Part 30
(4.) This punishment must be terrible. How doth David, a great king, sound in his body, prosperous in his crown, and successful in his conquests, settled in all his royal conveniences, groan under the wrathful touch of a greater king than himself, Ps. vi., Ps. xxxviii., and his other penitential psalms ; not being able to give himself a writ of ease, by all the delights of his palace
and kingdom. If ' the wrath of a king be as a roaring lion ' to a poor sub-
* That is, ' irresponsible.' — ED.
480 CHAKNOCK'S WORKS. [Ps. GUI. 19.
ject, Prov. xix. 12, how great is the wrath of the King of kings, that cannot
be set forth by the terror of all the amazing volleys of thunder that have been since the creation, if the noise of all were gathered into one single crack ! As there is an unconceivable ground of joy in the special favour of so mighty a king, so is there of terror in his severe displeasure. Ps. Ixxvi. 12, he is ' terrible to the kings of the earth, with God is terrible majesty.' What a folly is it then to rebel against so mighty a sovereign !
Use 3. Of comfort. The throne of God drops honey and sweetness, as well as dread and terror ; all his other attributes afford little relief, without this of his dominion and universal command. When therefore he speaks of
his being the God of his people, he doth often preface it with ' the Lord thy God ; ' his sovereignty as a lord being the ground of all the comfort we can take in his federal relation as our God ; thy God, but superior to thee ; thy God, not as thy cattle and goods are thine, in a way of sole propriety,
but a lord too in a way of sovereignty, not only over thee, but over all things
else for thee. As the end of God's settling earthly governments was for the good of the communities over which the governors preside, so God exerciseth his government for the good of the world, and more particularly for the good of the church, over which he is a peculiar governor.
1. His love to his people is as great as his sovereignty over them. He stands not upon his dominion with his people so much as upon his affection to them; he would not be called Baali, my lord, i. e. he would not be known only by the name of sovereignty, but Isfii, my husband, a name of authority and sweetness together, Hosea ii. 16, 19, &c. He signifies that he is not only the Lord of our spirits and bodies, but a husband by a marriage knot, admitting us to a nearness to him, and communion of goods with him. Though he majestically sits upon a high throne, yet it is a throne ' encircled with a rainbow,' Ezek. i. 28, to shew that his government of his people is not only in a way of absolute dominion, but also in a way of federal relation. He seems to own himself their subject rather than their sovereign, when he gives them a charter to command him in the affairs of his church : Isa.
xlv. 11, ' Ask of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command you me.' Some read it by way of question, as a corrective of a sauciness : Do you ask of me things to come, and seem to command me concerning the works of my hands, as if you were more care ful of my interest among my people than I am, who have formed them ? But if this were the sense, it would seem to discourage an importunity of prayer for public deliverance, and therefore, to take it according to our translation, it is an exhortation to prayer, and a mighty encouragement in the management and exercise of it. Urge me with my promise in a way of humble importunity, and you shall find me as willing to perform my word, and gratify your desires, as if I were rather under your authority than you under mine ; as much as to say, If I be not as good as my word to satisfy those desires that are according to my promise, implead me at my own throne, and if
I be failing in it, I will give judgment against myself. Almost like prince's charters, and gracious grants, ' we grant such a thing against us, and our heirs,' giving the subject power to implead them, if they be not punctually observed by them. How is the love of God seen in his condescension below the majesty of earthly governors ! He that might command by the abso luteness of his authority, doth not only [not] do that, but entreats in the quality of a subject, as if he had not a fulness to supply us, but needed something from us for a supply of himself : 2 Cor. v. 20, ' As though God did beseech you by us.' And when he may challenge as a due by the right of his propriety, what we bestow upon his poor, which are his subjects as
Ps. GUI. 19.] GOD'S DOMINION. 481
well as ours, he reckons it as a loan to him, as if what we had were more our own than his, Prov. xix. 17. He stands not upon his dominion so much with us, when he finds us conscientious in paying the duty we owe to him. He rules as a Father by love, as well as by authority ; he enters into a peculiar communion with poor earthly worms, plants his gracious tabernacle among the troops of sinners, instructs us by his word, invites us by his benefits, admits us into his presence, is more desirous to bestow his smiles than we to receive them, and acts in such a manner as if he were willing to resign his sceptre into the hands of any that were possessed with more love and kindness to us than himself. This is the comfort of believers.
2. In his being sovereign, his pardons carry in them a full security. He that hath the keys of hell and death pardons the crime, and wipes off the guilt. Who can repeal the act of the chief governor ? What tribunal can null the decrees of an absolute throne ? Isa. xliii. 25, ' I, even I, am he
that blots out thy transgressions for my name's sake.' His sovereign dominion renders his mercy comfortable. The clemency of a subject, though never so great, cannot pardon ; people may pity a criminal while the execu tioner tortures him, and strips him of his life, but the clemency of the supreme prince establisheth a pardon. Since we are under the dominion of God, if he pardons, who can reverse it ? If he doth not, what will the pardons of men profit us in regard of an eternal state ? If God be a king for ever, then he whom God forgives, he in whom God reigns, shall live for ever ; else he would want subjects on earth, and have none of his lower creatures, which he formed upon the earth, to reign over [after] the dissolu tion of the world. If his pardons did not stand secure, he would after this life have no voluntary subjects that had formerly a being upon the earth ; he would be a king only over the damned creatures.
8. Corruptions will certainly be subdued in his voluntary subjects. The covenant, I will be your God, implies protection, government, and relief, which are all grounded upon sovereignty ; that therefore which is our greatest burden will be removed by his sovereign power. Micah vii. 19, ' He will subdue our iniquities.' If the outward enemies of the church shall not bear up against his dominion, and perpetuate their rebellions unpunished, those within his people shall as little bear up against his throne without being destroyed by him. The billows of our own hearts, and the raging
waves within us, are as much at his beck as those without us. And his sovereignty is more eminent in quelling the corruptions of the heart than
the commotions of the world ; in reigning over men's spirits, by changing them, or curbing them, more than over men's bodies, by pinching and punishing them. The remainders of Satan's empire will moulder away before
him, since ' he that is in us ' is a greater sovereign ' than he that is in the world,' 1 John iv. 4. His enemies will be laid at his feet, and so never
shall prevail against him, when his kingdom shall come. He could not be Lord of any man as a happy creature, if he did not by his power make them happy ; and he could not make them happy unless by his grace he made them holy. He could not be praised as a Lord of glory, if he did not make some creatures glorious to praise him ; and an earthly creature could not praise him perfectly, unless he had every grain of enmity to his glory taken out of his heart. Since God is the only sovereign, he only can still the
commotions in our spirits, and pull down all the ensigns of the devil's royalty ; he can waste him by the powerful word of his lips.
