A people, that have publicly covenanted with God, will enjoy many precious and Christian privileges from the Lord, among which the following may be mentioned. A church constituted among them according to the rule of the word; the preaching of the everlasting gospel, and the dispensation of the other ordinances of divine institution, as means both for the conversion of sinners, and for the edification of believers; the scriptural government of the church, and the proper ordering of her affairs, through the instrumentality of office-bearers, who are appointed by the Lord Christ; the faithful administration of the censures of the house of God, for the benefit of all concerned; kings who shall be nursing fathers, and their queens who shall be nursing mothers unto the church; and a multitude of benefits, arising from the holy example, religious advice, and effectual fervent prayers of the godly among them. These are by no means small privileges, they are blessings that are exceeding great. —- Upon a nation in covenant with him, the Lord will bestow many temporal benefits. When a nation's ways, in this respect, please the Lord, he causeth even their enemies to be at peace with them, and will remove war far from their borders. He will cause the earth to yield her increase unto them, and will lay no famine upon them. In all their concerns they shall have the blessing of God, and shall enjoy that prosperity in all things, that is for his glory and their real benefit. With respect to the blessedness of a people in this situation, we may say, Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency? [Deut. 33.29.] A view of the privileges of a covenanted land, made David cry out, Happy is that people whose God is the Lord. [Psalm 144.15.]
-- from Observations on the Covenants Betwixt God and the Church, a Discourse, by Archibald Mason.
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