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you to perform, even ten commandments, and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. The Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, to be unto him a people of inheritance. The Lord thy God will not forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. For, ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth; and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation, from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord God did for you? Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee; for thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all the people that are upon the face of the earth". Because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them'. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, (for ye were the fewest of all people,) but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers*. For the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them'; and it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people". Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for, consider how great things he hath done for you".

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SECT. 9. The goodness and condescension of God in this dispensation to Israel, celebrated by his Saints.

Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people; talk of all his wondrous works". Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen ones. Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. He brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness; and gave them the lands of the heathen, that they might keep his statutes and observe his law. For he esta blished a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them unto their children, that they might set their hope in God. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel'. He hath not dealt so with any nation. For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him". There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms'. O Israel, trust thou in the Lord; he

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§ 9.1 Chron. xvi. 8, 9. d Psal. cv. 43,44, 45. 8 Psal. cxlvii. 20.

b 1 Chron. xvi. 12,13.
e Psal. ixxviii. 5,6,7.
h Deut. xxxii. 9-12.

• 1 Chr. xvi. 15-17.
1 Psal. ciii. 7.
'Deut. xxxiii. 26,27.

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is their help and shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. The Lord hath been mindful of us, he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will bless them that fear the Lord both small and great. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him'. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people; he will beautify the meek with salvation". O come, and let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand". Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even unto death°.

SECT. 10. Special promises given to that people of God's peculiar favour and protection.

When Israel was a child I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws. Thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I · have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Therefore, fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished. Sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord

a

Psal. cxv. 9-13. n Psal, xcv. 6, 7.

§ i. * Hos, xi. 1, 3, 4.

Psal. cxlviii. 14.
• Psal. xlviii. 12-14.

Isa. xli. 8, 9.

Psal. cxlix. 4.

Jer. xxx. 10, 11.

do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any man should hurt it, I will keep it night and day. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. Ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God'. For I the Lord will direct their work in truth; and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people; all that see them, shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which God hath blessed. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me".

SECT. 11. The praises and prayers of the Old Testament Saints on this head.

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. Thou art the Lord, the God who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees; and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites to his seed; and didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea; and thou didst divide the sea before them. Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments. Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed; thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people; when thou

d Isa. xxvii. 2, 3.
Isa. lxi. 8, 9.

§ 11. Psal. xliv. 1.
d Exod. xv. 13.

e Isa. v. 7.

b Isa. xlix. 14, 15, 16.

b Neh. ix. 7, 8, 9, 11.

f Isa. lxi. 6.

с

• Neh. ix. 13.

didst march through the wilderness, the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God; even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein; thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor. But our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; therefore gavest thou them into the hands of the people of the lands. O Lord, my Lord, I pray thee go amongst us, and pardon our iniquity, and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance". Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth; stir up thy strength, and come and save us. Turn us again, O God; and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved". Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel'. Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy Holy One*. For what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people unto himself? For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel, to be a people unto thee for ever; and thou, Lord, art become their God'. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem; so we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thee thanks for ever". The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us, nor forsake us; that he may incline our heart unto him,, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favour her, yea the set time is come". member me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people; O visit me with thy salvation; that I

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Exod. xxxiv. 9. * Deut. xxxiii. 8. "Psal. lxxix. 13,

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