what follows, fhall think ourselves at Liberty to use them in a promifcuous Sense; and accordingly fhall enquire, I. What the Nature of that Duty implies; and, II. How reasonable a Thing it is, that we should perform it.

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I. Now few are fo ignorant, as not to know, that the Duty of Praise and Thanksgiving to God implies our having a lively and devout Senfe of his Excellencies, and of his Benefits; our recollecting them with Humility and Thankfulness of Heart; and our expreffing thefe inward Affections by fuitable outward Signs; by Songs and Hymns, and fpiritual Ejaculations, as well as by a Tenor of Life, led anfwerable to fuch Vouchsafements. When therefore we fet ourselves down, and call to Remembrance the many Experiments we have had of God's Loving-kindness to us; when we dwell upon them by long Meditation, and imprint the Traces of them firm and indelible in our Minds when we raise our Conceptions to a due Eftimation of them, and, by attending to every Circumstance, improve their Value to the highest Pitch; when upon this our Heart glows with Love, and we feel ourselves carried to God by an affectionate Senfe of what he has done for us; when, thereupon, our Lips overflow with Praise, and we cannot forbear expreffing the Riches of his Goodness to us in all the outward Acknowledgments of Love and Gratitude; and lastly, when we order our Lives by the Rule of his Commands, and, in Return for his Favours, devote ourselves, both Soul and Body, to his Service; 'tis then that we offer unto him an acceptable Sacrifice of Thankf giving.

And accordingly, if we look into the great Exemplar of Gratitude, the Royal Prophet David, we fhall find him regulating his Praises to God after this very Method: I will remember the Days

of

of old, fays he, and meditate on all thy Works, and talk of all thy Doings. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all his Benefits: Here is his deep Recollection of the Mercies of God. Then he goes on; I will praife thee, O Lord, among the People I will fing unto thee among the Nations; for thy Mercy is great as the Heavens, and thy Faithfulness reaches unto the Clouds. How excellent is thy Lovingkindness, O God, how precious are thy Thoughts unto me, bow great is the Sum of them! Here is his high Eftimation of the divine Benefits. Then he proceeds; Because thy Loving-kindness is better than Life, my Lips fhall praise thee, my Soul fhall be filled with Marrow and Fatnefs, my Mouth fhall praife thee with joyful Lips. Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me praife his holy Name. Here is his grateful Refentment of the Kindness of God. Whereupon he breaks out, I will praise the Name of the Lord with a Song, I will magnify him with Thanksgiving. I will fing of the Mercies of the Lord for ever, with my Mouth will I make known thy Faithfulness to all Generations. And then, to compleat all, he deliberates, how he may yet farther testify his Gratitude to God: What shall I render unto God for all his Benefits? Whereupon he refolves, I will receive the Cup of Salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord; I will pay my Vows unto him, even the Vows of Amendment and better Obedience, that I made unto him in my Distress. Thus plainly has the Pfalmift chalked out the Duty, and taught us the Way to be thankful to our God. And,

II. How reasonable a Thing it is for us to comply with fuch Directions, we may perceive, by confidering, 1. The Nature of God, as it is extended to us. 2. The Nature of Man, as it is related to God. And, 3. The Nature of the Duty itfelf. 1. Offer

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1. Offer unto God Thanksgiving, fays the Pfalmift; to God, i. e. to him, who is the Author, Upholder, and Preferver of our Being, without whose Goodness we had never been, and without whose Care we cannot fubfift one Moment. To him, who hath created this fpacious World for our Comfort and Delectation; given us Bodies of an excellent Order and Proportion, and inspired them with Souls, impreffed with confpicuous Characters of his own divine Effence. To him, who grants us free Access, a conftant Intercourfe, and familiar Acquaintance with himself; ftiles us his Friends and bis Children, and, in Purfuance of his paternal Relation to us, pities our Infirmities, affifts our Wants, comforts our Sorrows, and asfwages all our Pains. To him, whofe Goodness is like the ftrong Mountains, and whofe Mercies never fail, taking Care of us, when we regard not him; watching over us when we fleep, and remembering us, when we forget ourselves. To him, who, as St James expreffes it, giveth freely, and upbraideth no Man; who exacts no coftly, no difficult, no impoffible Returns for his Favours, but only a chearful Acknowledgment of them, and a fincere Performance of fuch Duties, as our own Welfare, did we but apprehend it, would abundantly bind us to. Is there any Thing more? Yes, to him, who, that he might redeem us from Mifery, condefcended to the lowest Humiliation, to inhabit our frail and mortal Nature, to undergo the Laws and Conditions of Humanity, and at last taste the bitter Cup of a most painful Death: Yea, to him, who not only defcended from his imperial Throne, and became a Servant for our Sake, but defigned thereby to exalt us to a Participation of his Royal Dignity, his divine Nature, his eternal Glory and Blifs, fubmitting Crowns and Scepters to our Choice; Crowns, that cannot fade, and Scepters,

