AN EXPOSITION OF THE PROPER PSALMES VSED IN OVR English Liturgie TOGETHER WITH A REASON WHY THE CHVRCH did chuse the same By IOHN BOYS Doctor of Diuinitie The first part explaining the Psalmes appointed to be read on Christmas and Easter day PSALM 49.4 Aperiam in Psalterio propositionem meam AT LONDON Imprinted by FELIX KYNGSTON for VVilliam 〈…〉 TO THE RELIGIOVS AND EVERY WAY NOBLE KNIGHT SIR THOMAS WOTTON of Bocton Malherbe Sonne and heire to the right honourable EDVVARD Lord WOTTON Baron of Marleigh Comptroller of his Maiesties household Lord Lieutenant of the Countie of Kent and the Citie of Canterburie and one of the most Honorable Priuie Counsell SIR as the Scriptures excel other writings in veritie so the Psalmes other Scriptures in varietie for whereas some sacred bookes are legall as the Pentateuchue of Moses other historicall as the Kings Chronicles Acts a third kinde Propheticall as the Vision of Esay Sermons of Jeremie Reuelation of Saint John a fourth Euangelicall as the Gospels and Epistles the Psalter as a Prolog in lib. 3 Psalmorum Augustine b Hom. de laudibus virtute Psalm Basile c Praefat. in Psalm Euthymius and d Athanasius Chrysostom other ancient Doctors honour it is a common treasure-house of all good arguments and instructions and in this respect aptly tearmed e Caluin epist praefix Com. in Psalm The Soules Anatomie the f Tremel argument in Psalm Lawes Epitomie the g See Victorinus Strigellius epist Dedicat. Tilemanus Heshusius praefat in Psalm Gospels Jndex in one word The h Turrecremat prolog in Psalm Register i Io. Gaineius epist lect in od Dauid Enchiridion k Ex ceteris omnibus quasi Collectus Hen. Mollerus praefat in Psalm Summarie pith and as it were l Agellius prolog in Psalm Briefe of the whole Bible Vpon this ground the Church in m Preface Com. Booke old time diuiding the Psalmes into seuen portions inioyned that they should bee read in diuine seruice thorough once euery Weeke and in our time parting them into thirtie once euery Moneth where as other parts of holy writ are read thorough but once in the yeere And the Nouelists howsoeuer they mislike bare reading of Chapters approue notwithstanding by their positions and practise singing of Psalmes in the Congregation By which it doth appeare that nothing is esteemed generallie more necessarie for the worshippe of God then the word of God and no parcell of the word more full and fit then the Psalmes vnto which I will adde that no Psalmes are more profitable then the proper as vnfoulding the foure chiefe mysteries of holy beliefe namely Christs Jncarnation Passion Resurrection Ascension An exposition whereof I haue begun in the name of the Lord Iesus and that for his Sions sake the which I dedicate to your worthie selfe as being a noble Theophilus that is a true seruant of God and obseruant of his Church affected so right honestly which is right honorably to her doctrine and discipline that your humble Comportament in Gods house giueth vnto the world good hope that you will become an open booke of vnfained deuotion and pietie Now the God of all comfort according to the multitude of his mercies and riches of his glorie blesse you and your Honourable Familie that you may long enioy good dayes on earth and hereafter eternall happinesse in Heauen Yours in all good offices of dutie and loue IOHN BOYS Hollingbourn April 2. CHRISTMAS DAY Morning Prayer PSALME 19. The Heauens declare the glorie of God c. THE World resembleth a Diuinitie-Schoole saith a Com. de tranquil animi Plutarch and Christ as the b Matth. 23.8 Scripture telleth is our Doctor instructing vs by his workes and by his words For as c Tull. lib. 5. de finibus Aristotle had two sorts of writings one called Exoterical for his common auditors another Acroamatical for his priuate schollers and familiar acquaintance so God hath two sorts of books as Dauid intimates in this Psalm namely The Booke of his Creatures as a Common-place booke for all men in the world The heauens declare the glorie of God vers 1.2.3.4.5.6 The Booke of his Scriptures as a statute-booke for his domesticall auditorie the Church The law of the Lord is an vndefiled law v. 7 8 c. The great booke of the Creatures d Du Barias 1. day 1. weeke in folio may bee termed aptly the Sheepheards Kalender and the Ploughmans Alphabet in which euen the most ignorant may runne as the e Abacuc 2.2 Prophet speakes and reade It is a Letter Patent or open Epistle for all as Dauid in our text Their sound is gone out into all lands and their words into the ends of the world there is neither speech nor language but haue heard of their preaching For albeit heauen and the Sunne in heauen and the light in the Sunne are mute yet their f Non loquuntur quidem vt homines tamen velut loquentes à nobis intelligūtur Tremel in loc voyces are well vnderstood g Athenagoras orat pro Christianis Catechizing plainly the first elements of religion as namely h Thom. part 1. quaest 12. art 12. Caietan ibidem that there is a God and that this God is but one God and that this one God excelleth all other things infinitly both in might and maiestie Vniuersus mundus as i Cardinal Cusanus one pithily nihil aliud est quà m Deus explicatus The whole world is nothing else but God exprest So Saint Paul Rom. 1.20 Gods inuisible things as his eternall power and Godhead are cleerely seene by the creation of the world being vnderstood by the things that are made The heauens declare this and the firmament sheweth this and the day telleth this and the night certifieth this the sound of the thunder proclameth as it were this in all lands and the words of the whistling winde vnto the ends of the world More principally the Sunne which as a bridegrome commeth out of his chamber and reioyceth as a giant to runne his course The k Victorinus Strigel in loc Vide Bellar. de ascensione mentis in deum per scalas Creat grad 7. cap. 2. body thereof as Mathematicians haue confidently deliuered is 166. times bigger then the whole earth and yet it is euery day carried by the finger of God so great a iourney so long a course that if it were to be taken on the land it should runne euery seuerall houre of the day 225 Germane miles It is true that God is incapable to sense yet hee makes himselfe as it were visible in his workes as the diuine l Du Bartas vbi sup fol. 6. Poet sweetly Therein our fingers feele our nostrils smell Our palats taste his vertues that excell He shewes him to our eyes talkes to our eares In the ordered motions of the spangled spheares So the heauens declare m Placidus
thou canst not vnderstand this day thou maist happilie learne the next and that which is not found out in one night may be gotten in another Mystically saith Å¿ In loc Hierome Christ is this day who saith of himselfe t Iohn 8.12 I am the light of the world And his twelue Apostles are the twelue houres of this day for Christs spirit reuealed by the mouthes of his Apostles the mysteries of our saluation in u Ephes 3.5 other ages not so fully knowne vnto the sonnes of men One day telleth another x August Hierome Turrecremat that is the spirituall vtter this vnto the spirituall and one night certifieth another that is Iudas insinuates as much vnto the Iewes in the night of ignorance saying y Matth. 26.48 Whomsoeuer I shall kisse that is he lay hold on him Or the z D. Incognitus old Testament onely shadowing Christ is the night and the new Testament plainly shewing Christ is the day In them hath he set a tabernacle for the Sunne That is as a Vulgar Latin August other by way of b Genebrard Hypallage He hath his tabernacle in the Sunne meaning that God the Father dwelleth in Christ his sonne c Coloss 2.9 bodily which is the Sunne of righteousnes Malac. 