An exposition with practical observations continued upon the eighth, ninth and tenth chapters of…An exposition with practicall observations continued upon the eighth, ninth and tenth chapters of…

Thou hast granted me lives.

Observe hence, Life is the gift of God.

With thee is the fountain of lives, the well,¹ or the vein of lives (Psal. 36.9.) The Psalmist alludes, either first to waters which flow from a fountain, and so doth life from God. Or, secondly, To metals, With thee is the vein of lives; as all mineral veins, the veins of gold and silver, of lead and iron, &c. lie (as it were) in bank, in the bosom and bowels of the earth: so doth life in God. There is not the lest vein of this quick-silver, in all the world, but comes from him. Or, thirdly, The Psalmist alludeth to the veins of the body, which as so many rivers and rivulets, derive their blood from tha• red-sea the liver. God hath a sea of life in himself, and all that live are filled with life from him. This is one of his royal titles, The living God; He is, The living God, not only subjectivè, because he liveth, but effectivè, because he enliveneth and quickeneth all living creatures, From him we receive life and breath (Act. 17.25.) In him we live, and move, and have our being, vers. 28. In him we live, &c. that is, by him, or through him, as the same Apostle teacheth (Rom. 11.36.) The same power giveth us being, and maintains it. This is true,² yet the context carrieth the preposition [In] further. For the Apostle having asserted, vers. 27. He is not far from every one of us; subjoins this as a proof, For in him we live &c. implying, That man is, in a sense, contained in, or invested with God. The divine nature cannot be circumscribed with any thing, yet circumscribeth all things: For which Paul refers the Athenians to Heathen Poets, who