of God Marke therefore how David speakes They will be still praysing him It is not enough to praise him it must bee a praising him still before it will make a Blessednesse and though to praise God be an easie matter yet to praise him still will be found a busie worke indeed to flesh and bloud a miserable worke for if I be still praising him what time shall I have for any pleasure O my soule if thou make it not thy pleasure thy chiefe thy onely pleasure to bee praysing him thou art not like in hast to come to Blessednesse And marvell not that David speakes thus under the Law When Saint Paul under the Gospell saith as much Whether ye eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the glory and praise of God And indeed how can I doubt of attaining to Blessednesse by praising of God when it is praising of God that makes the Angels in heaven Blessed for the seeing of God would never make them blessed if seeing him they did not praise him and praising him would never make them blessed if they did not praise him continually crying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath for as we praise God here on Earth with saying O Lord God of Hosts because here he fighteth for us against our enemies so wee shall praise him in heaven with saying O Lord God of Sabbath because there he will give us rest from our enemies Verse 5 But if it bee thought that praising of God will not be enough to make Blessednesse or not to make Blessednesse enough at least take this with it and it will surely be enough Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are For though our praising of God being our owne worke must needs be too weake to make a blessednesse yet when our strength is in God this makes it his worke and then our blessednesse hath a sure foundation When we trust to our owne strength for Blessednesse we are often deceived indeed as often as alwayes but when our strength is in God we may rest secure our blessednesse is upon a Rocke and cannot be shaken But then Gods wayes must be in our hearts for what way hath his strength to the heart if his wayes be not in the heart That 's their place if wee looke for strength from him Are we not in a continuall fight against Sin and have we any strength to fight but onely in him and will he take it well to be placed in a Wing No my soule he will strengthen us no longer then hee is placed in the heart of the Battell That 's his place if wee looke to bee strengthened in him It is not enough that Gods wayes bee knowne if they be not walked in nor walked in if not embraced and it is not enough to embrace them with the armes which is oftentimes feigned and but onely complimentall they must be embraced with the two armes of the heart Integritie and Sinceritie Integritie will embrace them all Sinceritie will embrace no other Though Gods wayes be many yet they must all goe into one Heart if any be left out the rest will not tarry though they must be in singlenesse of heart yet they must not be single in the heart They are fruites that grow in clusters not one by one There are many that have Gods wayes in their mouthes can talke holily and make Sermons of godlinesse though they bee no Preachers but because they draw neere to God with their lips and their hearts are farre from him they are like to have but the Pharisees entertainment not so well justified as the Publican There are many that have Gods wayes in their hands they give almes plentifully they distribute their bread to the Poore liberally but because their left hand knowes what their right hand doth they have their reward already They that have Gods wayes in their hearts they onely are in the right way to blessednesse and no rubbes of the world can turne them out of the way For when Gods wayes are in the heart together they lend assistance to Verse 6 one another For passing thorow the Valley of Baca they make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles That which seemed an impediment turnes to a furtherance at least no misery can be so great no estate so barren but a godly heart can make it a Well out of which to draw forth water of comfort either water to clense and make it a way to Repentance or water to coole and make it a way to Patience or water to moysten and make it a way of growing in grace and if the Well happen to bee dry and afford no water from below yet the raine shall fill their pooles and supply them with water from above If naturall forces bee not sufficient there shall bee supernaturall graces added to assist them that though troubles of the world seeme rubs in the way to blessednesse yet in truth they are none they hinder not arriving at the marke we ayme at they hinder us not from being made Members of Syon they hinder us not from approaching the presence of God No my soule they are rather helpes for by this meanes wee goe from strength to strength from strength of Patience to strength of Hope from strength of Hope to strength of Faith from strength of Faith to strength of Vision and then will be accomplished that which David speakes here Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are If my strength were not in God I should not dare to call upon him being Lord of Hosts but now that my strength is in him and that I know hee is Lord of Hosts for me and not against me a Shield to me a Sword onely to my enemies now I have confidence to say O Lord God of Hosts heare my prayer give eare Verse 7 O God of Jacob for as I doubt not but hee will heare me though he bee Lord of Hosts so I have much more confidenne he will give eare unto me being the God of Jacob for he hath made a Covenant with Jacob and with his posteritie for ever that he will be their God and they shall be his people of which number it is my happinesse that I am one not after the flesh which profiteth nothing but according to Faith the onely thing that makes the true Israelite But yet what good will it doe me that God heare my prayer and give eare unto it if he be still averse and turne away his Face O therefore Behold O Lord our shield and looke upon the face of thine anoynted For I shall never come to looke upon thy Face if thou vouchsafe not first to looke upon mine if thou afford me not as well the benefit of thine Eyes to looke upon me as the favour of thine Eares to heare me I shall be left onely to a bare expectation but never come to the happinesse of
there not a necessitie of speaking many things besides Gods praises yet nothing must bee spoken but either his Praise or to his praise or else wee breake our Vow And how then is this Riddle to bee expounded Is it not as Saint Paul expounds it Whither yee eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the praise and glory of God And if all wee doe may bee done to the praise of God then certainly all we speake may bee spoken to the praise of God and indeed seeing he never ceaseth to send forth continually his blessings with what reason can we cease to set forth continually his Praises But when I make this Vow to blesse God at all times I make it not presuming upon any abilitie in my selfe Alas I know my owne weaknesse and how unready I am to any goodnesse but my soule maketh her boast in the Lord Verse 2 My confidence is that he who hath given mee the resolution to will it will give mee also the power to performe it that Hee who hath begun the worke will also finish it and being so good an Architect as he is will not lay a foundation but will as well also set on the Roofe If I should boast in my selfe I should doe wrong to God but if I boast not in God I doe wrong to my selfe seeing God is a strength to none but to them that make him their strength and none make him their strength but they that make their boast of him It is a hard matter to bring Boasting and Humilitie to meet together in one subject betweene which there is so naturall an Antipathie yet here it is done for this I may say is the humble boasting where a vaine man may glory without vaine-glory where a weake Agent may presume without presumption Not like the boasting of the Pharisee so hatefull in the eyes of God so offensive in the eares of the humble For the Humble can heare this boasting and bee glad which they would never doe if it were not conformable to the rules of Humility Can any boasting be greater then to say I can doe all things yet in this boasting there is humilitie when I adde In him that comforteth mee For though God like not of boasting yet he likes of this boasting which arrogates nothing to our selves but ascribes all to him and seeing my soule boasteth her felfe of God I doubt not but as the humble heare it and bee glad so God sees it and is pleased and accepts my Boasting as a sacrifice of Humilitie But to what end is it that my Boasting tends Is it to set forth my owne worthinesse and to vaunt of my abilities Is it to tread in the steps of Lucifer or to walke in the way of the Pharisee God forbid the humble then would not be glad to heare my boasting No my soule it is to magnifie the Lord O therefore Verse 3 magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together for alas what am I