unto God all ye lands Psal 5.11 But let those that put their trust in thoe rejoyce let them shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that love thy Name rejoyce in thee Secondly Scriptures that command Praise Psal 35.28 My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long Psal 118.28 Thou art my God and I will praise thee Thou art my God and I will exalt thee Psal 34.1 I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth Psal 66.2 Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious Psal 66.8 O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God in the Mountain of his Holiness Psal 135.3 Praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good sing praises unto his Name for it is pleasant Psal 147.1 Praise ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Verse 12. Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Sion In the 148 Psalm all Creatures are called upon and excited to the praises of God which must be meant but objectively of all irrational Creatures And rational Creatures are implied when others that have not reason are spoken to Psal 148.13 Praise the Name of the Lord for his Name only is excellent and his Glory is above the Earth and Heaven Psal 149.1 Praise ye the Lord sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of the saints Psal 149.6 Let the high praises of God be in their Mouth 1 of the saints Psal 150.1 2 3. Praise ye the Lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in the firmament of his power Thirdly Scriptures provoking to Thankfulness Psal 109.4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing we ought to give thanks Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him Psal 69.30 I will praise the name of God with a song and magnifie him with thanksgiving Psal 118.1 O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his Mercy endureth for ever Vers 29. The same Reason is insisted on 36 times Psal 136.1 2 3. And the Reasons largely insisted on in the rest of the Psalm Psal 26.6 7. I will wash mine hands in innocency and so will I compass thine altar O Lord that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wonderful works Psal 30.4 Sing unto the Lord ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness THere 's nothing that more becomes a Believer nor so well suits his Spiritual Heavenly Nature nor is a better Indication of a Child of God and one that hath attained to a perfect Man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ than to delight and be skilful in this Noble Work And without all dispute There 's nothing that a corrupt Heart is more averse and backward to and hath less skill in There is indeed a joyful merry Heart pre-requisite to this Exercise but such a one as the World intermedleth not with but is the greatest stranger to of all things you can imagine Though there 's none love Mirth and Joy so passionately as the worldling yet his Mirth is quite of another stamp It 's the meer distortion of the Countenance or at best but the dilatation of the Blood and Spirits It is not the delectation and contentment of the Mind and Spirit It 's the laughter of a Fool a meer brutish sensual delight that they are so fond of Not the solid serious pleasure of a Saint and one that is perfectly in his right mind And thus to be merry after their Fashion is no hard nor difficult Task 'T is but be Mad and let go the Reigns of all good Government of a Mans self It is but to gratifie every desire and live at Randome and prosper in Folly and this will screw up a Carnal Mind to very profuse Laughter and Merriment All the Town shall quickly hear of it and perceive it too plainly in the Vanity Pride and Insolency of their Carriage And there 's no surer way to damp and dead the Spirit of these Men and to drive them into a melancholy dumpish vein than to spring some Heavenly Discourse that savoureth of Heavenly Wisdom and tendeth to the Divine Praises It 's easie to vent a little Froth and Mirth at a Feast or in a Jovial Meeting or when the Spirits are cheared with Wine and Carnal Pleasure But to be glad in the Lord to rejoyce in the meditation of his Excellent Greatness and Perfection even when the Flocks are cut off from the Fold and there is no Herd in the Stall and the Vine yieldeth not her Encrease and the labour of the Olive doth fail and all Earthly Comforts are wanting Then to rejoyce in the most High and to vent forth freely in Thanks and Praises unto him is the Top and Perfection of Piety But this is a strain that the merriest Worldling can never reach while he continues to be such Other Mirth needs great Restraint but this hath need of all Encouragement and Promotion it being so much above the Sphaere of corrupted Nature to do it to purpose And as some slight Praise I doubt not may come from the Mouth of one not yet ingrafted into Christ by a lively Faith from the sense of Common Mercies and General Grace So on the other side even a Believer through the weakness of his Grace and the distemper of his Body and the want of Exercise in this Duty may make but little Musick and be a very Bungler in this Work And so lose the Comfort and Strength that a Heart fervent and frequent in this Duty would daily get But before I say any thing to stir up to this Exercise I will first shew what 's requisite to or implied in this Joy and Delight in God and true Gratitude and Praise I put them all together because there is much Affinity and Correspondence between them And therefore As to the Subject of these Acts or the Person that must exert them he must be thus qualified and prepared 1. He must be of an open cheerful Temper There 's none more unfit for this Duty than the lumpish sad and heavy Heart Though I deny not but sadness and heaviness of Spirit is sometimes a Duty after the Commission of sin especially great and wilful sin till by renewed Sorrow Confession and a more cautelous Heed to prevent it for the future and the application of Christ's Blood by Faith the Cause of such Sadness be removed But a constant habitual sadness and despondency that neither Faith nor