4.2 by whom he doth d Iohn 1.9 enlighten and reconcile the world to himselfe 2. Cor. 5.18 The e Senensis Bibliothec. lib. 5. annot 160. Manichees abusing this text adore the Sunne conceiuing that Christ at his ascending set his tabernacle that is left his flesh in the Sunne f See S. August contra Faustum Manich. lib. 20. But this idle paradoxe contradicts the Scriptures affirming that Christ ascended far aboue all the heauens Ephes 4.10 and that he there sitteth at the right hand of God as our agent and aduocate til he come againe to iudge the quicke and the dead Ergo his flesh is not in the Sunne but in the highest places Hebr. 1.3 euen in the heauen of heauens Acts 7.56 The sense then of he set his tabernacle in the Sunne in g Apud Senen vbi sup Origens iudgement is briefly this Almightie God placed his Church in the Sunne of righteousnes according to that of Paul Ephes 2.20 The Church is built vpon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone Or as h August in loc tract 2. in ep Ioan. lib. 3. cont lit Petilian cap. 32. other Hee set his tabernacle in the Sunne that is his Church in open view that it may bee so cleerely seene as the Sunne like a Citie that is set on a hill and cannot be hid Matth. 5.14 So the word Sunne is vsed 1. Sam. 12.12 Thou diddest it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel and before the Sunne Or because the Scripture calleth our flesh a tabernacle 2. Cor. 5.1 We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed wee haue a building giuen of God not made with hands but eternall in the heauens And 2. Pet. 1.13 As long as I am in this tabernacle Therfore S. Augustine and i D. Incognitus Turrecremat other expound it thus He set his tabernacle in the Sunne that is k Iohn 1.14 the word became flesh and appeared in the l Philip. 2.7 shape of a seruant so manifestly that as S. Iohn speakes in his 1. Epistle chap. 1. vers 1. hee was heard and seene and felt that which was from the beginning which we haue heard which we haue seene with our eyes which we haue looked vpon and our hands haue handled of the word of life If Christ had not on earth a true body then hee was not borne of the Virgin Mary nor wrapped in swadling clothes nor laid in a cratch nor circumcised on the eighth day nor presented in the Temple If his body were fantastical as Valentinus imagined how did hee thirst and hunger and weepe and in conclusion how did he dye for our sinnes and rise again for our iustification His natiuitie life death euidently demonstrate that he was made flesh and that hee dwelt among vs Ioh. 1.14 Which commeth foorth as a bridegrome out of his chamber The Sunne of righteousnes appeareth in three signes especially Leo Virgo Libra 1. in Leo roring as a Lion in the Law so that the people could not m Exod. 20.17 endure his voyce 2. in Virgo borne of a pure Virgin in the Gospel 3. in Libra weighing our workes in his n Dan. â—2 7. ballance at the day of Iudgement Or as o Serm. 3 de aduent Dom. Bernard distinguisheth his three-fold comming aptly Venit ad homines venit in homines venit contra homines In the time past he came vnto men as vpon this day in the time present he comes by his spirit into men euery day in the time future hee shall come against men in the last day The comming here mentioned is his comming in the flesh for so the p Hierome August Fathers vsually glosse the text he came foorth of the Virgins wombe as a bridegrome out of his Chamber As a bridegrome for the King of heauen at this holy time made a great wedding for his sonne Matth. 22.1 Christ is the bridegrome mans nature the bride the q Greg. hom 38. coniunction and blessed vnion of both in one person is the mariage The best way to reconcile two disagreeing families is to make some mariage betweene them euen so the Word became flesh and dwelt among vs in the world that he might hereby make our r Ephes 2.14.16 peace reconciling God to man and man to God By this happy match the Sonne of God is become the sonne of Å¿ Matth. 16.13 man euen flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones and the sonnes of men are made the sonnes of t Iohn 1.12 God of his flesh and of his bones as Paul saith Ephes 5.30 So that now the Church being Christs owne spouse saith I am my welbeloueds and my welbeloued is mine Cant. 6.2 My sinne is his sinne and his righteousnes is my righteousnes hee who knew u 2. Cor. 5.21 no sinne for my sake was made sinne and I contrariwise hauing no x Rom. 7.18 good thing am made the righteousnes of God in him I which am browne by persecution and blacke by nature Cant. 1.4 so foule as the sow that walloweth in the mire 2. Pet. 2.22 through his fauour am comely without spot or wrinkle so y Esay 1.18 white as the snow z Cant. 2.2 like a lilie among thornes euen the fairest among women Cant. 1.7 This happie mariage is not a marre age but it makes a merrie age being the a Luke 2.25 consolation of Israel and comfort of b Esay 40.2 Hierusalems heart Indeed Christ our husband doth absent himselfe from vs in his bodie for a time but when he did ascend into heauen
b 1. Tim. 1.7 vnderstanding neither what they speake neither whereof they affirme For the most part all Papists in their preaching are aliud agentes either beyond the text or behind the text or beside the text The too little learning of their Friars and too much of their Iesuites haue so wrested and wreathed the Scripture to serue their owne turne that as c De inuent rerum lib. 4. cap. 9. Polydore Virgil said of Lawyers they haue stretched Gods booke as shoomakers extend a boot See Gospell 1. Sund. in Aduent To leaue them and to come nearer our selues seeing the booke of Scriptures is the word and will of God and that a perfect law so perfect that nothing may bee taken therefrom or put thereto not onely perfect in it selfe but also making others perfect conuerting the soule and giuing wisdome to the simple let it as the blessed d Colos 3.16 Apostle doth exhort dwell in you plenteously with all wisedome It is Gods best friend and the Kings best friend and the Courts best friend and the Cities best friend and the Countries best friend and all our best friend and therfore let vs not entertain it as a stranger but as a familiar a domestick let it dwell in vs. And for as much as it brings with it exceeding profit and pleasure profit more to be desired then gold yea then much fine gold pleasure reioycing the heart sweeter also then honey and the honey combe let it dwell in vs plenteously Yet in all wisdome let vs heare it in all wisdome reade it in all wisdome meditate on it in all wisedome speake of it in all wisedome preach it in all wisedome not onely in some but in all wisdome that the words of our mouthes and the meditations of our hearts may bee most acceptable in thy fight O Lord our strength and our Redeemer Amen Psalme 45. is expounded on Whitsunday The next allotted for this our present festiuall is PSALM 85. Lord thou art become gracious vnto thy land c. This Psa may be diuided into two parts a Prayer whereof there be e Tremellius two grounds 1. The Churches experience of Gods former mercies vers 1.2.3 2. The due consideration of Gods nature slow to conceiue wrath ready to forgiue vers 4.5.6.7 The summarie pith is briefly this Lord thou hast bin heretofore fauourable to thy land and therfore wee hope thou wilt bee so now that thy people may reioyce in thee Precept consisting of two branches 1. Aduising vs in all our afflictions and misery to haue recourse vnto the comfortable promises of God I will heare what the Lord will say 2. That wee should leade a godly life lest our follie stop the free passage of these promises as well touching things spirituall vers 9.10.11 as temporall vers 12. Mystically the whole Psalme in the iudgement of Hierome Augustine Basil and other ancient Fathers is nothing else but a prophesie concerning the redemption of mankind from the tyrannie of Satan and sinne by the comming of Christ into the world prefigured by the deliuerances of Gods people from their bondage both in Egypt and Babylon Now the Prophet treating of Christs Aduent Speakes D. Incognitus in loc 1. In the preterperfect tence Lord thou hast been gracious thou hast turned away thou hast forgiuen c. Shewing three notable fruits of his comming 1. Benediction in taking away the curse from his land and captiuity from his people vers 1. 