Thou haft laid the foundations of the earth, that it fhould not be removed for ever, and fetteft bounds to the waters of the fea, that they turn not again to cover the earth 2. Thou haft fhut up the fea with doors, and broken up for it thy decreed place, faying, Hitherto fhalt thou come, but no farther, here fhall thy proud waves be stayed. And thou haft made good what thou haft fworn, that the waters of Noah fhall no more go over the earth :

Thy covenant of the day and of the night is not broken, but ftill thou giveft the fun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night; and art faithful to that covenant of providence, that while the earth remains, feed-time and harveft-time, cold and heat, fummer and winter, day and night fhall not ceafee.

The heaven, even the heavens are thine, but the earth thou haft given to the children of men f, and thou haft put all things under their feet, and made them to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; fo that the fear of man, and the dread of man is upon every beast of the earth, and upon the fowl of the air, and into his hand they are delivered, because thou hadst a favour to him ", and thy delights were with the fons of men i..

Thou caufeft the grafs to grow for the cattle, and herb for the fervice of man, that thou mayft bring forth food out of the earth; wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to fhine, and bread which strengthens man's heart *:

Thou giveft to all life and breath, and all things on the earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy ".

All the creatures wait upon thee, that thou mayst

≈ Pfal. civ. 5, 9. a Job xxxviii. 8, 11. b Ifa. liv. 9. Jer. xxxiii. 20. d xxxi. 35. e Gen. viii. 22. f Pfalm CXV. 16. b Gen. ix. 2. i Prov. viii. 31, Acts xvii. 25. m Pfalm cxix. 64.

viii. 6. g * Pfalm civ. 14, 15.

give them their meat in due feafon; that thou givest them they gather; thou openeft thy hand, they are filled with good: Thou fendeft forth thy Spirit, they are Created; thou reneweft the face of the earth. This thy glory fhall endure for ever, and thou rejoiceft in these works °.

It is through thy goodnefs, O Lord, that as one generation of mankind paffeth away, another generation comes, and that thou haft not blotted out the name of that corrupt and guilty race from under heaven P. 2dly, With reference to us in particular.

(1.) We must give thanks that he has made us reafon. able creatures, capable of knowing, loving, ferving, and enjoying him, and that he hath not made us like the beast's that perish.

We will praise thee, for we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that our fouls, our nobler part, know right well; for no man knows the things of a man, fave the fpirit of man, which is in hims.

Thou haft made us of that rank of beings which is a little lower than the angels, and is crowned with glory and honour t; for there is a spirit in man, and the infpiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding". And the fpirit of a man is the candle of the Lord TM, Our bodies are capable of being the temples of the Holy Ghoft, and our fouls of having the Spirit of God dwell in them *; we therefore glorify thee with our bodies, and with our fpirits, which are thine .

Thou, Lord, haft formed us for thyfelf, that we might fhow forth thy praise 2.

(2.) We must give thanks for our prefervation, that our lives are prolonged, and the use of our reafon and underfianding, our limbs and fenfes, are continued to us.

n Pfalm civ. 27, 28, 30, 31. 0.Eccl. i. 4, p.Deut. xxix. 20. r Pfal. cxxxix. 14. SI Cor. ii. 11. i Pfal. viii. 5. v Job xxxii. 8. w Piov. xx. 27. * 1 Cor. vi. 10, 20. ≈ Ifa, xliii. 21..

yi Cor, iii. 16.

It was owing to thy good providence that we died not from the womb, and did not give up the ghoft when we came out of the belly, that the knees prevented us, and the breafts that we fhould fuck 2.

Tho' we were called tranfgreffors from the womb, yet by thy power we have been born from the belly, and carried from the womb and thou holdest our fouls in life, and suffereft not our foot to be moved d.

All our bones fhall fay, Lord, who is like unto thee ! for thou keepeft the bones, not one of them is broken'. We lay us down and fleep, for thou, Lord, makest us to dwell in fafety s.

