The sermon emphasizes the importance of fearing God in early piety. It distinguishes between the fear of man and the fear of God, highlighting the blessings and protection that come with fearing God. The sermon encourages young people to turn to God early in life and to meditate on His attributes. It emphasizes the role of reading and studying the Bible, as well as engaging in prayer, Sabbath worship, and the ordinances. The sermon also addresses the need for humility, repentance, and taking action to promote true piety. Ultimately, the sermon urges individuals to fear God early and to experience the multitude of blessings that come from a life focused on Him.

Directly address young people, particularly in verse 11, which is cited here at the beginning. But we're going to be going over chapter 2, or sermon 2, in early piety. Psalm 34 is the basis of it, so let's turn to that. If you could open up your Bibles there. And it's such a marvelous sign.

There are two kinds of fear. There are your fears, and then there is the fear of God. And he distinguishes between the two. They're very different. I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears." That's one of my favorite lines in the Psalms right there.

I sought the Lord and he heard me and He delivered me from all of my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and took him out of all of his troubles." And this verse here on the fear of God. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. That's a different kind of fear.

One's the fear of man, the fear of life, and the other is the fear of God. The fear of man puts you to death. The fear of God gives you strength and deliverance. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him.

Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want to those who fear him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones.

Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned." This is such a wonderful psalm and it really does speak of the power of God and it speaks quite regularly of youth and since we're in this whole subject of early piety, Let's go ahead and turn to the second sermon and we'll just kinda walk through it like we did last time. It's on page 41 and as you can see at the very beginning of this chapter Psalm 34 11 is cited, Come you children listen to me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. And the first thing that we notice here in this first section is God's blessing of those who fear him as an inexhaustible fountain of grace toward those who fear him.

This is the beauty of the fear of the Lord. It dials you into an inexhaustible fountain of grace. And That's why he says, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. And in the Psalm, he just paints this picture, fearing the Lord and then being protected by the angel of the Lord.

Imagine, the angel of the Lord encamps around all those who fear him. Now when we were in Isaiah, we heard this term, the angel of the Lord many times, didn't we? And the angel of the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, And he commands all the armies of heaven. And this is who your protector is, when you fear the Lord. So in this chapter, the big thrust is the fear of God.

And he's really calling for early fear of God. Fear God as early as you can, as early as God gives you strength. The earlier, the better. And the greater sense of protection that you'll have as you go through this life. When you're young, you have so many more fears.

I know that's true of my own life, especially in my teens and in my early 20s. I had so many more fears about life then than I do now. And so here is this great appeal to fear God early in your life and don't delay. You know, he quotes verses 8 through 10, oh fear the Lord, you his saints, There is no want to those who fear him. There is no want.

In other words, if you have the fear of God, you don't need anything else, because you have God. So that's page 41. And then he speaks about this fact of how critical it is because of this to promote piety in others and particularly early piety and to have a very conscientious regard for what God requires. And he says near the bottom of page 42, he says, from the text, Psalm 34, we might note first that those who have true piety themselves will be willing to be at pains to promote the same piety in others. So what he's saying is that young people that fear the Lord, they should also spur on the others that fear the Lord.

They should be mutual help and encouragement to one another in fearing God. We should always be encouraging one another to fear God and particularly not man. And then the preacher of this sermon, who is Benjamin Wadsworth, he says that the greatest men have always promoted early piety. And he mentions that in that paragraph at the top of 43. And then he makes the point that young people should be taught early to fear God.

And that's the third point that he makes right in the middle of page 43. And he says that children or young persons should make it their chief and principal care and business to fear God and to be sincerely and practically pious. Now what's pious? Well, piety really is summarized by this word, turned, a heart turned toward God. He says this, as soon as children become capable of acting as rational creatures, I wonder when that is.

When are children capable of acting as rational creatures? Well, there must be a time, because he says that there is. By deliberately considering things, by intelligently choosing and refusing, even then and afterwards forever, they should fear God. And then he says that they should be comparing the fear of God with what he calls the baubles and the trifles of this world. In other words, things that don't matter.