likewise is the splendour and dignity of the Saints set forth by a Crown and Scepter and Kings things most glorious here on Earth And this use we should wisely make of these things to put life into our Meditations which otherwise would little affect us Sixthly Lastly you must diligently read and hear the Word of God peruse the labours of those that are most skilful in the exposition and application thereof If you ask me who they are I answer use your best endeavours to know and make the most impartial enquiry The frequent casting your eye upon and opening your ear to such matters is the way to get good furniture into your memory and heart which will ever and anon creep into your thoughts and even invite and constrain you to dwell with more intentness and affection on them But you when you are reading and hearing these things that must be the Subject of your Meditations and sowing the Seed of future consideration you must drive away the Birds of Prey that would devoure the Seed that you have sown I mean all disturbing worldly thoughts and keep your mind as much retired from all other things as you are able that it may be free and open to the impressions of the Word and Spirit those especially that are unfurnished for Meditation must take this course for it is most like to prosper since it hath not only Precept but Reason to enforce it They must never expect to have their Souls byassed to and fitted for this Duty that neglect these means which the Wisdom of God hath appointed and let their thoughts scamble about and imploy their eyes and ears about any petty matters rather than in the reading and hearing of Gods Word and such explications of it as are likeliest to bring it to the mind and heart especially read and hear those passages of truth that Life and Salvation most depends on most frequently and get them as fast into your mind as you are able and a right understanding of the very tenour and chief scope of the Gospel which is to bring men to the sight of their sins and by that to come to Christ as his tractable Disciples and by Faith in Christ to Salvation which design that it might bring to pass it sets the highest motives and encouragement before us and gives us the greatest helps But above all parts of Scripture the Psalms of David frequently read will promote you in the work of consideration and teach you hâ—â— to stir up such affections as you see Daviâ— expresseth almost in every Psalm There you may see how he sets upon God sometimes sometimes stirs up his own Soul confers with God communes with his own heart that he might kindle the Fire of Gods Love in his heart which is the principal design of consideration for whether he express sorrow and contrition for his sin it is but that he may stir up hatred in his Soul against it which is the great impediment to the Love of God Or if he express and utter his complaints of the vanity of the World and the miseries of this life all is to quicken up his desires after the true happiness of his Soul and you know love is intrinsecal and essential to desire if he enlarge as he doth frequently in the praises of the Lord and display his glory and muster up his perfections and call Heaven and Earth and Sea and all the Inhabitants of them and all the Islands and Continents of the World and bring in their testimony to him and to make his Name glorious if he summon every living thing that hath breath to praise the Lord it is that he may advance the esteem and encrease the love of God in his own heart and the hearts of others and therefore from this Book you may fetch matter enough and argument for consideration to make use of for the kindling of this and all other holy and devout affections yea the very out-side I mean the phrase and expression of the Psalms is such as hath a powerful Rhetorick with it to set the heart on fire with the love of God no contemplative and devout Christian but hath had very familiar acquaintance with this Book I have told you the flat necessity of consideration if ever a man be brought to his right mind yea and how necessary it is to preserve you in the love and fear of God after you have believed if therefore you are convinced that is your duty without which you can never get the cure of your deadly distempers then you will make Conscience of the means whereby you may be brought to consideration The heart is not easily brought to delight in God and love him above all and to use the world as if he us'd it not its consideration that must change it the heart is naturally dead to spiritual things it 