is, to be inwardly principled for it; to have a heart stamped with the love of God and his commandments; to do all for conscience of his will, and love to him, and desire of his glory. A good action, even the best kind of actions, in an evil hand and from an evil unsanctified heart, passes amongst evils. And from this love will follow a constant tract and course of obedience, moving directly contrary to the stream of wickedness about a man, and also against the bent of his own corrupt heart within him; a serious desire and endeavour to do all the good that is within our calling and reach, that which is in our hand, and is peculiarly required of us; setting Christian resolution, and both the example and strength of our Lord against all oppositions, and difficulties, and discouragements; Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

We see then our rule, and it is the rule of peace and happiness. What hinders but we apply our hearts to it? This is our work, and setting aside the advantage that follows, consider the thing in itself; the opposition of sin and obedience, under the name of evil and good; and the composition of our rule in these expressions, Eschew and Do. Consider it thus-evil and good, and it will persuade us to eschew and do.

And if you are persuaded to it, then desire light from above to discover to you what is evil and offensive to God, and what pleaseth him, what is his will; and to discover in yourselves what is most adverse and repugnant to that will. Seek a renewed mind to hate that evil even such as is the closest and most connatural to you, and to love that good, even that which is most contrary.-Seek strength and skill, that by another Spirit than your own, you may avoid evil and do good, and resist the incursions and solicitings of evil, the artifices and violences of Satan, who is both a serpent and a lion; and seek for power against your own inward corruption, and the fallacies of your own heart. And thus you will be able for every good work, and be kept, in such a measure as suits your present estate, blameless in spirit, soul, and body, to the coming of Jesus Christ.

But says the humble Christian, I am often entangled and plunged in soul-evils, and often frustrated in my

thoughts against these evils, and in my aims at the good, which is my task and duty. And was not this Paul's condition? May you not complain in his language? And happy will you be, if you do so with some measure of his feeling! happy in crying out of wretchedness! Was not this his malady, When I would do good, evil his present with me? But know that though thy duty is this, to eschew evil and do good, yet thy salvation is more surely founded than on thine own good. That perfection which answers to justice and the law, is not required of thee. Thou art to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; but in so walking thy comfort lieth in this, that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, as the apostle begins the next chapter, Rom. viii, after his sad complaints. Again; consider his thoughts in the close of the vii. chapter, on perceiving the work of God in himself, and distinguishing that from the corrupt motions of nature, and so finding at once matter of heavy complaint, and yet of cheerful exultation; O wretched man that I am! and yet with the same breath, Thanks be unto God, through Christ Jesus our Lord. So then mourn with him, and yet rejoice with him, and go on with courage as he did, still fighting the good fight of faith. When thou fallest in the mire, be ashamed and humbled, yet return and wash in the fountain opened, and return and beg new strength to walk more surely. Learn to trust thyself less, and God more; and up and be doing against thy enemies, how tall and mighty soever be the sons of Anak. Be of good courage, and the Lord shall be with thee, and shall strengthen thy heart, and establish thy goings. Do not lie down to rest upon lazy conclusions, that it is well enough with thee, because thou art out of the common puddle of profaneness; but look further, to cleanse thyself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Do not think thy little is enough, or that thou hast reason to despair of attaining more, but press, press hard toward the mark and prize of thy high calling. Do not think all is lost, because thou art at present foiled. The experienced soldier knows that he hath often won the day after a fall or a wound

received; and be assured, that after the short combats of a moment, follows an eternity of triumph.

with men,

Let him seek peace and ensue it. Omitting the many acceptations of the word peace, external peace I conceive, is here particularly meant; and this is to be sought, and not only to be sought when it is willingly found, but we are to pursue and follow it when it seems to fly away; but yet so to pursue it, as never to step out of the way of holiness and righteousnes after it, and to forsake this rule that goes before it, of eschewing evil and doing good; yea, in so doing is peace mainly to be sought and pursued, and it is most readily to be found and overtaken in that way; for the fruit of righteousness is peace.

He that will love life. This is the attractive, Life. Long life and days of good is the thing men most desire; for if they be evil days, then so much the worse that they be long, and the shortest of such seem too long; and if short being good, this cuts off the enjoyment of that good but these two complete the good, and suit it to men's wishes, length and prosperity of life.

