cernere; and we know the heathens were wont to S ERM. fwear, Diis immortalibus teftibus interpofitis, which CXXXIV. is an owning of his omniscience: Quis enim non timeat Deum omnia pervidentem, & cogitantem, & animadvertentem, curiofum & negotii plenum Deum : de Nat. Deor. 1. 1.

2. From fcripture and divine revelation. I will not heap up all thofe teftimonies of fcripture, which might be gathered together upon this argument; I will only inftance in two or three: Job xxxvi. 4. "He that is perfect in knowledge, is with thee:" xxxvii. 16. "Doft thou know the wondrous works "of him who is perfect in knowledge ?"

Hither we may refer those texts which reprefent GOD, by way of condefcenfion to our infirmity, as having eyes and ears, which fignify his knowledge of what is done in the world; and those which speak of him as communicating to us all the knowledge which we have; "he giveth wifdom to the wife, "and understanding to them that know understand

ing," Dan. ii. 21. And those which speak of GOD, as knowing the moft fecret things, "the hid"den things of darkness," the hearts and the thoughts of men; and those things which are at the greatest distance, as future things; and of the greatest uncertainty, as the contingent acts of free creatures; each of these I fhall particularly confider; for in proving that God knows all these, his knowledge of all other things will be proved with advantage: for if any thing be out of the reach of the divine understanding, it must in all probability be either those things which are fecret and hidden, as mens fecret actions, or their thoughts; or elfe thofe things which are to come, and depend upon no certain caufe, as future contingencies: and the proving of this may

SER M. be of great ufe to us, as having a great influence upCXXXIV. on practice; it tends very much to the advancement

of religion, and the good government of our lives. I begin with the

1. Of these, viz. That GOD takes very exact and particular notice of all the actions of men, even thofe that are moft fecret. And in the handling of this, I shall speak diftinctly to these three things.

1. That GOD takes knowledge of all our actions; "his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he feeth "all his goings," Job xxxiv. 21.

2. That he is a curious obferver of them; "he "feeth all his goings, he marks all his fteps," takes very exact and particular notice of all that we do.

3. He takes notice of thofe actions which are moft fecret and hidden; "there is no darkness nor "fhadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves," Job xxxiv. 22.

1. That GOD takes notice of all our actions. And that this notion was planted in the mind of man, and a beam of the light which comes with us into the world, will appear by the general agreement of heathens in it. I will but produce one or two teftimonies to this purpofe. Tully lays down this principle, as that which makes men regularly and orderly, and fit for fociety: fit igitur boc perfuafum civibus, qualis quifque fit, quid agat, quid in se admittal deos intueri. Socrates, as Xenophon tells us, was wont to fay, πάντα θεὸς εἰδέναι τὰ τε λεγόμενα καὶ πρατίμενα καὶ τὰ σιγή βολευόμενα. Arrian, in his difcourfe upon Fpictetus, tells us, it is necef-, fary that every one fhould be perfuaded of this, OT ἕκασον τῶν πραττομένων ἐφορᾶται ὑπὸ το θεό, σε that every thing that is done by men is feen of GOD."

The

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The fcripture frequently mentions this, Pfal. SERM. cxxxix. 1, &c. Prov. v. 21.

"The ways

of man

are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponder"eth all his goings." Jer. xxxii. 19. "Thine eyes

are open upon all the ways of the fons of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

2. He is a curious obferver, one that takes exact notice of all that we do. Job faith, "he feeth all "our steps," and Solomon, that he pondereth "all our goings;" the word is, "he weighs them "in a balance." So Sam. ii. 3. "The LORD is a GoD of knowledge, by him actions are weigh"ed." Job xxxi. 4. "Doth he not fee my ways, "and count all my fteps?" which doth not imply the difficulty, but the perfection and exactness of GOD's knowledge; he knows the qualities of our actions, and all the circumstances of them, all the degrees of good and evil that are in them, whatever may commend an action, or blemish it; whatever may aggravate a fin, or excuse it. Ifa. xxvi. 7. "Thou most upright doth weigh the path of the juft." There is not a good word that we speak, but God hears it, Mal. iii. 16. "And the LORD "hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance "was written before him ;" and all we do is "not"ed in his book," Pfal. ivi. 8.

