O come, let us sing unto the Lord,

&c. And Psalm xcv. 1. &c. But why?-Verse 3. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.-But how does this appear? Why, (ver. 4, 5.) In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the strength of the hills is his also: The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land: Ver. 6. 0, therefore, come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. And again, in Psal. xcvi. 1. O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord all the earth. But why? Ver. 4. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods. But wherein does this appear? Why, (ver. 5.) All the gods of the nations are idols; but the LORD made the heavens. And once more, in Psal. civ. 1, 2, &c. Bless the Lord, O my soul. But why? Thou art very great: thou art clothed with honour and majesty. But how does this appear? Why, Thou hast stretched out the heavens as a curtain. And ver. 5. And laid the foundations of the earth, that it cannot be removed for And ver. 27. All wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. Ver. 28. That thou givest them, they gather: thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. And throughout the whole Psalm he is meditating on the creation and preservation of the world; and viewing the divine perfections therein discovered, and admiring the divine glory, and wondering and adoring; and finally concludes with, Bless the Lord, O my soul: Praise ye the Lord. But,

ever.

3. His perfections are still much more eminently displayed in that moral government which he maintains over the intelligent part of the creation; especially his moral perfections. In the works of nature his natural perfections are to be seen: but in his moral government of the world, he acts out his heart, and shows the temper of his mind. Indeed, all the perfections of God are to be seen in the work of creation, if we view angels and men, and consider what they were, as they came first out of his hands, holy and pure. But still God's conduct towards them, under the character of their King and Governor, more evidently discovers the very temper of his heart. As the tree is known by the fruit, so God's moral perfections may be known by his moral government

of the world. The whole world was created for a stage, on which a variety of scenes were to be opened; in and by all which, God designed to exhibit a most exact image of himself. For, as God loves himself infinitely for being what he is, so he takes infinite delight in acting forth and expressing all his heart. He loves to see his nature and image shine in all his works, and to behold the whole world filled with his glory and he perfectly loves to have his conduct, the whole of it taken together, an exact resemblance of himself; and infinitely abhors, in his public conduct, in the least to counteract the temper of his heart; so as, by his public conduct, to seem to be what indeed he is not. So that in his moral government of the world, we may see his inward disposition, and discern the true nature of his moral perfections. And indeed all his perfections are herein discovered; particularly,

He

(1.) His infinite understanding. High on his throne in heaven he sits, and all his vast dominions lie open to his view. His all-seeing eye views all his courts above, and sees under the whole heavens, looks through the earth, and pierces all the dark caverns of hell; so that his acquaintance with all worlds and all things is absolutely perfect and complete. can behold all the solemn worship of heaven, and the inmost thoughts of all that great assembly: he can behold all the sin, misery, and confusion that overspread the whole earth, and the inmost temper of every mortal; and look through hell, and see all the rebellion, and blasphemy, and cunning devices of those infernal fiends; and all this at one all-comprehending view. And thus, as high Governor of the whole world, he continually beholds all things; whereby a foundation is laid for the exercise of all his other perfections in his government over all. See the omniscience of God elegantly described in Psalm cxxxix. 1-12. And being perfectly acquainted with himself, as well as with all his creatures, he cannot but see what conduct from him towards them, will, all things considered, be most right, and fit, and amiable, and most becoming such an one as he is; and also what conduct from them to him is his due, and their duty. By his infinite understanding, he is perfectly acquainted with right and wrong-with what is fit, and what unfit. And, by the

moral rectitude of his nature, he infinitely loves the one and hates the other, and is disposed to conduct accordingly;-of which more presently. Psalm cxlvii. 1. Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely. But why? Ver. 5. Great is our Lord, and of great power; HIS UNDERSTANDING IS INFINITE. But wherein does that appear? Why, (4.) He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them ALL by their names. Now, if the infinite understanding of God may be seen in this one particular, much more is it in the regular ordering and disposing of all things, throughout the whole universe; and that, not only in the natural, but also in the moral world.

