of our high Sovereign? It equally becomes us to speak of the Glory of His Majesty, and talk of His high Power; as to offer our humble Pe­titions to His Majesty, for such Mercies as we want: and 'tis as much a due Debt to our Sove­reign, to Praise Him for the illustrious appea­rance of His Perfections in the Works of Provi­dence, as to bow before Him with our humble Supplications.

AND we equally owe it to our Sovereign, to Bless His, Name, by paying the profoundest Sub­mission to His Will. For God has an Original and underived Right to do what He pleases with us; and because the rights of His Sovereignty [Page 30] are independent and necessarily in Him, therefore they are truly unalienable & indefeasible. Hence the Divine Sovereignty and Lordship challenges it at our Hand that we become all obedience and submission before Him; that under the most dark and mysterious, the most weighty and grie­vous allotments of Divine Rule and Government, we remember 'tis the Lord who has done it; who always does all things in Righteousness and Wisdom; whose Government must be acknow­ledged by us, by an intire resignment of ourselves and all our Interest to Him; saying before Him, Here I am let the Lord do what seemeth Him Good, 2 Sam. XV. 26. 'Tis as proper and necessary and Acknowledgment of our Dependance upon God, to submit to His Hand, as to ask His Di­rection and Blessing; nature leads to them both alike; and alike they are Commanded; and thus we Bless God, with mournful Hearts; but humble ones; as truly as when we Sing His Praise with Joyful Lips. And here lyes the force of the Psalmist's reasoning; The Lord hath pre­pared His Throne in the Heavens, His Kingdom ruleth over all; Bless the Lord ye His Angels, Bless the Lord ye His Hosts, Bless the Lord all His Works, Bless the Lord, O my Soul, ver. 19,—22. So must we give unto the Lord this Adoration and Sub­mission, as the Tribute due unto His Name: this is the Testimony of our Highest Esteem, and our Deepest Veneration for our Sovereign; what the Infinite Distance between the most High God, and worms of the Dust requires; and a proof of our attending our Duty around His Throne, thus to bow down and worship at His Footstool.

[Page 31]FINALLY; The Consideration of our being accountable to God as our Judge bespeaks it of us, to Bless the Name of the Lord. For here we are in a state of Probation and Discipline; and the great design of all Gods dealings with us are answerable hereto; that by Mercies on the one hand, and Chastisements on the other, we might have our minds enlarged in the knowlege of God, and all the Faculties and Powers conformed to this knowlege in a practical Service Obedience and Submission to Him: and since we must at last be accountable to Him, how we have be­haved our selves in this state of Probation; what Improvement we have made of His Providences towards us; what returns of gratitude we have render'd Him for His many favours; what Im­pressions His Chastisements have had upon us; what has been our Deportment under His Holy Hand; and how far a Life of Holiness and the Temper of Obedient Subjects has been produced hereby; it concerns us as ever we would give up our Account to Him with Joy and not with Grief, that we thus Bless the Lord with our Souls and all that is within us.

BUT when we consider God as thus related to us, according to the Tenor of the New Cove­nant in and thro' Christ Jesus as the Head and Mediator thereof; that He is not only our Judge, but our Best Friend; not only our Lord and King, but our tender-hearted indulgent Father; Our God, peculiarly so, and as well our Blessed and Everlasting Portion and Inheritance; what an abundant Ground is this; as for our Thanks­giving, so for the Joy of our Faith in Tribula­tion, [Page 32] and [...] to the Divine Hand, which always treats us under the Influence of this Covenant Relation. Praise ye the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my Soul; while I live will I Praise the Lord, I will sing Praises unto my God while I have any Being; for Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Psal. CXLVI. 1, 2, 5.

SO I come to the Third and Last thing propo­sed, viz.

