1, 2.

I.

and, It is a good thing (faith he again) to give thanks s E R Mi unto the Lord, and to fing praifes unto thy name, O thou moft High; to fhew forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Such were his in- Pfal. xcii. tentions, and fuch his judgment about this practice; and we find him in effect true and answerable to them; every fong of his, every meditation, every exercife of devotion chiefly harping upon this ftring; and he earnestly wishes that others would confent and confort with him therein; he earnestly exhorts and excites them thereto: O that men would praise the Pfal. cvii. 8. Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Praife the Lord, O give thanks unto Pfal. cvi. 1. the Lord; for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. That one example might fufficiently authorize this practice; but we have innumerable others, and those the higheft that can be, to encourage and engage us thereto; even the whole choir of heaven, whofe perpetual business and happy entertainment it is to contemplate with their minds, to celebrate with their voices, the immenfe goodnefs of God; They have (as Apoc. iv. 8. it is in the Revelation) no reft day or night, from performing this office. Such is the fubject of our difcourfe; the which our text moft plainly and fully expreffes; afferting not only the goodness of God, but the univerfal and boundless extent thereof; The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies (or his bowels of affection and pity) are over all his works. And that God indeed is fuch, we fhall firft endeavour to declare, then shall briefly apply the confideration thereof to practice.

That God the Lord, and Maker of all things, is of himself, in regard to all his creatures, especially to us men, fuperlatively good, that is, difpofed never without juft or neceffary cause to harm us, and inclinable to do us all poffible and befitting good, the univerfal frame of nature, and the conftant courfe of Providence do afford us fufficient reason to conceive, and moft frequent, moft exprefs teftimonies of holy Scrip

I.

SER M. ture do more fully demonftrate. There is no argument from natural effects difcernible by us, which proveth God's exiftence, (and innumerable fuch there are, every fort of things well ftudied may afford fome,) the which doth not together perfuade God to be very kind and benign; careful to impart to us all befitting good, fuitable to our natural capacity and condition; and unwilling that any confiderable harm, any extreme want or pain fhould befall us. (I interpofe fuch limitations, for that an abfolute, or univerfal and perpetual exemption from all kinds, or all degrees of inconvenience, an accumulation of all forts of appearing good upon us, doth not become, or fuit our natural ftate of being, or our rank in perfection among creatures; neither, all things being duly ftated and computed, will it turn to beft account for us.) The best (no less convincing than obvious) arguments, afferting the existence of a Deity, are deduced from the manifold and manifeft footsteps of admirable wisdom, fkill, and defign apparent in the general order, and in the particular frame of creatures; the beautiful harmony of the whole, and the artificial contrivance of each part of the world; the which it is hardly poffible that any unprejudiced and undiftempered mind fhould conceive to proceed from blind chance, or as blind neceffity. But with this wisdom are always complicated no lefs evident marks of goodness. We cannot in all that vaft bulk of the creation, and numberlefs variety of things, discover any piece of mere pomp, or dry curiofity; every thing feems to have fome beneficial tendency; according to which it confers fomewhat to the need, convenience, or comfort of those principal creatures, which are endued with fenfe and capacity to enjoy them. Moft of them have a palpable relation to the benefit (to the fubfiftence or delight) of living creatures; and especially in an ultimate relation to the benefit of man; and the reft, although their immediate use be not to our

is

I.

5. cxix. 64.

ivii. 10.

cviii. 4.

Pfal. civ.

10,

&c.

Pfal. lxv.

dim fight fo difcernible, may therefore be reasonably S ER M. prefumed in their natural defignation to regard the same end. Wherefore as upon confideration of that ample provifion, which is made in nature for the neceffary fuftenance, defence, and relief, for the convenience, delight, and fatisfaction of every creature, any man, who is not careless or ftupid, may be induced to cry out with the Pfalmift: O Lord, how Pfal. civ. manifold are thy works! in wisdom haft thou made them 24. xxxiii. all: fo may he with no lefs reafon and ground after him pronounce and acknowledge; The earth full of the goodness of the Lord: The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy. Thy mercy is great unto the heavens: Thy mercy is great above the heavens. It is indeed becaufe divine goodness is freely diffufive and communicative of itself; becaufe effential love is active, and fruitful in beneficence; becaufe higheft excellency is void of all envy, felfifhnefs, and tenacity, that the world was produced fuch as it was; thofe perfections being intrinfecal to God's nature, difpofed him to beftow so much of being, of beauty, of pleafure upon his creatures. He openeth his hand, they are filled with Píal civ. good: it is from God's open hand, his unconfined bounty and liberality, that all creatures do receive all that good which fills them, which fatisfies their needs, and fatiates their defires. Every pleasant object we view, every fweet and favoury morfel we tafte, every fragrancy we fmell, every harmony we hear; the wholefome, the cheering, the ufeful, yea, the innocent and inoffenfive qualities of every thing we do use and enjoy, are fo many perfpicuous arguments of divine goodness; we may not only by our reafon collect it, but we even touch and feel it with all our fenfes.

