what great care hath he of thy soule And as this is the Lords praise that he preserueth his Saints so they reserue it vnto him and will not giue it to any other they know hee hath giuen his Angels charge ouer them to keepe them in all their waies not for any neede he hath of them but for our comfort Deus Angelâ—s vtitur non quòd ipse ad saluandum sit infirmus hee vses them not as if hee were weake himselfe without them but to help our weaknesse that we may know howsoeuer our enemies be many yet as Elisha said to his seruant Feare not for they that be with vs are moe then they that bee with them Dauid had the strong Citie of Ierusalem the glory of the earth as the Psalmist cals it Inter vrbes totius orbis miraculum ideoque silentio magis quà m infirmo sermone honoranda a Citie among all the Cities of the world a wonder and therefore to bee praised rather with silence then infirme eloquence There Dauid had his residence In the highest part of it he had the strong sort of Sion but the Towre wherein he trusted was higher then it Hee had a guard of Cherethites and Pelethites with seuen and thirtie valiant Worthies to attend his Royall person these he vsed to serue him but abused them not to trust in them I trusted not in my bow nor my sword Thou Lord sauest me from my aduersaries Many a time all secondary helpes failed him his sonne Absalom rose against him his Counsellour Achitophel betrayed him his Subiects forsooke him the Ziphims discouered him in his neede Nabal refused him yea his owne heart fainted in him but saies he God the portion of my soule failes me neuer though my Father and my Mother should forsake mee the Lord will gather me vp Nothing can secure that soule which runnes not to the Name of the Lord as vnto a strong Towre Omnia timet qui Vnum non timet he feareth al things who feares not One. AmoÌ„g many let the Romane Monarch Tiberius stand for an example he wanted no worldly pillar that might vnderprop him yet because hee made not the Lord his refuge he was neuer in surety timeo incustoditos aditus timco ipsos custodes I feare said he the passages which are not kept yea I feare them who are set to be keepers of me But the soule which trusteth in the Lord findes rest in him and reioyces with Dauid The Lord is the strength of my soule of whom shall l be afraid But let vs stand a little here and for our greater comfort consider what a Lord this is who makes the promise he is called in the Text IEHOVA This name the Iewes called nomen ineffabile No maruell the word it selfe is easily pronounced the Maiestie named by it is more than can be manifested or perceiued it imports Him to bee that onely true subsisting Lord who hath his Being of himself and giues Being to all things which are Some presumptuous Spirits out of their idle speculations are bold to talke of the Trinitie as they doe of their A.B.C. As if nothing were in the Diuine Maiestie which their narrow braine could not comprehend or the Lord were no more then they conceiue him to be but the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath a supereminence invtterable they who will search his glory shal be oppressed with it if the eye content not with the light which the Sunne sends downe but will needs looke vp to the Sunne it selfe it is dazeled incontinent and loseth the sight which it had before and the minde which mounts vp to search the secret of the Diuine Maiestie many a time in Gods righteous iudgements becomes witlesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he sendeth great darknesse on such as curiously dare enquire of his Essence We should be in such sort thankefull for that which God hath reuealed to vs of himselfe that wee bee also fearefull to search out that which is secret This name IEHOVA wee finde it in holy Scripture sometime contracted sometime enlarged the Lord himselfe giues this to Moses for his name I AM hath sent thee Neither man nor Angell can in truth speake so for man is a mutable creature his life is but momentanie and he liueth so long as hee liueth in a passing moment onely one goes away to giue place vnto another the moments which are past since his first mouing returne not againe vnto him those which are to come he cannot be said to liue in them In this name I AM there are but two syllables before a man can pronounce the second hee is changed from that which he was when he pronounced the first how then can hee say I am Quomodo enim est quod in eodem statu nunquam permanet for how can that be said to be which neuer abides in one estate And as to Angels albeit they be now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immutable propter gratiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae iam illis ab Iesu tributa est for that grace of vnchangeablenesse which by Iesus is now giuen vnto them yet are they of