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my text is a part. He begins it like one in a rapture. By deep meditation upon the law of God, he had wrought himself up into fuch a lively fenfe of the perfection and excellency of it, that he broke out all on a fudden, into a pathetical declaration of the happiness of those perfons who live in conformity thereunto: Blefjed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! bleed are they who keep his teftimonies, and who seek him with the whole heart!

Thro'out the whole Pfalm he speaks of the word of God with much reverence and esteem, and with much love and affection. To convince you of this, I need only read to you the following verfes. Ver. 96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. 97. Oh, how love I thy law ! it is my meditation all the day. 140. Thy word is very pure; therefore thy fervant loveth it. 128. I efteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. 138. Thy teftimonies which thou hast commanded, are righteous, and very faithful. 103. How fweet are thy words unto my tafte! yea, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! 127. I love thy commandments above gold, yea,

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above

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above fine gold. But he doth not reft in admiration of the law of God, or in affection for it. No: he also puts up ardent prayers to God for his affistance in the practice thereof. Ver. 5. Ob! that my ways were directed to keep thy ftatutes. 35. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments. 36 Incline my heart unto thy teftimonies. 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way, 133. Order my steps in thy word; and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. ther is this all that the holy pfalmift doth. He well knew that defires after righteoufnefs would be vain and infignificant, without righteousness itself: and therefore to devout prayers he added fincere refolutions of conformity to the law of God. I will keep thy ftatutes; ver. 8. I will lift up my hands unto thy commandments, which I have loved; ver. 48. I have fworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments; ver. 106. And here in the text: I will run the way of thy commandments. But then from a deep fenfe of human frailty, and of the neceffity of a fupernatural aid to enable him to perform this great and arduous task,

he

he immediately fubjoin'd, When thou fhalt enlarge my heart.

In handling this text, I will endeavour to fhew :

I. What it is to run the commandments.

way of God's

II. What it is for God to enlarge the heart.

III. That it is impoffible for us to run the way of God's commandments, except God doth enlarge our hearts. IV. I will make application.

I. What it is to run the way of God's commandments.

It fignifies the whole of a religious practice. It is to perform all thofe duties which God requires of us, with pleasure and delight. God, who made us reafonable creatures, defigns to govern us by reasonable laws. Having given us an idea of himself, he expects that we should make him the object of our fear and reverence, of our worship and adoration, of our love and affection, of our truft and confidence. Moreover, fince we are furrounded with other beings who are of the fame make with ourselves, he expects that we should exercife an univerfal benevoM 2 lence:

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lence and fince there are fome of our fellow creatures with whom we are obliged to have frequent intercourse, and to whom we ftand in a much nearer relation than to others; he expects that we should obferve the rules of truth, justice, and goodness, in all our tranfactions with them, and faithfully dif charge the particular offices which arife from the particular relations in which we stand to any of them. Further more, fince we are compofed of two different principles, a fpiritual and an earthly; by the former of which we are allied to the angels, and by the latter to the brutes which perish: he expects that we should give the preference to the more excellent part of our frame, and keep our bodies in a due fubjection to our fpirits; utterly refraining from all pleasures abfolutely unlawful, and keeping ourselves within certain limits in the use of those which are lawful. All the commandments of God are reducible to these three heads : so that when David promised to run the way of God's commandments, 'tis as if he had faid; I will be pious and devout towards God; I will be juft and merciful towards men; and I will govern

my

myself by the rules of temperance and fobriety; I will practise all virtue, and I will take pleasure in the practice of the fame. I proceed,

II. To fhew you what it is for God to enlarge the heart.

This is a thing better felt than expreffed. Every good man hath experience of it in his own breast, and may from thence have a better idea of it than from any verbal description; for it is a difficult matter to reprefent it in words. However, I fhall attempt to give fome account of it. And, if I miftake not, it confists in these two things. 1. In impreffing divine truths upon our minds. 2. In ftirring up holy refolutions within us.

1. In impreffing divine truths upon

our minds.

Now

Almighty God, who formed our spirits, can undoubtedly prefent unto them what ideas he pleases: and as he can convey a thought into the mind, fo he can command attention to it. that attention to divine truths is neceffary in order to a religious practice, I think is very evident for if the mere belief of them were fufficient to make

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