fumed by the Blow of thy Hand.

When thou with Rebukes doft correct Man for Iniquity, thou makest his Beauty to confume away like a Moth: Surely every Man is VANITY. Hear my Prayer, O Lord, and give Ear unto my Cry: Hold not thy Peace at my Tears; for I am a (c) STRAN GER with thee, and a SoJOURNER, as all my Fathers

were.

O fpare me, that I may recover STRENGTH, before I go hence, and be no more. Hear this, all ye People; give ear, all ye Inhabitants of the Earth:

b

Both low and high, Rich and Poor together.

My Mouth fhall fpeak of WISDOM, and the Meditation of my Heart shall be of UN

DERSTANDING.

I will incline mine Ear to a Parable; I will open my dark Saying on the Harp.

They that trust in their Wealth, and boast themfelves in the multitude of their Riches;

None of them can by any means (d) REDEEM his

Bro

(c) Gen. XLVII. 9. The Days of the Years of my PILGRIMAGE, are an hundred and thirty Years: Few of my Life been, and have not atand evil have the Days of the Years tained unto the Days of the Years of the Life of my Fathers, in their Thefe all died in Faith, not having PILGRIMAGE. Heb. XI. 13, 14, 16. received the PROMISES, but having feen them afar off; and were perthem; and confeffed that they were STRANGERS and PILGRIMS on the Earth: For they that fay fuch things, declare plainly that they feek a Country: Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their

fwaded of them, and embraced

God, for he hath prepared for them a City,

a certain RICH Man, which was (d) Luke xv1. 19,&c. There was cloathed in Purple and fine Linen, and fared fumptuously every Day. And there was a certain Beggar, named Lazarus, which was laid at his Gate full of Sores; and defiring

to be fed with the Crumbs which fell from the rich Man's Table :

Moreover the Dogs came and licked his Sores. And it came to pass that the Beggar died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bofom: buried; and in Hell he lift up his The rich Man alfo died, and was Eyes, being in Torments, and feeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his Bofom. And he cried, and faid,

Father Abraham, have Mercy on me, and fend Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his Finger in Water, and cool my Tongue, for I am tormented in this Flame. But Abra

ham faid, Son, remember that thou inthy Life-time receivedft thy good things, and likewife Lazarus evil things: But now he is comforted,

and thou art tormented. And be

fides all this, between us and you there is a great Gulph fixed, so that they which would pafs from hence to you, cannot; neither can they país to us, that would come from thence. Then he faid, I therefore, Father, that thou wouldst fend him to my Father's Houfe pray thee for I have five Brethren, that he may testify unto them, left they also come into this Place of Torment. Abraham faith unto him, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Fa

5

ther

Pfalm XLIX. 1, to 20.] i

Nevertheless, (g) Man being in Honour, ABIDETH not; he is like the Beafts that PERISH.

ther Abraham, but if one went unto them from the Dead they will repent: And he faid unto him, If they hear not Mofes and the Prophets, neither will they be perfuaded though one rofe from the Dead.

(e) Heb. 1x. 27. It is appointed unto Men once to DIE, but after this the JUDGMENT.

This their Way is their FOLLY, yet their Pofterity approve their Sayings.

Like (b) SHEEP they are laid in their Grave, Death fhall FEED on them, and the Upright fhall have Dominion over them in the Morning; and their Beauty fhall CONSUME in the Grave from their Dwelling.

But God will (1) REDEEM my Soul from the Power of

(f) Ecclef. 11. 18, 19. I hated all my Labour which I had taken under the Sun, because I should LEAVE it unto the Man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he fhall be a wise Man or a Fool?

(g) Ecclef. vI. 1, 2. There is an EVIL which I have feen under the

Sun, and it is common among Men. A Man, to whom God hath given RICHES, WEALTH, and HONOUR, fo that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he defireth, yet God giveth him not Power to eat thereof, but a Stranger eateth it: This is VANITY, and is an evil Difcafe.

fhall be well with them that fear

(b) Ecclef. v111. 8, 12, 13. There is no Man that hath Power over the SPIRIT to retain the Spirit, neither hath he Power in the day of Death: And there is no DISCHARGE in that War; neither fhall Wickednefs DELIVER thofe that are given to it. Though a Sinner do EVIL an hundred times, and his Days be prolonged, yet furely I know that it God, which fear before him. But it fhall not be well with the Wicked, neither fhall he prolong his Days, which are as a SHADOW; becaufe he feareth not before God. Chap. 1x. 5, 10. For the LIVING know that they fhall DIE: But the DEAD know not any thing, neither have they any more a Reward, for the Memory of them is forgot ten. Whatsoever thy Hand findeth

to do, do it with thy Might; for there is no WORK, nor DEVICE, nor KNOWLEDGE, nor WISDOM, in the Grave whither thou goest.

