them ſtanding and beholding them afar off,Pſ. cxxxviii. 6.
cxxi. 3, 4.
xxxiv. 15.
xxxvii. 24, 40. and the like: So is the Security of the Good, to whom it is vouchſaſed, expreſs'd by his Eyes watching over them, his Ears open to them, his Hand upholding them by ſtanding by them, and in my Text, being nigh unto them, in all things that they call upon him for.
You, I am ſure, need not be told, how eminently Iſrael was honoured in this reſpect, above any other People then in Being. The manner of their Deliverance out of Egypt, and the wonderfully ſpeedy Redreſſes they found from the numberleſs Difficulties that encounter'd them, are Evidences ſufficiently known of God's peculiar Care and Kindneſs for them. And whoever ſhall reflect at all upon the different Fortunes, of that Nation; how inconſiderable their Beginnings were, how mighty and general the Oppoſition againſt them, and yet how, prodigious and, irreſiſtible their Succeſſes, muſt needs allow, that the Pſalmiſt hath given the true Account of their Eſtabliſhment and Increaſe, when declaring, that it was God, who Pſal. xliv. 3, 4.drove out the Heathen, and planted Them in, That they got not the Land in Poſſeſſion through their own Sword, neither was it their own Arm that helped them; But His right Hand, and His Arm, and the Light of His Countenance, even becauſe he had a favour unto them. So exceeding beneficial to Themſelves, ſo manifeſt a Diſtinction between Them and all they had to contend with, was the Firſt Advantage ſpecified here, The conſtant Readineſſ of God to hear their Complaints, and to aſſert their Cauſe.
2. Nor was that Other Diſtinction leſs remarkable, The having Statutes and Judgments ſo righteous, as all the Law that Moſes ſet before them. The Excellence of that Religion might eaſily be made appear in many more Inſtances, than the Time will ſuffer me to mention, I will therefore, as briefly as I can, reduce my Thoughts upon this Subject to the Three following Heads.
1. Its informing them in the Knowledge and Worſhip of the One True God. It gave them right and reverent Apprehenſions of his Being and his Providence, of the