to magnifie his Name my selfe alone if I have not company to helpe me All I can doe and all the humble can doe is but to say Not unto us Not unto us O Lord but to thy Name give the glory which is rather a vilifying of our selves then a magnifying of him they must be creatures of a better mettall that can serve and yet cannot serve to magnifie him as they should and it is not the worke of a few all the Millions of millions in Heaven and Earth have enough to doe and more then enough to exalt his Name O therefore yee Blessed Spirits of heaven doe you magnifie the Lord but take mee with you in your company that though I adde nothing to the weight of the worke yet I may adde one to the number of the worke-men in magnifying his Name We that are dwellers on the Earth can exalt his Name no higher then the Heavens and there you that be Inhabitants of Heaven must take it and exalt it higher and so betweene us all wee shall make a shift to exalt him to his true Elevation for his Glory is above the Heavens But if perhaps you thinke scorne of our company as being men of polluted lips and therefore not worthy to bee of your Consort yet the humble will make a consort by themselves and will not indeed cannot be kept from exalting his Name for our Humilitie is his Exaltation and then wee raise him up to the height of his Throne when we cast our selves downe as low as his Footstoole that it is but a diverse expressing of the same thing in substance whither we say Let us exalt the Name of the Lord Or let us fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker David is not wont to use Exclamations but upon speciall occasion if he use one here and say O magnifie the Lord we may know that to magnifie his Name is a thing of great importance indeed so great that all things besides it at least all things without it are nothing but vanitie O then all you that be exalted in Heaven and all you that bee humble in the earth and lest any be left out where all are too few O all ye workes of the Lord blesse yee the Lord Praise him and magnifie him Verse 4 forever For I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered mee from all my feares To seeke and upon seeking to be heard is a great favour but to bee heard and upon hearing to bee delivered from all feares is a favour that deserves Magnifying in the highest degree But why is it that I sought him is it not because I had lost him before and why should I seeke to get him againe and would not keepe him when I had him O my soule Carendo magis quam fruendo Wee know the goodnesse of things more by wanting them then by enjoying them though I could not see what happinesse it was to have him yet I see what miserie it is to want him and yet in this I account my selfe happy that I have sought him while he was within hearing for alas if I had stayed from seeking him till hee had beene out of hearing What hope could I have had of ever recovering him But O the tender mercies of God that hath not suffered me to put off my seeking him so long for O my soule it is no lesse his mercie that I seeke him then that hee heares me my desire is not more to have him then his to bee had for how else could he have heard mee as soone as I sought him but that hee stood listening as it were when I would seeke him and he heard me not as one that were indifferent whither he head me or no but he gave me audience with no lesse Intention to grant my suit then attention to know it for heare the successe of my seeking him see the fruit of his hearing me He delivered mee from all my feares To have delivered mee
a transitorie thing and wert not to continue thou mightst justly then looke after transitorie pleasures and such as have no continuance but seeing thou art a substance perpetuall and immortall O therefore looke after pleasures like thy selfe pleasures that may last and never come to the last that may last and be durable and not leave thee to the miserie of Fuit Ilium ingens gloria teucrorum for Fuisse foelicem miserrimum est To have beene happy and not to bee to have flourished and now to bee withered is the greatest miserie in the world And the greater for that once pluckt off from his stalke Once taken from the Earth the Earth will never know him any more Alas it will scarce take notice that ever such a one there was and the Verse 16 notice it takes but in specie neither not in Individuo some perhaps as of a man None as of this man or rather some as of a Name None as of a man Or is it rather that Man turned once to Dust his place will know him no more for how should it know one from another when they are all so like How know Dives from Lazarus when they have both the same face seeing Death hath but one copie to draw all her pictures by Or is it rather that Man once turn'd to Dust is blowne about with every wind from place to place and what knowes the place when Dust falls upon it whether it be the Dust of a Prince or of a Peasant whether of a Man or of a Beast And must not Man then bee needes very miserable when Time and place the two best helpes of life doe both forsake him for what helpe can hee have of Time when his dayes are but as Grasse What help of Place when his place denyes him and will not know him But O how vaine a thing is Man to forget not onely the very matter of which he is made but the very condition under which hee is made and so to forget it that God must bee faine to remember him of it but much the vainer that being remembred of it never so often yet hee regards it never the more but contenting himselfe to be fading grasse at most a fading flowre never seekes to improve his Dust to that true solidnesse which nothing but the feare of God is able to procure nothing but the pitty in God is able to effect But now at last if neither the Distances of Place nor the Affection of Nature can make you sufficiently conceive the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take an expressing in plaine tearmes and this will certainly make you conceive it For his mercy is from everlasting Verse 17 to everlasting upon them that feare him It is from everlasting for it began to be before the Foundations of the world were laid and it is to everlasting for it will continue to be when the Frame of the World shall bee dissolved that now O my soule there can bee no feare of the greatnesse of Gods mercy all the feare now is of thine owne feare for although Verse 18 Gods mercy bee so Everlasting yet it is so but to them that feare him for if thou feare him not and keepe not his Commandements then his mercy to thee is neither from Everlasting nor to Everlasting but if thou feare him and keepe his Commandements then his mercy to thee is both and not onely to Thee as though Gods mercy were onely a Personall benefit and should end with thy selfe but it shall be continued to thy childrens children Et natis natorum qui nascentur ab illis to thy whole Posteritie O my soule what an Inheritance is this to purchase to our children at least if it bee not an absolute Inheritance yet it is so sure an Entayle that nothing but the want of fearing God can cut it off And indeed why else hath God prepared Verse 19 his Throne in Heaven but to the end the godly may bee assured that though they bee now oppressed on earth yet thither they shall come at last to bee with him in Joy to bee there in Joy for having obeyed him when the wicked shall bee left behind to bewayle their miseries for not obeying him For though his Throne be prepared onely in Heaven Yet his kingdome ruleth over all Over All both Man and Beast both the Godly and the Wicked both blessed Angells and damned Spirits and because his Kingdome ruleth over all therefore All shall serve him and shall serve him indeed with feare yet there shall be a difference for the godly shall serve him with feare and joy where the wicked shall serve him with feare and trembling And now seeing God hath prepared his Throne in heaven Therefore O yee his Angells inhabitants of Heaven that obey his Commandements by the freedome of your will Doe you begin first and prayse his Name for you excell in strength and are best able to doe it And seeing his Kingdome ruleth overall Therefore all ye his Hosts his other Creatures that obey his Commandement too though not by will yet by instinct Doe you second the Angels in praising his Name And then thou my soule that partakest of both the Natures Doe thou also and with thee also the Soules of all the godly joyne with them in his Prayses that so at least there may bee a Consort of Three to Blesse and Praise him who is a Trinitie in Unitie Three Persons and one God to be Blessed and praised for ever and ever But to be blessed and praised as by all the persons of his Kingdome so in all the places of his Dominion which are Heaven and Earth and Hell a Triplicitie too for even Hell is a place within his Dominion And for praising him in Heaven the Angells will be sure enough to looke to that and for praising him in Hell let the wicked and the damned spirits looke to that at their perill but for praising him on Earth Thou my soule and the soules of all the godly will undertake to doe that at least will pray continually to him that sitteth upon the Throne to be enabled to doe it and when all these shall faile or lest they should faile when Heaven and Earth shall passe away when Time and Place shall bee no more yet his Prayse shall bee continued still by his owne Workes which are his Glory and his Power his Infinitenesse and his Eternitie but above all which is above all his Workes the Workes of his infinite and Everlasting Mercie THE HVNDRED AND SIXTEENTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Love the Lord because hee hath heard my voyce and my supplication 2 Because hee hath inclined his eare unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live 3 The sorrowes of death compassed me and the paines of hell got hold upon mee I found trouble and sorrow 4 Then called I upon the Name of the Lord O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soule 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous
MEDITATIONS AND DISQVISITIONS UPON SEVEN CONSOLATORIE PSALMES OF DAVID NAMELY The 23. The 27. The 30. The 34. The 84. The 103. The 116. By Sir RICHARD BAKER Knight LONDON Printed by J. D. for F. Eglesfield and are to be sold by Henry Twiford at the signe of the Beare over against the middle Temple gate in Fleetstreet 1640. A CATALOGVE OF THE SEVERALL Treatises written by this Authour NAMELY MEditations and Disquisitions upon the Lords Prayer Meditations and Disquisitions vpon the 1 Psalme Meditations and Disquisitions vpon the seven Penitentiall Psalmes Meditations and Disquisitions vpon seven Consolatorie Psalmes Also a Poem of his entituled Cato Variegatus or Cato's morall Disticks vaâ—ied TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE WILLIAM Lord CRAVEN Baron of Hamstead c. MOST HONOURED LORD I Shall perhaps move Envie to say Quae te tam laeta tulerunt sâ—ecula but for my selfe I am bound to say it who have received from your Lordship indeed a great Favour the remission of a great Debt for which notwithstanding I account my selfe to stand obliged still though in a lesse profitable yet in a more binding Obligation to bee your perpetuall servant I am called upon by Gratefulnesse to erect some Monument in honour of your Bountie and a more lasting Monument I could not thinke of within the compasse of my poore abilities then to Dedicate these Psalmes of David to the memorie of your Name for though your owne Heroick vertue have made you a Monument of the same mettall that Fames Trumpet is made which is likely and worthy to last long yet this perhaps may prove Monumentum Fama perennius a Monument that will continue your memorie when Fame it selfe shall be buried in oblivion But how long soever it shall continue yet not so long as my Devotion to be as my Desire to be accounted to be Your Lordships humble and obliged servant Richard Baker Imprimatur Tho Wykes R. P. Episc Lond. Sacell Domest Septemb. 11. 1639. THE TVVENTIE THIRD PSALME OF DAVID Verse 1 THe Lord is my Shepheard I shall not want Verse 2 Hee maketh me to lye downe in greene pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters Verse 3 Hee restoreth my soule hee leadeth mee in the paths of righteousnesse for his Names sake Verse 4 Yea though I walke through the Valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evill for Thou art with mee Thy rod and thy staffe they comfort mee Verse 5 Thou preparest a Table before me in the presence of mine enemies Thou anoyntest my head with Oyle my cup runneth over Verse 6 Surely goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXIII PSALME OF DAVID IS it not a grievous fall that Verse 1 where I might have said The Lord is my Creatour and hath made me after his own Image I am now glad to say The Lord is my shepheard as though I were but a sheepe and yet perhaps no Fall in this at all For what was I when I was at best but the Lords sheepe Depending wholly upon him for all I had No cloathes to cover my nakednesse but of his making no food to satisfie my hunger but of his providing and oh that I had continued his sheepe still for then though weake I should have beene innocent though feeble I should have been harmelesse Where by taking O miserable mistaking the Serpent for a shepheard I became of an innocent Sheepe a ravening Wolfe and should have so continued at least a perpetuall strayer if my true shepheard O the wonderfull bowells of compassion had not left the Ninetie nine in the Wildernesse to seeke after mee and had not found mee out and brought me back againe into his Fold that if there be joy in Heaven that the lost sheepe is found there ought to bee much more joy in Earth that the lost sheepe can say The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want But how can I truly say The Lord is my shepheard seeing hee hath turned me over sheepe and lambes and all to Saint Peter to be our shepheard Can he turne me over to another and yet himselfe reteine a propertie in me still But is it not that there is a Hierarchie of shepheards Saint Peter and his successours but Ministeriall shepheards God himselfe the shepheard Paramount Psal 77.20 Hee ledd his people like sheepe by the hand of Moses and Aaron Hee but used the service of Moses and Aaron himselfe was the shepheard still it was hee that led them And is it not said of Kings too that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shepheards of the people and perhaps David speakes here as hee was a King for though a King be a shepheard in relation to his Subjects yet he is but a sheep in relation to God for relation in all created things makes quidlibet ex quolibet a sheepe of a shepheard and a shepheard of a sheepe till we come at God and there Relation ceaseth for God being summum bonum unum idem can take no disparagement by any relation we are all sheepe to him David and Kings Saint Peter and all All faine to say The Lord is my shepheard or else can neuer truly say I shall not want It is a great happinesse for sheepe to have a good shepheard but a greater happinesse to have him both good and able many shepheards are the one and not the other few are both indeed none are both None able to secure from want but onely the shepheard who is Elohim Saddai God All-sufficient Kings no doubt are able shepheards but yet not able to secure from want for we see them often-times to be in want themselves Saint Peter an able shepheard yet not so able as to secure from want for who knowes not what want he was in himselfe when time was Wee shall never be sheepe secure from want till wee come to say The Lord is my shepheard and then wee may justly inferre We shall not want Indeed God is a shepheard as able as hee is good and as good as he is able For hee leadeth mee into greene pastures Not onely hee hath greene pastures to lead me into which shewes his Abilitie but hee leads mee into them which shewes his Goodnesse Hee leades me not into pastures that are withered and drye that would distaste me before I taste them but he leades me into Greene pastures as well to please my eye with the verdure as my stomacke with the herbage and inviting me as it were to eate by setting out the meat in the best colour A meat though never so good yet if it looke not handsomely it dulls the appetite but when besides the goodnesse it hath also a good looke This gives the appetite another edge and makes a joy before enjoying But yet the goodnesse is not altogether in the greennesse Alas Greene is but a colour and colours are but deceitfull things they might be greene
senses are waking to entertaine it What is the Evening but the end of the day and what is the Evening of our life but the end of our dayes and in this Evening indeed there is commonly heavinesse weeping for parting of friends that have lived together but this heavinesse is removed assoone as morning comes for what is the Morning but when the Sunne riseth againe and what is our Morning but when we shall rise againe and as when this morning comes there will bee a day that shall have no more Evening so when this joy comes all teares shall be wiped from our eyes and there shall be no more weeping Indeed all our great joyes have ever come in the morning It was a Joy that came in the morning at the Birth of Christ It was a Joy that came in the morning at the Resurrection of Christ It was a Joy that came in the morning at the Descending of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles and these Joyes were then so great that they have made us Feasts ever since Our Christmasse our Easter and our Whitsontide yet these Joyes had their heavinesse preceding the Joy of Christs birth had the heavinesse of his Mothers slight the Joy of Christs Resurrection had the heavinesse for his Passion the Joy of the Descending of the Holy Ghost the heavinesse for Christs departing but these heavinesses were so presently followed with joyes that it hath made this Aphorisme be found true still Heavinesse may endure for a night but joy commeth in the morning And now O my soule what need it trouble thee to have heavinesse in the Evening so long as thou art sure to have joy in the morning What need it trouble thee to be weeping for a time when thou art sure of rejoycing when time shall be no more Hitherto I have beene busie about singing Gods praises for lifting mee up which hath beene his worke Now I must leave singing and come to saying to speake of my owne worke And I said in my prosperitie I shall never Verse 6 be moved but alas if my singing were no Verse 7 better then my saying it had beene better for me to have held my peace in both for what a saying is this to say I shall never be moved Is there any Mountaine so strong that it cannot be moved and if no Mountaine how any man but this is the insolent language of prosperitie to give over crying to God and fall a boasting of it selfe Alas Prosperitie hath neither good tongue nor good eyes as it made David say hee should never be moved so it made him thinke it enough that God by his favour had made his Mountaine strong but as for the maintaining it strong to arrogate that to himselfe when God knowes if once we leave depending upon God and arrogate any thing to our selves our Mountaine will soone bee turned into a Valley and our strength will goe from us as it did from Samson when his haire was cut off and this makes David say now Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled for as it is the favour of God that makes our Mountaine strong and our Mountaine being strong wee are kept from trouble so it is the hiding of Gods face that makes our moutaine weake and our mountaine being weake wee are presently troubled but rather indeed if God doe not as well maintaine our mountaine strong as make it strong we shall quickly bring our Mountaine to a Mole-hill wee shall quickly either fall our selves from our Mountaine or have our mountaine to fall upon us Wee see the Earth hath no comfort but in the Sunne and therefore if the Sunne bee removed the Earth presently puts on Blacks is pincht with cold and covered with darknesse That which the Sunne is to the Earth thy Face O God is to me and what marvell then when thou hidest thy face if I bee left as a disconsolate Earth in trouble and mourning God useth not to hide his face from any that depend upon him and therefore as long as I put my trust and confidence in him he was to me as a strong Mountain I enjoyed his favour and the light of his Countenance but assoone as I left depending upon him and trusted to my owne strength my Mountaine was suddenly turned into a Valley and I was left alas in a vale of miserie O therefore my soule notwithstanding any prosperitie whatsoever Doe thou depend upon God for thy Mountaine both for making it strong and for maintaing it strong and never bee moved to say thou shalt never be moved for to bee immovable is a priviledge of God himselfe and of God alone and is not communicable to any creature It is a false saying in any estate to say I shall never be moved but in prosperitie falsest of all for hee that is in prosperitie stands in a slipperie place and such a place is not capable of stabilitie What is prosperitie but an earthy thing and can any thing that is earthy be secure from moving when the body of the Earth it selfe is moved O my soule the consideration of this Alas the feeling of this hath made mee leave both singing and saying and fall to my crying againe I cryed to thee O Lord and unto the Lord I made supplication Verse 8 Indeed crying is the voyce of a suppliant and the fittest voyce for a supplication but yet why should David tell God of his crying to him and say I cryed to thee O Lord as though God knew it not without his telling it No doubt God knew of his crying for how else did he heare it and of his supplication for how else could hee grant it and therefore it seemes hee tells it not so much to God as to us that wee may take notice with what sacrifices God is pleased For as there are divers sacrifices that are acceptable to God so each of them in the due time is the fittest and most acceptable singing fittest after a benefit obtained and crying fittest for obtaining a benefit Allelujahs fittest when wee are in triumph Hosanna's fittest when we are in distresse And therefore being at the present in perill of his life and delivered as it were into the hands of Death the sacrifice he offers now is a supplication which yet seemes not so much a supplication as an Expostulation Verse 9 What profit is there in my bloud when I goe downe into the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth If I goe downe into the Pit shall I not bee turned into dust and is dust good for any thing but to be food for the Serpent May I not doe thee better service above ground then under it Alas I shall be there but in the company of Wormes poore silly things that are not capable of knowing thee I am here in the societie of reasonable creatures with whom I may joyne in extolling thy Praises Hast thou not breathed into mee the breath of life and wilt thou draw in thy
breath so quickly againe and leave mee but dust as thou foundest me at first Though the service I can doe thee be not great yet it is more then dust can doe Hath dust a tongue or a voyce or any instruments of life for the declaring of thy truth and why then wilt thou make a divorce of parts which thou hast joyned together of purpose for that purpose If I desired life for any end of my owne thou hadst just cause then to make an end of my life but now that I desire it to doe thee service why wilt thou diminish the number of thy servants and not leave enow for the service thou hast to doe Can any number be sufficient to praise thee Can there ever be mouthes enow to declare thy Truth and may not I make one a sinfull one I know but yet one in the number if thou but please to spare mee for descending into the Pit But what Pit I meane not the Pit where the Apostate Angels are I know they descended not but fell and I know the Pit they fell into is a Pit of blasphemie the Pit I feare descending into is but a Pit of silence and yet in one thing is worse then theirs for they in their Pit retaine their substance still but I in this shall lose my very Being at least the quantitas continua of my body shall bee turned into the quantitas Discreta of dust and the frame compacted of all the Elements dissolved I shall remaine nothing but as it were a few crummes of Earth and what can Earth doe when it is not assisted with fire and water O therefore Verse 10 Heare O Lord and have mercy upon me Lord bee thou my helper for if thou lend mee not thine eare how can I hope thou wilt shew mee mercy and if thou have not mercy upon me how can I hope thou wilt bee my helper Heare me O God while I am in a place where I may be heard for if once I be descended into the Pit I shall quite then be out of all hearing Have mercy upon me while I am capable of mercy for if once I be turned into dust what mercy can I looke for Be thou my helper O God now that I am in a state to bee helped for if my bloud in which my life consists bee once shed what good then will thy helpe doe me I place Gods mercy in the midst here because it must serve to both the other both to make God to heare me and to make him to helpe me and Gods mercy can doe both it can make him to heare me though I were silent and can make him to helpe me though I were dust But though Gods mercy can doe it am I sure it will doe it O my soule his mercy hath done it already for it is the worke of his mercy that Hee hath turned my mourning into dauncing that hee hath put off my sackcloth and girded mee with gladnesse O wonderfull conversion the very same myracle I may say that Christ wrought at the Mariage in Cana for to turne Mourning into Dauncing what is it but to turne water into Wine To have turned my mourning but into comfort had beene a great worke and a great favour but to turne my mourning into dauncing the extremitie of sorrow into extremitie of joy who could doe this but thou onely O God with whom as no Myracles are wonders so no extremities are limits Mourning is not properly but for one that is dead and indeed so neere being dead was I that I might well be said to mourne for my owne death not unlike the Swan if it be true that shee sings her owne Elegie and now to have my mourning turned into dauncing the drooping act for Death be turned into the most lively act of Life what is it but the Myracle as it were of Resurrection and Ascention both at once at least from the lowest stayre of miserie to be raised to the highest of happinesse and not Gradatim by degrees and steps but per saltum by a motion more swift than the Fiery Chariot that carried up Elias into Heaven and so the change not more wonderfull then the suddennesse Mourning turned into Dauncing a wonderfull change and done as it were in the turning of a hand as wonderfull a suddennesse And now to make me fit for Dauncing Thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladnesse for indeed if I had kept on my sackcloth still I should have made but a heavie Dauncer but now that my sackcloth is off and I am girded with gladnesse I shall leape as light as Abraham did to see thy day I put on sackcloth when I was a Mourner but now that I am to be a Dauncer I am girded with gladness and if I mourned before to think of Gods anger may I not justly daunce now to thinke of his favour If I put on sackcloth before as sorrowing for my sinne may I not justly now be girded with gladnesse as rejoycing in my Saviour For though it be Gods mercy that hath done this for me yet it is his mercy in Christ my Saviour without whom his mercy alone would never have done it He would never have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladnesse but for his sake and through his meanes that was anoynted with the Oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes My sackcloth was but a loose garment about mee which might easily be put off at pleasure but my gladnesse is girt about me to bee fast and sure and cannot leave me though it would at least none shall be able to take it from me And now though this be spoken here in the case of David yet it may bee conceived as in Type for all the godly if they mourne and lye in sackcloth now yet they shall ere long be girded with Gladnesse and daunce for joy but what Dauncing Not like that of Herodias Daughter for which Herod allowed her to aske halfe his Kingdome but like that of David before the Arke for which God without asking will give us a whole Kingdome And when shall the time bee Alas it cannot be long For they shall not goe out of Egypt into Canaan as the old Israelites did by the tedious passages of a troublesome Wildernesse but their Mourning shall be turned into Dauncing a conversion as sudden as when Moses his Leprous hand was turned to be sound againe by putting it onely in his bosome But to what end is it that God hath done Verse 12 this for me It may be thought because hee hath turned my Mourning into Dauncing and hath girded me with Gladnesse that hee hath done it to this end that I might live in jollity and spend my time with Belshazzar in revelling and feasting but there is no such matter hee hath done it to this end that my glory may sing praise unto him and not bee silent to this end that not onely I may praise him but may sing his praises
and not onely that I but that my glory may sing them and alas what glory have I doth not all glory belong to God Indeed so it is my glory then sings his Prayses when I ascribe to him all praise and glory my glory then sings his prayses when I praise him with all I have to glory in with all the faculties and powers of my soule and body those especially in which I was made after his Image for this is my Glory If this then bee the end that God intends shall I be so ungratefull to crosse his intentions if hee have given mee a Tongue and a Voyce to serve him shall I hold my peace and be silent in his service if he have turned my Mourning into Dauncing shall I bee sullen and slow to sing his Prayses Alas my Dauncing can never be kindly without Musick and what musick so fit for it as singing and what singing so fit as to the Ditty of his Prayses O my soule seeing God hath procured thee libertie to Daunce thou mayst well afford to find the musick and yet neither my Dauncing shall hearken to the musicke nor my singing shall looke toward the Dauncing but my Singing and my Dauncing both shall bee addressed and directed to God alone Shall my heart be so set upon my joy as to make me forget the Authour of my joy No O God my joy hath so sure a foundation that I can never be unmindfull of the Founder I will give thankes to thee O Lord my God for ever Not for a time which will cease Not as long as the Sunne and Moone endure which shall not alwayes endure not as long as I have breath in my body No my soule but as long as thou thy selfe hast Being which being breathed into mee by God shall never cease shall alwayes endure shall be forever When I extolled God I had relation to his Omnipotencie when I sung his Prayses to his Mercie and now that I give him thankes for ever to his Eternitie that now I may conclude and say O Almightie most Mercifull and ever-living God to thee be ascribed all Honour Prayse and Glory world without end THE THIRTIE FOVRTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Will blesse the Lord at all times his Prayse shall continually bee in my mouth 2 My soule shall make her boast in the Lord The humble shall heare thereof and be glad 3 O magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together 4 I sought the Lord and hee heard me and delivered me from all my feares 5 They looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed 6 The poore man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles 7 The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that feare him and delivereth them 8 O tast and see how good the Lord is Blessed is the man that trusteth in him 9 O feare the Lord yee his Saints for there is no want to them that feare him 10 The young Lyons doe lacke and suffer hunger but they that seeke the Lord shall not want any good thing 11 Come yee children hearken unto me and I will teach you the feare of the Lord. 12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many dayes that he may see good 13 Keepe thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile 14 Depart from evil and doe good seeke peace and pursue it 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry 16 The face of the Lord is against them that doe evil to cut off their remembrance from the earth 17 The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles 18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all 20 Hee keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken 21 Evill shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate 22 The Lord redeemeth the soule of his servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXXIV PSALME OF DAVID ALas what a Vow is this that Verse 1 David makes here a Vow which hee is sure before hand he cannot keepe for is it possible for any man to blesse God at all times Is there not a time of paine and miserie in which Jobs Wife perswaded him to curse God and dye and can cursing of God stand with blessing of God O my soule I take not my measure of blessing God from the last of that wicked Woman it is not paine it is not miserie it is not extremitie of paine or miserie that shall make mee to breake my Vow in blessing of God but if it be thought so great a matter to blesse God inmisery I will stretch my Vow yet further for I will blesse him for miserie and I may truly say if it were not for paine and misery I should want one speciall Motive for blessing of God But yet there is a time of sleepe which is a tribute due to Nature and is it possible to pay the tribute of sleepe to Nature and the tribute of blessing to God both at once If then sleepe be of necessitie so oftentimes how can blessing of God be performed at all times O my soule when our waking is terminated with blessing of God that blessing is in force till we wake againe for as in what place the tree falleth there it lyeth so in what state the Soule goes to rest in that state it resteth If my soule say to God I will lay mee downe to sleepe for it is Thou Lord onely that sustainest me my soule shall have it returned from God Thus the Lord giveth his beloved sleepe But if thus perhaps be made good the continuance of Blessing God yet in what consists the worke of blessing him Is it onely in Thought or onely in a good intention No my soule his praise shall continually bee in my mouth for though the heart indeed bee the Fountaine of blessing him yet out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and therefore it shall not be cloystered up in the Cells of silence but it shall have vent and bee brought into the light that if it bee not said that men seeing my good workes it may at least be said that men hearing my good words may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven But doe I not by this fall againe upon my old difficultie for if it seemed impossible before to blesse God at all times may it not justly seeme as impossible now that his Praise should continually be in my mouth It may perhaps be true of the Angels in whose mouthes wee know of nothing there is continually but Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath but to be verefied of the mouthes of men seemes a thing impossible for is
deliverance are often-times spirituall and so Job might be said to bee delivered from all his troubles when God gave him patience to endure his troubles but specially Lazarus might be said to bee delivered from his troubles when he was carryed by Angels into Abrahams bosome Verse 7 And here it falls out fitly to mention Angels for the Angell of the Lord encampeth round about them that feare him and delivereth them Wee little thinke we have a continuall guard about us and lesse we thinke that wee have a whole Campe for our guard but least of all that it is a Campe of Angels oh how safe should we thinke our selves if this were so O my soule this is so and yet wee thinke our selves not safe enough and may it not then be justly said What doubt yee of O yee of jittle faith But how can wee thinke there be Angells to guard us when we scarce thinke there be any Angels for if there bee they must bee creatures of God and then certainly creatures of a most excellent nature and would Moses then have left them out in his Catalogue of Creatures where he reckons them all up Indeed for this very reason because they are Creatures of a most excellent Nature hath Moses left them out for hee speakes but of materiall Creatures in this materiall world of which number the Angels are none But wee may thinke perhaps there are none because wee can see none as though we could see a thing that is invisible shall we therefore thinke we have no soules because we cannot see our soules Wee live now by Faith and not by sight and therefore can neither see soules nor Angels we shall then see both when we shall live by sight and not by Faith Alas if we beleeve no more then we see we seeme not to live by Faith neither for Faith beleeves that which it cannot see Oh therefore my soule to make it appeare thou livest and that thou livest by Faith let this be an Article of thy Creed that the Angels encampe and pitch their Tents about thee that if at any time thou bee assaulted if assaulted by enemies if by an Army of enemies thou maist have recourse to the confidence of this Guard and never tremble for any Alarum seeing there are more with us then are against us But how can the godly thinke they have a Guard about them when it is for Princes onely to have a Guard and the godly for the most part are but private men O my soule this is a Guard that attends no lesse the poorest man then the greatest Prince and attends him with as much carefulnesse as if he were a Prince But if there be Angels to defend the godly why doe they not defend them why doe they suffer them to be so molested so afflicted as they are for who are in such troubles who groane under such afflictions as the godly and would this be so if that were so would they be so oppressed if they had Angels to relieve them O my soule thou little considerest the infinite benefits that the godly re-receive by the ministerie of Angels If perhaps they suffer troubles of the body doe they not escape farre greater of the soule If they endure perhaps some momentarie afflictions doe they not avoid afflictions that would be everlasting Is there not an Army of malignant spirits to assault them and could they be safe from tearing in peeces if there were not a campe of Angels to assist them But though the Angels be a guard to the whole man both body and soule yet being creatures spirituall and invisible they are chiefly a guard to the invisible and spirituall part which is the soule The body they know must goe to the earth and therefore though a part is the least part of their care It is the Soule they chiefly waite upon because it is the soule they chiefly waite for for they stand waiting for the soule when it shall leave the body that they may take it and carry it into Abrahams bosome for till then they breake not up their Campe. And now O my soule seeing the Angels are so beneficiall and so good unto us Oh tast Verse 8 and see how good the Lord is for by the goodnesse we find in the Angels we may take a taste of the goodnesse that is in God if it be a great goodnesse in the Angels to encampe about us how great is his goodnesse that gives it them in charge for the Angels would not doe it if God did not command them Alas they could not doe it if God did not enable them Oh then taste and see how good the Lord is Not how good the Angels are though they bee good and exceeding good in their kind as Ministers yet what is this to the goodnesse of God who is the Fountaine of goodnesse to the Angels themselves O then Taste and see how good the Lord is for taste him we may but we can but tast him while we live here wee shall not have a full comprehension of him till wee come to see as we are seene when wee shall need no more encamping of Angels round about us O then Tast and see how good the Lord is but how can wee tast him that is not bodily how see him that is not visible Not him indeed but his goodnesse and not his goodnesse neither in its selfe but in its effects and not in its effects neither as they shall be but as they are which God knowes is but a small part of that they shall be O then Taste and see how good the Lord is if you would but taste him you would never take pleasure in other meat if you would but see him you would never delight in other object O my soule if thou couldst but taste the sweetnesse if but see the goodnesse that is in God it would make thee fall into a greater extasie than that of Saint Peter at the sight of Christs glory in the Mount at least it would weane thee from all the pleasures that the taste or the sight can minister to thee in this vaine world for alas what are the pleasures of the taste to the sweetnesse that is in God but as bitter Aloes to the sweetest honey What are the delights that passe by the senses to the delight in God that passeth all understanding May I not justly say now Blessed is the man that trusteth in him for hee that trusteth in God and he onely is like to bee admitted to taste the sweetnesse and to see the goodnasse that is in God which onely are the things that can make us blessed What is it to trust in God but to depend wholly upon him and to put all our confidence in him To trust in the world is to leane upon a broken reede to trust in our selves is to leane upon a shadow onely to trust in God is the true Terra firma where the Angels pitch their Tents and where if wee fixe our selves
What place will be left for wonder to give cause to say How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts But if hee had sayd How terrible are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts though it might have beene wonderfull in the degree yet it could not bee wonderfull in the kind for what wonder is it if the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts bee terrible but when he saith How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts this is not onely wonderfull in the degree but in the kind much more For what can be more wonderfull then that being Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts they should be amiable and so amiable as to be wondred at But is it not that God is in himselfe so amiable that all things of His even his Terrours themselves are amiable his Tabernacles and his Tents his Sword and his Speare his Darts and his Arrowes all amiable Terrible no doubt to his Enemies but amiable wonderfull amiable to all that love and feare him and great reason they should be so seeing they are all in their defence and for their safeguard though they be Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts to the wicked yet they are Courts of the Prince of peace to the godly and this makes my soule to Verse 2 long for the courts of the Lord. For I desire indeed to be a Courtier yet not as I am now God knowes I am very unfit for it but because Gods Courts are such they make any one fit that but comes into them they receive not men fit but make them fit and he that was before but a shrub in Baca assoone as hee comes into the Courts of the Lord is presently made a Cedar in Lebanon Indeed if his Tabernacles bee so wonderfull amiable they must needs be as wonderfull attractive for there is no such Adamant as Amiablenesse Nothing that so powerfully attracts and drawes all hearts unto it And to know the measure of their Amiablenesse by the power of their Attracting you need but looke upon my soule For my soule longeth and even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord which it would never doe if it were not for their wonderfull amiablenesse that attracts and drawes it by a kind of violence indeed by a kind violence unto them Every Amiablenesse is not so great to make a longing Nor every longing so great to make a fainting Nor every fainting so great to make the soule to faint Oh then consider how great this Amiablenesse is which makes my soule not onely to long but to faint with longing And blame me not for fainting as though it were my owne fault that would not restraine my longing for seeing his Tabernacles are of infinite amiablenesse they must needs worke in me an infinite delighting and that delighting an infinite longing and what restraint can there be of that which is infinite No alas my fainting is but answerable to my longing and my longing but answerable to the Amiablenesse If I had the offer made me which was made to Christ to enjoy all the Kingdomes of the Earth but with condition to want the Courts of the Lord this want would bring to my soule a greater griefe then that enjoying would give it contentment for seeing his Tabernacles are so amiable where he is Lord of Hosts how amiable must they needs be where hee is Prince of Peace and Prince of Peace he is in his Courts though in his Campe he be Lord of Hosts And that you may know it is not the weaknesse of my soule that it faints with longing for indeed weake spirits are apt to faint upon every light occasion but that it is the very operation of the wonderfull attractive power that is in the