() 1 Pet. 1. 18. Ye know that ye were not REDEEMED with CORRUPTIBLE things, as Silver and Gold, from your VAIN Conversation, received by Tradition from your Fathers. I Cor. xv. 42, 43, 44. So alfo is the RESURRECTION from the Dead; it is fown in CORRUPTION, it is raised in INCORRUPTION; it is fown in DISHONOUR, it is raised in GLORY; it is fown in WEAKNESS, it is raised in POWER; it is fown a NATURAL BODY, it is railed a SPIRITUAL BODY.

the

the Grave, for he fhall RE

CEIVE me.

Be not thou afraid when one is made (k) RICH, when the Glory of his Houfe is increased.

For when he DIETH, he fhall carry (1) NOTHING away; his Glory fhall not defcend after him,

Though, whilft he lived, he bleffed his Soul: And Men will praife thee, when thou doft well to thy felf.

He fhall go to the Generation of his Fathers, they fhall never fee Light.

Man that is in Honour, and UNDERSTANDETH not, is like the Beasts that perifh. Lord, thou hast been our (m) DWELLING PLACE in all Generations,"

C

Before the (2) MOUNTAINS were brought forth, or ever thou hadit formed the Earth and the World: Even from everlasting to everlafting, thou art God.

(k) James v. 1, 2, 3. Go to now, ye RICH Men, weep and howl for your Mileries that are come upon and your Garments are MOTH-EATyou; your Riches are CORRUPTED, EN; your Gold and Silver is CAN

KERED, and the Ruft of them shall eat your Flefh as it were Fire; ye be a Witness againit you, and shall have heaped TREASURE together for the laft Days.

(l) 1 Tim. v 1. 7, 8, 9, 10. We brought NOTHING into this World, and it is certain we can carry NOTHING out; and having Food and RAIMENT, let us be therewith con

tent. But they that will be rich,

fall into TEMPTATION, and a SNARE, and into many foolish and in Destruction and Perdition: For hurtful LUSTS, which drown Men the LOVE of Money is the Root of all EVIL; which while fome cothe FAITH, and pierced them elves veted after, they have erred from through with many SORROWS. Job 1. 21. Job faid, NAKED came 1 out of my Mother's Womb, and NAKED fhall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Bieffed be the Name of the Lord. Ecclef. v. 13, 14, 15, 16. There der the Sun, namely, RICHES kept is a fore Evil which I have seen unfor the Owners thereof, to their hurt: But thofe Riches perifh by evil travail; and he begetteth a Son, and there is NOTHING in his Hand. As he came forth of his Mother's

Womb, NAKED fhall he return to go as he came, and fhall take nothing of his Labour which he may carry away in his Hand. And this alfo is a fore EVIL, that in all Points as he came, fo fhall he go: And what PROFIT hath he that hath laboured for the Wind?

(m) 2 Chron. VI. 18. Will God in very deed DWELL with Men on the Earth? Behold, Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee. 2 Cor. VI. 16. Ye are the TEMPLE of the living God; as God hath faid, I will DWELL in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they thall be my People.

(n) Heb. 1. 10. Thou, Lord, in the Beginning haft laid the Foundation of the EARTH, and the HEAVENS are the Works of thine Hands. Ifai. xL. 12. Who hath measured the Waters in the Hollow of his Hand, and meted the Heaven with the Span, and comprehended the Duft of the Earth in a Measure, and weighed the Mountains in Scales, and the Hills in a Balance?

Pfalm xc. 1, to 12.