's Consideration that must enliven it and make it stir the heart is prone to wander from God it 's Consideration that must bring it home the heart is full of blindness and obduracy it 's Consideration that must enlighten and soften it If therefore you would not perish in blindness and obduracy and wander from God without hopes of recovery and lose the Pearl of infinite price which who so is wise will sell all that he hath to buy and purchase then use the means that must bring you to Consideration Having given you some general Directions towards the promoting of the work and duty of Consideration I come in the next place to give you some more Particular Directions 1. As to the matter 2. As to the manner 3. As to the end How this Duty is to be performed Concerning the matter of your Contemplation First The first great Object of your Consideration should be God and the Relation you stand in to him and his glorious Perfections It 's worth thy while to consider daily that he made thee out of nothing and when there are four distinct Ranks of Creatures viz. Things that have meer being without life 2. Things that have being and life such as are all Vegetables Trees and Flowers 3. Such as have being life and sense such as are Brutes and other sensitive Creatures 4. Such as have being life sense and reason when there are these four Species and Orders of Creatures he hath placed thee in the highest form and hath made the other three Ranks for thy use and service and as he hath made thee such a Creature so thou hast thy supportation and maintenance wholly from him and he is training thee up in the world for his immediate presence and for those ravishing delights that are to be enjoyed in the Beatifical Vision Canst thou possibly consider the perfection of his Nature thy relation to him as his Creature from whom all that thou hast or doest expect must be fetched thine hourly dependance on him his Authority over thee his right and property in thee his bounty towards thee and not fall down before
Hour and his Right in us and over us we shall be either tempted to deny them or at least to deny that Homage which they call for If we can overlook him that is all in all and the Spring that moves all second Causes and sets them on work to do us that good which they do for us at any time No wonder if we commit Sacriledge and rob God of his deserved Praises yea or if we undervalue them and mistake the Mercies that are more worth than Heaven and Earth to be but petty and inconsiderable we shall be as slight in our grateful Acknowledgment These two or three Things therefore are comprized in the due Reverence and Estimation of God and his Favours 1st A clear and solid Apprehension of our own great Unworthiness of any the least of his Favours and our infinite distance from his Person not only by Nature but much more through Guilt and Sin we must be pretty well acquainted with our own Poverty and Baseness and that we have nothing but from him That All is forfeited again and again That the Miseries of this Life and that which is to come are our Desert That God can expect no Advantage from us when he bestows his Mercies but the pleasure of doing good Nor when we are most cordial and diligent in his Service but the pleasure of our receiving Good and seeing his Grace prosper in us And that in all his Threats and Punishments he is still designing our Good and mortifying our Corruption which will otherwise be sure to ruine and undo us if it be not forsaken And this would teach us to prize and thank God and our Redeemer for every piece of Bread that we eat and the House that covers us and the Cloaths that warm us the Sun that shineth on us the Rod that corrects us when we come to know and consider how much we need them and how little we deserve them 2ly It would help us to prize all the Mercies of God if we did but consider and understand the Misery of those that want them We could not want the Bread we eat nor the Air we breath nor the Limbs we use nor the Senses that we have without Misery enough But what Man could want the Grace of the Gospel the Merits and Intercession of Christ that knows that he is everlastingly undone without them 3ly It will help us to estimate them rightly if we consider what they cost and the price that paid for them Our sins and the sins of our Parents whose Flesh and Blood we are did cry out aloud for vengeance in the utter destruction of our Persons And God who is the just and righteous Governour of the World could not without disparagement to his Wisdom and Justice stop his Ears to the Cry of our Sins unless his Son had suffered for our Sins and satisfied the Demands of his Justice and purchased all our forfeited Mercies back again by his Blood So that all the Temporal and Spiritual Mercies that now we have were Redeemed not with Silver and Gold but by the precious Blood of our most endeared Saviour And this Consideration if it be not customary but serious will make every Mercy full weight and enforce better Apprehensions of them and Thankfulness for them 4ly and lastly It will conduce very much to the worthy Estimation of all God's Mercies if we consider the End God hath in All to which he doth design every Mercy that he doth bestow in this present Life And that is our highest Perfection and everlasting Felicity in a