4. Hence is a strong encouragement for prayer. My King was the strong compilation David used in prayer, as an argument of comfort and confidence,
as well as that of my God : Ps. v. 2, ' Hearken to the voice of my cry, my VOL. n. H h
CHAKNOCK'S WORKS. [Ps. GUI. 19.
King, and my God.' To bfi a king is to have an office of government and protection. He gives us liberty to approach to him as the ' Judge of all,' Heb. xii. 23, i. e. as the governor of the world ; we pray to one that hath the whole globe of heaven and earth in his hand, and can do whatsoever he will. Though he be higher than the cherubims, and transcendently above all in majesty, yet we may soar up to him with the wings of our soul, faith, and love, and lay open our cause, and find him as gracious as if he were the meanest subject on earth, rather than the most sovereign God in heaven.
He hath as much of tenderness as he hath of authority, and is pleased with prayer, which is an acknowledgment of his dominion, an honouring of that which he delights to honour ; for prayer, in the notion of it, imports thus much : that God is the rector of the world, that he takes notice of human affairs, that he is a careful, just, wise governor, a storehouse of blessing, a fountain of goodness to the indigent, and a relief to the oppressed. What have we reason to fear, when the Sovereign of the world gives us liberty to approach to him, and lay open our case ? That God who is King of the whole earth, not only of a few villages or cities in the earth, but the whole earth, and not only King of this dreggy place of our dross, but of heaven, having prepared or established his throne in the most glori ous place of the creation.
5. Here is comfort in afflictions. As a sovereign, he is the author of afflictions; as a sovereign, he can be the remover of them ; he can command the waters of affliction to go so far, and no farther. If he speaks the word, a disease shall depart, as soon as a servant shall from your presence with a nod. If we are banished from one place, he can command a shelter for us in another. If he orders Moab, a nation that had no great kindness for his people, to let his outcasts dwell with them, they shall entertain them, and afford them sanctuary, Isa. xvi. 4. Again, God chasteneth as a sovereign, but teacheth as a father, Ps. xc. 12. The exercise of his authority is not without an exercise of his goodness. He doth not correct for his own plea
sure, or the creature's torment, but for the creature's instruction ; though the rod be in the hand of a sovereign, yet it is tinctured with the kindness of divine bowels. He can order them as a sovereign to mortify our flesh, and try our faith. In the severest tempest, the Lord that raised the wind against us, which shattered the ship, and tore its rigging, can change that contrary wind for a more happy one, to drive us into the port.
6. It is a comfort against the projects of the church's adversaries in times of public commotions. The consideration of the divine sovereignty may arm us against the threatenings of mighty ones, and the menaces of perse cutors. God hath authority above the crowns of men, and a wisdom superior to the cabals of men. None can move a step without him, he hath a negative voice upon their counsels, a negative hand upon their motions ; their politic resolves must stop at the point he hath prescribed them. Their formidable strength cannot exceed the limits he hath set them, their over reaching wisdom expires at the breath of God : ' There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord,' Prov. xxi. 80. Not a bullet can be discharged, nor a sword drawn, a wall battered, nor a person des patched out of the world, without the leave of God, by the mightiest in the world. The instruments of Satan are no more free from his sovereign restraint than their inspirer ; they cannot pull the hook out of their nostrils, nor cast the bridle out of their mouths. This sovereign can shake the earth, rend the heavens, overthrow mountains, the most mountainous opposer of
his interest. Though the nations rush in against his people, like the rush-
Ps. CIII. 19.] GOD'S DOMINION. 483
ing of many waters, ' God shall rebuke them, they shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind ; and like a rolling thing before the
whirlwind,' Isa. xvii. 13 ; so doth he often burst in pieces the most mis chievous designs, and conducts the oppressed to a happy port. He often turns the severest tempests into a calm, as well as the most peaceful calm into a horrible storm. How often hath a well-rigged ship, that seemed to spurn the sea under her feet, and beat the waves before her to a foam, been swallowed up into the bowels of that element, over whose back she rode a little before ! God never comes to deliver his church as a governor, but in
a wrathful posture : Ezek. xx. 33, ' Surely, saith the Lord, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule
over you ; ' not with fury poured out upon the church, but fury poured out upon her enemies, as the words following evidence. The church he would bring out from the countries where she was scattered, and bring the people
into the bond of the covenant. He sometimes ' cuts off the spirits of princes,' Ps. Ixxvi. 12, i. e. cuts off their designs, as men do the pipes of a water course. The hearts of all are as open to him, as the riches of heaven where he resides. He can slip an inclination into the heart of the mighty, which they dreamed not of before ; and if ho doth not change their projects,, he can make them abortive, and way-lay them in their attempts. Laban marched with fury, but God put a padlock upon his passion against Jacob,. Gen.
xxxi. 24—29. The devils which ravage men's minds must be still when he gives out his sovereign orders. This sovereign can make his people find favour in the eyes of the cruel Egyptians, which had so long oppressed them, Exod. xi. 3; and speak a good word in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar for the prophet Jeremiah, that he should order his captain to take him into his special protection, when he took Zedekiah away prisoner in chains, and put out his eyes, Jer. xxxix. 11. His people cannot want deliverance from him, who hath all the world at his command, when he is pleased to bestow it : he hath as many instruments of deliverance as he hath creatures at his beck in heaven or earth, from the meanest to the highest. As he is the Lord of hosts, the church hath not only an interest in the strength he himself is possessed with, but in the strength of all the creatures that are under his, com mand, in the elements below and angels above ; in those armies of heaven, aad in the inhabitants of the earth, he doth what he will, Dan, iv. 35.. They are all in order and array at his command. There are angels to employ in a fatal stroke, lice and frogs to quell the stubborn hearts of his enemies. He can range his thunders and lightnings, the cannon and granadoes of heaven, and the worms of the earth in his service. He can muzzle lions, calm
the fury of the fire, turn his enemiesr swords into their own bowels., and their artillery on their own breasts ; set thewind in their teeth, and make, their chariotwheels languish ;• make the sea enter a quarrel with them, and wrap them in its waves, till it hath stifled them in its lap. The angels have storms, and tempests, and wars in their hands, but at the disposal of God ; when they shall cast them out against the empire of antichrist, Rev. vii. 1, 2, then shall Satan be discharged from his throne, and no more seduce the nations ; the everlasting gospel shall be preached, and God shall reign glori ously in Zion. Let us therefore shelter ourselves in the divine sovereignty, regard God as the most high in our dangers, and in our petitions. This was David's resolution : Ps. Ivii. 1,2, 'I will cry unto God most high.' This dominion of God is the true tower of David, wherein there are a thou sand shields for defence and encouragement, Cant. iv. 4.
