Selected quad for the lemma: land_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A37223
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A sermon on Psal. CXIX, v. 57 shewing wherein the good man's portion and dependence consists / by James Davies.
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Davies, James, fl. 1657-1709.
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1679
(1679)
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Wing D386; ESTC R26076
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19,113
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40
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greatness of my sins already commited and the weakness and proneness of my Nature to fall into the same or the like again and thereby to provoke thy wrath and expose my self to the dreadful Effects of it when notwithstanding all this I consider that there is forgiveness with thee to pardon my sins and remit my deserved punishment and not only so but that thou art pleased to give me grace and strength and tenderness of heart whereby I am preserv'd and restrain'd from running headlong into ruine when I consider all this how infinitely do I find my self bound to thy Grace how deservedly ought I to esteem it my Portion and Treasure I should be a miserable Creature without it and therefore I cannot but think my self happy in that thou art pleased to make me a partaker of it Lastly Thou art my Portion that is thy Presence and the hope of Enjoying thee is my Portion As if it had been said This is that which I mainly aim at and long after this is that which I esteem my great and last Happiness That after the enjoyment of thy gracious Presence here I shall enjoy thy Glorious Presence hereafter This is indeed the great Portion and Inheritance of the Sons of God the refuge and hope and expectation of every faithful person Every thing besides this is too little and mean to be the Portion of an Immortal Creature The place we now converse in and the things that are before us are indeed fit accommodations for our Journey but these we must leave behind us to the next Travellers that come after We may not abide by these but hasten towards another Countrey that is an heavenly where our Portion and Inheritance is reserved for us On this Portion Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Holy Men of God have ever depended And we find that it was the result of David's dependence in an eminent manner Ps. 17. 14 15. Where David distinguisheth himself from the men of the World who have their portion in this life and declares what his portion was As for me saith he I will behold thy face in Righteousness and when I awake up after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it which is generally interpreted of the Presence of God in that blessed Estate after the Resurrection This is the first Argument to prove the Wisdom of this choice because of the Excellent things that are contained in this Portion the Knowledg of God the Light and Comfort of his word the assistances of his grace the protection of his providence the sense of his favour and gracious presence here and the hope of the Vision and fruition of him in glory To these may be added as an inforcement to this first Argument the excellent properties of this portion and the things contained in it to wit the sufficiency and durableness of them as also their sutableness to the Nature and necessities of our Souls First One excellent property of this portion is its sufficiency It is able of it self alone to make us happy This property the Philosophers required in their Supreme God But they knew not well where nor in what object to look for it because they knew not God They turned themselves first to one Object and then to another to health and wealth and honour and pleasure and wisdome and whatsoever else they could devise They found some worth and Convenience in many of these things but as for that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or self sufficiency which they required to the constitution of true happiness in vain did they seek for that in any Creature Every thing under the Sun in this respect is no better than Vanity and vexation of Spirit The likeliest thing they could think on wherein to place Happiness was the Operation of Virtue which indeed is a Lovely and Venerable thing but far enough in many cases from making the possessor happy were it not for that God who is the gracious Incourager and Rewarder of it He alone hath that Fulness and All sufficiency in himself which can fill all our Souls and answer all our Wants and satisfie our utmost Capacities So David resolves in another place where he seems to put this Question concerning the happiness of Man Ps. 4. 6. Who will shew us any good he resolv's it thus Lord lift thou up the light of thy Countenance upon us And in the following Verse he declares Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than ever Worldly men had in the time that their Corn and Wine and Oyt increased And so again Psal. 144. after he had reckoned up the Blessings of this life he concludes thus Happy are the people that are in such a case yea blessed are the people who have the Lord for their God A Second Property of this Portion is that 't is certain and durable It is the great disparagement of all the things of this World that they are all finite and transitory The Psalmist therefore justly reproves the folly of those Worldly great men who persuaded themselves that their houses should continue for ever and their dwelling places to all generations and called their Lands after their own names whereas Man being in honour abideth not but in respect of his present mortal condition is like the Beasts that perish Ps. 4. 11 12. Honour and Wealth are slippery things that can hardly be ensured to any man for the little time of this life but 't is certain they can be kept no longer No man can carry away any thing with him when he dies neither shall his Pomp follow him Daily Observation and Experience proves the same in all other Examples The best things we have of this World are here to day and gone to morrow A few daies or perhaps a few hours shall change the most Vigorous health into sickness and languishing He who now lives delicately and at ease will within a short time be arrested if not with want yet with pains and infirmities that will make his good things tastless and unsavoury and bring him down to the Worms and Dust. He who is happy in his friends or relations must expect e're long to part with them and to have nothing left of them but the bare remembrance The same is equally true of all other Worldly enjoyments We may possibly out-live all our share of them It has happen'd so to many the greatest men in their times such as Croesus Darius Perseus and many more who from great and high estates as it were from the top of Worldly felicity were tumbled down as in a moment into bonds and poverty and all the extremities of an unprosperous condition But what need we examples of that when we see nothing in the World but Change and Uncertainty of which every one is or shall be an Example himself even thou who readest as well as he who has written The World must fail every one who depends on it for two certain causes because that is mutable and