2. Iustification in forgiuing their offences and couering all their sinnes vers 2. 3. Reconciliation turning away Gods wrathfull indignation and displeasure v. 3. 2. In the future tence praying that hee may come turne vs then O God our Sauiour c. g Bacer Bellarmin Or it may be parted into a Predictiō of our deliuerance from the hands of all our spirituall enemies vers 1.2.3 for the Psalmist as prophecying by the spirit of the Lord speaks in the time past of that which as yet was to come Petition for execution of the prediction in the rest an hearty prayer that the fact might answere the figure Lord thou art become gracious The translators of the vulgar Latine reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 benedixisti but Athanasius and other Greek Interpretors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tremellius beneuolus fueras Munster benignus factus es Castalio fanisti Vatablus propitius And our English Bibles accordingly thou hast been gracious fauourable mercifull vnto thy land Here then obserue that the good will and fauour of God is the fountaine of all goodnes and blessing to his people h Ioh. 3.16 God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten sonne c. It was his owne loue which induced him to send his sonne and Ephes 1.3 Blessed be God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which hath blessed vs with all spirituall blessing in heauenly things in Christ as he hath chosen vs in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in loue who hath predestinated vs to be adopted through Iesus Christ vnto himselfe according to the good pleasure of his will c. Vnto thy land God cursed the land for the first Adams disobedience saying i Gen. 3.17 Cursed is the earth for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eate of it all the daies of thy life k Hierom. Euthym. Turrecremat But he blessed the land for the second Adams obedience l Gen. 22.16.18 swearing by himselfe that in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed The Land O Lord is thy land though of it selfe it can bring forth nothing but thistles and thornes it is thy creature wherefore m Wisd 11.21 thou which hatest nothing that thou didst make hast out of the riches of thy mercy become gracious vnto it As the n Psalm 95.5 sea is his for that he made it euen so the o Psal 24.1 earth is the Lords and all that therein is the compasse of the world and they that dwell therein for hee hath founded it c. p T. Wilcox exposition in loc Other thinke that the land of Canaan is called heere thy land because God had chosen it and hedged it in as it were from the Commons of the whole world for his peculiar people the Iewes according to that of the q Esay 5.7 Prophet Surely the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Iudah are his pleasant plant enclosed vnto r Deut. 7.6 Exod. 19.5 himselfe aboue all places vpon earth Thou hast turned away the captiuity of Iacob ſ Hierom. Euthym. All true beleeuers are the sonnes of Iacob and seed of Abraham t Augustin as well the beleeuing Gentiles which are the sonnes of Iacob according to the spirit as the beleeuing Iewes the sonnes of Iacob according to the flesh and the u Bucer Church of these true Iacobins and
all power in heauen m Dr. Incognit as hauing the godly subiect to him out of their deuotion and all power on earth as hauing the wicked made subiect to his foot-stoole will they nill they For there is a n Euthym. Placid parmen in loc idem Aquin. in Philip 2. lect 3. twofold subiection one voluntarie another extorted All glorious Angels all blessed spirits all good men of their owne accord yeeld obedience to Iesus fully cheerfully but the wicked men on earth and the damned fiends in hell in despite of their teeth are blockes at his foot-stoole o August in loc Quaere ergo quem locum habeas sub pedibus domini dei tui nam necesse est vt habeas aut gratiae aut poenae for as euery knee should bow so euery knee shall bow saith p Esay 45.23 Esay that knee that will not out of faith shall out of feare so Dauid here the Lord said vnto my Lord sit at my right hand vntill I make thine enemies thy foot-stoole Vntill This word q Gregor moral lib. 8. cap. 40. Chrysost Incognit Agellius in loc notes here not a piece of time but a perpetuitie For Christ after all his enemies are made his foot-stoole shall euer sit at the right hand of God his throne is for euer and euer Heb. 1.8 And power is vnto him that sitteth vpon the Throne for euermore Apocal 5.13 So donec is vsed Deut. 7.23 The Lord thy God shall destroy them with a mighty destruction vntill they be brought to nought heereby meaning that they shall vtterly bee consumed because they cannot any more resist after once they be brought to nothing And Psalm 112. vers 8. The good mans heart is established and will not shrinke vntill he see his desire vpon his enemies If his heart were not afraid for any euill tidings when his enemies stood vp against him how shall hee shrinke when he sees their neckes giuen vnto him And Matth. 1.25 hee knew her not vntill shee had brought foorth her first borne sonne c. Vntill in that place doth not import as the r Hierom. Chrysost Theophylact. Euthym. Doctors haue well obserued against Heluidius that Ioseph afterward carnally knew Mary for she was a perpetuall virgin as well after as before the birth of her sonne Iesus See 2. Sam. 6.23 Mat. 5.18 and 28.20 It is obiected against this interpretation out of Saint Paul 1. Cor. 15.24 that Christ after he hath put downe all things vnder his feet shall in fine deliuer vp the kingdome to God Answere is made by Chrysostome vpon our text out of Ioh. 16.15 Al things that the Father hath are mine And. Ioh. 17.10 All mine are thine and thine are mine Å¿ Marlorat in 1. Cor. 15.24 As then God the Father was not without his kingdome when as God the Sonne said t Mat. 11.27 Iohn 3.35 all things are giuen vnto me of my Father no more shall God the Son be de-thrond when he shall deliuer vp his kingdome to his Father u See Luther Anselm Lombard in 1. Cor. 15.24 Hee now raignes in secret but when all his enemies once shall be made his foot-stoole then he shall openly rule much more sitting at his Fathers right hand for euermore I make Christ is x Philip. 3.21 able to subdue all things vnto himselfe and according to his power hee shall also put all things vnder his feet 1. Cor 15.27 How then is it true that God the Father saith vntill I make thine enemies thy foot-stoole Answere is made that y Ioh. 5.19 whatsoeuer things the Father doth the same things also doth the Sonne z Euthym. for this action is common to the Sonne with the Father I say common to the Son a Bellarmin in loc in respect of his eternal generation as God and in respect of the hypostaticall vnion as man Yet this worke is ascribed especially to the Father as being a worke of might according to that orthodoxall axiome Works of power are ascribed to the father of wisdome to the Sonne of loue to the holy Ghost Thine enemies b Tileman Heere note that the Church is not a kingdome liuing alwaies in pompe and peace but as c Cant. 6.3 Salomon speakes as an armie with banners exposed to great danger as being opposed by cruel and cunning enemies If any man will take the Churches portraiture let him saith d Loc. Com. tit de persecut verae Eccles Luther paint a seely poore maid sitting in a forlorne wood or wildernesse compassed about on euery side with hungry Lions Woolues Boares Beares in one word with al hateful hurtfull beasts and in the mid'st of a great many furious men assaulting her euery minute as they did here Christ with e Mat. 26.47 swords staues and that which is more terrible threatening fire and water fire to consume her flesh and bones into ashes water to consume her ashes into nothing if it were possible To speake more distinctly Christ and his Church haue f Tileman two sorts of enemies secular and spirituall Secular as idolatrous Gentiles blasphemous Turkes and other barbarous Infidels out of the Church as also violent Tyrants virulent Hereticks fraudulent Antichrists in the bosome