amiablenesse of his Courts see my Heart and my Flesh also how they are drawne to long after the Lord which they would never doe if it were not for some wonderfull amiablenesse that is in him for you may well thinke it must bee an Adamant of a wonderfull attractive power that can draw these heavy I rons of my heart and my flesh unto it for indeed though my Soule have a longing for the Courts of the Lord yet my Body perhaps could be content to want them there are Courts in the world that might please my Body as well perhaps better then these but God forbid God forbid I should be one to have my soule and body divided while they are united to have my soule runne one way and my body another No I am none of those but assoone as my soule longed for the Courts of the Lord My heart and my flesh fell a longing for the living God As my Soule longed for the Place so my heart and my flesh for the Person for my heart and my flesh are of a duller apprehension they must have a present Enjoying of that they long for or they cannot be satisfied but my soule is of a cleerer sight and knows if it can but come to the place where he is it shall be sure withall to enjoy his presence and with his presence his Person The Soule indeed is a spirituall substance and therefore it is natural to the soule to long after spiritual things but the flesh is an earthly substance and therefore it is naturall to the flesh to long after earthly things and as long as these two are linked in the Body together they will alwayes be working upon one another alwayes seeking to draw each other to their partie and if the Soule can draw the flesh to goe her spirituall way then all is well it is as it should be but if the Flesh draw the Soule to goe her earthly way then all is out of order there will be no longing for the Courts of the Lord for they are spirituall and are never longed for but where the Soule is predominant and hath the leading And this is the order in Davids longing first his Soule begins to long for the Courts of the Lord and this is yet but a single cord but then comes in the Heart and the Flesh too and make it a Cord of three that is impossible to bee broken Indeed the Courts of the Lord are so exceeding amiable that it is impossible but every soule must needs long after them but yet every soule considers not what belongs to this longing but as Balaam longed to dye the death of the Righteous yet was loath to live the life of the Righteous so there are many that long for the Courts of the Lord but are loath to live the life of such Courtiers They that be in Kings houses weare silke and soft rayment because so it is fit for the honour of the place and they that will be in the Courts of the Lord must likewise weare rayment that is fit for the holinesse of the place they must be cloathed with the soft rayment of meeknesse and humilitie they must put on the robe of Righteousnesse and the garment of Sinceritie or because they are Courts of
good things God never bestowes upon the wicked never with-holds from the godly and are all cast up in one summe where it is said Beati mundo corde quoniam ipsi videbunt Deum Blessed are the pure of Heart and such are onely they that walke uprightly for they shall see God But is walking uprightly such a matter with God that it should be so rewarded Is it not more pleasing to God to see us goe stooping then walking upright seeing stooping is the gate of Humilitie then which there is nothing to God more pleasing It is no doubt a hard matter to stoope and goe upright both at once yet both must be done and both indeed are done are done at once by every one that is godly but when I say they are done both at once I meane not of the body I know two such postures in the Body both at once are impossible but the Soule can doe it the Soule can stoope and goe upright both at once for then doth the Soule walke upright before God when it stoopes in humilitie before God and men And what remaines now for David to doe but to bring in the conclusion upon the Premisses seeing the Lord of Hosts though his Name be dreadfull yet his Nature is lovely seeing he is a Sunne to cherish and a Shield to Defend seeing he gives Grace and Glory and with-holds no good thing from them that walke uprightly Therefore blessed are all they that put their trust in him And what remaines now for us to doe but to receive this Conclusion of David as an absolute Demonstration and thereupon to walke uprightly and to put our whole trust and confidence in God through the merits of his Son Christ Jesus for then we are sure wee are in a sure way of attaining to Blessednesse to Eternall blessednesse that after this we may leave our wondring yet continue our Admiring How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord God of Hosts THE HVNDRED AND THIRD PSALME OF DAVID 1BLesse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me blesse his holy Name 2 Blesse the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy infirmities 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things and renueth thy youth like the Eagles 6 The Lord executeth Righteousnesse and Iudgement for all that are oppressed 7 Hee made knowne his wayes unto Moses his Acts to the children of Israel 8 The Lord is mercifull and gracious slow to anger and ful of compassion 9 Hee wil not alwayes chide neither wil hee keepe his anger for ever 10 Hee hath not dealt with us after our sinnes nor rewarded us according to our iniquities 11 For as high as the heaven is above the earth so great is his mercy toward them that feare him 12 As farre as the East is from the West so farre hath hee removed our transgressions from us 13 Like as a father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him 14 For he considereth whereof we are framed he remembers that we are but dust 15 As for man his dayes are as grasse as a flowre of the field so he flourisheth 16 For the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting toward them that feare him and his righteousnesse unto childrens children 18 To such as keepe his Covenant and remember his Commandements to doe them 19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in heaven and his kingdome ruleth over all 20 Blesse the Lord ye his Angels that excell in strength that doe his Commandements hearkening unto the voyce of his Word 21 Blesse the Lord all yee his Hosts Ye Ministers of his that doe his pleasure 22 Blesse the Lord all his workes in all places of his Dominion Blesse the Lord O my soule MEDITATIONS VPON THE CIII PSALME OF DAVID BLesse the Lord O my Verse 1 Soule O how well they are fitted for what worke so fit for my Soule as this Who so fit for this worke as my soule My body God knowes is grosse and heavie and very unfit for so sublime a worke No my soule it is Thou must doe it and indeed what hast thou else to doe it is the very worke for which thou wert made and O that thou wert as fit to doe the worke as the worke is fit for thee to to doe But alas I feare that by comming into this Body of earth thou art become in a manner earthy at least hast lost a great part of thy abilities and wilt never be able to goe thorow with this great worke thy selfe alone If to Blesse the Lord were no more but to say Lord Lord like to them that cryed The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord then my tongue alone would bee sufficient for it and I should not need to trouble any other about it but to Blesse the Lord is an eminent worke and requires not onely Many but very able Agents to performe it and therefore my Soule when thou goest about it goe not alone but Take with thee all that is within mee all the forces in my whole Magazine whether it be my Heart or my Spirits whether my Will or my Affections whether my Understanding or my Memory take them all with thee and Blesse the Lord. And of them all make use first of my Memorie Verse 2 Forget not all his Benefits for to remember his Benefits is indeed a principall part of Blessing him And the sooner thou goest about it the better thou art likely to performe it for forgetfulnesse is a thing that growes soone upon us and nothing sooner then forgetting of benefits our Memories are very apt to retaine Injuries but very unapt for retaining of Benefits For as long as we remember a Benefit we seeme to stand upon the rack of an Obligation to requite it and who is not willing to come off a Rack by any meanes he can and then rather by forgetting a Benefit then by requiting it and perhaps wee thinke it a kind of payment if we can but forget wee owe it But O my Soule consider that God expects no Retaliation of us he lookes for no requiting at our hands Alas He knowes we are not able He takes it in good part if but onely we remember his Benefits and should we not bee most ungratefull they being so great and so many as they are if we should not afford him so much as the remembring them But as to forget all his benefits were a wonderfull forgetfulnesse so to forget none at all were as wonderfull a Memorie for what memorie can be so vast not to forget some when they be so many Indeed so many that they cannot be numbred And what then O my Soule wilt thou doe in this case if thou canst not choose