Thou

(0) 2 Pet. 111. 8. Be not ignorant of this one thing, that one Day is with the Lord as a thoufand Years, and a thoufand Years as one

Day. ver. 9. The Lord is not flack concerning his Promise (as fome Men count flackness) but is longthat any fhould PERISH, but that fuffering to us-ward; not willing all fhould come to REPENTANCE. Ecclef. x1. 8, 9. But if a Man live many Years, and REJOICE in them all; yet let him remember the Days of 'DARKNESS, for they fhall be many. All that cometh is VANITY. Rejoice, O young Man, in thy Youth, and let thy Heart chear thee in the Days of thy Youth, and walk in the Ways of thy Heart, and in the Sight of thine Eyes: But know thou, that for all thefe things God will bring thee into JUDGMENT.

The Days of our † Years are threefcore Years and ten;

and

(p) Ecclef. vi. 12. Who knoweth what is good for Man in this Life, all the Days of his VAIN Life, which he fpendeth as SHADOW? for who can tell a Man, what fall

be after him under the Sun ?

+ See Ld. C. J. Hales's Origination of Mankind, wherein he states the feveral Periods of human Life, page 170. "Touching the Decays of the

66

Age of Man's Lite, we do indeed learn from the facred Scripture, (for 6 no human Hiftory reacheth fo high) that the Lives of the Ancients

66

were very long, efpecially before, and for fome time after the Flood: "And this the Divine Wifdom, Providence, and Goodness, ordered for "moft excellent Ends, namely, the Peopling of the new World; and "that without any other Means than his own Will, or at least by Means "unknown to us. In Arphaxad the Son of Shem, the great Age of the "Ancients was cut to halves, namely to 440 Years; and in his Grand"child Peleg, it was again cut to halves, for he lived but 242 Years; "and it is alfo true, that afterwards, gradually to the Days of Mofes, the "Lives of Men became fhorter and fhorter, till they fixed in that com"mon Period of the Life of Man, of 70 or 80 Years: And although it "be true that the Hiftories of former times give us fome Account of lon"ger Lives of Men, as the Lives of Mofes, Aaron, Phinehas, and fome

" others

and if by reafon of Strength they be fourfcore Years, yet is their Strength LABOUR and SORROW; for it is foon cut off, and we fly away.

Who knoweth the Power of thine Anger? Even according to thy Fear, fo is thy Wrath.

So teach us to number our DAYS, that we may apply our Hearts unto WISDOM.

Liked as a Father PITIETH his Children, fo the Lord PITIETH them that fear him.

For he knoweth our Frame; he remembreth that we are but Duft.

As for Man, his (9) Days are as GR Ass; as a FLOWER of the Field, fo he flourisheth. For the Wind paffeth over it, and it is gone, and the Place thereof shall know it

will go

(9) James Iv. 13, 14. Go to now, ye that fay to-day, or to morrow, we tinue there a Year, and buy and fell, into fuch a City, and conand get Gain; whereas, ye know not what fhall be on the Morrow: VAPOUR, that appeareth for a litFor what is your LIFE? it is even tle time, and then vanisheth away.

a

no more.

But the Mercy of the Lord is from everlating to everlasting, upon them that fear him; and his Righteoufnefs unto Childrens Children.

To fuch as keep his COVENANT, and to those that remember his COMMANDMENTS to do them.

d Psalm C111. 13, to 18.

"others, and those mentioned by Pliny, Lib. v11. cap. 48. and fome in "our own Experience: Yet Mofes himself states the ordinary Standard "of the Life of Man to be 70, or at most 80 Years, Pfalm xc. 10. "2 Sam. xix. 32, 35. And this we fhall find true upon the Confidera"tion of the Chronological Account of the Years of the ancient Patriarchs " and Kings that fucceeded Mofes; as likewife of the Time that the If"raelites lived in the Wilderness, all which that were twenty Years old, "and upwards, at the coming into the Wilderness, when the Spies were "fent into Canaan, which was fhortly after their coming thither: all "thefe, I fay, except Joshua and Caleb, died within the 40 Years Peregri"nation in the Wilderness: And at this Stay, the ordinary Age of Men "hath been for thefe 4000 Years; abating thofe Cafualties, either of Dif"eafes, or other Accidents, that have shortned the ordinary compleat Ages of Man's Life.

66

Ecclef. x11. 13, 14. Let us hear the Conclufion of the whole Matter: Fear God, and keep his Commandments; for this is the whole Duty of Man. For God fhall bring every Work into Judgment, with every fecret thing, whether it be Good, or whether it be Evil.

M

2 Cor.