hath made us reasonable Creatures, of Vol. Vil that Kind which we fhould have chofen to have been of, if we could fuppofe, that before we were, it had been referr'd to us, and put to our choice, what part we would be of this vifible World. But we did not contrive and chufe this Condition for our felves, we are no ways acceffary to the dignity and excellency of our Beings; but God chofe this condition for us, and made us what we are ; So that we may fay, with David, Pfal. 100. 3, 4, 5. 'Tis he that hath made us, and not we our felves. O enter then into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praife; be thankful unto him, aud fpeak good of his name, for the Lord is good. The goodness of God is the Spring and Fountain of our Beings, but for that we had been nothing; and but for his farther goodness, we might have been any thing, of the lowest and meanest rank of his Creatures. But the goodness of God hath been pleafed to advance us to be the Top and Perfection of the visible Creation, he hath been pleased to endow us with Mind and Understanding, and made us capable of happiness,in the

know

knowledge, and love, and enjoyment Vol. VII of himself. He hath curioufly and wonderfully wrought the Frame of our Bodies, fo as to make them fit Habitations for reasonable Souls, and immortal Spirits; he hath made our very Bodies Veffels of Honour, when of the very fame Clay he hath made innumerable other Creatures, of a much lower rank and condition; fo that tho' man in refpect of his Body be a-kin to the Earth, yet in regard of his Soul, he is allied to Heaven, of a divine Original, and defcended from above. Of all the Creatures in this vifible World, man is the chief; and what is faid of Behemoth, or the Elephant, Job 42. in refpect of his great ftrength, and the vaft bignefs of his Body, is only true abfolutely of man, that he is, divini opificii caput, the chief of the ways of God, and upon earth

there is none like him.

The Pfalmift takes particular notice of the goodness of God to man, in this refpect of the excellency and dignity of his being. Pfal. 8. 5. Thou haft made him little lower than the Angels, and haft crowned him with glory and honour. And this advantage of our na

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ture above other Creatures, we ought thankfully to acknowledge; tho' moft men are fo ftupid, as to overlook it, as Elihu complains, Job 35. 10, 11. None faith, where is God my maker? Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wifer than the fowls of heaven.

2. The goodness of God to man appears, in that he hath made and ordained fo many things chiefly for our ufe. The beauty and usefulness of the Creatures below us, their plain fubferviency to our neceffity, and benefit, and delight, are fo many clear Evidences of the Divine Goodness to us, not only difcernable to our Reafon, but even palpable to our Senfes, fo that we may fee and taste that the Lord is gracious.

This David particularly infifts upon as a fpecial ground of praise and thanksgiving to God, that he hath fubjected fo great a part of the Crea tion to our dominion and use; Pfal 8. 6, 7, 8. fpeaking of man, Thou haft made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou haft put all things under his feet; all fbeep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of

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the field; the fowl of the air, and the filb of VOL.VIL the fea, and whatsoever paffeth through the paths of the feas. What an ininnumerable variety of Creatures are there in this inferiour World, which were either folely or principally made for the use and fervice, pleafure and delight of man! How many things are there, which ferve for the neceffity and fupport, for the contentment and comfort of our lives! How ma ny things for the refreshment and delight of our Senfes, and the exccrcife and employment of our Underftandings! That God hath not made man for the fervice of other Creatures, but other Creatures for the fervice of man, Epictetus doth very ingeniously argue from this obfervation; that the Creatures below man, the brute beafts, have all things in a readiness, nature having provided for them meat, and drink, and lodging, fo that they have no abfolute need that any fhould build Houfes, or make Cloaths, or ftore up Provifions, or prepare and drefs meat for them; for, fays he, being made for the fervice of another, they ought to be furnifht with these things, that they may be always in a readiness, to ferve

their Lord and mafter; a plain evidence VokVil that they were made to ferve man, and not man to ferve them.

And to raise our thoughts of God's goodness to us the Sons of men yet higher, as he hath given us the Creatures below us for our ufe and convenience, fo hath he appointed the Creatures above us for our Guard and Protection, not to say for our fervice. Pfal. 34. 7. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and he 'delivereth them; and then it follows, O taste and fee that the Lord is good. And, Pfal. 91. 11, 12. He ball give his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They fhall bear thee up in their hands. Nay the Apoftle fpeaks, as if their whole business and imployment were to attend upon and be ferviceable to good men, Heb. 1. 14. Are they not all miniftring Spirits, Sent forth to minifter for them, who (ball be heirs of Salvation?

3. The goodness of God to men appears, in his tender Love and peculiar Care of us, above the reft of the Creatures, being ready to impart and difpenfe to us the good that is fuitable to our capacity and condition;

and