their owne nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 changeable by will or of their owne accord and as is to be seene by them who fell for if the nature of Angels had been vnchangeable of it selfe then none of them had falne from their first estate Sometime againe this name IEHOVA wee finde it in holy Scripture enlarged by this Periphrasis frequently vsed in the Reuelation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The learned Doctor Zanchius hath obserued that this name IEHOVA noteth the Being of this true subsisting Lord in respect of all times Camets being a note of the time past Holem of the time present and Iod of the time to come but wee haue this same Doctrine better warranted by this circumloquution of the holy Ghost IEHOVA is the Lord who was who is and who wil be Solus verè est qui non praeciditur à fuit nec expungitur ab erit fuit non tollit illi esse in aeternum nec crit esse ab aeterno None can be said to be but hee of whom when I say that he was it takes not away that he is and wil be and when I say that he wil be it takes not away that he was and he is No Angell no man no creature can claime this it is a glory proper to the Lord. One generation passeth and another generation succeedeth but the earth remaines for euer Much more doth he remaine who hath laid the foundation and established the pillers thereof The heavens shall waxe old as doeth a garment but thou O Lord art the same and thy yeres shal not faile O what a great Lord is our God and what a comfort haue wee in this that he was and he is and he will be Can that people be destroyed
by death whose God is the Lord Hee is not the God of the dead but of the liuing In the mysticall body all the life is in the head so long as the head keepes life the body yea no member of the body can perish Therefore said our Sauiour Because I liue ye shall liue also Only let our care be to be found in Him so shall we be sure of a happy being for euer and euer The second circumstance points at the person to whom the promise is made and it lurkes as I said in this word thy In the beginning of the Psalme Dauid prayed vnto the Lord and here the Lord answeres him with a promise of preseruation The Prayer of Saints is not powred out in vaine it auaileth much if it be feruent It is a sweet gradation which our Sauiour vses to that woman of Samaria If thou knewst thou wouldst aske if thou askedst I would giue Therefore said Augustine Oratio clauis est â—oeli That Prayer was the key of heauen ascendit oratio discendit Dei miseratio Prayer goes vp and mercy comes downe Neither can it be otherwise for hee to whom we pray as to our King prayes in vs as our Prophet teaching vs to pray and prayes for vs as our Priest Orat in nobis vt Propheta orat pro nobis vt sacerdos oratur à nobis vt Rex And hereof comes this efficacie of Prayer that it is Deo sacrificium Daemonibus flagellum oranti subsidium a sacrifice to God a scourge to the Diuell a subsidie and help to him that vses it The Elephants snowt serues him for all offices and all armour Elephantus cùm aquas ingreditur attollit promuscidem in altum ac ea respirat when the huge beast the Elephant enters the water and the body thereof is depressed by the weight of it selfe he lifts vp his snowt on high and thereby drawes in breath to conserue his life It fareth euen so with a Christian when he is ouerwhelmed with the waters of many tribulations then hee stretches out his Prayer on high and drawes downe grace which vpholds him that he lye not down vnder temptation quod corpori est respiratio id animae est oratio what breathing is to the body that same is Prayer to the soule No life in the body without breath no life to the soule without Prayer no time vnmeete for breathing and no time vnmeete for praying Prayer is a maruellous kinde of husbandry it soweth seede in the heauen and reapeth fruit in the earth and heauen also It is a common thing to see the earth watred by the heauens but a rare thing to see heauen watred by the earth When lsrael fasted at Mizpeh they drew water to wit out of the cisterne of their heart and powred it out before the Lord. There is a showre that ascends and goeth vpward When thou from a contrite and melting heart sendst vp teares to the Lord as witnesses of they vnfained repentance they fal not to the ground for the Lord gathers them in his bottell then doth the earth water the heauen If thou wert said Chrysostome to labour a fruitfull land wouldst thou spare seede vpon it what then should wee doe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who are called to be Labourers of the heauen a fruitfull Canaan not flowing with milke and honey but ouerflowing with peace ioy and glory Seeing the earth rendreth to vs with manifold encrease such as we giue vnto it will the heauens faile No be sure they