blessed Communion with God for ever Every Hour he giveth us Every Favour whether Common or Special is valued infinitely below its worth if this Reference and Subordination be overlooked He can never thank God as he ought for his Health or Food or Friends or any Temporal Mercy or Affliction but will rather be tempted to murmur and repine sometimes that considers not well what it is intended for and what it may and should contribute to his endless Content and Rest These Particulars must concur to make up a due Estimation of all God's Mercies Secondly Gratitude and Praise with the concomitant Affections of Joy and Delight in God do essentially imply 1st A Love that 's suited to and bears some proportion with the Mercies we receive and God doth bestow on us Temporal and Transitory Mercies must be loved with a lower and subordinate degree of our Love Spiritual and Eternal Mercies must be loved with a higher and more absolute degree of our Love And the highest Mercy of all which is himself with the most superlative and transcendent Love 2ly And they do imply a greater Love to his Person 1. That hath purchased them 2. That doth confer them He that hath no Complacency in the Things which he doth receive and that according to the greater or lesser Tendency they have to lead him to the highest Mercy even the Fruition of God the Giver will have none worth the naming in the person that doth bestow them And he that wants that can never praise God as he ought nor do any such Act with acceptance Thirdly There must be some sensible Expressions of this Estimation of the Mind and Complacency of the Will in God and his Mercies In the Affections and Sensible Passions of Love Joy Admiration Reverence Humility which help and assist the Will and cannot lye still when the Soul is well elevated in Praises and Thanksgiving when the Soul is exercised with any seriousness and vigour in these noble Operations of Praise and Thanks and Complacency in God how can it chuse but work upon the Blood and Spirits and cause those forementioned Passions in some sensible degree Fourthly And as Thankfulness and Holy Praise if they be right will become sensible by the Affections to the very Body to which the Soul is linked more or less according as the Grace that causeth them is more or less vigorous so they will become visible to others by our more ready observance of his Will and Pleasure a greater Zeal for his Interest and Glory in the World and a more chearful obedience to him whom we thus praise and admire And as in the Law of Moses there were three kinds of Sacrifice Immolations Libations and Victimes Immolations were made of the Fruits of the Earth Libations of Liquors as Oyls and Wines Victimes of living Creatures So the Soul that is truly Grateful will not only offer up himself to God for a Victime and his Affections as it were for Liquors but his Actions also for Fruits Thanks among Men signifie nothing that evaporate and melt away into meer Words and Air and do not proceed to substantial Acts and Deeds These are the Complements and Perfection of every true Moral Act And if they come not up to Life and Practice where there is opportunity they are but meer Mockery and Deceit Having somewhat explicated the Nature of These Affections which are to be exercised I proceed
The Inundation of the Old World The Confusion of Languages The doing things against the Course of Nature such as are Raising the Dead to Life Restoring the Blind Or above Nature such as are most of the Plagues that befel Aegypt amply describe his Infinite Power And Rom. 1.20 His Eternal Power and Godhead are there said to be seen in the Creation of the World Seventhly The Measure of himself is Immensity And of all his Attributes is Infiniteness that is They have neither Bounds nor Measure 1. His Immensity is thus set forth by the Holy Ghost in Scripture 1 Kings 8.27 But will God indeed dwell on the Earth Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House that I have builded So 2 Chron. 2.6 to the same purport So Psalm 139.7 8 9 10. Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my Bed in Hell thou art there If I take the wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me So Amos 9.2 3 4. 2. The infinity of all his Attributes Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great power and his understanding is infinite And if one Attribute be infinite needs must all the rest be so and therefore Zophar may well propose it as a Query uncapable of solution Job 11.7 8 9. Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection It is as high as Heaven what canst thou do Deeper than Hell what canst thou understand The measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea See Job 37.23 Eighthly His Attributes that result from all these are 1. His Immutability which the Holy Ghost describes James 1.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights in whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning And Malach. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed Psal 102.27 2. His Greatness which the Scripture thus describeth Psal 145.36 The Lord is great and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable he is to be feared above all Gods And 1 Chron. 15.25 and Jerem. 