3. He takes notice of thofe actions which are most fecret and hidden, the good as well as bad; when we" do our alms in fecret," when we "enter into "our closets, and shut the doors, our Father feeth "in fecret," Mat. vi. Nor can we retire ourfelves to any place, where we can fin fo as GOD fhall not fee us, where we can hide our fins from his fight, or ourfelves from his wrath. Hear how fenfibly a heathen

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CXXXIV.

SER M. heathen speaks of this: ötav xλeíonte ras dúgas, καὶ σκότῳ ἔνδον ποιήσετε, μέμνησθε, μηδέποτε λέγειν ὅτι μόνοι ἐςὶ· κ γὰρ ἴσε, ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς ἔνδον ἐςὶ, καὶ ὁ ὑμές τερος δαίμων ἐςὶ, τὶς τέτοις χρεία φωτὸς, εἰς τὸ βλέπειν Ti WOLEITE; Arrian in Ep. 1. 1. c. 14.

The fcripture is full of teftimonies to this purpose, Pfal. xc. 8. "Thou haft fet our iniquities be

fore thee, and our fecret fins in the light of thy "countenance;" thofe firs which we commit in the dark are in the light of the divine knowledge, "darkness and light are all one to him;" Pfal. cxxxix. 11, 12. Jer. xvi. 17, 23, 24. "Can any hide him"self in secret places, that I fhall not see him ?” II. GOD knows the hearts and thoughts of men, which implies these two things.

ift. His perfect knowledge of them.

2dly. That this is his peculiar prerogative.

ift. Go perfectly knows the hearts of men; Jer. xvii. 10. "I the LORD fearch the heart, and try "the reins;" where, by heart and reins, which are the most inward parts of the body, and lie least open to discovery, are fignified the most secret thoughts and motions of the foul; thefe GOD is faid to search and try, not as if it were a work of labour and difficulty to the divine knowledge to penetrate the hearts of men, and to dive into their thoughts, but to fignify to us the perfection and exactness of the divine knowledge; as when men would know a thing exactly, they fearch into every part of it, and examine every thing narrowly; fo GOD is faid "to "fearch the heart," to fignify to us that he knows the hearts of men, as thoroughly as we do any thing upon the ftri&teft fearch and most diligent examination; upon the fame account he is faid elsewhere in fcripture" to weigh the fpirits of men;" Prov. xvi.

2. "All

ways

CXXXIV.

2. " All the of man are clean in his own eyes, SERM "but the LORD weigheth the fpirits ;" that is, he hath as perfect a knowledge of the fecret motions and inclinations of mens hears, as men have of those things which they weigh in a balance with the greateft exactness.

Now that God hath this perfect knowledge of mens hearts, the fcripture frequently declares to us; that he knows the hearts of all men, 1 Kings viii. 39. "For thou, even thou, knoweft the hearts of all the "children of men." Chron. xxviii. 9. " The LORD "searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the ima

ginations of the thoughts." How clofe and reserved foever men may be, what disguise foever they may use to hide their purposes from men, yet GOD fees them; the things which are moft dark and fecret are open to his view, Pfal. xliv. 21. "He "knoweth the fecrets of the hearts." Prov. XV. II, "Hell and deftruction are before him, how much "more the hearts of the children of men?" Whatever pretences men may make, GOD fees through them, and discovers the very intentions of their hearts. Pfal.vii. 9. "The righteous LORD trieth the "heart and reins." Heb. iv. 13. It is faid there of "the word of GOD," that it is "a difcerner of the

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thoughts and intentions of the heart; for all "things are naked and open to the eye of him with "whom we have to do, and there is no creature "that is not manifeft in his fight;" nay he knows our thoughts at a distance, what they will be, before any actually are, Pfal. cxxxix. 2. "Thou knowest

my thoughts afar off." It is true indeed every man is conscious to his own thoughts, and privy to the motions of his own mind, when they are present and when they are past, if he have not forgot them;

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but