Ift, The import of this finging: "I will fing to the Lord" that is, I will praife the Lord; and it does not ly in the fimple found of a voice, but imports the glorifying of God with our hearts and lips, in our lives, and in our death or fuffering.

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1. To fing to the Lord, is to glorify him with our hearts; to give him the love and adoration of our hearts. In this finging, there is the inward act of the foul; "Blefs the Lord, O my foul and all that is within me, blefs his holy name," Pfal. ciii. 1. It imports a deep impreffion of God upon the foul, and a lively fenfe of his mercy in Chrift, and of our unworthinefs of it and here the foul, and all that is within it, is acting and moving: the judgment moves with admiration and wonder at God for his glorious grace; the memory moves with a thankful recording of his favours, Forget not all his benefits:" the affections move with joy and delight in God, and love to him for the riches of his grace in Chrift. O fhall I not love the greatest and beft of Beings, for the greatest and best of benefits! The heart is here employed: neither prayer nor praises, without the heart, are of any worth: many fing with their voice, when their hearts are a hundred miles off, gading here and there: but a fixed heart is a finging heart; " My heart is fixed, O Lord; my heart is fixed, I will fing and give praife." We are called to fing with grace in our hearts, Col. iii. 16.: we are to fing with faith in our heart: He that is ftrong in the faith, glorifies God. We are to fing with love in our hearts, with fear in our hearts, and with joy in our hearts.

2. To fing to the Lord, is with our lips to glorify him: we are to give him the calves of our lips. When the heart is full of love, the tongue will be full of praife. Our tongues fhould be as well-tuned organs, to found forth the high praises of God, pleading his caufe, defending his truths, avouching his name, and confeffing him before the world: "Thy loving-kindness is better than life, therefore my lips fhall praife thee," Pfalm Ixiii. 3. When our hearts are inditing a good matter, our tongues will be as the pen of a ready writer, to fpeak

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of the things that concern the King, Pfal. xlv. 1. when our hearts are glad, then our glory [i. e. our tongue] will rejoice, Pial. xvi. 9. and xxx. 12. O! the little heavenly difcourfe argues a very fad degeneracy.

3. To fing to the Lord, is, with our life to glorify him; when the love of our hearts, the calves of our lips, and the fervice of our lives, are prefented unto God together, they make a harmonious fong: the praife of the life is the life of praife: "Whofo offereth praife, glorifieth me," Pfal. 1. 23. When we devote all the actions of our life to his difpofing-will, then we fing a fong of praife unto God. When we live by faith on the Son of God; for no lefs is worth the name of life, but what is derived from him, and devoted to him, then we may be faid to glorify him in our lives. It is a practical way of finging the praise of God, that is here intended by the Pfalmift, as appears from the rest of the Pfalm.

4. To fing to the Lord, is, with our death and fufferings to glorify him, as well as with our life and actions thus we are called to glorify the Lord in the fires, Ifa. xxiv. 15. Does God call you to fuffer affliction in perfon, name, eftate, family, or concerns; to fuffer want of hufband, wife, brother, fister, ehildren, or other outward comforts? Why then, you fing of mercy and judgment, by fuffering patiently and fubmiflively; and God is as much glorified by your paffive obedience, as by your active. Whenever you are afflicted any way, believer, know that then God hath fome employment for your graces, and expects praise thereby; yea, if he fhould call you to fuffer death and martyrdom for his name, you are to fing his praise, by dying in and for the faith, as well as living by faith. O man, woman! could you die for him, that died for you? That is a great matter. O it is a small matter

to die once for Chrift, faid a martyr; if it might pof fibly be, I could with that I might die a thousand deaths for him!-Thus you fee the import of finging to

the Lord.

2dly, As to the qualities of this fong; or how we are to fing of mercy and judgment. And,

1. We are to fing of mercy and judgment chearfully. Singing is a chearful work; we are to fing with melody in our hearts to the Lord, and to make a joyful noife unto God. It is an antedating of the joy of heaven; tho' you be in a hell of troubles and trials, yet you have reafon to praife him that you are not in a hell of fire and brimftone: tho' you had one hell on your back, and another in your bofom, you have reafon to praise him, that you are not in the midft of hell, among devils.