that sow in teares shall reape in ioy and otherwise Qui parcè sâ—minat parcè metet hee that soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly And in this we haue all neede to rebuke our owne hearts that wee spare seede vpon so fruitfull a husbandry and defraud our selues of so great and glorious things promised onely because wee doe not more frequently and feruently aske them Againe Dauid his Prayer is absolued in the two first verses the Lords Answere is in the subsequent sixe There is no equalitie betweene that which we seeke and that which the Lord will giue for his praise is that he is able to doe aboundantly aboue all that we can aske or thinke Semper maiora tribuit quà m promittit Seeing hee giueth alway more then himselfe promises what maruell he giues more then we can aske Non pari vbertate fluunt amans amor Creator creatura the loue of the Creator who is loue it selfe and the loue of the creature flowe not alike plentifully no more than the strand and the great Ocean Out of our loue toward him wee may seeke him but it is nothing in respect of his loue toward vs wherewith hee will comfort and replenish vs. Our Prayer to him is like the flowing of a little strand but his answere to vs is like the flowing of the Ocean Salomon prayed and the Lord gaue him more then he sought At sixe Petitions Abraham brought downe the Lord from fiftie to ten Euery Petition returned with a vantage at last hee ceased to pray or the Lord ceased to answere and which is the point gaue him more then hee craued at least expressed in his Prayer to wit deliuerance to Lot The third circumstance presents vnto vs the benefit promised to wit preseruation The Lord shall preserue The word Shamar imports a most tender preseruation from it comes Shemuroth signifying the eye-lids because they are the keepers of the eye as the Lord is called in the verse preceding Shomer Itshrael the keeper of Israel If the lids of the eye open it is to let the eye see if they close it is to let it rest at least to defend it all their motion is for the good of the eye O what a comfort is here The Lord calleth his Church The apple of his eye Qui vos tangit tangit pupillam oculi mei he that touches you touches the apple of mine eye so deare and tender is his church vnto him that he feeleth the least offence done vnto it The Church is the apple of the Lords eye and the Lord is the couering of it O how well are they kept whom the Keeper of Israel keepeth The Lord was a buckler to Abraham none of his enemies could harme him for his buckler couered him throughly The Lord was a hedge vnto Iob Satan himselfe confessed hee could not get thorow it howsoeuer many a time he assayed it to haue done euil vnto Iob. I need not multiply forrain examples What the power of diuine preseruation is neuer King since the daies of Dauid can witnes better theÌ„ our Soueraigne the Lord hath made his Maiestie glorious by deliuerances he hath rescued his Seruant from the hurtfull sword yea these wretched Instruments of Satan who by Sorcerie laid snares for his Sacred life being confounded in themselues that nothing could succeede
cut downe the medowes to the very rooteâ— we are in hope that his comming shall bee like the showres that water the earth to make it grow and reuert againe thâ—t in his dayes the righteous may flourish and aboundance of peace may be Praised bee the Lord wee doe already enioy the fruits of his Highnesse happy gouernment for now the mountaines and the hils bring peace to his people by iustice and the voice of wonted Oppressors is not heard in our borders Yet remaines there one euill in the heart of the Land which I may call the Kings euill not that the King is either author or allower of it but because the euill so desperate as cannot be cured but by a touch of the Kings hand this is Sacriledge a Pestilence that dissolueth the Pillers of the earth a Canker that corrupteth the whole body and hurteth all Great men Church men and Commons Many Great men embrace the curse of Zeba and Zalmunna for a blessing they will inherite Gods mansions as their own they so appropriate al to theÌ„selues that nothing is spared to the Lord for the maintenance of his Gospell they will not see that it is abomination to deuoure that which is sanctified till it haue deuoured theÌ„ and their whole estate they are like Pharaos leane kine that deuoured the fat and were neuer a whit the fatter themselues for this sin among other many houses in the Land spew out their old Inhabitants The Gentrie and Commons are heauily endamaged by it A common thing to see the Tithes eate vp the stock and abused Law being made the forcible meane of lawlesse oppression But which is worst of all a most famous and ancient Church oppressed with pouerty in many of her members is like to languish and decay the Children cry