Comparing the fear of God with the baubles and the trifles of this world. In other words, things that don't matter. Comparing the fear of God with the baubles and the trifles of this world. And then he speaks of the nature of early piety beginning at the top of page 44. And he gives three sort of handles on this.

And so you see number one kind of in the middle of the page of the nature of early piety. And he says that it's first of all characterized by believing and meditating on the being and the attributes of God. So if you would turn to God early, the first thing you should turn toward is the attributes of God. It will be the most powerful force in your life to know God. That great book that J.I.

Packer wrote said those who know their God have great thoughts of God. And when you have great thoughts of God you have small thoughts of your troubles. The greater your God the smaller your troubles. It always works that way. Usually when you have great fears it means your God got really small.

He's advocating this believing and meditating on the attributes of God. And he mentions several of those attributes. He's the sovereign maker, he's the preserver, he's the supreme Lord, he's the governor of all creatures. And then he quotes Daniel 4.35, he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And this is just an appeal, particularly for young people, to meditate on God.

There really are some great books that can be read on the subject. I just mentioned the first one, Knowing God by J.I. Packer, the attributes of God. And then at the very bottom of page 44, I want to read you a quote here. Children therefore cannot have their thoughts and meditations better employed than on the being and perfections of God.

Children are apt to have their meditations run much on empty babbles and vanities, but when they are duly exercised in God and His matchless excellencies, It is the most proper and noble employment they can possibly be engaged in. So this first attribute is believing and meditating on the attributes of God. You have fears? You have problems? You're confused about something?

Here's what will get you unfearful. Meditate on God. A lot of times you end up meditating on your problems. You obsess about your problems. In order to get rid of your problems, you really have to get your mind off your problems and get your mind on God.

And this is the whole matter of being found in the secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High. Be found there. When you're afraid, go there. Don't go to your problems. Go to God.

That's the first thing that he speaks of as the nature of early piety. And then the second is found on the top of page 45. They're hearty, studious, diligent, acquainting themselves with God's will revealed in his word. And he's really just speaking about growing your fear of God by reading the Word of God and studying it. And he quotes Micah 6.8, he has shown you, O man, what the Lord requires of you, to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

And that's done by seeking his word. But then he kind of gives some definition to this in the very last paragraph in this section on page 45. Children therefore should maintain a diligent, constant practice of reading the holy scriptures, regarding them as the light of their feet and the lamp of their paths. Search the scriptures, John 539. Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you.

Meditate on God's law night and day. Hide it in your hearts that you may not sin against God. He quotes Psalm 119. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word.

Why? Well, all of us, including, you know, all young people are pushed around by our fears. And whether you fear man or whether you fear God, will determine everything and you grow your fear of God by reading the Word of God. Now, it's quite possible that some of you have left off maybe earlier more diligent habits of reading the Word of God. Here's what you do.

Go back to it. That's what you do. Everybody falls off, but the most important thing is getting back on and getting back on quickly. And he speaks of studying the Word of God. He says in the middle of page 46, prize your Bible.

He says the Bible is the best of all books. Prize it above gold, above much fine gold. Esteem it sweeter than honey or the honeycomb." He says it shows you how to get peace with God, how to please Him, how to honor Christ and get honor in His sight. It shows you how to get pardon of sin, how to behave yourselves in every situation and condition, how to get a sanctified use of providences. In other words, when stuff happens to you, how to get the best use of it.

In other words, how to squeeze every ounce of good out of every trial and trouble and setback you've ever had. That's what he means by a sanctified use of providences. How to save your souls, to escape hell, to get to heaven, to possess eternal glory. He says this, let this best of books be the chief subject of your study and meditation. And then I'm driving to this quotation here, how much time is wretchedly misspent, thrown away, lost, into reading, playbooks or filthy profane writings.

Seriously, indulgently reading and studying the Holy Bible is one good means to make us wise to salvation, holy and temporal life, and happy for eternity." And then he speaks of just dealing with with the guilt of it where he says again for children to fear God rightly implies the serious consideration of their naturally sinful state that we are brought forth in iniquity. Sin nests and roots in our hearts. How do we deal with it? Well, we deal with it by seeking God through His Word. And then, After talking about turning to God's Word, he makes a distinction of turning to God, and at the bottom of page 47, and he says, their rightly fearing God implies their turning from sin to God in Christ Jesus.