that

that can never be extorted from us. To him, laftly, whofe Benefits to commemorate is the greatest Benefit of all; whofe Goodness to praife, whofe Greatness to admire, whose Beneficence to feel, and whose Presence to enjoy, is Heaven itself, the Life of Angels, and the fupreme Degree of all Felicity. In a Word, to him, whofe Benefits are immenfely great, innumerably many, and inexpreffibly good; for, Who can utter the mighty Alts of the Lord, or fhew forth all his Praife? Says one, who had spent most of his Thoughts, and the best of his Endeavours that Way.

2. Thus, if we look up to God, our great and only Benefactor, we cannot but perceive, that the Duty of Praise and Thanksgiving to him is bound upon us by Ties innumerable, and that the good Things we receive from above fhould, in grateful Acknowledgments, be fent back again thither, as the Rivers run into the Sea; to the Place, the Ocean of Beneficence, from whence the Rivers come, thither fhould they return again. And, in like Manner, if we turn our Eyes upon ourselves, we cannot but remember, that we are his Creatures, suftained by his Alms, and fed by his Bounty; that every Drop we drink, and every Morfel we eat, we receive from him; that we breathe in his Air, move on his Earth, and are every Moment fupported by his all-powerful Arm. Nay, we are not only his Creatures, and Penfioners to his Bounty, but finful Creatures likewife, that abuse his Kindnefs, and pervert his Bleffings. For he gives us Breath, and we blafpheme him with it; he gives us Health, and we expend it in Intemperance; he gives us Wealth, and we confume it upon our Lufts; and yet, for all this, he continues to be gracious unto us, and paffes by many Indignities, as if his Long-fuffering were never to have an End. Nay, we are his redeemed Creatures, who had the Honour

Honour to have our Lives ranfomed by the precious Blood of the Son of God; and, from the Power of Sin, and the Slavery of our most inveterate Enemy, are fet free; fet free the nobleft Way, not fo much as the Spirit of Bondage remaining, but are fo become the Servants, as, at the fame Time, to obtain the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God. Can we rise any higher? Yes, we are to be his glorified Creatures, to be admitted into the Society of Saints and Angels, where, having our Bodies fashioned like unto Chrift's glorious Body, and our Souls exalted to a Participation of God, we fhall be bleffed with all spiritual Bleffings, in heavenly Places, in Chrift. If then there be any Force in God's creating Goodnefs; if any Bonds in his forbearing Patience if any Endearments in his redeeming Love; if any Obligations in the Hope of our high Calling; by thefe, all these, are we bound to make thankful Returns to him, from whom we have received, and from whom we expect fo much: Efpecially confidering, that there are other Inducements arifing from the Nature of this Duty itself, that engage us to the Practice of it.

3. The Royal Pfalmift has given us a good Account of the general Properties of Praife and Thanksgiving, under which most of its chief Advantages may be comprised. Praise the Lord, for it is good to fing Praifes unto our God; for it is pleafant, and Praife is comely. Praise the Lord, for it is good, as it inlarges the Powers and Capacities of our Souls, turning them, from little and low Things, upon their greatest and nobleft Object, the divine Nature; and employing them in the Discovery and Admiration of thofe feveral Perfections that adorn it. It is good, as it promotes and facilitates the Practice of all other Duties, infomuch that, whoever is under a powerful Senfe of God's Goodness

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