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will not only express itself in inward admirations, but also in outward thanksgiving, all manner of ways, and that both in word and deeds. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God, Psal. 1. 23. Sirs, if I may so say, if our praise falls low, let our conversation rise higher; if our tongue can. not speak much, let our life speak more to his praise. A well-ordered conversation is a well-tuned song to the praise of the God of our mercies. 3dly, We find this expression of praising, that when the believer hath done all that he can do at it himself, he will call in every one to help him. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be continually in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord and let us exalt his name together, Psal. xxxiv. 1, 2, 3. serve, the man resolves to bless God at all times, and to have his praise continually in his lips; what help then needed he in this work? Saith he, in the next words, O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I will tell you freely; a believer, that hath a right sense of mercy on his heart, is just like a man that is carrying a great treasure home with him, he is loth to lose a penny of it, loth to lose any of it; but it is a great deal too heavy for him; and therefore he says, "Oh for help! will any one help me to carry it safe « home, that I may not lose any of this great treasure of mer"cy, but send forth the due praises to the giver of it?" What means the Psalmist so poetically, if I may so say, to call upon the whole creation to praise God, as in Psalm cxlviii. Praise him, sun, moon, and stars, fire, hail, wind, snow, mountains, hills, trees, cattle, fowls, &c. He names almost every thing in the world, and gives an exhortation to them to praise the Lord. Why is the man so taken up? Why, the blessed man saw God's excellency, and perceived his bounty towards him, and knew his debt to God, and strove what he could to praise him, and was convinced he could do but little towards it; and therefore calls in every thing to help him to praise the Lord. Sirs, this is pretty well known, that when a believer is greatly distressed, he is mightily concerned to have help in prayer. With what earnestness doth many a poor

believer beg the help of other believer's prayers! It is a good work, and it is a duty for them to ask it, and it is a duty required of them who are asked to pay it. But if ever you

had a right sense of the loving-kindness of God, you will find as great need, and as great inclination, to beg the help of other people's praises, as ever you were to beg the help of other people's prayers. Never was there an affliction, never was there a sin, so sensible to the heart and conscience of a distressed believer, as the great loving-kindness of the Lord sometimes is it is a heavy burthen, but a sweet one.

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4thly, Another expression of praise is, our sealing to the praises that others give unto God; in setting our Amen to all the praises that are given him; so that the poor believer is in this happy state, that though he cannot praise as he would, yet he knows there are better praisers of than he is, and if he cannot sing with them, he can add his Amen to them: though he cannot write after their copy, yet he can, in a manner, take the pen in his hand and set down Amen Amen to all the praises that have been given to God from the beginning of the world to the end of it; in time and to eternity. And in this a great part of our praising lies, Alas! what can we do with a few words of praise from such narrow, straitened hearts as ours are? how small is the return that we are able to make for all the loving-kindness of God to us? "Well," saith the believer, "I know it is but little that I "can do, but yet there are some who can praise better; the "Lord hath been praised from the beginning of the world, "and he will be praised to the end of it; he is and will be "praised by the blessed assembly above of saints and angels; " and though I am not in their company, yet I belong to them, " and I will put my Amen to their praises every day." Sirs, the life of prayer stands in Amen; I do not mean in the word only, words are but form; the life of prayer stands in Amen, in that assent of faith which seals the petitions which we put up; that is the life of prayer: even so the life of praise stands in our Amen, which is the assent of faith to the praises we put up.. 5thly, Another expression of praise is resolving on perpetual praise. Sirs, I would not have you think that you pay for the mercy you receive by the praise that you give : VOL. IV.

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mercy is never paid for by praise; for grace to mercy, and our debt grows bigger by praising. But the be liever expresses his thankfulness by resolving to praise for ever; and therefore the Psalmist expresses himself thus; I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise unto my God while I have my being, Psal. civ. 33. Aye, but thy life will be quickly at an end, David: "But I shall have "a being for ever, and the work of praise is resolved upon for I will sing praises unto my God, while I have my be"ing." Sirs, take heed to your spirits in this; whosoever they be, who think they quit scores with God for mercy, by an hour or two, or a day of thanksgiving, such persons neither know God, nor mercy, nor themselves. Our praising is but our duty, and when we have done all we can, there is a great deal more owing; and we must never expect to pay God for his mercy, even unto the utmost days of eternity. We must resolve to praise him for ever: for his mercy endureth for ever, and everlasting mercy should oblige to eternal praise.