of the Church For as g Vbi sup Luther notes out of Augustine the Church hath had a threefold oppression The first violent by persecuting Emperours the second fraudulent by subtill heretickes the third both violent and fraudulent by pestilent Anti-christs in the kingdome of Poperie where the temporall power and spirituall are ioyned together against all that is called God Now Christ is a ruler in the middest of all these h Psal 99.1 the Lord is King be the people neuer so impatient hee sits betweene the Cherubims be the earth neuer so vnquiet Howsoeuer the i Psalm 2. Gentiles furiously rage together and vngodly Princes take counsell together against his annointed he that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne hee shall haue them in derision hee shall bruise them with a rod of iron and breake them in pieces like a potters vessell Albeit k Apoc. 7.1 foure wicked Angels stand on the foure corners of the earth holding the foure winds that the wind should not blow on the earth neither on the sea neither on any tree yet l See epist on Al-Saints day Christ hauing the seale of the liuing God cries with a loud voice to the foure angels to whom power was giuen to hurt the earth and the sea Hurt ye not the earth neither the sea neither the trees vntill we haue sealed the seruants of our God in their foreheads He sits at Gods right hand till his enemies are made his foot-stoole m Vatablus in loc that is vntill he say to tyrants and Hypocrites and Heretickes and Anti-christs and to the whole rabble of the reprobate depart from mee yee cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell
z Mat. 28.18 all power in heauen and earth he shall sit vpon the Throne of Dauid for euer and of his kingdome there is no end Luk. 1.33 2. Other Kings haue power onely ouer our bodies and goods but Christs authority reacheth vnto the soule Their sword is materiall able onely to kill the body but his sword is spirituall proceeding out of his a Apoc. 1.16 mouth able to destroy b Mat. 10.28 both soule and body in hell entring thorow euen vnto the diuiding asunder of the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrow a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 3. Other Kings deriue their authority from him Prouerb 8.15 By me Kings raigne by me Princes rule and stand accountable to him he standeth in the congregation of Princes and iudgeth among gods Psalm 82.1.2 But who shall say to the Lord of Lords Why doest thou so 4. Other Kings reward their fauourites and followers onely with a few titles of honour or with a few parcels of land which are holden of them in fee-farme frank-almoign Knights-seruice c. They make not their vassals heires apparant to their kingdomes but Christ our Lord maketh all his faithfull seruants no lesse then c Apoc. 1.6 Kings and d Rom. 8.17 heires of God euen heires annexed with himselfe If thy children will keepe my couenant Literally this may be construed of Dauids owne children according to the flesh e Mollerus who succeeded him in his Throne 1072. yeeres vntill the Messias borne of his posterity constituted an euerlasting kingdom without end f Caluin According to this sense the Lord saith Ezech. 21.26 I will take away the Diademe and take off the Crowne this shall be no more the same I will ouerturne ouerturne ouerturne it and it shall be no more vntill he come whose right it is and I will giue it him His promise here concerning Christ is absolute but his promise touching other of Dauids house conditionall If thy Children keepe my couenant and my testimonies that I shall learne them g 1. Chron. 28.9 If thou seeke the Lord said Dauid to his sonne Salomon he will bee found of thee but if thou forsake him hee will cast thee off for euer And therefore because Dauids posterity did not obserue his law but follow their owne inuentions hee made them as we reade in the Bibles history captiues of Captaines and gaue their kingdome to another people first vnto the bloodie Romans and now to the barbarous Turkes and so Hierusalem heretofore h Lament 1.1 great among the Nations and Princesse among the Prouinces is made tributarie shee dwelleth among the Heathen and findeth no rest among all her louers shee hath none to comfort her all her friends haue dealt vnfaithfully with her and are made her enemies Mystically the i Arnobius Cassiodorus Hugo Doctors applie this vnto the Children of Christ according to the spirit I will set vpon thy seate that is ordaine Pastors and teachers who shall sit in thy chaire k So that kind of Speech is vsed Mat. 23.2 that is preach thy word and doctrine for the l Ephes 4.11 gathering together of the Saints and edification of the Church euermore This was verified in the blessed Apostles as being made Princes in all lands Psalm 45.17 In one word m Hierome all true beleeuers in Christ are the sons of God and babes in Christ and hee hath as n Ephes 2.6 Paul speakes raised vs vp together and made vs sit together in heauenly places His Charter is faire Matth. 19.28 Verily I say vnto you that when the sonne of man shall sit in the Throne of his Maiesty ye which haue followed me in the regeneration shall also sit vpon twelue Thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel And Apocal. 3.21 To him that ouercommeth will I grant to sit with mee in my Throne euen as I ouercome and sit with my Father in his Throne The o Luther in loc wicked abuse the promises of God applying them vnto themselues which onely belong to the true Church the seed of Dauid according to the spirit So the Papists abuse Christs promise for establishing of the Popes tyrannie p Matth. 16.18 the gates of hell shall not ouercome it and q Mat. 28.20 I will be with you alway till the worlds end Whence they conclude that Peters boat though it may be somtimes in danger shall neuer bee drowned and that the Pope being the Churches head cannot erre r Dr. Fulke in Matth. 16.18 Whereas these promises concerne onely that Church which is built vpon the Rocke Christ and continueth in Saint Peters faith obseruing all things our blessed Sauiour commanded as it is in our text If thy children will keepe my couenant and testimonies that I shall learne them But if the Bishop and Church of Rome dispense with Gods holy word and despise his truth and testimony teaching in stead of his infallible law ſ Mat. 15.9 precepts of men and doctrines of t 1. Tim. 4.1 diuels how shall this or any the like promise belong to them So the wicked in a reprobate sense who make their bellie their god and commit all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse abuse these sweet texts at what time soeuer a sinner c. and Come to me all ye that are wearie and laden and I will ease you c. For this promise concernes only such as are laden and feele the burthen of their iniquitie hauing both a sight and a sense thereof acknowledging that sinne is a u Euthym. in Matth. 11. labour in accomplishing and a load when it is accomplished It appertaineth onely to such as repent and that of all their sinne and that from the heart and bottome of the heart So the carnall Gospellers in comming irreuerently to the Lords Table without any deuotion or due respect to that holy Sacrament abuse the words of our blessed Sauiour This is my body For as the godly Martyr x In his last exam apud Fox fol. 1463. Iohn Bradford well obserued the clause take eate is a precept and the clause this is my body a promise the bread and wine then are not vnto any the body and blood of Christ except they first eate and take and none can take and eate but by y Confess Anglican art 28. faith A worthie receiuer therefore beggeth of God both a pardon of his faults and an encrease of his faith To conclude this point in the law the condition is do this and liue in the Gospell beleeue this and thou shalt be saued He that neglects the precept and yet will chalenge the promise deceiueth himselfe hee shall not rest on Gods holy hil and sit on his happie seat for euermore PSALM 2. Why doe the Heathen so furiously rage together c. This Ode may be diuided into 2. parts the 1. Describes the wickednesse and weaknes of such as bandie thēselues against the
