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every foolish and vain-glorious Perfon exalteth himself, and, like an empty Scale, quickly mounts upwards; whereas the Wife man, like the fuller and weightier one, ftill inclines downward in all Humility,making it the greatest Argument of his fufficiency, to disclaim all Self-fufficiency,and his highest Perfection, to confefs his Imperfe&tions; and thus, with our Royal Prophet here, he maketh God (as in all. Right and Reason he ought) to be the proper Obje& of his Praise and Thanksgiving.

And fo from the Object of David's Thankfulness, I proceed to his Motives or Inducements thereunto, God's Benefits; All his Benefits towards him. [What fball I render to the Lord for all his Benefits towards me?]

Chryfoftom, in his Comment on Galat. 2. thus magnifieth the boundless Bounty of Almighty God, Ουτως ἔκαςον ἄνθρωπον τοσέτω ἀγάπης μέτρῳ φιλεῖ, ὅσῳ τα οἰκυμβάλω Taoav. He profecuteth each individual perfon with no lefs meafure of Afection than he doth the whole Universe. And those Benefits which I, Thou, He, ( in a word) All of us, receive from him, we receive them not dimidiated,

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or by halfs, minc'd or cut into parcels; but fo perfect, entire, and compleat, that each one in particular may take and interpret them as conferr❜d on himfelf alone: For,Do not all the cœleftial Orbs and elementary Bodies? Do not thofe prædominant and greater Lights,the Sun,and Moon,and whole Choir of heavenly Tapers, difpenfe and impart their comfortable Light and sweet Influences alike to this fublunary and inferior World? There's no fingular Perfon, or fingle Creature, (if capable) but hath the fame Interest and Share in them, which all (collectively) participate and enjoy. Now, if the Proportion of thefe, all these Benefits be taken with reference to us,who without him are very Nothing, and Vanity it felf; we must confefs, with the fore-cited Father,that Chryfothere is Ευεργεσίας και χάρις ίζασις, and for. that they are far greater than the narrow Scantling of our hearts can conceive or imagine.

First, He hath created us, and into fuch dead Clods of Clay as we were, hath he infpired the Breath of Life, and fashioned us after his own Image; which bright and glo

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rious Image of His, we wretched Creatures, with our Works of Darkness, have most abominably defaced, and caft our selvs headlong into the bottomless-pit of Eternal Deftruction. Then when we lay weltring and Ezek.16. polluted in our Blood, and no Ey pitied or bad compaffion on us, He paffed by, and faw us when we were in our Blood, and faid unto us, Live: yea, when we were in our Blood, He faid unto us, Live. Then when we were not able to come unto him,he came unto us,and that when we were his greatest Enemies, and through the fingular Wisdom of his Goodness stole into our Affections: For, feeing how that naturally we were addicted and given to love our felvs, and the things which were our own,he would needs hereupon become our God alfo, that fo we might, in a manner, be compell'd to love him. O the Bowels of Compaffion! O Love,never to be forgotten! O Clemency, Mercy, Goodness, incomprehenfible! Wonderful,wonderfull wonderful must this needs feem: For, whereas Angels, Arch-Angels, and fuch an innumerable Multitude of coleftial Powers and Spirits love their God fo ardently, do him all Homage fo willingly,

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and execute his Behefts fo faithfully; He nevertheless, as lefs regarding all this, expects to be loved and enterteined of us Men, of us terrene, abject, and ungrateful

Wretches.Wherefore he bowed the Heavens, and came down, and was incarnate for our Sake, for our Love. Thus much hath a moft glorious infinite Majefty done gratis, for very Nothing: Thus much hath a most merciful Father, and Lord of all things, done for those which were far worse than nothing, when he might, in his Juftice, in the Breath of his Displeasure have blasted us, and refolved us again into our primordial Elements, and very Nothing it felf. If we, for his fake,refign up our very Being it self,than which naturally nothing is more near and dear unto us, alas! What do we? We offer him the poorest Offerture, and nothing but what was his own before, and that by far more and greater Right than our own. Numifma Cafaris Imago, Homo Dei: The Coin bears the Stamp and Infcription of Cafar the King; but Man,the Similitude and Impress of God, the King of Kings. Redde ergo,--Render therefore unto Cæfar the things that Mat. 22. belong

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belong unto Cæfar, and to God the things that are God's; for both are their Due. Neither hath he created us alone,but all other things for our Use and Commodity. Look but up to Heaven, and that gives thee Light, by the Ministry of the Sun by Day, of the Moon and Stars by Night, that thou walk not in Darknefs; that fend thee down those sweet Influences, whereby divers things spring up and grow,that thou perifh or dy not through Famine. The Air, that doth accommodate it felf for thee to breath on, that cools thee, tempers that internal Heat of thine, left it fhould confume thee. The Water fervs thee with Rain, with foft and seasonable Showrs, and with her filver Drops,in fet and seasonable time, doth crown thy Fields with goodnefs. The Earth, as our common Mother (me-thinks) fpeaks thus to each one in particular: "Behold, I fuftein thee; J, like a

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Mother, bear thee in mine Arms; all ne"ceffaries I provide for thee: I maintein "thee with the very fruit of mine own Bow"els: Whether in Life or Death, I never "forfake thee; in thy Life-time I fuffer thee

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