2. We are to fing of mercy and judgment highly and loftily, faying, with the angels, "Glory to God in the higheft." We are to praife him with the highest eflimation, with the highest adoration, with the highest admiration, with the higheft delight, the highest ravishment, the highest wonder: for, as he is highly exalted above all things and beings, and above all bleffings and praifes; fo his mercies are the highest mercies, and his judgments the greateft deep; and therefore as we ought to fing loud and high, fo we ought to fing low. Therefore,

3. We are to fing of mercy and judgment humbly and lowly. Pride and praife are inconfiftent; and therefore we should join trembling with our praife and finging; having awful impreffions of God upon our fouls, and knowing the infinite diftance betwixt him and us. When the twenty-four elders fing, they come down from their thrones, and caft down their crowns and their palms, Rev. iv. 10. as if they would fay, We are not worthy to fit upon a throne, or to wear a crown in his prefence: they make their crowns and their thrones a footftool unto him. When we fing of mercy and judgment, we are to mind, his judgments are a great deep, and we ought to be deeply humbled before him, faying, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unfearchable are his judgments, and his ways paft finding out!" Rom. xi. 33.

4. We are to fing of mercy and judgment conftantly and unweariedly. Every new mercy and judgment hould be matter of a new fong: and O, his mercies

are new every morning, new every moment; and therefore we should still be finging and faying, "I will blefs the Lord at all times; his praise fhall be continually in my mouth," Pfalm xxxiv. 1. "Let fuch as love thy falvation, fay continually, The Lord be magnified," Pfalm xi. 16. It is true, the faints will never fing without intermiffion, till they reach above thefe clouds: It is true alfo, when they fee mercy, they are ready to fing; but when they cannot fee the fun of mercy, through the cloud of judgment, they are ready. to figh and hang their harps upon the willows: yet nevertheless, as the obligation to fing does always take place; fo they have always matter of praife, and ground to fing of mercy and judgment.

5. We are to fing of mercy and judgment both con, junctly and feverally when you meet with a mercy, fing of mercy; when you meet with a judgment, fing of judgment; when you meet with mercy and judg ment both, then fing of mercy and judgment both; and improve both for matter of a song of praise, so as God may be glorified, both in his mercy and judg,

ment.

6. We are to fing of mercy and judgment devoutly and obedientially, as knowing it to be a commanded duty. It would take many an hour to tell over all the fcriptures, whereby we are called to praife the Lord: it is a good, pleafant, and comely duty; Praise the Lord; for it is good to fing praifes unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praife is comely," Pfal. cxlvii. 1. There you fee three epithets given to this duty, to move us thereto.

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(1.) It is a foul-inriching duty; it is a good way to make a fad cafe grow better: the fpoufe, under defertion, fell a finging and faying, "My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chief among ten thoufands:" and never was fhe in a better cafe than when in, this praifing tune. It is good to cry down our complaints with praises; it is good, in that it is all the tribute that the King of heaven can have from us; and to deny him this, is the height of treason, for it is rent due to him; "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name." It is good

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by way of eminency; for it is a greater mark of love than other duties: felf-love may influence a man to prayer; but love to God makes him praife. If you can draw out a long libel of complaints before God, and yet have never a word of praife for the mercies you. enjoy, it is to be feared that felf-love hath the penning of your prayers. It is a token of enmity with your neighbour, when you receive many favours from him, and never fo much as give him thanks; fo it is a token of enmity againft God, when notwithstanding of his mercies, yet you do not fing his praife. It is every way good.

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(2.) It is a pleafant duty: no mufic does God de light fo much in, as finging his praifes. It is the pleafant work of heaven, where new fcenes of glory will open, and open, and open to all eternity, and new fongs of praife will fill be fung for ever and ever. may be you think, when once you come to heaven, you will praise your fill; but now, when fo many dead weights are upon you, you cannot, and should not fing and praife: well, no thanks to you to praise him when you are once in heaven; but, if you glorify him now in the fires, and praife him now, in fpite of devils and oppofition in your way, you do more honour to him than to praife him in heaven, where there is no trouble, no temptation, no fin or forrow to interrupt your fong. To fing like Paul and Silas in the ftocks, is more than to fing in heaven; though not more pleafant, yet in fome refpect it is more honourable, noble, and glorious. And fo,

(3.) It is a comely duty; the garment of praise is a very graceful ornament. An ungrateful and unthankful man is an ugly ill-favoured man; nothing more uncomely in the eyes of God and man. We are to praise him then devoutly, under a fenfe of duty.

7. In the Laft place, we are to fing refolutely, or with holy purpofe and refolution; faying, with the Pfalmift here, "Unto thee, O Lord, will I fing." And, because this is a part of the text, I fhall fhew what is imported in the Pfalmift's refolution and the manner of expreffing it: