A saint or a brute the certain necessity and excellency of holiness, &c. ...…

3. Another duty that Holiness consisteth in, is Thanksgiving and Praise to the God of our salvation. He that knows not that this work is Pleasant, is unacquainted with it. If there be any thing Pleasant in this world, it is the praises of God, that flow from a believing, loving soul, that is full of the sense of the mercies, and goodness, and excellencies of the Lord; Especially, the unanimous conjunction of such souls, in the high praises of God in the holy Assemblies. Is it not pleasant, even to Name the Lord! to mention his Attributes! to remember his great and wondrous works! to magnify him that rideth on the Heavens, that dwelleth in the light that cannot be approached, that is clothed with Majesty and Glory, that infinitely surpasseth the Sun in its •rightness; that hath his Throne in the Heavens, and the Heaven ⟨p. 786⟩of Heavens cannot contain him; and yet he delighteth in the humble soul, and hath respect to the contrite, yea dwells with them that tremble at his Word. Is any thing so pleasant as the Praises of the Lord! How sweet is it to see and praise him as the Creator, in the various wonderful creatures which he hath made! How pleasant to observe his works of providence, to them that read them by the light of the Sanctuary, and in Faith and Patience learn the interpretation, from him that only can interpret them. But O how unspeakably Pleasant is it to see the Father in the Son; and the God-head in the man-hood of our Lord, and the Riches of Grace in the glass of the holy Gospel, and the manifold wisdom of God in the Church, where the Angels themselves disdain not to behold it! Ephes. 3. 10, 11. The praising of God for the incarnation of his Son, was a work that a chore of Angels were employed in as the instructors of the Church, Luke 2. 13, 14. There is not a promise in the book of God, nor one passage of the Life and Miracles of Christ, and the rest of the History of the Gospel, nor one of the holy works of the spirit upon the soul, nor one of those thousand mercies to the Church, or to our selves, or friends, that infinite Goodness doth bestow, but contain such matter of Praise to God, as might fill believing hearts with Pleasure, and find them most delightful work: Much more when all these are at once before us, what a feast is there for a gracious Soul!