vnto me O God be mercifull as being so willing to defend thy children as the hen is her chickens vnder the shadow of her wings Gods might I will call vnto the most high God euen vnto the God that shall q The like phrase Psal 138. and Philip. 1.6 perform the cause I haue in hand who shall send from heaueÌ„ to wit his hand as Psal 144.7 or his Angell as Dan. 3.28 or as it heere followeth his mercie and truth able to saue me from the reproofe of him that would eate race vp and deuoure my soule r Mollerus Tileman Caluine opposing heauen to terrene meanes By supernaturall and extraordinarie miracles so well as ordinarie meanes able to deliuer his seruants as well with Å¿ 1. Sam. 14.6 2. Chron. 24.11 few as with many So Manasses in his prayer buildeth all his comfort vpon Gods almightie power and vnsearchable mercifull promise So Christ in his absolute paterne of praying aduiseth vs to call vpon God as our father in heauen insinuating hereby that God is willing to grant our requests as being our father and able because in heauen And according to these presidents our holy Mother the Church of England begins her publike deuotion vnto God Almightie and most mercifull Father Able to heare because almightie willing to helpe because most mercifull For my soule trusteth in thee He desires to be heard in respect of his assured affiance in Gods almightie power and holy promise t Psal 145.18 The Lord is nigh vnto all them that call vpon him euen all such as call vpon him faithfully u Psal 50.15 Call vpon mee in the time of trouble so will I heare thee c. x Psal 2.12 Blessed are all they that put their trust in him And therefore Dauid here challengeth as it were God vpon his word saying Be mercifull vnto me for my soule trusteth in thee The y Euthym. Agellius Genebrard repetition of miserere sheweth his earnest affection and intention in praying and the word z Caluâ—ne soule that his hope for helpe was no flying conceit of his braine but a full assurance setled in his heart Lord I trust in a D. Incognit Beza Buchanan nothing else but in thee alone for vnder the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge vntill this tyrannie be ouer past Some put their trust in b 1. Tim. 6.17 vncertaine riches and say to the wedge of gold c Iob. 31.24 thou art my confidence But d Prou 11.4 riches auaile not in the day of wrath e Baruc. 3.17.19 hoarders vp of siluer and gold are come to naught and gone downe to hell O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee Luk. 12.20 Other trust in their owne worth and holinesse as the Pharisie Luk. 18. stood and prayed thus with himselfe O God I thanke thee that I am not as other are extortioners vniust adulterers I fast twice in thee weeke I giue tithe of all that euer I possesse But f Prou. 28.1.26 blessed is the man that feareth alway for he that trusteth in his owne heart is a foole Other trust in their politike counsell as Achitophel of whom it was said in those daies that his counsell was reputed g 2. Sam. 16 23. as an oracle of God but the Lord h Iob. 5.13 catcheth the wise in their owne craftines and the counsell of the wicked is made foolish Other boast of their strength and put their trust as i 1. Sam. 17.45 Goliah did in their sword and shield but k Ierem. 17.5 cursed be the man that maketh flesh his arme withdrawing his heart from the Lord. Other put their trust in Princes and make the Kings Minion their mediatour But saith our l Psal 146.3 Prophet O put not your trust in Princes nor in any child of man for his breath goeth foorth and hee turneth againe to his earth and then all his thoughts perish Other put their trust in m Psal 20.7 Chariots and other in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God only blessed is he that hath the God of Iacob for his helpe and whose hope is in the Lord his God Psalm 146.4 and therefore be mercifull vnto me O God be mercifull vnto me for in thee haue I put all my confidence Mine other friends and forces besides thee what are they but miserable comforters as n Iob. 16.2 Iob speakes if they bee compared with thee o Tileman Bellarmine Like as the chickens seeke to the henne for defence so runne I to the shadow of thy wings for my refuge Lord my soule trusteth in thee now so shall it euer vntill this euill be passed ouer p D. Incognitus Wilcox For by the word vntill he meanes not that when the storme was appeased hee would then cease to trust in God but that hee would both then and for euer depend vpon him as long as hee hath any being Psal 146.1 So the word vntill is vsed 2. Sam. 6.23 Michol the daughter of Saul had no child vntill the day of her death And Psalme 110. vers 1. The Lord said vnto my Lord sit thou on my right hand vntil I make thine enemies thy footstoole Where the word vntill as I haue shewed vpon the place notes not a piece of time but a perpetuitie For Christ after all his enemies are made his footstoole shall euer sit at the right hand of God as hauing a q Heb. 1.18 throne which endureth euer and a r Luke 1.33 kingdome without end Vnder the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge Å¿ Euthym. Bellarmine By this he doth vnderstand Gods safeguard protection and prouidence The metaphor is borrowed from the Hen whose wings in t Bonauent Mollerus three things especially resemble Gods high and holy hand ouer vs. 1. The wings of the Henne nourish and brood her chickens euen so the Lord said vnto Hierusalem u Matth. 23.37 How often would I haue gathered thy children together as the henne gathereth her chickens vnder her wings and ye would not 2. The wings of the Hen serue to defend her chickens from a tempest and storme so God is a x Esay 25.4 refuge against the tempest a shadow against the heate 3. The wings of the Henne serue to protect her chickens from the kite that houereth ouer them and would faine deuoure them euen so God deliuereth his children from the y Psal 91.3 snare of the hunter z Augustine Hierome Arnobius that is from the subtill tentations of the diuell who walketh about seeking whom hee may deuoure 1. Pet. 5.8 The Lord hideth all his vnder the shadow of his wings Psal 17.8 and so capa-pe they shall be safe vnder his feathers his faithfulnes shall bee their shield and his truth their buckler Psal 91.4 Vntill this tyrannie be ouer past He coÌ„pareth his affliction calamity to a a Geneua
how to swallow him vp his soule was among lyons all the daies of his life at the houre of his death especially The diuell in tempting and troubling him had laid a snare for his feet and death in digging a pit for him had thought to deuoure him As Dauid was in the caue so Christ the sonne of Dauid was in the graue But it was n Acts 2.24 impossible that the Lord of life should be holden of Death or that his flesh should see corruption he therfore rose againe from the dead on this day setting himselfe aboue the heauens and his glorie aboue all the earth In his anguish and agonie he did o Heb. 5.7 offer vp prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares vnto him that was able to saue him from death saying p Matth. 26.39 O my Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me neuerthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt And so Christ here called vpon his Father O God be mercifull vnto me c. But he speakes as man in the person of men q Hierome Vnus homo dicit sed vnus pro multis And S. r In loc Augustine sweetly Qui cum patre miseretur tui in te clamat miserere mei Christ according to his ſ See notes vpon Gospell 10. Sun after Trinit Thelesis and naturall will abhorred and feared death and therefore said O God be mercifull vnto me but according to his boulesis and rationall will he yeelded himselfe voluntarily to his persecutors and said Vnder the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge till this euill is ouer past And Psalm 16.9 as S. Peter applieth it Acts 2.25 I beheld God alway before me for he is at my right hand that I shall not fall Wherefore such as affirme that hee suffered the pangs of desperation and the very paines of the damned in hell erre foully not vnderstanding the Scriptures He saith here vers 5. according to the vulgar Latine Dormini conturbatus he was indeed grieuously troubled in his soule yet so that he slept t August in loc Consule Lorin in loc tam placatus erat iste turbatus vt quando vellet dormiret He feared his enemies tyrannie secundum propassionem as u Sent. lib. 3. dist 15. Lombard acutely non secundum passionem Or to speake in the words of x Epist 25. Bernard he was turbatus moued but not perturbatus remoued from his trust in God and resolution to worke our good And therefore y Hierom. in loc he said in another Psalme I will lay me downe in peace and take my rest as hauing z Ioh. 10.18 power to lay downe my life and power to take it vp again For as he dyed when he would euen so when he would he did arise from the dead setting himselfe aboue the heauens and his glorie aboue all the earth According to this exposition our Church allotted this Hymne to be read on this holy-day for in Christs resurrection all his enemies tyrannie was ouerpast in his resurrection his a Turrecremat glorie which heretofore was obscure did appeare aboue all the earth in his resurrection he did awake right early so the text in the b Luke 24.1 morning early whē it was c Ioh. 20.1 darke in his resurrection his lute and harpe did awake that is his flesh arose from the bed of his graue d Augustine Hierome Lorinus The strings of an Harpe are touched and sound vpward especially but the strings of a Lute from below Christs humane nature then in working diuine miracles which are from aboue was like the Harpe but in suffering our infirmities here below like a Lute The Harpe did sound when he made the blinde to see the deafe to heare the lame to goe c. but the Lute did sound when he was a thirst hungrie naked whipped when he cryed when he dyed when he was buffeted and when hee was buried After his resurrection all the miracles he did out of his power and all the miseries hee suffered out of his infirmitie were by the blessed Apostles instruments of his glorie preached first among the people then among all nations euery where singing that the greatnes of his mercie reacheth vnto the heauens and his truth vnto the cloudes This also may bee construed of the e Mollerus Strigellius Church and that both in respect of her spirituall enemies and temporall As for her ghostly foes the diuel is a roaring lyon 1. Pet. 5.8 and our sinnes are the f Nyssen apud Lorin in loc whelpes of lyons readie to deuoure vs. And concerning outward enemies the Church in this world is like Daniel in the lions denne or as the sucking childe playing vpon the hole of the Aspe Esay 11.8 she hath here no visible power or outward helpe to flie to for succour all her trust is in the Lord vnder the shadow of his wings is her refuge till this euill is ouer-past In old time Gods people were g Heb. 11.36 tried by mockings and scourgings by bonds and prisonment they were stoned hewen asunder they were tempted they were slaine with the sword they wandred vp and downe in wildernes and mountaines and caues of the earth clothed in sheep-skins and in goates-skinnes being destitute afflicted and tormented of whom the world was not worthie Since Christ it is well obserued by h Ser. 33. super Cant. Bernard of the Churches affliction Amara prius in nece martyrum amarior post in conflictu haereticorum amarissima nunc in moribus domesticorum Hot non fugare non fugere potest ita inualüerunt multiplicati sunt super numerum Her oppression in the beginning was great by the persecution of tyrants afterward greater by the conflict of heretikes but now greatest of all by the dangerous positions and practises of Anti-christs in the kingdome of poperie whose very Masses are sometime for massacres and their sacred sacrifices offerings of blood And surely beloued if the Church had not any other enemies but onely these monstrous Anti-christs of Rome yet she might truly complaine with our Prophet here my soule is among lyons Eleuen Popes had that name whereof all excepting two or three were roring lyons in their buls and rauening lyons in seeking after their pray Leo the tenth so pilled and polled the goodly nation of Germany with impardonable Pardons and mercilesse Indulgences as that his insupportable crueltie gaue the first occasion of the reformation of religion in that Countrey The foes of Dauid are said here to lay a net for his feete and to digge a pit before him and what are the Papists intricate distinctions of Schooles and Machiauelismes of State but snares and nets to catch our bodies and soules and so greedily to swallow vs vp as Saul here would haue done to Dauid These Scribes and Pharisies haue so great a swallow that they deuoure not only some few widowes houses as the i
dead It is reported of the zealous and learned Martyr u Fox Mart. fol. 855. Ioannes Mollius that he neuer spake of the name Iesu but instantly teares dropt from his eyes And surely the due consideration of Christs all-sufficient oblation and sacrifice for all our sinnes on the Crosse should make vs abhorre those masse-mongers and to say with our x Psal 139.21 Prophet Doe not I hate them O Lord that hate thee and am not I grieued with those that rise vp against thee yea Lord I hate them right sore euen as though they were mine enemies But the maine poynt of their foolish wisedome is the prohibiting of the Scriptures in a vulgar and knowne tongue y Iohn 5.39 Christ saith expressely Search the Scriptures Antichrist on the contrary z Ex registro Ioh. Longland Episc Linc. fol. 85. apud Fox Mart. fol. 763. the reading of holy Scriptures is against the determination of the Church As long as Lay-men are kept from the light of the Gospell and Lanterne of the Lawe they cannot spiritually discerne their Priests erroneous doctrines and doings Herein the popish Clergy doth vse the foppish Laity like as the a Iudg. 16.25 Philistines handled Samson first they put out their eies and then being blind-fold they make pastime with all degrees of them euen with Emperours and Kings and b 2. Thes 2.3 all that is called God I haue heard often and read c Dr. Carleton directions to know the true Church pa. 40. also that Cardinall Caietan comming into Paris and seeing the blinde people very desirous of his blessing and therein vndoubtedly the Popes he turned to them and said Quandoquidem hic populus decipi vult decipiatur in nomine diaboli that is seeing this people will needs be deceiued let them be deceiued in the name of the diuell and so gaue them the Popes blessing In these poynts and many moe the Papists albeit neuer so learned haue bad vnderstanding and the reason hereof is plaine because they haue changed the rule of faith d Concil Tridēt idem Bell. lib. de verbo Dei non scripto cap. 3. §. contro cap. 4. § nunc vt 12 §. dico secundo adding to the Scriptures vnwritten traditions and honouring them with equall affection of deuotion and reuerence and so consequently worshiping God after their own inuentions and not according to the prescript of his holy faith and feare The praise of it endures for euer Or as other Translations his praise referring it e Bucer Agellius either to God or else to the man who feares God f Chrysost Euthym. Some Diuines ascribe this praise to God alone g Genebr in loc in Psal 148.13 because Tehilla properly signifieth onely that kinde of praise which is due to God and so they make this clause to containe both a h Melancth Mollerus precept and a promise Precept exhorting vs to praise God with all our heart both in the secret assemblies of the faithfull and in the publike congregation And so this Hymnes end doth answere the beginning and the Text in euery poynt the title Now lest any man in executing this office should be discouraged the Prophet addeth a promise Gods praise doth endure for euer as if he should haue said The Lord is i Psal 99.1 King be the people neuer so impatient the Lord is k Kings 18.31 God albeit the l