Thou haft given thine angels a charge concerning us, to keep us in all our ways, to bear us up in their hands, left we dafh our foot against a stone h. And they are all miniftering fpirits, feat forth to minifter for the good of them that fhall be heirs of falvation 1.

(3.) For fignal recoveries from danger by sickness, or otherwife.

When perhaps there has been but a step between us and death, and when we have received a sentence of death within ourfelves, and have been ready to fay in the cutting off of our days we fhould go to the gates of the grave, and were deprived of the refidue of our years, yet thou haft in love to our fouls delivered them from the pit of corruption, and cast all our fins behind thy back m

When the forrows of death have compaffed us, and the pains of hell have got hold upon us, we have called upon the name of the Lord, and have found that gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful; we have been brought low, and he hath helped us, and hath delivered our fouls from death, our eyes from

tears, and our feet from falling. We will therefore walk before the Lord in the land of the living ".

(4) For the Supports and comforts of this life, which have hitherto made the land of our pilgrimage eafy and pleafant to us.

Bleffed be the Lord, who daily loads us with his benefits, even the God of our falvation *.

Thou makeft me to lie down in green paftures, thou feedeft us befide the ftill waters: Thou preparest a table for us in the prefence of our enemies, thou anointeft our head, and our cup runs over P.

It may be we were fent forth without purse or scrip, but lacked we any thing? Nothing, Lord 4.

The candle of God hath fhined upon our head, and by his light we have walked through darkness, and the fecret of God has been in our tabernacle *:

Thou haft given us all things richly to enjoy, and into our hands haft brought plentifully.

Many a time we have eaten and been filled, and have delighted ourselves in thy great goodness".

When we remember all the ways which the Lord, our God, hath led us for fo many years in this wilderness, we must here fet up a ftone, and call it Ebenezer, for hitherto the Lord hath helped us

(5.) For fuccefs in our callings and affairs, comfort in: relations, and comfortable places of abode.

It is God that girdeth us with ftrength, and maketh our way perfect y; that hath bleffed the work of our hands, and it may be fo as that though our beginning was fmall, yet our latter end hath greatly increased a.

Our houses have been safe from fear, and there hath been no rod of God upon us; fo that the voice of re

n Pfal. cxvi. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. o lxviii. 17. p xxiii. 2, 5. Luke xxii. 35. r Job xxix. 3, 4. s 1 Tim. vi. 17. Job xii. 6. Neh. ix. 25. w Deut. viii. 2. I Sam. vii, 12. 3 Pfalm xviii, 33, % Job i 10. a viii. 7. b xxi. 9.

joicing and falvation hath been in our tabernacle from day to day c.

With our staff it may be we have paffed over this Jordan a, and now we are become two bands, and 'tis God that fetteth the folitary in families .

If we have lived joyfully with our relations, and they have been to us as the loving hind, and as the pleasant roe, we must give thee thanks for it, for every creature is that to us, and no more, that thou makest it to be %. (6) For our own fare in the public plenty, peace, and tranquillity.

When we have eaten and are full, we have reason to blefs thee for the good land which thou haft given us h; A land which the eyes of the Lord our God are always upon, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year i.

Thou makeft peace in our borders, and filleft us with the fineft of the wheat: We are delivered from the noife of archers at the place of drawing water; there therefore will we rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, even his righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages 1.

We thank thee that the powers that are fet over us are minifters of God to us for good", that they seek the welfare of our people, fpeaking peace to all their feed ". 2. The goodness of his grace relating to our fouls and the life that is to come.

But especially bleffed be the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Christ, who hath bleffed us with all fpiritual bleffings in heavenly things in Christ o.

ft, We must give God thanks for his kindnefes to the children of men, relating to their better part, and their future state, and his favours to the church in general.

c Pfalm cxviii. 15: d Gen. xxxii. 10. e Pfal. lxviii. 6. f Eccl. ix. 9. g Prov. v. 19. b Deut, viii. 10. ¿ xi, 12. k Pfal. cxlvii. 14. Judg. v. II. m Rom. xiv. 4. n Efik. o Eph. i. 3.

X. 3.