The like conclufion may be inferred from the ob fervation of divine Providence. Every fignification, or experiment, whence we may reasonably infer that divine power and wifdom do concur in upholding, managing, and directing the general ftate of things,

28.

I.

SER M. or the particular affairs of men, being well examined and weighed, would afford reafon apt to perfuade, that the Governor of the world is gracioufly affected toward his creatures and fubjects. The general preservation of things in their natural conftitution and order; the difpenfing conftant viciffitudes of feafon, fo as may ferve for the fupply of our needs; the maintaining fuch a courfe of things in the world, that, notwithstanding the great irregularity of will, and violence of paffion in fo many perfons; yet men do ordinarily fhift fo as to live tolerably upon earth in peace and safety, and enjoyment of competent accommodations for life; with the aids and confolations arifing from mutual fociety; the fupports, encouragement, and rewards of virtue many times in a ftrange manner administered; the reftraints, difappointments, and seasonable chastisements of wickednefs, especially when it grows exorbitant and outrageous, unexpectedly intervening, with the like pafPfal. xxviii. fages of Providence, will, to him that fhall regard the works of the Lord, and the operation of his hands, fufficiently declare as the other glorious attributes, (wifdom, power, and juftice,) fo efpecially the goodness of him, who prefides over the world; affuring that he is a friend to the welfare, and diflikes the misery of mankind. He that fhall well obferve and confider how among fo many fierce and hard-hearted, fo many crafty and fpiteful, fo many domineering and devouring fpirits, the poor and weak, the fimple and harmless fort of people do however fubfift, and enjoy fomewhat, cannot but fufpect that an undifcernible hand, full of pity and bounty, doth often convey the neceffary fupports of life to them, doth often divert imminent mifchiefs from them; cannot but acknowledge it credible, what the holy Scripture teacheth, that God is the friend, and patron, and Pfal. xiv. 6. protector of those needy and helpless people, redeemtot. x. 14. ing their foul from deceit and violence, (as the Pfalmift fpeaks;) that he is (as the Prophet expreffeth it) a

Ifai. v. 12.

lxxii. 12.

Atrength

I.

xxxvii. 25.

ult.

Frength to the poor, a ftrength to the needy in his diftrefs, s e R M. a refuge from the form, a fhadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a form against the wall. He that fhall remark, how frequently in an unac- Ifa. xxv. 4. countable way, fuccour and relief do spring up to just and innocent perfons; fo that in a whole age (as the Pfalmift obferved) fuch perfons do not appear defti- Pfal. tute or forfaken; how alfo iniquity is commonly ftopped in his full career, and then eafily receives a check, when its violence feemed uncontrollable; how likewife many times the world is refcued from confufions and diftractions unextricable by any visible wit or force; with other like occurrences in human affairs; muft admit it for a reasonable hypothefis (fit to render a cause of fuch appearances) that a transcendent goodness doth fecretly interpofe, furthering the production of fuch effects: he must upon fuch obfervation be ready to verify that of the Pfalmift: Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily there is Pfal. Iviii. a God that judgeth the earth. St. Paul inftructs us, Acts xiv. that in paft times (that is, in all generations from 17. the beginning of things) God did atteft himself to be the Governor of the world: How? dyadow", by his beneficence; giving to men fhowers from heaven, and fruitful feafons, filling their hearts with food and gladness: competent evidences, it seems, thefe were of his providence, and withal (fuppofing that) certain demonftrations of his goodnefs: although some have abused this kind of teftimony, or argumentation, fo valid in itself, unto a contrary purpofe; alledging, that if God ruled the world, so much wickedness and impiety would not be tolerated therein; that ingrateful and evil men could not fo thrive and flourish; that more speedy and more fevere vengeance would be executed; that benefits would not be scattered among the crowd of men, with fo promifcuous and undiftinguishing a freeness. But fuch discourses, apon a juft and true account, do only infer the great patience and clemency, the unconfined mercy and

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bounty