The Lord Jesus Christ, God and man in one person, is the only mediator between God and man. And so he brings up this whole matter of turning to a mediator. In other words, someone who connects you with God because you're separated from God. But a mediator stands with you and with God in order to bring reconciliation. And this is how Jesus Christ is your mediator.

Yes, you are a sinner, but your only hope is to have a mediator. And he speaks of regeneration and repentance as critical to this. No one is born again. No one can turn to God without regeneration. And then over on page 49, he brings up a matter that I think is really important.

He talks about outward appearance, and he talks about often, you know, and this is not just true of young people, this is true of all people, but particularly young people who can be very obsessed about their appearance. He says young persons are often apt to be very proud, often proud of their fine and gay clothes in which they appear to the view of men. Yet, if they duly considered how dirty, filthy, loathsome, and abominable their sins render them in the sight of an infinitely holy God, this might justly fill them with the greatest shame, grief, sorrow, and self-abhorrence for their sins." And so what he's saying is that it's all too common to be dressed up, to put on the cloak of righteousness. And behind all this nice clothing, in this compelling appearance, there's secret sin. And he calls it dirty, filthy, loathsome, abominable sins.

Hidden behind such a nice frontal appearance. And he quotes Ezekiel 36 where Ezekiel says, you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good. You will loathe yourselves in your own sight. Now this is so true about sin. When you fall and you look at yourself in the mirror, you'll loathe yourself.

You won't like it because God desires you to loathe your sin. And you know, when you look at yourself or think of yourself after a time of falling and you loathe your sin, that's a blessing if it drives you to God. You'll regret your rebellion. And then in the next section on the bottom of page 50, turning to what it means to love God. They should love God.

True love and fear of God always go together. They should love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They should love his law. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day." And then he speaks about pleasing God, not pleasing man, and He speaks of how man-pleasing leads us to omit certain acts of obedience and to commit certain acts of sin when our hearts are not on pleasing God, but rather just on pleasing ourselves.

And then he speaks of thankfulness before God as what it means to love God. And again, this Psalm that we just read, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. He says this, they ought to give thanks that they were born under the gospel in a land of Bibles, ministers, Sabbaths and ordinances, that they were born of Christian parents under the wing of the covenant, that they had a Christian education being brought up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. It is a blessing to look back and see how God has blessed you.

And then at the top of 52, under this whole heading of what it means to love God, he speaks of being patient in trials and in rebukes, and to know that God will send trials your way to confront various sins, to bring those things to the surface, to squeeze the poisons come out and you can see them and you repent of them. And then he speaks of submission, he speaks of grieving sin. They should hate sin with a perfect hatred. This is what will happen to you. You'll look back and you'll see how God was doing things beyond your own comprehension.

That he's bigger in his plan than yours and he'll often supersede your plans because he has a far far better one and here's the reality the older you get the more you'll be able to look back and see how God has used every trouble. Just like the song says, every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon the dial by the Son of Love. That's your guarantee. That's why Cotton Mather and his father brought together all these pastors in Boston to preach. Just to urge young people to turn early.

Don't waste a moment of your youth. Use every moment of your youth for the greatest advantage of the kingdom of heaven. You won't regret it at all. So then he speaks of the ordinary means of grace at the bottom of page 53. He speaks of employing your whole body in service to God to glorify him and he speaks of secret prayer at the top of 54 if you're tracking with me.

He speaks of remembering the Sabbath day. He speaks of waiting on God. These are elements of just trusting in the normal means of grace. A ways back somebody came to me that had all kinds of troubles in their lives. There was really no way you could go fix all those problems.

Here's what I said to that person. I said, you know, I would just encourage you to focus on the foundations of your life. Rebuild the foundations and God will take care of the rest. And they were these kinds of things that I was recommending to this person. Like Jesus said, go into your room and when you shut your door, pray to your father who's in the secret place.