10.6 There is none like unto the Lord great in might Dan. 9.4 He is the great and dreadful God keeping covenant and mercy to them that love him Psal 77.13 There is none so great as our God Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God in the mountain of his holiness 3. His Majesty is thus described O Lord my God thou art very great thou art cloathed with majesty and honour Psalm 104.1 Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty 1 Chron. 29.11 And Elihu tells us that with God is terrible majesty Job 37.22 and Psalm 96.6 Honour and majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary And Psal 145.10 11 12 13. All thy works shall praise thee O Lord c. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations 4. His Glory the Scripture thus expresseth Psalm 138.5 Great is the glory of the Lord. And Psal 148.13 Let them praise the Name of the Lord that is the forementioned Creatures for his Name only is excellent and his glory is about the Earth and the Heaven And Isa 6.3 Holy holys holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his glory Exod. 15.11 The Lord is there said to be glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders 5. His Lordship and Dominion over all is thus described Isa 33.22 The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King Psal 97.5 Thou art the Lord of the whole Earth And Dan. 2.47 He is there said to be a God of Gods a Lord of Kings a revealer of secrets Psal 47.2 The Lord most high is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all Psal 145.13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages And Rom. 31.1 The Apostle tells us there is no power but of God Prov. 8.15 16. By him Kings reign and Princes decree justice By him Princes rule the Nobles and Judges of the Earth Matth. 6.13 Thine is the kingdom the power and the glory Lastly His Eternity the Crown of all is thus described Exod. 15.18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever And Psal 45.6 Thy throne O Lord is for ever and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter Psal 90.2 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World thou art God from everlasting to everlasting i. a parte ante and a parte post without beginning and without end Psal 93.2 Thy throne is established of old thou art from everlasting Psal 102.27 Thou art the same viz. in opposition to mutable Creatures and thy years shall have no end Psal 104.31 The glory of the Lord shall endure forever c. Dan. 4.9 His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom Psal 106.10 The Lord shall reign for ever even thy God O Sion throughout all generations Dan. 8.18 His dominion shall be for ever unto the end These glorious Attributes of God especially as they stand in conjunction and shine upon one another calmly considered will mount and elevate an ingenuous and understanding Heart and wing it to this high and honourable imployment Secondly It will help on this blessed heavenly Work and Temper of Joy and Delight in God honourable and thankful thoughts and mention of him to behold his Attributes as they are further displayed in his Works Particularly his Bounty Wisdom Power Towards the 1. Irrational Creatures 2. Rational Creatures 1st It will something advance the dullest heart and dispose it to rejoyce in God and lift it up in praise and thankfulness to him to steep it a little in the meditation of that incomparable wisdom that shineth forth in the Being of every irrational Creature especially in the whole frame and orderly connection of all such Creatures Every Creature in its single existence hath treasure enough to enrich the understanding of the wisest Man on earth if it search into the depth and bottom of it and to imprint admiring reverent and thankful Inclinations towards him in the Heart There 's not a Pile of Grass that shoots up but directs the Eye Heavenward towards which it pointeth up unless it be kept shut by ignorance and inconsideration What excellent skill and cunning is there in
the curious Fabrick and Composure of the basest and most contemptible Creature especially if we do not overlook the uses for which it serves Even a Toad hath far more in it to be admired by the Intellect than it hath to be abhorred by the Sense The sensless and inanimate Creatures are no idle Parts of the World but have enough in them to reproach and shame an idle Spectatour There 's not one of them but wears the Livery of their most wise and wonderful Creatour and carries the Badge and Cognizance of that infinite Wisdom that did at first contrive and make them and fitted them to their proper and peculiar uses Read over the History of Minerals and do but look into an Herbal where a little of the Nature and Vertue of Vegetables is described search a little into the Writers of Zoography where the Nature and Properties of Animals are somewhat though imperfectly represented and under each of these are infinite particulars which magnifie the Wisdom of their Glorious Maker and set it forth to the life to every intelligent Spectatour Since then the Brutish and Inanimate Creatures are not in a Capacity to do this Homage to their Creatour by direct and proper Acknowledgment and express Adoration and Thanksgiving it 's comely for us to pay that Debt for whose use and service they were made and intended and to whose Intellect and Senses they are objected