SERMON.

PSALM ciii. 2.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."

We are invited into the house of God, to-day, my brethren, to offer thanksgiving and praise to the Giver of all our favors. Not only civil authority calls hereto, but reason and religion make the same demand upon us. Natural religion shows it our duty gratefully to acknowledge the favors conferred upon us by our supreme Benefactor.-It is our reasonable service: and the word of revelation teaches us, "in every thing to give thanks."

The setting apart particular days for this service, when we have received any signal tokens of divine favor, or one day annually to record the smiles of Providence in the past year, if not expressly enjoined us in the Scriptures, yet no doubt is consistent with them, and a laudable practice.

The design of a discourse upon such a solemnity, is to assist and regulate our praises; to enforce the duty, and show with what temper of mind it ought to be performed; that God in all things may be glorified.

And since we are now brought near the close of another year, wherein the blessings of Heaven have been, in many instances, liberally dispensed to us, thoughts like those suggested in the words of my text, may be a suitable entertainment for us, at this time. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." In this verse and several others in the Psalm, the devout singer seems endeavoring to rouse his soul to the delightful exercises of praise and thanksgiving; seems endeavoring to blow up the coals of love, into a flame of gratitude and in order to do this, he entertains thoughts calculated for that purpose. He contemplates the object of praise-the Lord. Bless the Lord, who

is merciful and gracious-who is worthy to receive blessing and honor, and glory and power; worthy because of his glorious and incomprehensible perfections: He is mercy, he is goodness, he is love, &c. therefore ought to "inherit the praises of Israel." But these perfections are not only so resident in God as to constitute his essence, but there is the exercise and manifestation of them, in acts of beneficence to his creatures. "He is good, and doth good." All our mercies flow from divine goodness. "Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." Therefore the devout penman of the Psalm turns his mind upon the benefits conferred on him, by a bounteous God: "Forget not all his benefits." Forget not, i. e. remember. Let a sense of divine goodness abide on my heart and memory, let his favors be frequently meditated upon, that they may set all the faculties of my inward man in exercise, that the ardors of praise and thanksgiving may arise, like incense, from my heart, deeply affected with a sense of God's goodness.

In conformity to my text, and the present occasion, I shall by divine assistance, briefly consider, who is the supreme object of our praises, for favors received-The nature and properties of true praise and thanksgiving The propriety of recollecting and contemplating the favors which God bestows upon us, to excite us to, and animate us in, the duty of thanksgiving-And then, apply it to the occasion of the present day, by mentioning some of the smiles of Providence in the course of the year past, which call for our thankful acknowledgment at this time; and pressing upon you all the duty of praise and gratitude.

I. First, 1 am briefly to consider who is the object of praise for the favors we receive, viz. the Lord: "the only living and true God."―This is suggested in those words of my text, "Bless the Lord."

That God is the proper and ultimate object of our praise, is evident from Scripture testimony-and the consideration of his being the original source of every favor we enjoy.

1. The Scriptures abundantly evidence God to be the proper and supreme object of praise. We find the saints of God, both in the Old and New Testament, when they received any special kindness in the course of divine providence, or turned their thoughts upon the good things they enjoyed, soon uniting their hearts and tongues in giving praises to God-"I will praise thy name for thy loving kindness-I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be continually in my mouth "-"O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"" It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord "-" Blessing and glory, and wisdom and

thanksgiving, and honor and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever, Amen."-Such expressions as these, are as the very breath of the pious, when meditating upon the mercies of the Lord; and they seem to dwell with a pleasing accent upon the name of the Lord, sensible that none may share with him in their supreme adorations.

I might go on to repeat a great many passages of Scripture, in which God is evidently represented as the supreme object of praise and thanksgiving; but it would be but telling you, what I trust, you very well know; and look too much like such a suspicion of your knowledge in the Scriptures, as I am unwilling to entertain.

I therefore add,

2. That the consideration of God's being the original source and dispenser of all favors, speaks him the only proper object of our supreme praise and thanksgiving.

Reason and common sense teach us nothing more plain than that the Author and Bestower of favors is to be thanked therefor. Gratitude to a benefactor appears vastly reasonable in every view: And it is very evident that God is to be considered as our Great Benefactor; that every blessing we enjoy, of what nature or kind soever, in what way, or by what instrument soever conveyed to us, ought to be esteemed as the favor of God.-Is the favor preventive? It is his hand that screens us from the evils to which we are exposed. "It is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed."-Is the favor providential bounty? He is the God of providence: The heavens, the earth, and the sea are his; and when we receive a supply from their treasures, we should look upon ourselves as fed by the liberal hand of God. Or if the liberality of our fellow-creatures ministers to our necessities, we may not terminate our gratitude upon those who were immediate instruments of our supply, though we may acknowledge our obligations to them; but should raise it to that God, who "hath the hearts of all men in his hand, and turns them as the rivers are turned;" and can dispose them to acts of kindness and generosity, when he pleases.-Yes, every favor is primarily from God, the great first cause of all things; and therefore he is the ultimate object of our praises for the good things we enjoy.