And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. We so underestimate the power of prayer. How often, when you've dedicated yourself to prayer, has God revealed something to you? He's given you a word. He's given you wisdom.

He gave you an idea that totally changed the course of your life. It's happened so many times to people who pray. God reveals Himself to those who pray. And this is what He does. He says, pray alone, Confess your sins.

He says, and He would fill you with His Spirit, with heavenly wisdom and grace. They should pray for more knowledge and wisdom, and for unwearied supplies of grace. Oh, children, do not be so vile and wicked as to live without secret prayer. Do not let a morning or evening pass without getting a loan for this most profitable and reasonable service." So he directs to prayer. And then to the Sabbath day.

He talks about idleness on the Sabbath. He says some people spin the Sabbath by idleness, playing, and needless speaking about worldly matters, much less anything in itself sinful, but employ the Sabbath in praying, reading the holy bible, and good books, learning your catechism, receiving the good instructions of parents and masters, and going into the house of God and diligently and reverently attending His holy worship. So these are the ordinary means of grace. God gives you these things in rhythmic fashion in order to just continue to temper you, to draw you, through songs, through readings of scripture, through conversations, through preaching, and maybe even, you know, through pedantically reading through a book, like we're doing right now, going, you know, line by line. So he urges to remember the Sabbath day and squeeze every ounce of good out of it.

And he speaks of these ordinances at the top of page 55 that really are the things that happen on the Sabbath. Assembling ourselves together, loving the habitation of his house. Like it says in Psalm 27, one thing have I desire to the Lord, that will I seek and inquire in His temple. That's what we should do. It's the taking of the Lord's Supper, examining ourselves to see if there's sin, to repent of that sin, to be humbled by God during the Lord's Supper, and also made happy by the abundance of His grace.

Here's what he says, by neglecting it, they disobey God, dishonor Christ, grieve the Holy Spirit, gratify the devil, set a bad example before men, and wrong their own souls. Other than that, skipping Sabbath worship is not such a bad thing. But you can see seriousness with which this preacher is speaking about these matters of the Sabbath. And then there's this lament for apostasy and the lack of the fear of God at the bottom page 55 but ignorant in other words they were baptized but their hearts never really turned toward God which is something that does happen you know we have had people in our baptized and then realized that toward God they just got wet so they actually get baptized So he speaks of humility for past sins. In the second half of page 56, and you know, he speaks of the lost opportunities of youth.

I think this is really important. There are so many opportunities for lost opportunities when you're young. He says, how little good did we get, how little good did we do, and how much guilt did we contract in our younger days. I think this is the whole appeal of this book, that there would be an urgent turning to God in your youth, so that these things would be avoided. And then he quotes Psalm 25 verse 7, Do not remember the sins of my youth nor my transgressions.

According to your mercy, remember me for your goodness sake. And then he speaks of taking action at the top of 57, all that are concerned with children, with young persons, should strive to encourage and promote true piety in them. Now this is directed to parents. You notice how it goes back and forth. He says this, parents should do so, masters and mistresses and families, and in schools should do so, ministers should do so, feeding the lambs as well as the sheep of Christ's flock.

Everybody in their several situations and capacities in life should encourage and promote what is so profitable. Nothing is more threatening to the welfare of a people than to have their young ones generally ignorant, irreligious, and disorderly. When it is so, it looks as though iniquity would soon abound to the pulling down of heavy judgments. And then in the next paragraph, he speaks of that early piety brings and how righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. And then he speaks of the prophet of it, quoting Psalm 103.

But he's speaking about how valuable it is to turn early. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments and do them. Let the peoples praise You, O God. Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase.

God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. So there it is, another chapter that really has its greatest focus on the fear of God to help us all understand what a blessing it is to fear God early and how it protects you from so much, but it also introduces you to so much blessing. Turn to God early. Don't delay.

You won't regret it. You will not regret it. Because you'll find the Father such a kind Father. You'll find that Jesus Christ is the most blessed shepherd. You'll find that the Holy Spirit will comfort you and guide you.

And you'll find that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, they will use everything for your good. And so turn to God early. That's the whole proposition that's here.