his sight that was none of his workes but is a destroyer of his workes Is it possible that a thing which destroyes his creatures should have a Title of more value in his sight then his creatures themselves O my soule this is one of the Myracles of his Saints and perhaps one of those which Christ meant when he said to his Apostles that greater Myracles then he did they should doe themselves for what greater Myracle than this that Death which of it selfe is a thing most vile in the sight of God yet once embraced by his Saints as it were by their touch onely becomes pretious in his sight and to alter a thing from being vile to be precious is it not a greater Myracle then to turne Water into Wine Indeed so it is Death doth not damnifie his Saints but his Saints doe dignifie Death Death takes nothing away from his Saints happinesse but his Saints adde lustre to Deaths vilenesse and it is happy for Death that ever it met with any of Gods Saints for there was no way for it else in the world to be ever had in any account But why say I in the world for it is of no account in the world for all this It is but onely in the sight of God but indeed this onely is All in All for to be pretious in Gods sight is more to be prized then the world it selfe For when the World shall passe away and all the glory of it be laid in the dust then shall Trophyes be erected for the death of his Saints and when all Monuments of the world shall bee utterly defaced and all Records quite rased out yet the death of his Saints shall stand Registred still in faire Red letters in the Kalendar of Heaven for if there be glory laid up for them that dye in the Lord much more shall they bee glorified that dye for the Lord. I have wondered often-times why God will suffer his Saints to dye I meane not the death naturall for I know Statutum est omnibus semel mori but the Death that is by violence and with torture for who could endure to see them he loves so cruelly handled but now I see the reason of it For Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and what marvell then if he suffer his Saints to dye when by dying they are wrought and made fit Jewels to be set in his Cavinet for as God hath a Bottle which he fills up with the teares of his Saints so I may say he hath a Cabinet which he decks up with the deaths of his Saints and O my soule if thou couldst but comprehend what a glory it is to serve for a Jewell in the decking up of Gods Cabinet thou wouldst never wonder why he suffers his Saints to bee put to death though with never so great torments for it is but the same which Saint Paul saith The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall bee revealed But if you will have a Glasse to view the Extent of this pretiousnesse and plainly to see how pretious in the sight of God the death of his Saints is then look upon the revenge that is taken for it for there is nothing that God takes so much to heart and of which hee takes so sharpe revenge as the death of his Saints to touch them is to touch the Apple of his eye and if the punishment of Cain bee not thought sufficient to make it appeare at least the complaint of Christ against Hierusalem will be sufficient O Hierusalem Hierusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and it is thought by some that the destruction of Hierusalem was the rather hastened to revenge the death of James who was called the Just but how soever this wee know it was therefore executed to revenge the death of Jesus who was truly the Just and may we not well take notice that the death was exceeding pretious when the revenge that was taken was so exceeding furious But why speake I of Death when I may yet doe God good service in life and if the death of his Saints be pretious in his sight certainly the life of his servants is not unregarded For whether we dye wee dye to the Lord or whether wee live wee live to the Lord and though in this life we cannot expect the reward of Saints yet in this life wee may claime the respect of servants and in this I claime an interest my selfe Verse 16 for truly O Lord I am thy servant and oh that I could serve thee so truly that I might heare thee say Euge bone serve For we are all very ready to professe our selves thy servants but very unready to doe the service of our profession and specially in these times when Servant is growne to be a word of complyment rather than of truth that to say I am thy servant is all one as to say I am an Hypocrite But O Lord let it not be found so in me not be thought so of me for I am thy servant by a double right and oh that I could doe thee double service as thou art the Lord of life and as I am the sonne of thy Handmaid Not of Hagar but of Sarah not of the Bond-woman but of the Free and therefore I serve thee not in Feare but in Love or therefore in feare because in love and then is service best done when it is done in love and in love indeed I am bound to serve thee For thou hast loosed my bonds the Bonds of death which compassed me about by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse and restoring me to health or in a higher kind Thou hast loosed my Bonds by freeing me from being a Captive to bee a Servant and which is more from being a servant to be a sonne and more then this yet from being a sonne of thy Hand-maid to be a sonne of thy selfe and therefore indeed a sonne of thy selfe because a sonne of thy Handmaid for what is thy Handmaid but thy Church and he that is not borne of this Handmaid though he may have the generall benefit of a servant sustenance and protection yet hee can never have the speciall benefits of a sonne freedome and inheritance Or thou hast loosed my bonds Thou hast freed me from the heavy yoak of the Ceremonies of the Law and hast Enfranchised mee with the glorious liberty of the Gospell that where before thou didst require the sacrifice of Servants which was the bloud of Beasts now thou acceptest the sacrifice of sonnes which is Verse 17 Prayer and Thanks-giving I will therefore offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and call upon thy Name For Prayer and Thanks-giving make both but one Sacrifice and seeing all sacrifice is due onely to thee therefore to thee onely I will offer both my Thanks-giving and my Prayer I could not make Thankes-giving a Sacrifice if Prayer did not begin it I could not make Prayer a Sacrifice if Thanks-giving did not finish it If there should bee Thankes-giving and no Prayer the Sacrifice would want a foot if Prayer and no Thanks-giving it would want a Head for as the Basis is Prayer so the Coronis is thanks-giving Although perhaps Thanks-giving bee but the Act and Thankfulnesse the Habit and it is the Habit that makes the Sacrifice because it must bee Juge sacrificium A continuall Sacrifice which the Act cannot be And if there had beene a word to expresse the Habit of praying as Thankfulnesse doth of Thanks-giving perhaps Saint Paul would have used it where he saith Pray continually for who can doubt but hee meanes the Habit of praying and not the Act and where he saith In all things give thankes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It intends perhaps but this In all things be thankfull And what then shall the Thankfulnesse or the Thanks-giving be that I will offer to God for a sacrifice O my soule it shall bee an acknowledging of his benefits and of his onely benefits it shall be a proclaiming him to bee my Patron and my onely Patron It shall bee an extolling him for his Mercy in forgiving my sinnes for his graciousnesse in healing all my infirmities for his compassion in Redeeming my soule from destruction and for his bountie in crowning me with loving kindnesse and tender mercies it shall bee indeed a Vowing to him the whole service of all the faculties of my soule and body And not to be done in a corner as though I were not willing it should be knowne nor before some few people onely as though I were loath too many should see it but I will pay my vowes to him in Verse 18 the presence of all his people that young and old rich and poore high and low may all bee witnesses of my thankfulnesse This for the persons before whom it shall be done and then for the place in which it shall be done it shall be done in the courts of the Lords house if any Verse 19 place be more conspicuous more publick then other it shall be done there it shall be done in the midst of thee O Hierusalem that the Fame of it may be spread that the sound of it may equally goe forth into all parts of the world that as all thy people shall be beholders of my thankfulnesse so all the world shall bee admirers of thy goodnesse and as there is in Heaven an Allelujah of thy Saints so there shall be in Earth an Allelujah of thy Servants of which Number of both which numbers my hope is to be one and that I may be sure to be one O my soule praise thou the Lord and because my owne praising will be but a very small service therefore mend it my soule by calling upon others and saying Praise yee the Lord. FINIS