Psal 2.1 Gentiles furiously rage together and the Iewes imagine a vaine thing the Kings of the earth stand vp and the Rulers combine themselues against him He that dwelleth in heauen hath all his enemies in derision and makes them all his footestoole his power is for euer and so consequently his praise shall endure for euer in the militant Church vnto the worlds end in the triumphant world without end Most interpretours haue referred this vnto the good man who feares the Lord yet diuersly m In loc Saint Augustine expoundeth it thus his praise that is his praising of the Lord shall endure for euermore because he shall bee one of them of whom it is said Psal 84.4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be alwaies praising thee n Arnobius Dr. Incognitus Bellarmine R. Stephanus Tileman Other vnderstand by o His that is their praise who feare the Lord and doe thereafter the singular for the plurall Bucer his praise the commendation of the good man both in the life present and in that which is to come for his righteousenesse shall be had in an euer lasting remembrance Psal 112.6 Concerning the present howsoeuer the name of the wicked rot either in obliuion or in ignominie yet p Prou. 10.7 the memoriall of the iust is blessed it is like the composition of the perfume made by the skill of the Apothecary sweet as hony in all mouthes and as musicke at a banquet of wine r Buchanan Hunc ventura nepotum semper dicent secla Beatum Or as Beza Hic sapit hic demum mansura laude fruetur q Eccles 49.1 parere qui Deo studet In the world to come the Lord will say to such as louing his feare haue liued thereafter ſ Mat. 25.21 It is well done good seruant and faithfull enter into thy Masters ioy to become the peoples Saint and to be commended of the most is not alwaies honourable Non minus periculum ex magna fama said t In vita Agric. Tacitus quà m ex mala That commendation is onely true glory which as u Tusc quaest li. 3 Cicero speakes is Consentiens laus bonorum incorrupta vox bene Iudicantium And therefore to bee praised by the most worthy of all honor and praise the Lord most high and most holy surpasseth all the wickeds glozing all this worlds glory Now then I demaund of the worldling what is the most high and deepe poynt of wisedome is it to get an opulent fortune to be so wise as fiftie thousand pounds behold godlinesse is great gaine saith x 1 Tim. 6.6 Paul and the Christian onely rich quoth the renowned y Clem. Paedag. lib. 3. Catechist of Alexandria Is it to liue ioyfully or to vse the gallants phrase Iouially behold z Psal 97.11 there is ioyfull gladnesse for such as are true-hearted A wicked man in his madde-merry humor for a while may be Pomponius Laetus but a good man onely is Hilarius onely hee which is faithfull in a Psal 64.10 Prou. 13.9 heart is ioyfull in heart Is it to get honour the praise of Gods feare saith our Text endures for euer many worthies of the world are most vnhappy because they be commended where they be not and tormented where they be hell rings of their paines earth of their praise but b Psal 112.1 blessed is the man that feareth the Lord for his commendation is both here lasting and hereafter euerlasting in this world renowned amongst
deuils Empire where he holdeth vp his Scepter and ruleth as a Prince Ephes 2.2 Gods kingdome is taken in the Bible two waies especially Generally For that gouernment which is termed u See Ro. Steph. Concord in dictione regnum Bellarm. Catech. cap. 4. Regnum potentiae by which hee ruleth all men and disposeth of all things euen of the deuils themselues according to his good will and pleasure Specially For his administration of the Church and that is Twofold Regnum gratiae the kingdome of grace Regnum gloriae the kingdome of glorie Of that kingdome which is potentiae Regnum it is said by x 1. Chro. 29.11 Dauid Thine is the kingdome O Lord and thou excellest as head ouer all Of that kingdome y Dan. 4.31 Daniel speaketh His kingdome is from generation to generation and his z Dan. 6.26 dominion euerlasting Of that kingdome Christ in the conclusion of his prayer Thine is the kingdome power and glory For albeit peruerse men do mischiefe and obserue not the laws of God yet he raigneth ouer them as an absolute Lord for that when it pleaseth him hee hindereth their designments and when he permits them sometime to haue their desires hee doth afterward punish them according to their owne misdeeds and so a Psal 135.6 Whatsoeuer the Lord pleaseth he doth in heauen and in earth and in the Sea and in all deepe places By his kingdome of grace he gouernes the soules and hearts of good Christians giuing them his spirit and grace to serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the daies of their life Christ is the king of this kingdome vpon whome the Father hath conferred b Mat. 28.18 all authority both in heauen and earth The subiects of this kingdome are such as c Psal 110.3 offer vnto him free-will offrings with an holy worship euer ready to giue cheerefull obedience to the rod of his power The lawes of this kingdome are the Scriptures and word of God in this respect called d Mat. 13.11 the kingdome of heauen the e Marke 1.14 Gospell and f Mat. 13.19 word of the kingdome the g Esay 11.4 rod of Christs mouth and h Rom. 1.16 power of his arme to saluation And so consequently the kingdome of grace is a preparation and entrance to the kingdome of glory which is the blessed estate of all Gods elect in that other life where God is to them all in all And in this respect the kingdome of grace many times is termed in the Gospels History the kingdome of heauen as being the way to the kingdome of glory which is in the heauen of heauens This one verse then expounds and exemplifies two prime petitions in the Lords prayer hallowed be thy name thy kingdome come for Iuda was Gods sanctuary because hallowing his name and Israel his dominion as desiring his kingdome to come Let euery man examine himselfe by this patterne whether he be truely the seruant of Iesus his Sauiour or the vassall of Sathan the destroyer If any submit himselfe willingly to the domineering of the diuell and suffer sinne to i Rom. 6.12 reigne in his mortall members obeying the lusts thereof and k Ephes 4.19 working all vncleannesse euen with greedinesse assuredly that man is yet a Chappell of Sathan and a slaue to sinne On the contrary whosoeuer vnfainedly desires that Gods kingdome may come being euer ready to bee ruled according to his holy word acknowledging it a lanthorne to his feet and a guide to his pathes admitting obediently his lawes and submitting himselfe alway to the same what is he but a Citizen of heauen a subiect of God a Saint a Sanctuary Two questions are moued here the first is what antecedent answeres the relatiue his and the second what is meant by Iuda The relatiue eius hath an antecedent l Mollerus implyed howsoeuer not expressed m Genebrard as Psalme 87.1 Fundamenta eius her foundations are vpon the holy hils And God is that antecedent as I haue partly said and it may likewise be fully shewed both out of the text and title The n Euthym. circumstances of the Text leade vs to this antecedent the Lord is the God of Iacob verse 7. Ergo the house of Iacob is Gods Sanctuary the children of Israel Gods dominion Againe the o Bellarmine Title poynts at this antecedent Alleluia praise the Lord as if the Prophet should haue said ye haue good and great cause to praise the Lord because when Israel went out of Egypt and the house of Iacob from among the strange people then Iuda was his Sanctuary c. Lastly though it should be granted that neither Title nor Text here can affoord vs an antecedent yet we need not runne with p In loc Agellius out of this Hymne to fetch one from the last words of the next going before Hee maketh the barren woman to keepe house c. Because his in this verse may be construed of God Catexochen as being hic ille the most high He who turned the hard rocke into a standing water and the flint stone into a springing Well at whose presence the mountaines skip like Rammes and the little hils like yong sheepe yea the Sea fleeth and the earth trembleth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Iacob By Iuda q Placidus Turrecremat Genebrard some vnderstand Iudea for r Psal 76.1 God is knowne in Iurie his name is great in Israel at Salem is his tabernacle and his dwelling in Sion Å¿ Dr. Incognitus Agellius Other haue construed this onely of the tribe of Iuda for that God in Iuda would chuse a Prince 1. Chron. 