The Dignity and Duty of the Civil Magistrate

of the God of Abraham: the Shields of the Earth belong unto God: He is greatly exalted. The Shields of the Earth belong unto God.

The immense Goodness of God are

An Election SERMON.

ment of Magistracy, or civil Government, in this our revolted World. The infinite Wisdom may not more illustriously and admirably displayed, in any one Instance, perhaps, of temporal Nature, than in the Appointment of This Matt. 28. 18. Rev. 19. Psal. 68. 18.

This Blessing is the Purchase of the Redeemer's Blood, as all our other Blessings, temporal and spiritual are; they come to us thro' the Mediation of Christ: Without this, all Nature would be dissolved, and the World soon relapse into its old Chaos, or primitive N. othing Power in Heaven and Earth was given to Him, as a Reward for his Obedience and Sufferings: He hath on his Vesture and on his Thigh a Name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

This is one of those Gifts which when he ascended on high, He received for Men, yea, for the Rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them. To which great Event, the Ascension of Christ, this Psalm refers: In which all Expositors agree, tho there is a Diversity of Sentiments among them, as to the Occasion of the Psalm; which I shall not take up your Time to recite. Neither shall I trouble you with the various readings of this last Verse.

If we consider the Words in their Connection with the Context; we shall find, that we are called upon to adore & praise God, as King of all the Earth, sitting on

An Election SERMON. 35

the Throne of his Holiness, attended and honour'd by the Princes of the People: The Princes of the People are gathered together; i. e. as good Writers on the Place say, There was a Convention of the States of Israel; the Heads of their several Tribes were now assembled; first for the Solemnities of Worship, and then to dispatch the public Business of the Nation.

The People of the God of Abraham: Observe, Tis not said, the People of Abraham, lest it should be appropriated to the Israelites, or natural Seed of Abraham; but 'tis, the People of the God of Abraham; intending all People who worship the God of Abraham, whether Jews or Gentiles, the spiritual Seed of Abraham, who are taken into his Covenant, that the Blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles thro' Jesus Christ.

The next Words contain the Reason of this Conduct in the Princes of the People; For the Shields of the Earth be- lung unto God. By Shields we are to understand the Princes and Rulers of the World, who with great Propriety & Fitness are called Shields here & elsewhere. Because by their Office they are, or should be the common Parents and Protectors of all their People, to defend them from Oppression and all Injuries. As such, i.e. Shields of the Earth, says the Text, they Belong unto God. They are his Property, at his Disposal, and subject to his Dominion, both as to their Hearts, and in their elevated Stations: By which they are moved to come and pay him their publick Honours and Homage, in his Tabernacle or Temple, as he is the only absolute Monarch & universal King of Heaven and Earth, the supreme Moderator of all Events. When they are bowed to his Honour, and their Power employed in his Service, then he is greatly exalted: By this Means God is greatly glorified, and declared to be far above all the Princes on Earth; yea, above all that are called Gods.

The Verse thus descanted on, offers to our Thot's, several Notes or important Truths that might be profitable for Doctrine, & our Instruction inRighteous nee; but the particular Consideration of them would carry us beyond the Bounds of a single Discourse.

Our Meditation & Improvement, agreable to the Occasion before us, I must very much confine my self to the Reason given for this wise and pious Conduct in the Rulers of the People of the God of Abraham; which is, Because the Shields of the Earth belong unto God.

Understanding the Metaphor as above, to intend the Rulers of the World, supreme and subordinate, the Words point out to us both the Dignity and the Duty of the civil Magistrate: Their Dignity, in that they belong to God, in every supposeable Respect; their Duty, in that they are to be Shields of the Earth; at least, of that Part of it, where God has them their Station. These two Heads will take up the whole of our Time; and I shall endeavour from them to lay before you some Thoughts, not altogether foreign to the Intention of our being in the House of the Lord this Day.

I. The Shichts of the Earth; or cit Magistrates, belong to God; this is their ad and Honour: They belong to God in every Construction the Words are capable of, their Persons and their Office both belong to God. They belong to God, as they are Parts of the Creation of God, in common with the rest of the Works which Heaven created and made.

Psal. 103. ver. 3. It is he that hath made us, and not we our selves, therefore we are his People &c. And it follows, Enter into his Gateswith Thanksgi toing, and into his Courts with Praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his Name. For the Lord is good, his Mercy is Everlasting; and his Truth endureth to all Generations; which justifies the pious Practice of the Princes in my Text.

But then they belong toGod cosider, d in their Office, as Magistracy is the Institution of God; or, civil Government is of divine Original. That some bear Rule over others, is certainly of God: The God of Israel has said it; the Rock of Israel has determined it: He has fixed on this Method to manage his supreme Government of the moral World, as to the external Part of it: He will govern Men by Men. This, I say, is the Order settled in Heaven, and it comes to us with the most evident Stamp of Divinity upon it. This is a Truth placed in so strong a Point of Light in the lively Oracles of God, that it is surprising, that it should ever be denied & opposed, or so much as doubted of, by any that read and own the Bible as a Wipe Revelation: Nor has it been but by some few wild Sectaries, in several Parts and Ages of the World, who were agitated and carried away by some enthusiastick Heat; or, by some profligate abandoned Mortals, lost to all the leading, ingenuous Principles of humane Nature.