289 SERMON XLII. The Wifdom of Religion. PSAL. 119. 96. . I haveSeen an end of all `Per feciioti 3 but thy Commandment is exceeding broad: TH I S Pfalm Teems tohave a great deal more of Poetical Number and Skill in it, than at this diftance from the Time and Age in which it was writ- ten, we can eafily underfland : The main Scope and Defignof it is very plain and obvious namely, to magnifie the Lawof God, and the obfervation of its Precepts, as that wherein true Religion doth mainly'confift. And indeed ifwe attentively read and confider it, every part of this Pfalm does with great variety ofExpref ion, and yet very little difference of the fenfe, defcant upon the fame ground, viz. TheExcellency and Perfe&ion of the Law ofGod. And the Words of the Text feem to be as full and comprehenfive of the Senfe and De- ign of the wholePfalm, as any one Sentence in it Ihavefeen an end ofall Per= feeJion, but thy Commandment is exceeding broad. Thefe words are varioufly rendred, and underftood by Interpreters, who yet in this variety dovery much confpire and agree in the fame fenfe. The Chaldee Paraphrafe renders the Words thus, I have fee's' an end of all things, about which I haveemploy'd my Care ; bet thy Commandment is very large. The Syriac Verfion thus, Ihave feen an end ofall Religions and Countries (that is, I have found the Compafs of this Habitable World to be finite and limited) but thy Commandment is ofa vaft Extent. Others explain it thus, Ihave feen an end of all Perfeelion g that is, ofall the things of this World, which Men value and efteem at fo high a rate; of all worldly Wifdomand Knowledge, of Wealth and Honour, , and Greatncfs, which do all perifh and pafs away; but thy Law is Eternal, and flill abideth thefame; or, as the Scripture elfewhere expreffeth it, the word of the Lord endurethfor ever. Thy Law ; that is, the Rule of our Duty Natural and Revealed; or, in a Word, Religion, which conffts in theKnowledge and Pra&ice of the Laws of God, is of greater Perfeltion, than all other things which are fo highly valued in this World : For the Perfe&ion of it is infinite, and of a vaft Influence and Extents it reacheth to the whole Man, to the HappinefsofBody and Soul ; to our whole duration both in thisWorld,, and the next, of this Life, and of that which is to come. And this will clearly appear, if we confider the Reafonable- nefs and the PVifdornof Religion, which confifis in the Knowledge of God, and the keeping of his Laws. Fir/i, The Reafonablenefs ofReligion, which is able to give a very good ac- count of it felf, becaufe it fettles the Mindof Man upon a firm Bafis, and keeps it fròtn rolling in perpetual uncertainty ; whereas Atheifm and Infidelity wants a ftableFoundation, it centers no where but in the denial of God and Religion, and yet fubftitutes noPrinciple, no tenable and conftituent Scheme of things in the place of them ; its whole bufinefs is to unravel all things, rd unfettle the. MindofMan, and to thake all the common Notions and received Principles of Mankind ; it bends its whole force to pull down and to destroy, but lays no Foundation to build any thing upon, in the Deadof that which it pHs down. It runs upon that great Abfurdity which Arifiotle (who was always thought a great Matter of Reafon) does every wheredecry, as a Principle unworthy of a P p ,Philo-
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