II. Secondly, I am to consider the nature and properties of true praise and thanksgiving.

And the following things may be justly considered as implied in, and connected with this duty :

A strong sense and thorough conviction of our unworthiness of any favors, and therefore that they flow from the mere grace and bounty of God.

An apprehension of the value and importance of them.

That we view the obedience and death of Christ, as the purchasing price of them, and offer our praises to God for them, by him, as mediator. And,

That the external expressions of praise and thanksgiving, be accompanied with sincere, lively and devout affections.

1. A strong sense and thorough conviction of our unworthiness of any favors from God, are necessary in order to the due exercise of praise and thanksgiving.-Without these we shall look upon bur enjoyments as our due, and the bestower of them, as acting a just and equitable, but not a merciful and gracious part. Our gratitude can be exercised, only towards a being from whom we receive unmerited kindness; a being, who out of free benignity, does us good; who is beneficent, not only in proportion to our merit, and the services we have done him, but beyond all our claims. This way of doing good, is the proper exercise of mercy; and it is the view and contemplation of mercy, that produce gratitude. We do not thank our fellow-creatures for good things received from them, if they are no more than we deserved at their hands, and might equitably demand: But we feel, if we are not strangely stupid, warm sentiments of gratitude to him who confers an important favor we had no reason to expect, unless from preconceived thoughts of his gracious disposition; a favor quite beyond our deserts, of which we are wholly unworthy. In like manner, it is necessary in order to real gratitude to God, that we view his gifts as wholly free, the effect of mere bounty and grace, of which we are altogether unworthy.-And we may, with greatest reason, entertain such conceptions of them; for we are so far from having any just claim to positive favors from the hand of God, that we deserve positive evils, and severe rebukes; for we have sinned against him, and are become guilty before him: This is the case with us, this is the case with all. "There is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not." Therefore a deep sense of our unworthiness may justly possess our minds, when we consider the favors of God, either public or private; and without this, we cannot give thanks to him.

2. An apprehension of the worth and importance of divine blessings, is requisite in order to our making suitable returns of praise and gratitude for them.

Our gratitude will always be in proportion to the idea formed in our mind, of the favors that produce it: The conceptions we have of their nature and importance, their seasonableness, and the need we stand in of them, will have immediate influence upon our thanksgiving, and be the measure of our praise. If we receive signal benefits from a benefactor, yet, through prejudice or inattention, they appear small in our eye, small will be our thanks for

them; for the real worth of a kindness, any further than that worth is known, produces no effect. Were we so ignorant as not to know a diamond to be of greater value than a shining bubble, our gratitude for the bestowment of them, would be equal. Hence it is, that a vain unthinking sensualist, feels a warmer exercise of gratitude (if what he feels may be called so) for some trifling things, which will feed his corrupt lusts and appetites, than for the most rational, refined, and important blessings. The great and precious favors of Heaven, therefore, can never produce grateful acknowledgments in our hearts, in any suitable manner or degree, unless we inquire into, and gain some proper, though not comprehensive, conceptions of their true value.-But I add,

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3. That proper gratitude for the blessings conferred on us, supposes, that we view the obedience and death of Christ, as the price that purchased them, and offer our praises to God for them, by him, as mediator. It is I think, very evident from the word of revelation, that all blessings enjoyed by the children of men, are to be considered as the purchase of Christ; for we have by our sins, forfeited all claim to happiness; nor have we any warrant to suppose, that God could, consistent with his law and justice, confer any favors upon us, without regard had to the satisfaction of our Redeemer. Therefore, the good things which we enjoy, should be viewed, as flowing to us in this way; and should lead our praising, adoring thoughts, to the great Purchaser of them: They should fill our souls with the sincerest sentiments of gratitude for this method of showing mercy to the most unworthy objects, and dispose us to say in the words, and with the temper of the apostle, Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." Nothing will better serve to exalt our ideas of the divine compassion, to heighten our esteem of God's mercies, or raise our notes of praise to a more elevated pitch, than the thought, that by our sins we have rendered ourselves utterly unworthy the least of them; that in order to restore them to us, the Son of God was made in the likeness of sinful flesh-in our room and stead, yielded perfect obedience to the law, which we had violated-died on the cross to expiate the guilt we had contracted-and so made way for the communication of blessings to us. The gratitude of Christians, should always be attended with, and animated by, such meditations as these. And whenever we render praise to God for his goodness, it should be offered by Jesus Christ, the one only mediator between God and man : So the word of God directs, "Whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, and the Father by him." Col. iii. 17.-" By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to GoD continually-giving thanks to his name." Heb. xiii. 15. But I proceed to say,

4. The external expressions of praise and thanksgiving, must