Use 4. If God hath an extensive dominion over the whole world, this ought to be often meditated on, and acknowledged by us. This is the uni-
484 CHAENOCK'S WORKS. [Ps. CIII. 19.
versal duty of mankind : if he be the sovereign of all, we should frequently think of our great prince, and acknowledge ourselves his subjects, and him our Lord. God will be acknowledged the Lord of the whole earth ; the neglect of this is the cause of the judgments which are sent upon the world. All the prodigies were to this end, that they might know, or acknowledge, that God was the Lord, Exod. x. 2. As God was proprietor, he demanded the first-born of every Jew, and the first-born of every beast ; the one was to be redeemed, and the other sacrificed ; this was the quit-rent they were to pay to him for their fruitful land. The first fruits of the earth were ordered to be paid to him as a homage due to the landlord, and an acknowledgment they held all in chief of him. The practice of offering first-fruits for an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty was among many of the heathens, and very ancient ; hence they dedicated some of the chief of their spoils, owning thereby the dominion and goodness of God, whereby they had gained the victory. Cain owned this in offering the fruits of the earth, and it was his
sin he owned no more, viz. his being a sinner, and meriting the justice of God, as his brother Abel did in his bloody sacrifice. God was a sovereign proprietor and governor, while man was in a state of innocence ; but when man proved a rebel, the sovereignty of God bore another relation towards him, that of a judge, added to the other. The first fruits might have been offered to God in a state of innocence, as a homage to him as Lord of the
manor of the world ; the design of them was to own God's propriety in all things, and men's dependence on him for the influences of heaven in pro ducing the fruits of the earth, which he had ordered for their use. The design of sacrifices, and placing beasts instead of the criminal, was to acknow ledge their own guilt, and God as a sovereign judge. Cain owned the first, but not the second ; he acknowledged his dependency on God as a proprie tor, but not his obnoxiousness to God as a judge, which may be probably gathered from his own speech, when God came to examine him, and ask
him for his brother, Gen. iv. 9, ' Am I my brother's keeper ? ' "Why do you ask me ? Though I own thee as the Lord of my land and goods, yet I do not think myself accountable to thee for all my actions. This sove
reignty of God ought to be acknowledged in all the parts of it, in all the' manifestations of it to the creature. We should bear a sense of this always upon our spirits, and be often in the thoughts of it in our retirements. We
should fancy that we saw God upon his throne in his royal garb, and great attendants about him, and take a view of it, to imprint an awe upon 01
spirits. The meditation on this would, 1. Fix us on him as an object of trust. It is upon his sovereign dominion, as much as upon anything, that safe and secure confidence is built ; for if he had any superior above him to control him in his designs and promises, his veracity and power would be of little efficacy to form our souls to a close adherency to him. It were not fit to make him the object of our trust, that can be gainsaid by a higher than himself, and had not a full authority to answer our expectations. If we were possessed with this notion fully and believingly, that Godjwere high above all, and his kingdom rules over all, we should not catch at every broken reed, and stand gaping for comforts from a pebble stone. He that understands the authority of a king, would not waive a reliance on his promise, to depend upon the breath of a changeling favourite. None but an ignorant man would change the security he may have upon the height of a rock, to expect it from the dwarfishness of a molehill. To put confidence in any inferior lord more than in the prince, is a folly in civil converse, but a rebellion in divine ; God only being above all, can only rule all,
Ps. CIII. 19. J GOD'S DOMINION. 485
can command things to help us, and check other things which we depend on, and make them fall short of our expectations. The due consideration of this doctrine would make us pierce through second causes to the first, and look further than to the smaller sort of sailors, that climb the ropes, and dress the sails, to the pilot that sits at the helm, the master that, by an in disputable authority, orders all their motions. We should not depend upon second causes for our support, but look beyond them, to the authority of the Deity, and the dominion he hath over all the works of his hands. Zech.
x. 1, 'Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain.' When the seasons of the year conspire for the producing such an effect, when the usual time of rain is wheeled about in the year, stop not your thoughts at the point of the heavens, whence you expect it, but pierce the heavens and solicit God, who must give order for it before it comes. The due meditation of all things depending on the divine dominion would strike off our hands from all other holds, so that no creature would engross the dependence and trust which is due to the first cause. As we do not thank the heavens when
they pour out rain, so we are not to depend upon them when we want it ; God is to be sought to when the womb of second causes is opened to relieve us, as well as when the womb of second causes is barren, and brings not forth its wonted progeny.
2. It would make us diligent in worship. The consideration of God as the supreme Lord is the foundation of all religion. Our Father which art
in heaven prefaceth the Lord's prayer. Father is a name of authority ; in heaven, the place where he hath fixed his throne, notes his government; not mi/ Father, but our Father, notes the extent of this authority. In all wor ship, we acknowledge the object of our worship our Lord, and ourselves his vassals. If we bear a sense that he is our sovereign King, it would draw us to him in every exigence, and keep us with him in a reverential posture in every address. When we come, we should be careful not to violate his right, but render him the homage due to his royalty. We should not appear before him with empty souls, but filled with holy thoughts. We should bring him the best of our flock, and present him with the prime of our strength. Were we sensible we hold all of him, we should not withhold anything from him which is more worthy than another. Our hearts would
be framed into an awful regard of him, when we consider that ' glorious and fearful name, the Lord our God,' Deut. xxviii. 58. We should 'look to our feet ' when we enter into his house, if we considered him in heaven upon his throne, and ourselves on earth at his footstool, Eccles. v. 2, lower before him than a worm before an angel ; it would hinder garishness and lightness.
The Jews, saith Capel, on the 1 Tim. i. 17, repeat this expression, TPD
D7lJfi"T, King of worlds, or eternal King; probable the first original of it might be to stake them down from wandering. When we consider the majesty of God, clothed with a robe of light, sitting upon his high throne, adorned with his royal ensigns, we should not enter into the presence of so great a Majesty with the sacrifice of fools, with light motions and foolish thoughts, as if he were one of our companions to be drolled with. We should not hear his word as if it were the voice of some ordinary peasant. The consideration of maiestv would engender reverence in our service. It would also make us • i
speak of God with honour and respect, as of a great and glorious king, and not use defaming expressions of him, as if he were an infamous being. And were he considered as a terrible majesty, he would not be frequently solicited by some to pronounce a damnation upon them upon every occasion.
3. It would make us charitable to others. Since he is our Lord, the
486 CHARNOCK'S WORKS. [Ps. CIII. 19.
great proprietor of the world, it is fit he should have a part of our goods as well as our time, he being the Lord both of our goods and time. The Lord is to be honoured with our substance, Prov. iii. 9. Kings were not to be
approached to without a present. Tribute is due to kings ; but because he hath no need of any from us to bear up his state, maintain the charge of his wars, or pay his military officers and host, it is a debt due to him to acknow ledge him in his poor, to sustain those that are part of his substance ; though he stands in no need of it himself, yet the poor, that we have always with us, do. As a seventh part of our weekly time, so some part of our weekly gains are due to him. There was to be a weekly laying by in store somewhat of what God had prospered them for the relief of others, 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2; the
quantity is not determined, that is left to every man's conscience, ' accord ing as God hath prospered him ' that week. If we did consider God as the donor and proprietor, we should dispose of his gifts according to the design of the true owner, and act in our places as stewards entrusted by him, and not purse up his part as well as our own in our coffers. We should not deny him a small quit-rent as an acknowledgment that we have a greater income from him ; we should be ready to give the inconsiderable pittance he doth require of us, as an acknowledgment of his propriety as well as liberality.
4. It would make us watchful, and arm us against all temptations. Had Eve stuck to her first argument against the serpent, she had not been in strumental to that destruction which mankind yet feel the smart of: Gen.
iii. 8, ' God hath said ye shall not eat of it ; ' the great governor of the world hath laid his sovereign command upon us in this point. The tempta tion gained no ground till her heart let go the sense of this for the pleasure of her eye and palate. The repetition of this, The great Lord of the world hath said or ordered, had both unargumented and disarmed the tempter.
A sense of God's dominion over us would discourage a temptation, and put it out of countenance ; it would bring us with a vigorous strength to beat it back to a retreat. If this were as strongly urged as temptation, it would make the heart of the tempted strong, and the motion of the tempter feeble.
5. It would make us entertain afflictions as they ought to be entertained, viz., with a respect to God. When men make light of any affliction from
God, it is a contempt of his sovereignty ; as to contemn the frown, dis pleasure, and check of a prince is an affront to majesty ; it is as if they did not care a straw what God did with them, but dare him to do his worst. There is a despising the chastening of the Almighty, Job v. 17. To be unhumbled under his hand is as much or more affront to him than to be impatient under it. Afflictions must be entertained as a check from heaven, as a frown from the great monarch of the world ; under the feeling of every stroke, we are to acknowledge his sovereignty and bounty ; to despise it is to make light of his authority over us, as to despise his favours is to make
light of his kindness to us. A sense of God's dominion would make us observe every check from him, and not diminish his authority by casting off a due sense of his correction.
6. This dominion of God would make us resign up ourselves to God in everything. He that considers himself a thing made by God, a vassal under his authority, would not expostulate with him, and call him to an account why he hath dealt so or so with him. It would stab the vitals of all pleas
against him. We should not then contest with him, but humbly lay our cause at his feet, and say with Eli, 1 Sam. iii. 18, ' It is the Lord, let him do what seems good.' We should not commence a suit against God when he doth not answer our prayers presently, and send the mercy we want upon the wings of the wind ; he is the Lord, the Sovereign. The consideration
Ps. CIII. 19.] GOD'S DOMINION. 487
of this would put an end to our quarrels with God. Should I expect that the monarch of the world should wait upon me, or I, a poor worm, wait upon him ? Must I take state upon me before the throne of heaven, and expect the King of kings should lay by his sceptre to gratify my humour ? Surely Jonah thought God no more than his fellow, or his vassal, at that time when he told him to his face he did well to be angry, as though God might not do what he pleased with so small a thing as a gourd ; he speaks as if he would have sealed a lease of ejectment, to exclude him from any pro priety in anything in the world.
7. This dominion of God would stop our vain curiosity. When Peter was desirous to know the fate of John, the beloved disciple, Christ answereth no more than this : John xxi. 22, ' If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? follow thou me.' Consider your duty, and lay aside your curiosity, since it is my pleasure not to reveal it. The sense of God's absolute dominion would silence many vain disputes in the world. What if God will not reveal this or that ? The manner and method of his resolves should humble the creature under intruding inquiries.
Use 5. Of exhortation. 1. The doctrine of the dominion of God may teach us humility. We are never truly abased but by the consideration of the eminence and excellency of the Deity. Job never thought himself so pitiful a thing, so despicable a
creature, as after God's magnificent declamation upon the theme of his own sovereignty, Job xlii. 5, 6. When God's name is regarded as the most excellent and sovereign name in all the earth, then is the soul in the fittest temper to lie low, and cry out, What is man, that so great a Majesty should be mindful of him ? When Abraham considers God as the supreme judge
of all the earth, he then owns himself ' but dust and ashes,' Gen. xviii. 25, 27. Indeed, how can vile and dusty man vaunt before God, when the angels, far more excellent creatures, cannot stand before him but with a veil on their faces ? How little a thing is man in regard of all the earth ! How mean a thing is the earth in regard of the vaster heavens ! How poor a thing is the whole world in comparison of God ! How pitiful a thing is man, if compared with so excellent a majesty ! There is as great a distance between God and man as between being and not being ; and the more man considers the divine royalty, the more disesteem he will have of himself. It would make him stoop, and disrobe himself, and fall low before the throne of the King of kings, throwing down before his throne any crown he gloried in, Rev. iv. 10.
(1.) In regard of authority. How unreasonable is pride in the presence of majesty. How foolish is it for a country justice of peace to think himself as great as his prince that commissioned him. How unreasonable is pride in the presence of the greatest sovereignty. What is human greatness before divine? The stars discover no light when the sun appears, but in an humble posture withdraw in their lesser beams, to give the sole glory of enlightening the world to the sun, who is, as it were, the sovereign of those stars, and imparts a light unto them. The greatest prince is infinitely less, if compared with God, than the meanest scullion in his kitchen can be before him. As the wisdom, goodness, and holiness of man is a mere mote compared to the goodness and holiness of God, so is the authority of man a
mere trifle in regard of the sovereignty of God. And who but a simple child would be proud of a mote or trifle. Let man be as great as he can,
and command others, he is still a subject to one greater than himself,
ride would then vanish like smoke at the serious consideration of this sovereignty.
488 CHAENOCK'S WOBKS. [Ps. CIII. 19.
One of the kings of this country did very handsomely shame the flattery of his courtiers, that cried him up as lord of sea and land, by ordering his chair to be set on the sand of the seashore when the tide was coming in, and commanding the waters not to touch his feet, which, when they did, without any regard to his authority, he took occasion thereby to put his flatterers out of countenance, and instruct himself in a lesson of humility. See, saith he, how I rule all things, when so mean a thing as the water will not obey me. It is a ridiculous pride that the Turk and Persian discover in their swelling titles. What poor sovereigns are they, that cannot com mand a cloud, give out an effectual order for a drop of rain in a time of drought, or cause the bottles of heaven to turn their mouth another way in a time of too much moisture. Yet their own prerogatives are so much in their minds, that they jostle out all thoughts of the supreme prerogative of
God, and give thereby occasion to frequent rebellions against him.
(2.) In regard of propriety. And this doctrine is no less an abatement of pride in the highest as well as in the meanest. It lowers pride in point of propriety, as well as in point of authority. Is any proud of his posses sions ? How many lords of those possessions have gone before you 1* How many are to follow you ! Your dominion lasts but for a short time, too short to be a cause of any pride and glory in it. God, by a sovereign power, can take you from them, or them from you, when he pleaseth. The traveller refresheth himself in the heat of summer under a shady tree ; how many have done so before him the same day he knows not, and how many
will have the benefit after, before night comes, he is as much ignorant of. He, and the others that went before him, and follow after him, use it for their refreshment, but none of them can say they are the lords of it. The property is invested in some other person, whom perhaps they know not. The propriety of all you have is in God, not truly in yourselves. Doth not that man deserve scorn from you who will play the proud fool in gay clothes and attire, which are known to be none of his own, but borrowed ? Is it not the same case with every proud man, though he hath a property in his goods by the law of the land ? Is anything you have your own truly ? Is it not lent you by the great Lord ? Is it not the same vanity in any of you
to be proud of what you have as God's loan to you, as for such a one to be proud of what he hath borrowed of man ? And do you not make yourselves as ridiculous to angels and good men, who know that though it is yours in opposition to man, yet it is not yours in opposition to God ; they are granted you only for your use, as the collar of esses\ and sword, and other ensigns of the chief magistrate in the city, pass through many hands in regard of the use of them, but the propriety remains in the community and body of the city ; or as the silver plate of a person that invites you to a feast is for your use during the time of the invitation. What ground is there to be proud of those things ? You are not the absolute lords and proprietors of, but only have the use of them granted to you during the pleasure of the Sovereign of the world.
2. Praise and thankfulness results from this doctrine of the sovereignty of God.
(1.) He is to be praised for his royalty: Ps. cxlv. 1, ' I will extol thee my God, 0 King.' The psalmist calls upon men five times to sing praise to him as the King of all the earth : Ps. xlvii. 6, 7, ' Sing praises to God, sing praises ; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of
* Eaynard de Deo. p. 766. t That is, a collar made of links in the form of the letter S. — ED.
Ps. GUI. 19.] GOD'S DOMINION. 489
all the earth ; sing ye praises with understanding.' All creatures, even the inanimate ones, are called upon to praise him, because of the excellency of his name, and the supremacy of his glory, in the 148th Psalm throughout, and ver. .18. That sovereign power that gave us hearts and tongues deserves to have them employed in his praises, especially since he hath by the same hand given us so great matter for it. As he is a sovereign, we owe him thankfulness [that] he doth not deal with us in a way of absolute dominion ; he might then have annihilated us, since he hath as full a dominion to reduce us to nothing as to bring us out of nothing. Consider the absoluteness of his sovereignty in itself, and you must needs acknowledge that he might have multiplied precepts, enjoined us the observance of more than he hath done ; he might have made our tether much shorter ; he might exact obedience, and promise no reward for it ; he might dash us against the walls as a potter doth his vessel, and no man have any just reason to say, What dost thou ? or Why dost thou use me so ? A greater right is in him to use us in such a manner, as we do sensible as well as insensible things. And if you consider his dominion, as it is capable to be exercised in a way of unquestionable justice, and submitted to the reason and judgments of creatures, he might have dealt with us in a smarter way than he hath hitherto done ; instead of one affliction, we might have had a thousand. He might have shut his own hands from pouring out any good upon us, and ordered innumerable scourges to be prepared for us ; but he deals not with us according to the rights of his dominion. He doth not oppress us by the greatness of his majesty; he enters into covenant with us, and allures us by the cords of a man, and shews himself as much a merciful as an absolute sovereign.
(2.) As he is a proprietor, we owe him thankfulness. He is at his own choice, whether he will bestow upon us any blessings or no ; the more value therefore his benefits deserve from us, and the donor the more sincere re-
: turns. If we have anything from the creature to serve our turn, it is by
the order of the chief proprietor. He is the spring of honour, and the fountain of supplies ; all creatures are but as the conduit-pipes in a great city, which serve several houses with water, but from the great spring. All things are conveyed originally from his own hand, and are dispensed from his exchequer. If this great Sovereign did not order them, you would have no more supplies from a creature, than you could have nourishment from a chip. It is the divine will in everything that doth us good ; every favour from creatures is but a smile from God, an evidence of his royalty, to move us to pay a respect to him as the great Lord. Some heathens had so much respect for God, as to conclude that his will, and not their own prudence, was the chief conductor of their affairs. His goodness to us calls for our thankfulness, but his sovereignty calls for a higher elevation of it ; a smile from a prince is more valued, and thought worthy of more gratitude, than a present from a peasant. A small gift from a great person is more gratefully to be received, than a larger from an inferior person. The condescension of
royalty magnifies the gift. ' What is man, that thou,' so great a majesty,
' art mindful of him,' to bestow this or that favour upon him, is but a due reflection upon every blessing we receive. Upon every fresh blessing we should acknowledge the donor and true proprietor, and give him the honour of his dominion. His property ought to be thankfully owned in everything we are capable of consecrating to him. As David, after the liberal collection he had made for the building of the temple, owns in his dedication of it to that use the propriety of God, 1 Chron. xxix. 14, ' Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort ? for
490 CHAENOCK'S WORKS. [Ps. CIII. 19.
all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.' It was but a return of God's own to him, as the waters of the river are no other than the return to the sea of what was taken from it.