III. TO set before you after what manner we are to Bless the Name of the Lord. And here,

1. WE must Bless the Lord with our Souls, That is to say, It must be a Sacrifice offered in Truth and Sincerity; otherwise it will prove offensive like a corrupt thing, lame and heartless. 'Tis a Spiritual Service we are called to attend upon, and therefore our Spirits must be engaged in it. Merely to talk great things of the Ma­jesty, Power and Glory of God, and speak of His Goodness and Bounty to us; or to hang down our Heads like a Bulrush, and grown under the weight of His Hand, while our Souls are not du­ly impressed with a sense of God in all, and fil­led with Praise or Adoration; all such Calves of our Lips will prove but an unacceptable Sacri­fice, and the Noise we make be an ungrateful found: but if our Souls give Praise, with an E­lated Joy in the Lord, and Thankfulness to Him, or groan out the broken Accents of a deep Sub­mission and Humiliation; this is an agreeable Harmony in the Ears of the Lord, and the bro­ken and contrite Spirit which He will not despise. [Page 33] 'Tis not to Bless the Lord, if our Souls are not engaged herein; which indeed only are capable of so high a Duty, the Body being but the In­strument, as the Mouth the Organ, it uses to Bless God with. So sang the Psalmist, Psal. LVII. 7, 8. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will Sing and give Praise; awake up my Glory, awake Psaltery and Harp; I my self will a­wake early. When the Heart is awake, engaged in this Duty, and fixed with a steady Hope and Trust in God, then shall we indeed Sing and give Praise, tho' it be a Night of Darkness with us. Our Souls must be inspired by the Divine Spirit; there the Fire of Love and Zeal, Ad­miration and Resignation must be enkindled, and burn with servent Aspirations to God, consider­ed in His Essential Glories, His Communicative Goodness, and in all His relative Properties. While Grace Enlightens and Warms the Soul; and at the same time Humbles and Abases it, in a sense of the Divine Excellency, and our own nothingness; then shall we be as high sounding Cymbals, tuning forth Blessing, Honour, Glory and Power be unto the Lord our God.

2. WE must Bless the Lord with all that is within us. All our Faculties and Powers, all with­in our reach and disposal should be employed in this grateful Service.

EVERY Faculty of our Souls is to strike up their pleasant Notes: Our intellectual minds be ravished with the Lustre and Brightness of the Divine Incomprehensible Glories, the Majesty and Sweetness of His Nature, the Extensiveness of His Goodness, and the uncontroulableness of [Page 34] His Dominion: Our Wills chearfully harmonize with the Divine Will, by an intire Resignation of ourselves and our Interest thereto; highly ap­proving it as the Blessed and only measure of our Happiness, and the means leading to it; and readily obeying and submitting to it with a ge­nuine alacrity; our Affections raised and aspiring, burning like Seraphs, with a Zeal for the Glory of God, intirely centring, and sweetly delighting in Him; and void of all boisterous fretfulness, or fullen murmurs, with a sedate Trust, and a gen­tle Hope patiently bear the Indignation of the Lord, and quietly wait for His Salvation.

AND while we Behold the Invisible things of God, clearly manifest by the Visible things of the Creation; while we hear of the Glory of His Kingdom, & the Might of His terrible Acts; while we taste that the Lord is Good and Graci­ous; or feel the weight of His Hand; our Souls should make use of our Bodily Powers, as Instru­ments, in celebrating the Praises, and adoring the Majesty of our God. Thus no part of Man should be dumb and silent, stupid and unactive; but with all that is within us should we Bless the Name of the Lord.

So should we Bless God with all that is with in our reach and power, offering to Him not only the Sacrifice of our Bodies and Spirits, as a living Service, but Sacrificing all our interests and Enjoyments to the Lord, as one whole Burnt Offering, and a reasonable Service; ho­nouring the Lord with our Substance, abounding in Works of Piety & Charity; and resigning up our most valuable Friends and Relations, whenso­ever He sees meet to call for them.

[Page 35]3. TO add no more; There must be a Spirit of Holiness, Devotion, and Religion in all our Attempts to Bless the Name of the Lord: else we shall but Bless our selves in our Heart, and Flatter our selves in our own Eyes, and cry Peace, Peace, when there is none. 'Tis the Holy Name of God we are to Bless; and surely then it must be performed in a Holy and Religious manner. Vain minds may think it enough to Bless God, by rejoycing with a carnal mirth and jollity over their Good Chear, without a devout thought of the God that bestows it upon them; or please themselves with their noisy Sports, as tho' Re­velling were a Sacrifice fit for a God; or say in a frothy vein God be thanked, and Blessed be God, It is so and so with me. But we have not so learned the Nature of God and His Worship, as to prophane His Name, and think it a suita­ble way of Blessing Him. His Name is Holy, so that the Object of Praise, Thanksgiving and A­doration is Holy; and so should the Subjects be too, Holy Hearts; and it must be performed in a Devout and Religious manner; otherwise there will be no proportion between the Nature of that God we pretend to Bless, and the nature of the Offering we present to Him. 'Tis from religious Principles, that we are to Celebrate the Perfections of the Deity; from a religious sense of the Divine Bounty and Goodness, that we re­turn our humble and hearty Thanksgiving to Him; and from a religious awe and reverence, that we are to Adore before Him. So the Holy Angles Bless God, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, the whole Earth is full of thy Glory, [Page 36] Isai. VI. 3. And in like Holy manner should the Saints on Earth Eccho back, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty;—thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Power, for thou hast created all things; and for thy pleasure they are and were created, Rev. IV. 8, 11. Thus God should be seen, acknowledged, and adored in all that we have, and in all that befalls us; and while this Duty is thus carefully attended by us, then do we Bless the Lord with our Souls, and all that is within us, Bless His Holy Name.

¶ THUS I have endeavoured to set before you the present Duty of this Day; and recon­cile your deep Humiliation, with the Publick Joy­ful Thanksgiving which you are called to attend. And if in my Attempts to lead you in the Songs of Zion, you easily perceive my imperfect Speech, and faultring Accents; you will as rea­dily conceive, my Harp, with yours, as hanging upon the Willows.

SURE I am, when I meditate the Sudden Departure of my Reverend and Beloved Brother, Mr. GEORGE CURWIN, I cannot but be sensibly affected with it, as an awful and great frown of Providence in depriving me of those advantages I proposed to my self, from his Friend­ship as a Brother, and his wise Counsel as a Fa­ther: and I doubt not but a sense of your Loss of so valuable Blessing, as you have enjoyed in him, sits heavy upon you in this Day of your Joyful Solemnities.

YOU all know, that tho' the pleasure of Hea­ven [Page 37] spared him but few Years in his Relation to you, yet he grew Old in your Service, wearing himself out with hard and constant Labour a­mong you.

HE seemed to have been peculiarly formed from his Youth, for the great and noble Design, he af­terwards spent a short and Laborious Life in.

THE Spirit of Early Devotion, accompanied with a natural freedom of Thought, and easy Elocution, a quick Invention, a solid Judgment, and a tenacious Memory, laid the Foundations of a Good Preacher; to which his Acquired Lite­rature, his great Reading, hard Studies, deep Me­ditation, and close Walk with God, rendred him an Able, and a Faithful Minister of the New­Testament.

AND, for the Three Years and an Half that he bore the Relation of your Pastor, you know, and are Witnesses, how Holy, and Unblameably he hath walked before you; how servent, and zealous his Addresses have been to you; how sincerely, and with what Agony of Soul, he has been wooing you unto an Espousal with the Son of God.

YOU know how Faithful he has been in dis­pencing his Admonitions, Reproofs, Rebukes, and Exhortations, equally to the High, and the Low, without respect to Persons; and as faithful in his true concern and tender regards, in his un­wearied Care and Labours, for the Salvation of the Immortal Souls of the Poorest, as well as the Richest of his Flock.

[Page 38]NOR are you Ignorant of his Charities, which were equal to his Patrimony, and his enlarged Mind, which contemned Earthly things; tho' they have been so prudently dispenced as to be best known unto those who sat under his Sha­dow, rejoycing in his fruit; and now mourn him as their common Parent and Benefactor.

HIS great Humanity, added to those other Embellishments of Nature and of Grace, rendred him Pleasant and agreeable to all Men; but the Delight of them that knew him: and peculiarly so to my Venerable Aged Father, (the Reverend Mr. NICHOLAS NOYES, ^†) who rejoyced in this his Colleague, as in a Son Begotten in the Lord; and had the pleasing prospect of leaving his Charge in the hands of so Skilful and Faith­ful a Successor: but now mourns with you his Loss, and is ready to say, O my Son, my Son; would God, I had dyed for thee; my Son, my Son.

And, as one would expect of such a Perfect and Upright Man, he Dyed in Peace; unless in the Deliriums of his Distemper; in the midst of which, and I think in one of the last Fits of it, he still manifested the intenseness of his mind upon his Masters Work, and his great Concern for you, imagining himself to have been in the Pulpit, and so in a manner Dyed Preaching; and is gone to keep a better Thanksgiving than he could have done on Earth.

[Page 39]THERE is something in the Time of his Death, besides its being in the midst of his Days, peculiarly Afflicting; viz. that it takes you un­der the Disadvantage of your Aged Pastors very great Bodily Pains and Weaknesses, and when a Number of you are proposing to swarm your selves into an other separate Congregation.

BRETHREN; Let this awful Rebuke of Pro­vidence upon you, in removing so bright and shining a Light from among you, and at such a Time as this, be duly resented by a deep Hu­miliation before the Lord, from a humbling sense of His Holy Hand lying heavy upon you herein.

SERIOUSLY consider how far your own un­profitableness, while you walked in his Light, may have provoked God to shut you up in so much Darkness, by entinguishing so great a Luminary.

AND now joyn with united Hearts & Hands, however you may have your separate Places for Publick Worship, in helping forward the Great Work, which his Heart was so much set upon, of Building up the Kingdom of God among you.

LET Your Aged Pastor, now the Works falls the heavier upon him, with the Additional weight of his own Pains and Sorrows have the greater share in your intire Affections, and your dutiful Veneration, and Submission to his Counsels and Exhortations; that the few remainders of his weary Pilgrimage may be rendred Comfortable to him, in seeing the more of his Children walk­in the Truth, and becoming a Crown of Re­joycing to him.

[Page 40]CALL to mind the many wholsome Instructi­ons your Deceased Pastor, who Dead yet speak­eth, hath given you, and the Holy Example he hath set you; and so Live, and so Do.

PRAISE God who furnished him with such Bright Characters of His own Image; Give thanks to God that you have enjoyed so rich a Gift from Our Ascended Saviour; and now that he is taken away from you, silently and humbly Adore the Divine Government and Dominion; seek and rely upon His Fatherly Pity and Com­passion to furnish and bestow upon you such an other Perfect Gift from Above.

LET not your heavy Loss interrupt your sense of the many Blessing you enjoy, and such as this Day calls for your thankful Acknowleg­ments, particularly in the spared Life of your Aged Pastor; and earnestly Beg of God to Con­tinue and Strengthen him, that he may flourish in the House of his God.

THIS will be to Glorify God in the Fire, and to Bless the Name of the Lord, when He takes away, as well as when He gives.

AND now, what Supports have the Aged and Honourable and Bereaved Parents from the Con­sideration, that This their Son, Born from A­bove, after a Labourious Endeavour to assist them, and an unfainting Struggle to help others in their Journey to the Better World, has but just got the start of them, and reached his Native Home be­fore them; where within a very little while, they will meet again, never more to be parted; and joyn in Consort with him in Songs of Praise [Page 41] Gratitude and Adoration, without the Burden of their mournful Weeds, or so much as a whispered Sigh to break in upon Harmony.

MAY the Vertuous Relict and tender Off­spring inherit a plentiful return from the vast Stock of Prayers, which have been laid out for them, and have a double Portion of his Spirit resting upon them; may She find her Maker to be her Husband, and God to be their Father; and in the midst of their Sorrows be enabled to rejoyce in the Lord, and joy in the God of their Salvation.

SHOULD and Angel from Heaven audibly declare the Happy State their Deceased Son and Husband is entred into the possession of, it would not be such ground of Comfort as the review of his past Life spent in so near a Conformity to the Rules of the Gospel. And because God, who is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, is the God of the Living, and not of the Dead, they may be assured that since Christ his Head Lives, he Lives also, and his Sleeping Dust shall partake of a Glorious Resurrection. Awake and Sing, ye that dwell in the Dust; thy Dead Men shall live, together with my dead Body shall they arise, Isai. XXVI. 19. Wherefore Comfort one an other with these Words.

TO Conclude, may we all be lead to follow his Example, wherein he followed Christ; that our whole Life may be one continued Strain of Blessing the Holy Name of the Lord, under the various Changes which pass over us in a vale of [Page 42] Tears; that so Glorifying God on Earth, we may all return from our present Pilgrimage, and with the Ransom'd of the Lord arrive safe to the Heavenly Zion, with Songs and Everlasting Joy upon our Heads, where we shall obtain Gladness, and Sorrow and Sighing shall flee away; where no Broken String in our Harp, nor Jarring Note in our Songs, shall spoil the Melody of our Endless and Unwearied Praise, Thanksgiving and Adoration.