for the perfecting of them It 's by our Tongues and Hearts that these Creatures must return him the Tribute of their Praises Can we be content to behold such rare pieces of Divine Skill and Artifice and not turn up a thankful Eye nor erect an adoring Thought nor send up a joyful Hallelujah to him Whether we look upon the World in the Gross or in the Retail in the several parts of it or as they are all joynted and set together in a curious Frame what stupendious wisdom what rare and admirable skill do they display and call us to behold and consider Had we but the Faculty to search into those rich Mines and dig out those Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge that are hid in them as every one may do in some degree if he set himself seriously to consider them what an Acknowledgment would the most contemptible Creature extort from us 1. The Matter of which they do consist 2. The curious Contexture of their Parts 3. The Manner of their Production And then 4. The Means of their Continuance and Preservation Then 5. Their Operations both Actual and Potential 6. And the Ends to which they are both immediately and remotely subservient are Heads which a little considered will advance the Heart and tune the Affections and Tongue to the Praises of him that liveth for ever and ever who hath brought all these things to pass and even compel him to say Psalm 104.14 How manifold are thy works O Lord in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches To look down upon this round Ball of Earth that hangs upon nothing that hath no other Pillars to prop it up than the immediate power of him that made it And to look up upon the vast Canopy of Heaven spread over it Or the abundance of Waters gathered together in a heap and placed in the depth as in a store-house Psal 33.7 Or to cast an eye upon any one Creature that dwelleth in any of these Mansions will draw forth a Song of Praise and Thanksgiving unless it be from one that 's far gone in the Disease of Atheism and Ungodliness But to consider them all in one united Frame their Order and Connection and the Beauty that results from that Order and how they meet together in one Common Center and are linked together in one great and ultimate End which all of them conspire to promote though their proximate and nearest Ends are so various and almost innumerable will raise a Soul not basely captivated to the Body yet higher If I should insist upon the Contrariety that is among the several Creatures and how one Contrary is ballanced by another If I should stand upon the Harmony that ariseth from the very discord of things of a very different nature this would not a little set forth the wisdom of God 2. It will very much quicken a Soul to the Praises of God and to joy and delight in him to consider his Bounty and Goodness to all his Creatures even the worst and vilest of them from whom they have their Being and Support together with their several Virtues and Perfections To him the lifeless and inanimate Creatures owe their Subsistence together with their several Adjuncts and Properties whereby they are variously modified and distinguished He hath imparted that Life to the order of Vegetables which they have and whereby they become serviceable to Man and Beast It 's from the same Hand that those Higher Perfections of Sense and Motion are bestowed upon the order of Sensitive Creatures which his Wisdom hath distinguished into such various and almost infinite kinds every one whereof hath a large share and portion of his Bounty The Lord doth good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works Psal 145.9 The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord Psal 33.5 How liberal hath he been to the Heavens upon which he hath bestowed all the Glory that Sun and Moon and those glistering Cressets that shine therein contribute These he hath covered with Light as with a Garment and made of a more refined Matter than what 's seen here below and these he hath honoured to become his Footstool Yea and how bountiful hath he been to this inferiour Part of the Creation What a fertile Womb hath he bestowed upon the Earth which brings forth yearly such a plentiful Off-spring and Encrease What Minerals and Vegetables is she the Parent of Some whereof she perpetually bears in her Womb and there feedeth them Others she continually carries in her Bosom and there suckles them And what she doth not bring forth she bringeth up as the several Animals Rational and Irrational which she perpetually provideth for And as he hath dealt thus bountitifully with the Heavens and the Earth so the Ocean comes not much behind in the share he hath bestowed upon it And therefore when the Psalmist had copiously insisted upon God's Bounty and Munificence towards the Earth and eased himself in a pathetical Exclamation viz. O Lord how wonderful are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches Psal 104.24 He proceeds so is this great and wide sea also wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts there go the ships also vers 26. As he hath lodged innumerable sorts of Fishes in the Ocean so he hath made it a famous Boundary to divide the several Kingdoms of the World and a quick Passage for the Nations that inhabit the Earth to Traffick and Commerce with each other There be many