CHAP. III.

Use 3. AS the Creatures should make us re∣member God, s• should they make Page  14 us admire and glorify Him. This wonderful work, viz. the whole World, and all the Creatures in it, should move us to esteem him wonderfull▪ even beyond astonishment. We cannot be sufficiently amazed at his excellent greatness, manifested in his wonderful works. 1 Kings 10.4, 5 6. When the Q•een of S••ha had seen all Solomon's wisdome▪ and th• House that he had built, and the Meat of his Table, and the sitting of his Servants▪ and the atten∣dance of his Min•sters, and their Appar•l, and his Cup-bearers▪ and his ascent by wh•ch he went up into the House of the Lord; T•ere was no mo•e Spirit in Her. These things in this variety laid together did aston•sh Her for a time, and She was as one amazed, as if She had been left without a Soul. But alas! what was all Solomon's glory unto the Excellency of God, his glory and greatness shining in t•e Creation? not so much as a Glo•-worm is to the Sun. Our Saviour hath p••ferred▪ he beau∣ty of a Lilly (one of the least of Gods Crea∣tures) b fore the ri•h•st R•bes that ever Solo∣mon wore in his gr•atest glo•y. If Solomon's wisdome were so admirable unto Her, how wonderful should the infinite wisdome of God appear to be unto us▪ as it shineth in the excel∣lent composition of the whole Creation? If Solomon's House did so dazle Her Eyes with its stateliness, greatness, and magnificence: how should we with much admiration look upon this goodly frame of Heaven and Earth, which the Lord by his meer Word brought Page  15 out of nothing, to which the House of Solomon was no more than a poor Cottage? If the consideration of divers things together, order∣ly disposed, and fitted, did thus overcome Her spirit; how should the exact order, and pla∣sing of numberless Creatures of divers kinds, their several natures, tempers, qualities, vertues, enclinations some of them great, some lesser, ra•ish us▪ some of them giving support unto the •est, some contained within the rest; some moving about with restless motion, as the H•aven•, and in them the Sun, Moon and Stars, tu•ning ab•out with •hem the Wheel of Time c•rrying ab•u• with them Days▪ Weeks Moneths, Yea•s, Ages; altering Times and Seasons; raising the Earth to Life again in the Spring, and renewing its Face with you•h and beauty; ripening the Fruits of the Ea••h in Summer, scorching our Bodies wi•h heat, and even making us forget the cold breath of Winter; then stri•ping the World of thi• h•lf Years clothing at the f•ll of the Leaf or Autumn, and soon af•er leaving it for dead in the benummed Winter, until it obtain ano∣ther r•surrection (as it were) at the Spring. This is the course of the H••vens, and these their eff•ct.

〈◊〉•g•in• look on the Earth holding 〈…〉, •nd not st••ri•g from its place, eve•〈◊〉 it C•eation: See some 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 big••ss yet neithe• sti•ring nor growing, as Rocks 〈◊〉 M•untains: Some g•owing, but not moving from their •laces, as T••es Page  16 and other Plants of •he Earth: some growing and stir•ing to and fro; some creeping, others going and running, s•me swimming, othe•s •l•ing; some of wonderful strength and swift∣ness, some weaker, •nd slow in their motions▪ Consider t•e unspeakab•e multitude of them even b•yond all im•gination no Man on Earth being able to number all the several kinds of Creatu•es, mu•h l•ss the particulars of those kinds: And then, if there were not m•ch dulness in our spirits and want of appreh•nsi∣•n, there would be (as it were) no spirit in u•; the powers of our Souls would even b• swal∣lowed up with admiration, and we should with feeling hearts express our astonished thoughts and cry out with the Psalmist, O Lord our God, how wonderfull is thy Name in all the Wo•ld! Psal. 8.1. In some one of the least Creatures the Lord is to be seen in admirable Workmanship, how much more in the whole •reat•on, especially considering, how it is brought out of nothing? in which respect the least Worm is a witness of his Omnipotency beyond exception; and therefore we must take time for Meditation on the Creatures, that we may set forth the praise and glory of the Creator, and (as the Psalmist saith) May talk of all his wondrous works. That the Hea∣vens may move us to declare the glory of God, and the Firmament may provoke us▪ and prevail with us to set forth his Handy∣wo•k.