SERMON XXXVII.

PSALM XXV. 13.

THE SECRET OF THE LORD IS WITH THEM THAT

FEAR HIM,

'HESE words seem to imply some spiritual fe

THE

cret, which every one cannot find out, and which is to be found out only by thofe, who fear the Lord. And yet at the fame time, it appears to

Let us ex

be a fecret very open to every one. amine into this seeming contradiction. Let us first enquire what this fecret is fecondly, why it is called a fecret-and thirdly, how it is to be found out.

We enquire firft, what this fecret is.-Now from the tenor of the pfalm, from which the text is taken,

this

great fecret appears to be nothing more than the well-known truth, that the happiness of man con→ fifts in the fear of God: and indeed we shall find

this truth inculcated among the first pieces of instruction in every religious book we meet with. It is the subject of the minister's discourse—of the father's advice-and of the tutor's lectures. Even the heathen philofopher, tho he could not so well inform us, in what the happinefs of man confifted, knew enough of this fecret to be convinced, that it did not confift in the enjoyment of the things of this world.

In the writings of the old teftament this fecret is very clearly revealed. Holy Job, in the beginning of the nineteenth chapter, fhews how well he was acquainted with it, when the candle of the Lord fhone upon his head-when he walked by its lightand when the fecret of the Lord was upon his tabernacle.-David's acquaintance with this fecret is Thewn in numberless paffages of his pfalms; and Solomon has written almoft a whole book on the fubject.

Again, when we open the new teftament this great fecret appears to be unfolded ftill more plainly. There almost in every page we are more or less affured, that the paths of religion are alone the paths of happiness.

Fewer

Fewer words might have fhewn, that this great fecret, which is only that the happiness of man confifts in the fear of God, hath been known, and witneffed to by all in every age, who pretended to religion. Whence comes it then that David calls it a fecret? It feems fo far from being a fecret, that no truth can be more generally acknowledged. This is the fecond point I proposed to confider.

Now there are two ways of acknowledging a
Nothing is more common, than to

truth.
acknowledge a truth, and yet

fuffer that truth to

make no impreffion upon us. In that cafe, the truth in fact is not acknowledged. Do you act upon it? No. Then you only talk about it. Thus you fometimes hear a man talk about prudence, while he is fquandering his estate; and cant about religion, while every action of his life is a, breach of its precepts.

We have a ftrong inftance in the cafe of Judas Ifcariot, of a man's poffeffing a truth, which has no influence upon his actions. Judas, we are told, took great offence at the perfon, who anointed our Saviour's head with a rich ointment. So precious a commodity, faid he, might have been fold for a confiderable fum, and given to the poor? From

fuch

We read in

fuch a speech, one should have thought the charitable difpofition of Judas flowed out more than that of any of his fellow-difciples. But we are mistaken. It was a fentiment, that came only from his lips: his heart never felt it. the next verfe, that he had, in fact, no regard for the poor: but was a thief, and carried the bag;. which he wifhed to fill as much as he could, that he might convert it to his own use.

Thus with regard to this fecret of the Lord, we are ever ready to acknowledge, that we ought to trust in God, rather than in the world for our happinefs; but we acknowledge it too often only as Judas did the virtue of charity; it comes only from our lips it does not influence our actions. And when this is the cafe, however we may impofe on ourselves, we certainly have not gotten at theTM fecret of the Lord.-Take a view of mankind in general: (I do not mean the abandoned part of mankind, for they are out of the queftion) but of those who pretend to religion; and you will too often fee them engaged in all the bufinefs, the buftle, or pleasures of life, and little elfe going forward from morning till night. And

yet many of them are very decent people-mighty religious; and go conftantly to church. It is a pity they can

not

out find out the fecret of the Lord. In fuch company however we need not feek it. Let us then look for it among the wife, the thoughtful, and the prudent. Under a ferious deportment, and the demureness of religion, ftill we fee fuch a constant attention to worldly happinefs-fo much anxiety about worldly good-fo much fear, and diftress about worldly evil, that it is beyond the power of charity to fuppofe this heavenly fecret is perfectly difcovered even here.

But as the trueft conviction in this point must arife from ourselves-instead of looking into the practice of others, and fuppofing what they feel, let us examine our own breafts, and observe what fymptoms we find there of having discovered this great fecret.

In fome happy moment, when your heart rejoices-when your spirits are raised beyond their common flow-ask yourselves what it is, that gives you so much joy? Is it, that you feel the transports of religion? Is it the teftimony of a good confcience, that raises in you the joyful hope of acceptance with God? Is it the contemplation of those joys, which eye hath not feen, nor ear heard? Or is it (let us examine fairly) is it the expectation of fuccefs in fome worldly business?

or