(2.) His infinite power is displayed in the government of the world. For he does according to his pleasure in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; so that none can stay his hand, or hinder the execution of his designs. Have rebellions broken out in any part of his dominions? he has manifestly had the rebels entirely in his hands. They have lain absolutely at his mercy; and he has dealt with them according to his sovereign pleasure; and none has been able to make any resistance; nor has there been any to deliver them out of his hands. When rebellion broke out in heaven, he crushed the rebels in a moment. They fell beneath the weight of his hand; they felt his power; they despaired; they sunk to hell; and there he reserves them in chains; nor can they stir from their dark abode, but by his special permission. And when rebellion broke out upon earth, the rebels were equally in his hands, and at his mercy, unable to make any resistance; although he was pleased, in his infinite wisdom, to take another method with them. But he has since discovered his power, in treading down his implacable enemies under foot, many a time. He destroyed the old world, burned Sodom, drowned Pharaoh and his hosts, and turned Nebuchadnezzar into a beast. If his enemies have exalted themselves, yet he has been above them--brought them down; and discovered to all the world that they are in his hands, and without strength, at his disposal. Or if he has suffered them to go on and prosper, and

exalt themselves greatly, yet still he has been above them, and has accomplished his designs by them, and at last has brought them down. Haughty Nebuchadnezzar, when he had broken the nations to pieces, as if he had been the hammer of the whole earth, now thought himself somebody; and Alexander the Great, when conquering the world, aspired to be thought the son of Jupiter. But the most high God, the great and almighty Governor of the world, always had such scourges of mankind only as a rod in his hand, with which he has executed judgment upon a wicked world. Howbeit, they meant not so, neither did their hearts think so. But it was in their hearts to gratify their ambition, avarice and revenge. However, he was above them; and always such have been in his hands, as the ax is in the hands of him that heweth therewith, or as the saw is in the hands of him that shaketh it; or as the rod is in the hand of him that lifteth it up. And when he has done with the rod, he always breaks it and burns it. See Isa. x. 19.

And as this great King has discovered his almighty power, by crushing rebellions in his kingdom, and subduing rebels, so he has, also, in protecting his friends, and working deliverance for his people. He made a path for his people through the sea; he led them through the wilderness. He gave them water to drink out of the rock; and fed them with angels' food. In the day-time he led them by a cloud, and all the night with the light of fire. He brought them to the promised land, and drove out the heathen before them; and in all their distresses, whenever they cried unto han, he delivered them. And as the supreme Governor of the world, in the days of old, did thus discover his almighty power in governing among his inteiligent creatures, so he is still, in various ways and manners, in his providential dispensations, evidently discovering that he can do all things. And his people see it and believe it; and admire and adore. Read Psalm cv.

(3.) Again, His infinite wisdom is discovered in an endless variety of instances; in all his government throughout all his dominions; in his managing all things to the glory of his Majesty, to the good of his loyal subjects, and to the confusion

of his foes. There has never any thing happened in all his dominions, and never will, but has been, and shall be made entirely subservient to his honour and glory. Even the contempt cast upon him by his rebellious subjects, he turns to his greater glory; as in the case of Pharaoh, who set up himself against God, and said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey him? I know not the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. And he exalted himself, and dealt proudly and haughtily; and hardened his heart, and was resolved he would not regard God, nor be bowed nor conquered by him; for he despised him in his heart. But the more he carried himself, as if there were no God, the more were the being and perfections of God made manifest; for the more he hardened his heart, the more stout and stubborn he was, the more God honoured himself in subduing him. Yea, God, in his infinite wisdom, suffered him to be as high and haughty, as stout and stubborn, as he pleased; he took off all restraints from him; permitted the magicians to imitate the miracles of Moses, so that Pharaoh, in seeing, might not see, nor be convinced; and he ordered that the plagues should last but for a short season, that Pharaoh might have respite; and thus it was that God hardened his heart. And God, in his infinite wisdom, did all this with a view to his own glory; as he tells Pharaoh by the hand of Moses-"Such and such plagues I design to bring upon you, and to do so and so with you." And, indeed, for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. Exod. ix. 16. And, accordingly, God was illustriously honoured, at last, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, at the Red Sea; and the Egyptians, and all the neighbouring nations, were made to know that he was the LORD; and his name became dreadful among the heathen. And we find that, in three or four hundred years after, the Philistines had not forgotten it; for when the ark, in the days of Eli, was carried into the camp of Israel, the Philistines were sore afraid, and said, "God is come into the camp: Wo unto us: Who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods that smote the