Praise and thankfulness is a rent due from all mankind, and from every creature, to the great landlord, since all are tenants, and hold by him at his will. ' Every creature in heaven and earth, under the earth, and in the sea,' were heard by John to ascribe ' blessing, honour, glory, and power to him that sits on the throne,' Rev. v. 13. We are as much bound to the sove reignty of God for his preservation of us, as for his creation of us. We are no less obliged to him, that preserves our beings, when exposed to dangers, than we are for bestowing a being upon us, when we were not capable of
danger. Thankfulness is due to this sovereign for public concerns : hath he not preserved the ship of his church in the midst of whistling winds and roaring waves, in the midst of the combats of men and devils, and rescued it
often when it hath been near shipwrecked ?
3. How should we be induced from hence to promote the honour of this sovereign ? We should advance him as supreme, and all our actions should concur in his honour. We should return to his glory what we have re ceived from his sovereignty, and enjoy by his mercy. He that is the superior of all, ought to be the end of all. This is the harmony of the creation, that which is of an inferior nature is ordered to the service of that which is of a more excellent nature ; thus water and earth, that have a lower being, are employed for the honour and beauty of the plants of the earth, who are more excellent in having a principle of a growing life ; these plants are again subservient to the beasts and birds, which exceed them in a prin ciple of sense, which the others want ; those beasts and birds are ordered for the good of man, who is superior to them in a principle of reason, and is invested with a dominion over them ; man having God for his superior, ought as much to serve the glory of God, as other things are designed to be useful to man. Other governments are intended for the good of the com munity, the chief end is not the good of the governors themselves ; bat God being every way sovereign, — the sovereign being, giving being to all things ; the sovereign ruler, giving order and preservation to all things, — is also the end of all things, to whose glory and honour all things, all creatures are to be subservient. Bom. xi. 36, ' For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever :' of him, as the efficient cause ; through him, as the preserving cause ; to him, as the final cause. All our actions and thoughts ought to be addressed to his glory, our whole beings ought to be consecrated to his honour, though we should have no reward, but the honour of having been subservient to the end of our creation ; so much doth the excellency and majesty of God, infinitely ele vated above us, challenge of us. Subjects use to value the safety, honour, and satisfaction of a good prince above their own ; David is accounted worth ten thousand of the people, and some of his courtiers thought themselves
obliged to venture their lives for his satisfaction in so mean a thing as a little water from the well of Bethlehem. Doth not so great, so good a sovereign as God, deserve the same affection from us ? Do we swear, saith a heathen, to prefer none before Caesar, and have we not greater reason to
prefer none before God ?* It is a justice due from us to God, to maintain his glory, as it is a justice to preserve the right and property of another. As God would lay aside his Deity, if he did deny himself, so a creature acts irregularly, and out of the rank of a creature, if it doth not deny itself for God. He that makes himself his own end, makes himself his own sovereign.
* Arrian in Epictet.
Ps. CIII. 19. J GOD'S DOMINION. 491
To napkin up a gift he hath bestowed upon us, or to employ what we pos sess, solely to our own glory, to use anything barely for ourselves, without respect to God, is to apply it to a wrong use, and to injure God in his pro-
' priety, and the end of his donation. What we have, ought to be used for
the honour of God ; he retains the dominion and lordship, though he grants us the use ; we are but stewards, not proprietors, in regard of God, who
i expects an account from us, how we have employed his goods to his honour.
The kingdom of God is to be advanced by us : we are to pray that his king- • dom may come, we are to endeavour that his kingdom may come ; that is, that God may be known to be the chief sovereign ; that his dominion, which
; was obscured by Adam's fall, may be more manifested ; that his subjects . which are suppressed in the world, may be supported, his laws which are
, violated by the rebellions of men, may be more obeyed, and his enemies be
fully subdued by his final judgment, the last evidence of his dominion in this state of the world ; that the empire of sin and the devil may be abolished, and the kingdom of God be perfected ; that none may rule but the great and rightful sovereign. Thus, while we endeavour to advance the honour of his throne, we shall not want an honour to ourselves. He is too gracious a
sovereign to neglect them that are mindful of his glory ; ' those that htmour him, he will honour,' 1 Sam. ii. 30.
4. Fear and reverence of God in himself, and in his actions, is a duty incumbent on us from this doctrine : Jer. x. 7, ' Who would not fear thee,
0 King of nations !' The ingratitude of the world is taxed, in not reverenc ing God as a great king, who had given so many marks of his royal govern ment among them. The prophet wonders there was no fear of so great a King in the world, since among all the wise men of the nations, and among all their kings, there is none like unto this ; no more reverence of him, since none ruled so wisely, nor any ruled so graciously. The dominion of God is one of the first sparks that gives fire to religion and worship, considered with the goodness of this sovereign : Ps. xxii. 27, 28, ' All the nations shall worship before thee, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is governor among the nations.' Epicurus, who thought God careless of human affairs, leaving them at hap-hazard to the conduct of men's wisdom, and mutability of fortune, yet acknowledged that God ought to be worshipped by man for the excellency of his nature, and greatness of his majesty. How should we reverence that God, that hath a throne encompassed with such glorious creatures as angels, whose faces we are not able to behold, though shadowed in assumed bodies ! How should we fear the Lord of hosts, that hath so many armies at his command in the heavens above, and in the earth below, whom he can dispose to the exact obedience of his will ! How should men be afraid to censure any of his actions, to sit judge of their Judge, and call him to an account to their bar ! How should such an earth-worm, a mean animal as man, be afraid to speak irreverently of so great a king among his pots and strumpets ! Not to fear him, not to reverence him, is to pull his throne from under him, and make him of a lower authority than ourselves, or any creature that we can reverence more.