28.4 or because the Messias of the world which is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings was to be borne of t Gen. 49.10 that tribe Or because the u See Placidus Bucer Genebrard Dr. Incognit in loc Iewes haue a tradition that Iuda was the first tribe that aduentured after Moses and Aaron and entred into the red sea with vndaunted courage So wee finde in the numbring of Israels hoste that the standerd of Iuda was in the first place Numb 10.14 and Nahshon the sonne of Aminadab was their Captaine Numb 2.3 Hence it is said Cant. 6.11 My soule made me like the chariots of Aminadab or my willing people But x Caluine Rob. Stephanus Tremellius Strigellius Bellarmine most Interpretors vnderstand by Iuda not only that tribe but also the rest of the children of Israel It is nothing but a Synecdoche pars pro toto the chiefe tribe for the whole body of Gods people that went out of Egypt into the land of promise called often in holy Scriptures Israel of the fathers name and Iuda of the chiefe sonnes name Bondage was the perill out of which Israel and Iuda were deliuered and that in the y Plautus in Amphit Poets iudgement is worse then any danger or death omni
our sinnes he was made a curse for vs Galat. 3.13 He was wounded for our transgressions and broken for our iniquities Esay 53.5 and out of this hard rocke thus smitten by Moses rod a Well of water sprang forth into euerlasting life Iohn 4.14 The Sea saw that and fled The world is called a Sea Reuelation 4.6 the world then f Dr. Jncognitus persecuting Christ and his Apostles is a red sea this red sea fled at the preaching of the Gospell and gaue place Christ rebuked the winds and the waters and so there was a great calme Matthew 8.26 Iordan was driuen backe g Matth. 3.16 Christ himselfe was baptised in Iordan and such as are h Rom. 6.3 baptised into Christ and beleeue send not as other i Ecclesiastes 1.7 riuers vsually their streames into the sea that is they fashion not themselues according to this world but are renewed in their mindes Rom. 12.2 they repent and turne backe from their olde courses and walke in newnesse of life Rom. 6.4 The mountaines skipped like rammes By mountaines k In loc Arnobius doth vnderstand the Prophets quia locuti sunt altitudines Dei they reioyced at the fulfilling of their Prophecies and skipped as Rammes in seeing that sheepheard borne l Iohn 10.11 who would lay downe his life for his sheepe S. m In loc Augustine makes the blessed Apostles and other Preachers of the Gospell olde sheepe and their auditors as it were lambes and young sheepe begotten in Christ vnto God by the disposers of the secrets of God according to that of n 1. Cor. 4.15 Paul vnto his Corinthians In Christ Iesus I haue begotten you through the Gospell Israels Exodus out of Egypts bondage was so great that God himselfe in perpetuam rei memoriam instituted the o Exod. 12. passouer to be kept of his people for euer and further inserted a short remembrance thereof in the prologue to his law I am the Lord thy God which haue brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage This deliuerance was temporall and particular onely concerning Israel and the house of Iacob but the redemption by Christ is spirituall and generall appertaining to men of all conditions and countries of all tribes and at all times euen from the beginning vnto the worlds end For so God loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life Iohn 3.16 and therfore the Church vpon good grounds ordained the feasts of Christs Incarnation Passiō Resurrectiō Ascension And for as much as Christ is our p 1. Cor. 5 7. Passe-ouer the Church of England q Melancthon in loc affirmes that it was vsually sung amōg the Iewes at their celebration of Easter appoynted this hymne fitly to bee read on Easter day The Church of Rome r Apoc. 17.6 drunkē with the blood of Saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Iesus Christ is spiritually Babylon and Egypt And the Papists her followers a generation of barbarous people barbarous in their doings and barbarous in their doctrines Concerning their barbarous vsage their bloodie butchering of Gods Israel in Angrongne their massacre in France gun-powder treason in England are clouds of witnesses against them vnto the worlds end As for their sayings is it not barbarous language to call that man of sinne most holy father and as if that were not enough holinesse it selfe ſ Bellarm. epist dedic Tom. 1. controuers sanctitas vestra t Idem epist dedic Tom. 2. Baronius epist dedic Tom. 2. annal reliqui papistae communiter beatitudo vestra Is it not barbarous language to set Anti-christ in the seate of Christ and to terme him expressely u Cap. quoniam de immunitate in 6. Turrecremat sum lib. 2. cap. 27. per totum the husband of the Church Is it not barbarous language to magnifie the Romish Pharaoh aboue x 2. Thessal 2.4 all that is called God making him a Demi-god yea Semi-god neither absolutely God nor simply man but a midling between both Is it not barbarous language to say that none may presume to tell him of his faults though he should through his ill example draw millions of men into hell as their y In Decreto cap. si Papa dist 40. owne text runneth innumerabiles populos cateruatim secum ducit primo mancipio gehennae cum ipso plagis multis in aeternum vapulaturus huius culpas istic redarguere praesumit mortalium nullus Is it not barbarous language to say that no minorite Frier obseruing S. z Hen. Sedulius apolog lib. 2. c. 9. Francis order and rule can be damned and that a certaine Frier vpon a time being carried into hell and surueying in it euery corner found not so much as one Franciscan Frier That a Frier should goe to hell is thought no great marueile but that he should returne from thence to tell vs this tale seemeth incredible considering the Pope himselfe determineth ex inferno nulla redemptio Is it not barbarous language to say a Fox Martyr fol. 913. 1011 that to bee buried in a gray Friers frocke in S. Francis Cowle should remit foure parts of penance three parts of our sinnes b Buchanan fratres fraterrimi Quî fit vt moriamur in cucullo Cum nemo bene viuat in cucullo Is it not barbarous lāguage to say that it is an c Card. Campegius Albertus Pighius apud Iewel defence of his apolog part 4. cap. 1. diuis 1. honester thing for a Priest to be intangled with many concubines in secret then openly to be ioined in mariage with one wife For hee may not keepe one benefice with one wife d Cornelius Agrippa de vanit scient cap. 64. but hee may haue two benefices and three whores Is it not barbarous language to say e Jo. Lambert apud Fox Martyr fol. 1018. that for repeating ouer the fifteene Ooes euery day once through a whole yeere wee shall apertly see our Ladie to helpe vs after our death or that we shal haue the like benefit for saying of her Psalter vpon the tenne beades that come from the crossed Friers or vpon the fiue beades hallowed at the Charter-house or for fasting the Ladies fast as they call it yea for fasting on the Wednesday Is it not barbarous language to say that our f Bellarm. de Iustificat lib. 2. cap. 2. cap. 10. owne inherent righteousnesse is the formall cause of absolute iustification and not the righteousnesse of Christ imputed vnto vs This opinion is so barbarous that S. Paul saith of it Galath 5.4 Yee are abolished from Christ and fallen from grace whosoeuer are iustified by the law Is it not barbarous language to say that the g Thom. part 3. quaest 25. art 3. Crucifixe is to bee reuerenced and adored with the selfe same kinde of worship that is