It is here supposed that all would be happy, that all desire it, being carried by nature to seek their own good: but he that will love it means here, that will wisely love it, that will take the way to it, and be true to his desire, must refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile; he must eschew evil and do good, seek peace and ensue it. You desire to see good days, and yet hinder them by sinful provocations; you desire good clear days, and yet cloud them by your guiltiness. But how is this? Do not the righteous often pass their days in distress and sorrow, so as tò have few and evil days, as Jacob speaks, Gen. xlix, 7.? Yet is there a truth in this promise, annexing outward good things to godliness, as having the promise of this life and that which is to come. And it is so accomplished to them, when the Lord sees it convenient and conducive to their highest good; but that he most aims at, and they themselves do most desire, and therefore if the abatement of outward good, either as to the length or sweetness of this life, serve his main end and theirs better, they are agreed upon this gainful commutation of good for infinitely better.

The life of a godly man, though short in comparison of the utmost of nature's course, yet may be long in value, in respect of his activity and attainment to much spiritual good. He may be said to live much in a little time; whereas they that wear out their days in folly and sin, live long, but little. But then that length of days, and that dwelling in the house of God in that length of days, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard-these are indeed good days, or rather one everlasting day, which has no need of the sun nor of the moon, but flows immediately from the first and uncreated Light, the Father of lights. His glory shines in it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Ver. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

HERE the apostle, gives as the true reason of that truth he has averred in the former words, the connexion of holiness and happiness. If life, and peace, and all good be in God's hand to bestow when it pleaseth him, then surely the way to it is an obedient and regular walking in observance of his will, and the way of sin is the way to ruin: For the eyes of the Lord, &c.

In the words there is a double opposition; of persons, and of their portion.

I. Of persons; the righteous and evil-doers. These two words are often used in the scriptures, and particularly in the book of psalms, to express the godly and the wicked; and so this righteousness is not absolute perfection or sinlessness, nor is the opposed evil every act of sin or breach of God's law; but the righteous are they that are students of obedience and holiness, that desire to walk as in the sight of God, and to walk with God, as Enoch did; that are glad when they can any way serve him, and grieved when they offend him; that feel and bewail their unrighteousness, and are earnestly breathing and advancing forward; have a sincere and unfeigned love to all the commandments of God and diligently endeavour to observe them; that vehemently hate what

most pleases their corrupt nature, and love the command that crosses it most: this is an imperfect kind of perfec

tion.

On the other side, evil-doers are they that commit sin with greediness; that walk in it, make it their way; that live in sin as their element, taking pleasure in unrighteousness; their great faculty, their great delight lies in sin; they are skilful and cheerful evil-doers. Not that any one man lives in all kinds of sin; that is impossible; there is a concatenation of sin, and one disposes and induces to another; but yet one ungodly man is commonly more versed in and delighted with some one kind of sin, another with some other. He forbears none because it is evil and hateful to God, but as he cannot travel over the whole globe of wickedness and go the full circuit, be walks up and down in his accustomed way of sin. In a word, this opposition lieth mainly in the bent of the affection, or in the way it is set. The godly man hates the evil he possibly by temptation hath been drawn to do, and loves the good he is frustrated of and, having intended, hath not attained to do. The sinner hates the good which sometimes he is forced to do, and loves that sin which many times he does not, either wanting occasion and means so that he cannot do it, or through the check of an enlightened conscience, possibly dares not do it; and though so bound up from the act, as a dog in a chain, yet the habit, the natural inclination and desire in him, is still the same; the strength of his affection is carried to sin: so in the weakest godly man, there is that predominant sincerity and desire of holy walking, according to which he is called a righteous person; the Lord is pleased to give him that name, and account him 30, being upright in heart, though often failing, There is a righteousness of a higher strain, upon which his salvation hangs; that is not in him, but upon him; he is clothed with it: but this other kind, which consists of sincerity, and of true and hearty, though imperfect, obedience, is the righteousness here meant and opposed to evil doing.

II. Their opposite condition or portion, is expressed in the highest notion of it, that wherein the very being of