5. Prayer to God, and trust in him, is inferred from his sovereignty. If he be the supreme sovereign, holding heaven and earth in his hand, dispos ing all things here below, not committing every thing to the influence of the stars, or the humours of men, we ought then to apply ourselves to him in every case, implore the exercise of his authority ; we hereby own his peculiar right over all things and persons. He only is the supreme head in all causes
and over all persons ; Thine is the kingdom concludes the Lord's prayers, both as a motive to pray, Mat. vi. 18, and a ground to expect what we want.
492 CHAKNOCK'S WOKKS. [Ps. GUI. 19.
He that believes not God's government, will think it needless to call upon him, will expect no refuge under him in a strait, but make some creaturereed his support. If we do not seek to him, but rely upon the dominion we have over our own possessions, or upon the authority of anything else, we disown his supremacy and dominion over all things ; we have as good an opinion of ourselves, or of some creature, as we ought to have of God. We think ourselves, or some natural cause we seek to, or depend upon, as much sovereigns as he, and that all things which concern us are as much at the dispose of an inferior, as of the great Lord. It is indeed to make a God of ourselves, or of the creature ; when we seek to him upon all occasions, we
own this divine eminency, we acknowledge that it is by him men's hearts are ordered, the world governed, all things disposed ; and God, that is jealous of his glory, is best pleased with any duty in the creature that doth
acknowledge and desire the glorification of it, which prayer and dependence on him doth in a special manner, desiring the exercise of his authority, and the preservation of it, in ordering the aifairs of the world.
6. Obedience naturally results from this doctrine. As his justice requires fear, his goodness thankfulness, his faithfulness trust, his truth belief, so his sovereignty, in the nature of it, demands obedience. As it is most fit he should rule in regard of his excellency, so it is most fit we should obey him in regard of his authority. He is our Lord, and we his subjects ; he is our Master, and we his servants ; it is righteous we should observe him, and conform to his will. He is everything that speaks an authority to command us, and that can challenge an humility in us to obey. As that is the truest doctrine that subjects us most to God, so he is the truest Christian that doth in his practice most acknowledge this subjection. And as sovereignty is the first notion a creature can have of God, so obedience is the first and chief thing conscience reflects upon the creature. Man holds all of God, and therefore owes all the operations capable to be produced by those faculties to that sovereign power that endowed him with them. Man had no being but for him, he hath no motion without him ; he should therefore have no being but for him, and no motion but according to him. To call him Lord, and not to act in subjection to him, is to mock and put a scorn upon him : Luke vi. 46, ' Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say ? ' It is like the crucifying Christ under the title of a king. It is not by professions, but by observance of the laws of a prince, that we manifest a due respect to him. By that, we reverence that authority that enacted them, and the prudence that framed them.
This doctrine affords us motives to obey, and directs us to the manner of obedience.
Motives to obey.
1. It is comely and orderly. Is it not a more becoming thing to be ruled by the will of our sovereign, than by that of our lusts ? to observe a wise and gracious authority, than to set up inordinate appetites in the room of his law ? Would not all men account it a disorder to be abominated, to see a slave or vassal control the just orders of his lord, and endeavour to subject
his master's will to his own ? Much more to expect God should serve our humour, rather than we be regulated by his will. It is more orderly that subjects should obey their governors, than governors their subjects ; that passion should obey reason, than reason obey passion. When good gover nors are to conform to subjects, and reason veil to passion, it is monstrous ; the one disturbs the order of a community, and the other defaceth the beauty of the soul. Is it a comely thing for God to stoop to our meanness, or for us to stoop to his greatness ?
'Ps. CIIL 19.] GOD'S DOMINION. 403
2. In regard of the divine sovereignty, it is both honourable and advan tageous to obey God. It is indeed the glory of a superior to be obeyed by his inferior, but where the sovereign is of transcendent excellency and dignity, i it is an honour to a mean person to be under his immediate commands, and
enrolled in his service. It is more honour to be God's subject than to be the greatest worldly monarch ; his very service is an empire, and disobedience
. to him is a slavery. It is a part of his sovereignty to reward any service
done to him.* Other lords may be willing to recompense the service of their subjects, but are often rendered unable ; but nothing can stand in the way of God to hinder your reward, if nothing stand in your way to hinder
your obedience : Levit. xviii. 5, ' If you keep my statutes, you shall live in them; I am the Lord.' Is there anything in the world can recompense you for rebellion against God and obedience to a lust ? Saul cools the hearts of
his servants from running after David, by David's inability to give them fields and vineyards : 1 Sam. xxii. 7, ' Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you captains of thousands, and cap
tains of hundreds, that you have conspired against me ?' But God hath a dominion to requite, as well as authority to command your obedience. He is a great sovereign, to bear you out, in your observance of his precepts, against all reproaches and violences of men, and at last to crown you with eternal honour. If he should neglect vindicating one time or other your loyalty to him, he will neglect the maintaining and vindicating his own sove reignty and greatness.
8. God, in all his dispensations to man, was careful to preserve the rights of his sovereignty, in exacting obedience of his creature. The second thing he manifested his sovereignty in was that of a lawgiver to Adam ; after that of a proprietor, in giving him the possession of the garden ; one followed immediately the other : Gen. ii. 15, 16, ' The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it. And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it,' &c. Nothing was to be enjoyed by man but upon the condition of obedience to his Lord ; and it is observed, that in the description of the creation, God is not called Lord till the finishing of the creation, and particularly in the forming of
man : Gen. ii. 7, ' And the Lord God formed man.' Though he was Lord of all creatures, yet it was in man he would have his sovereignty particularly manifested, and by man have his authority specially acknowledged. The
law is prefaced with this title, ' I am the Lord thy God,' Exod. xx. 2 : authority in Lord, sweetness in God; the one to enjoin, the othef to allure, obedience ; and God enforceth several of the commands with the same title. And as he begins many precepts with it, so he concludes them with the same
title, ' I am the Lord,' Lev. xix. 37, and in other places.