Lastly, The last expression of praise which I shall name, is praying praise to God; not only resolving to praise him for ever, but to pray him to exalt himself; to pray him to take the work of thanksgiving into his own hand, and, if I may SO say, to give himself thanks. So doth the Psalmist; Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own strength, so will we sing and praise thy power, Psal. xxi. 13. A strange prayer! Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own strength, so will we sing and praise the power. "Do thou put forth thy power, and advance thy "glory, then shall we praise thee better than we do; so "will we sing and praise thy power."

4thly, I shall add a few things farther relating to this duty of praising the Lord for his mercy. 1st, The worst and the meanest of men have a great deal of God's goodness and mercy shewn to them. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works, Psal. cxlv. 9. There is a wonderful deal of patience, and goodness, and long-suffering, that is put forth and extended to the most wicked, ungodly sinners, Rom. ii. S, 4. 2dly, All the expressions of God's goodness, love, and mercy, to men, lay them under a debt of praise to God; this is plain and easy, and the very naming of it may suffice-that all the expressions of God's goodness to

men lay them under å debt of praise to God. 3dly, Special mercies call for special praises: as there are great things in God's law, and lesser, so there are great things in God's bounty, and lesser; so there should be greater praising, and lesser. He is a happy man who can weigh mercies! though every one is bigger than we deserve, yet there are some which are bigger than others in themselves: and the more special the mercy is, the more praise is due to God. Lastly, Though every mercy requires praise, and special mercy requires special praise, yet none can praise God truly, but a partaker of saving mercy it is for saving mercy that the apostle's praise in the text is directed. Where is that praise performed which God will take? Only by believers. I know this is a theme that will hardly go down other persons beside believers receive mercy, other persons beside believers owe praise, and other persons beside believers pay praise in their way; but there is no praise accepted by the Lord but that which is paid by believers. I would prove this in a few things, and then come, in the last place, to make some application. 1st, None but believers have their persons accepted; and no man's service is accepted but his whose person is first accepted. Unless a man stands safe, and in peace with God through Jesus Christ, there is nothing which he can do that will be accepted with the Lord. Abel was first accepted by the Lord, the Lord had first respect to him, and then to his offering; Cain's offering was rejected, because the Lord had no respect to his person and this is the constant way of God; every one is accepted of the Lord in his performances, as he is in his person, and the acceptance of our performances, is only through Jesus Christ; and the acceptance of our performances is only because our persons are accepted in the Beloved. 2dly, None but believers know either God or themselves; and you may well conceive how unacceptable their praise must be, who nei ther know who the giver of mercy is, nor who the receiver is and this belongs to the natural condemned state of all unbelievers they neither know God nor themselves. 3dly, It is the believer only who is framed for praise; and can you think that any person can be fit for this work unless God makes them so? These people, saith the Lord, have I formed

for myself, that they should shew forth my praise, Isa. xliii. 21See what a great preamble the apostle makes to this matter of praise; 1 Pet. ii. 9. Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of him that hath called you into his marvellous light. What cannot they shew forth the Lord's praise till all this be upon them? No; all these privileges of your state are in order to the enabling you to the work of praise. Lastly, None but a believer can give praise unto the Lord, because none but such can make use of the Psalmist's argument; 0 give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, and his mercy endureth for ever, Psal. cvii. 1. No unbeliever can say, No unbeliever can say, "I praise the "Lord, for he is good,

and his mercy endureth for ever;" he may say, "I praise the Lord, for he hath done good to me;" but can you say, that he is good to you? The Lord doth good to a great many whom he is not good to; God indeed is always good in himself; but how can a man call God good to him, who does not know whether he be reconciled to him or not? Common mercies are from the goodness of God; aye, but that goodness of God which sends. common mercies, hath many times a great deal of wrath in it, and vengeance at the bottom. Common mercies are always given in love to believers; but they are rained as snares upon the ungodly. That ease and prosperity, and plenty of all things in this world, which a believer partakes of, he gives God hearty thanks for, and he has good reason so to do; but if an unbeliever partakes of these, and remains still an unbeliever, they are but aggravations of his guilt, and heighteners of wrath against him. Neither can the unbeliever use that other argument; For his mercy endureth for ever. All the mercy of God towards an unbeliever, is mercy that endureth but for a time. It is only the believer who can say, I give thanks unto the Lord: for his mercy endureth for ever; «he "is good already to me, and he will continue that goodness to eternity." So that from all these things it is plain, that none but a believer can give hearty praise: no unbeliever can use the believer's arguments; and whosoever cannot use the arguments, will never be found exercised abou the duty.

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