for bread and in many parts of the Land there is none to giue it nothing being left in sundry Parishes not so much as the small teinds of the Vicarage for maintenance of a Pastor I doe preiudice to none when I call this Church both famous and ancient It is now about three thousand and sixe hundred yeeres since the Lord promised to giue the ends of the earth in a possession to his Christ and it is now sixteen hundred yeeres since the Lord began to performe it for in the sixscore foure yeere of our Lord Donald King of Scots and Lucius King of South Brittaine embraced the Christian faith None of the Churches of this I le neither that in the South nor that in the North receiued the Faith from the Church of Rome It is true indeede at the desire of King Lucius there was sent to him from the Bishop of Rome Damianus and Fugatianus to confirme him in the faith but Baronius the Romish Cardinall is forced to confesse quòd diu ante Euangeliam Christi illuc perlatum erat that long before their comming the Gospell of Christ was brought thither that is to this I le And for vs that place of Tertullian without all exception proueth the antiquity of this Church Brittannorum loca Romanis inaccessa Euangelio Christi subdita sunt that two hundred yeeres after Christ this Church was famous through the world for her Christianity and shall shee now in her old age perish and decay through pouerty shall Iulians persequution vndoe her shall the rents of her Schooles Colledges and Churches be rest from her and nothing or little left to maintaine Learning and Religion O! what an ingratitude is here The Lord commeth to vs with the aboundance of the blessing of his Gospell offering to vs the riches of his mercy and grace and wee thinke him not worthy entertainment If wee haue said the Apostle sowne vnto you spirituall things is it a great matter that we reape your carnall things But contenting me to haue pointed at this euill I leaue the remedy thereof to that rare wisedome wherewith God hath endued your Sacred Maiestie and conclude as I began Iacob in his iourney to Padan Aram was comforted with a vision hee saw a ladder reaching from earth to heauen and the Angels of God ascending and descending vpon it assuring him that the Lord would be with him both in his going and his comming the like this day commeth from the Lord to our Iacob in his iourney The Lord shall preserue thy goingout and thy comming in from henceforth and for euer We lift our hearts and our hands to the God of heauen and beseech him graciously to performe it for Iesus Christs sake to whome with the Father and holy Ghost be all praise and honor Amen A forme of Grace vsed ordinarily at his Maiesties Table after meate in Scotland by the Deane of his Chappell PRaised be the Lord who dayly ladeth vs with his benefits The Lòrd is our Sunne and Shield hee giueth grace and will giue glory and no good thing shal be withholden from them who loue him Lord Saue thy Church vniuersall O God Preserue thy Seruant our gracious Soueraine Grant him long to reigne ouer vs a happy King of many blessings to thy people Blesse his Noble Queene with the hopefull Prince Charles the Prince and Princesse Palatine and their children Lord let vs neuer want one of his Highnesse Royall Race to sit vpon his Throne God giue vs all mercy for our sinnes with grace and peace in lesus Christ. Amen HIS MAIESTIES GOING OVT Psal. 80. verse 17. Let thy hand be with the Man of thy right hand and the Sonne of man whom thou hast made strong for thy selfe My helpe is in the Name of the LORD AS your Maiesties Comming into this Kingdome to visite the one of your Twinnes was welcommed with a promise of diuine protection The Lord shall preserue thy comming in and thy going out which praysed be the Lord he hath hitherto graciously performed So now your Returning to visite the other is accompanied with a Prayer which all the Estates of this your Highnesse Kingdome Nobles Churchmen and Commons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one heart and voyce send vp to the Lord to goe with your Sacred Maiesty wheresoeuer ye goe Let thy hand O Lord be with the Man of thy right hand Seeing our hands cannot alwayes bee with your Maiestie to attend and serue your Highnesse as our bounden duty requires our hearts shall not cease to cry vnto heauen that the hand of the Lord may be with you In this Psalme are two Prayers one for the Church that the Shepheard of Israel who sits betweene the Cherubins would mercifully looke on her misery and bring againe her captiuity The other is a Prayer for such as the Lord had appointed to be the instruments of her deliuerance either spirituall or temporall Principally it is a Prayer for the comming of the MESSIAH the true and great Redeemer of his people and so Saint Ieroâ—e expounds this place Fiat manus tua