42 The Sbamefúlrlefc of Silc, Vol. II, ofthe fins of the People, he teftlfies and declares his Shamefor what they had done ; Ifaid, 0 my God ! I an afhamed and blufh to lift up mine Eyes to thee my God; for our iniquities are inçreafed over our Heads, and our trefpajs are grown up to theHeavens, Ezra 9. 6. Andmay notwe of this Nation at thisday take thefe words unto our felves, confidering to what a ftrangeheight our fins are grown, and how iniquity abounds among us ? So likewife the Prophet Jeremiah, when he would exprefs the Repentance of the People of Ifrael, f er. 3. 25'. We Ile down (fays he) in our fhame, and our Confufion covereth us, becaufe we have finned againfl the Lordour God. In like manner the Prophet Daniel, after he had inthe Name ofthe People made an humble acknowledgment of theirmanifold andgreat Sins, he takes fhame tohimfelf, and them for them. Dan. 9 g. We have finned, Pays he, and havecommitted iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled in departingfrom thy Precepts, and from thy judgments. 0Lord, righteoufnefs belong- eth to thee; but unto us confitfion of face, as at this day ; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants ofJerufalem, and unto all Ifrael, that are near and that arefar of, through all the Countries whither thou hall driven them, becaufe of theirtrefpafs, which they have trefpaffid againfi thee : 0 Lord I To us belongeth canfujion offace, to our Kings, toour Princes, and to our Fathers, becaufe we have finned againfi thee. By which we may judge, howconfiderable and effential a part of Repentance, this HolyMan efteemed Shame, for the fins they had been guilty of, tobe. And in- deedupon all occafions of folemn Repentance, and Humiliation for fin, this ta- king fhame for their fins is hardly ever omitted, as if there couldbe no fincere Confeflion of Sin and Repentance for it, without teftifying their fhame andCon- futon offace upon the remembrance of their fins. Now to flir up this affe&ion of Shame in us, let me offer to you thefe three Confderations. I. Confider what great reafon we have to be heartily afhamed of all the fins and offences whichwe have been guilty ofagainft God. It was a good old Pre- cept of Philofophy, that we fhould reverence our felves, i. e. that we fhould never do any thing that fhould be matter of Shame and Reproach to us afterwards, no- thing that misbecomes us, and Is unworthy of us. I have (hewn at large, that all Sin and Vice is a difhonour to our Nature, and beneath the Dignity of it; that it is a great reproach to our Keaton, and di- relycontrary to our true and belt Intereft ; that it hath all the aggravating cir- cumftances of Infamy and Shame ; that every fin that was at any time commit- ted by us, was done in the pretence of one, whomof all Perlons in the World we have moil Keaton to reverence, and againft him, towhom ofall others we Rand mote obliged for the greateft Favours, for innumerable Benefits, for infinite Mercy and Patience and Forbearance towardsus, in the pretence of the Holy and Jett God, who is at the fartheft ditlance from fin, and the greateft and moll im- placable Enemy to it in the wholeWorld ; and who will one day punifh all our faults, and expofeus to open fhame for them; who will bring every work into judgment, and every fecret fin that ever we committed, and take Vengeanceupon us for all our iniquities. So that whenever we fin, we fhamefully entreat our felves, and give the deepeft wounds to our Reputation in the efteemof him, who is the moft competent Judge ofwhat is truly Honourable and Praife-worthy, and cloath our felves with fhame and difhonour. We are afhamed of Poverty, becaufe the poor Man is defpifed, and almoft ri- diculous in the Eyeof the proud and covetous rich Man, whole riches are his high Tower, and make him apt to look down upon the poor Man that is below him, with contempt and (corn; we are afhamedof a dangerous and contagious Difeafe, becaufe all men fly infe&ious company : but a Man may be poor or fick by Misfortune; but no Man is wicked, but by his own fault and wilful choice. Ill- natar'd and inconfiderate men will be apt to contemn us for our poverty and af- fli&ion in any kind, but by our Vices we render our felves odious to God, and to all good andconfiderate men. IT. Confider that fhame for fin now, is the way to prevent Eternal Shame and Confufion hereafter. For this is one great part of theMifery of another World, that
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