In all his communications of his goodness to man in his ways of blessing them, he stands upon the preservation of the rights of his sovereignty, and manifests his graciousness in favour of his authority. ' I am the Lord your God;' your God in all my perfections for your advantage, but yet your sove reign for your obedience. In all his condescensions he will have the rights of this untouched and unviolated by us. When Christ would give the most pregnant instance of his condescending and humble kindness, he urgeth his authority, to ballast their spirits from any presumptuous eruptions because
of his humility ; John xiii. 13, ' You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.' He asserts his authority, and presseth them to their duty, when he had seemed to lay it for the demeanour of a servant, and had
* Servire Deo, regnare est.
494 CHAENOCK'S WOBKS. [Ps. CIII. 19.
below the dignity of a master put on the humility of a mean underling, to wash the disciples' feet, all which was to oblige them to perform the com mand he then gave them, ver. 14, in obedience to his authority and imitation of his example.
4. All creatures obey him. All creatures punctually observe the law he hath imprinted on their nature, and in their several capacities acknowledge him their sovereign ; they move according to the inclinations he imprinted on them. The sea contains itself in its bounds, and the sun steps not out
of his sphere ; the stars march in their order, ' they continue this day according to thy ordinance, for all are thy servants,' Ps. cxix. 91. If he orders things contrary to their primitive nature, they obey him. When he speaks the word, the devouring fire becomes gentle, and toucheth not a hair of the children he will preserve ; the hunger-starved lions suspend their ravenous nature, when so good a morsel as Daniel is set before them ; and the sun, which had been in perpetual motion since its creation, obeys the writ of ease God sent in Joshua's time, and stands still. Shall insensible and sensible creatures be punctual to his orders, passively acknowledge his authority? Shall lions and serpents obey God in their places, and shall not man, who can by reason argue out the sovereignty of God, and understand the sense and goodness of his laws, and actively obey God with that will he hath enriched him with above all other creatures ? Yet the truth is, every sensitive, yea, every senseless creature, obeys God more than his rational, more than his gracious creatures in this world. The rational creatures, since the fall, have a prevailing principle of corruption. Let the obedience of other creatures incite us more to imitate them, and shame our remissness in not acknow ledging the dominion of God, in the just way he prescribes us to walk in. ;. Well then, let us not pretend to own God as our Lord, and yet act the part of rebels. Let us give him the reverence, and pay him that obedience, which of right belongs to so great a King. Whatsoever he speaks as a true God ought to be believed, whatsoever he orders as a sovereign God ought to be obeyed. Let not God have less than man, nor man have more than God. It is a common principle, writ upon the reason of all men, that respect and observance is due to the majesty of a man, much more to the majesty of God as a lawgiver.
As this doctrine presents us motives, so it directs us to the manner and kind of our obedience to God.
1. It must be with a respect to his authority. As the veracity of God is the formal object of faith, and the reason why we believe the things he hath
revealed, s*o the authority of God is the formal object of our obedience, or the reason why we observe the things he hath commanded. There must be a respect to his will as the rule, as well as to his glory as the end. It is not formally obedience that is not done with a regard to the order of God, though it may be materially obedience, as it answers the matter of the precept. As when men will abstain from excess and rioting, because it is ruinous to their health, not because it is forbidden by the great Lawgiver, this is to pay a respect to our own conveniency and interest, not a conscientious observance to God ; a regard to our health, not to our sovereign ; a kindness to our selves, not a justice due to the rights of God. There must not only be a consideration of the matter of the precept as convenient, but a consideration of the authority of the lawgiver as obligatory. Thus saith the Lord, ushers
in every order of his, directing our eye to the authority enacting it. Jero boam did God's will of prophecy in taking the kingdom of Israel, and the devils may be subservient in God's will or providence, but neither of them are put upon the account of obedience, because not done intentionally with
Ps. CIII. 19.] GOD'S DOMINION. 495
any conscience of the sovereignty of God. God will have this owned by a regular respect to it ; so much he insists upon the honour of it, that the sacrifice of Christ, God-man, was most agreeable to him, not only as it was great and admirable in itself, but also for that ravishing obedience to his will, which was the life and glory of his sacrifice, whereby the justice of God was not only owned in the offering, but the sovereignty of God owned in the obedience ; Phil. ii. 8, ' He became obedient unto death ; wherefore God
highly exalted him.' 2. It must be the best and most exact obedience. The most sovereign authority calls for the exactest and lowest observance, the highest Lord for the deepest homage : being he is a great king, he must have the best in our flock, Mai. i. Obedience is due to God, as king, and the choicest obedience is due to him, as he is the most excellent king. The more majestic and noble any man is, the more careful we are in our manner of service to him. We are bound to obey God, not only under the title of a Lord in regard of jurisdiction and political subjection, but under the title of a true Lord and
Master in regard of propriety. Since we are not only his subjects but servants, the exactest obedience is due to God jure servitutis : Luke xvii. 10, ' When you have done all, say you are unprofitable servants,' because we can do nothing which we owe not to God.
8. Sincere and inward obedience. As it is a part of his sovereignty to prescribe laws, not only to man in his outward state, but to his conscience, so it is a part of our subjection to receive his laws into our will and heart. The authority of his laws exceeds human laws in the extent and riches of them, and our acknowledgment of his sovereignty cannot be right but by subjecting the faculties of our soul to the Lawgiver of our souls ; we else acknowledge his authority to be as limited as the empire of man. When his will not only sways the outward action but the inward motion, it is a giving him the honour of his high throne above the throne of mortals. The right of God ought to be preserved undamaged in affection, as well as action.
4. It must be sole obedience. We are ordered to serve him only : Mat.
iv. 10, ' Him only shalt thou serve.' As the only supreme Lord, as being the highest Sovereign, it is fit he should have the highest obedience before all earthly sovereigns ; and as being unparalleled by any among all the nations, so none must have an obedience equal to him. When God commands, if the highest power on earth countermands it, the precept of God must be pre ferred before the countermand of the creature : Acts iv. 18, 19, ' Whether it be right, in the sight of God, to hearken unto you more than unto God,
judge ye.' We must never give place to the authority of all the monarchs
in the world, to the prejudice of that obedience we owe to the supreme mon arch of heaven and earth. This would be to place the throne of God at the footstool of man, and debase him below the rank of a creature. Loyalty to man can never recompense for the mischief accruing from disloyalty to God. All the obedience we are to give to man, is to be paid in obedience to God, and with an eye to his precept ; therefore, what servants do for their masters