pinion wicked men are fools, and righteous men wife and fo it will evidently appear at the last day; when the wicked hall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

SER

PSALM CXIX. 11.

Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not fin against thee.

I

N this pfalm we are not to expect a very strict connexion of one part with the other. Many verfes feem to me to be intirely independent on thofe which go before and follow after: and most of them I believe will make

very good fenfe by themselves, tho we fhould confider them without any relation to the context. Nor need we wonder at it; fince it was not David's de fign in penning this pfalm to present us with a piece of clofe argument and reafoning, but only to fet down fome pia ous and devout thoughts, juft as they occurred to his mind, without taking pains to digeft them into any nice order and method. It abounds in encomiums of God's word, in expreffions of affection for it, in defires and refolutions of conformity to it.

In the text the pfalmift declares his conduct with regard to God's word; thy word I have hid in my heart: and the reafon of his doing fo; that I might not fin against thee. By the word of God poffibly David might mean

no more

than the five books of Mofes. But that should not hinder us from including more under this character, who are favour'd with a more perfect revelation of God's will than David was, and have a much larger volume of the fa cred writings. We have a great many prophets who lived after David's time: and, which crowns all, we have Chrift and his apostles. Therefore if the hiding D

of

of the word of God in the heart was fo excellent a prefervative from fin in David's time, when it was comprized in fo narrow a compafs; much more is it now, when it is fo much enlarged.

Let us next confider the meaning of this phrafe, to hide the word of God in the heart. I think it can fignify nothing less than to have a high efteem of, and a strong affection for it, and to take delight in reading and meditating upon it. That the pfalmift intends thus much by this phrafe, may be collected from the 16th, 24th, 72d, and 97th verfes of this pfalm: I will delight myfelf in thy ftatutes; I will not forget thy word. Thy teftimonies are my delight and my counfellors. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and filver. Oh how I love thy law! it

is

my meditation all the day. From these paffages it appears, that he accounted the word of God a rich and invaluable treafure, and made it the frequent fubject of his study and meditation: and it feems to me as if by biding it in his heart he meant to exprefs the fame thing.

It now remains that we confider the reafon of this practice; which was, that he might be kept from finning against

God.

God. Let us therefore see what connexion there is between the study of God's word, and not finning against him; or what tendency fuch a practice has to the producing of fo glorious an effect. For this purpose it will be proper to examine what it is that our bibles contain, and what they inftruct us in.

I. Our bibles give us great and noble thoughts of God. They declare to us his nature and properties, and the various relations wherein he ftands to us. They inform us that he is a fpiritual being, eternal and omniprefent, omnipotent and omnifcient. They teach us that he is holy and true, merciful and juft. They represent him as our creator and governor, our preserver and bountiful benefactor. In a word, they paint him as a being full of majesty and full of mercy. All that is great, and all that is good, enter into the idea of God. No wonder therefore that the man who cherifhes fuch notions as thefe, and frequently meditates upon the attributes and perfections of God, as he must neceffarily do, if he makes it his business to study the word of God; no wonder, I fay, that fuch a man dares not allow himfelf in