these things and earnestly thinke vpon them So this Psalme is a prayer against the mighty rich and welthy of the world which either cruelly molest and vexe or proudly deride and contemne the godly as the last verse doth declare And these are not onely such as preferre wicked doctrin superstition idolatrie before the vndefiled word of God but euen such also as glory in the word and sound doctrine and will be counted louers fauourers of the Gospell and partakers with vs of the name and glory of christ Of such there was a great number amongst the people of Israel For they had the lawe sacrifices and ceremonies instituted by Moises according to the word of god They had great plentie of Prophets and godly teachers yet how they vsed them the storyes doe declare When Elisha sent the sonne of a Prophet vnto Iehu the other said VVherefore commeth this madde fellow vnto thee The Psalmes also preachings of the Prophets concerning faith and true righteousnes before God doe shew that they were contemned and derided of the multitude yea condemned as heretikes because they seemed not to attribute so much to â— sacrifices ceremonies of y law as they should do Likewise Dauid was counted a seditious fellow a rebel a traitor and charged with ambition and greedy desire to reigne And afterwards when he went about to bring the arke of the Lord to Ierusalem with a good and a zealous mind expressed his ioy Michol his wife receiued him with these words Oh how glorious was the King of Israel this day which was vncouered in the eyes of the maidens of his seruants as a foole vncouereth him self Now we can not thinke that onely Michol did thus slanderously speake of that kings doings but there were no doubt other also in the court men both of wisedom dignitie which iudged the same For what so euer he be that professeth loueth the word vnfainedly zealously seketh the glory of God he shal be iudged and called of the cursed world worldlings both a foolish a mad man That it hath bene alwaies so the stories do declare also these our daies do witnes the same Wherfore this Psalme setteth before our eyes a goodly example that for as much as we are compelled to see suffer this contempt despite of the proude scornful we should pray with Dauid against al such that is first against the pope his whole kingdom of faces for they doe not onely proudly contemne vs but also coÌ„demne vs Then also against false brethren such as in our churches liue in al carnall godles securitie and albeit they will seme to be no enemies but frieÌ„ds vnto the gospel yet either deride or molest the true professors therof Against al such this Psalme is vnitteÌ„ for the troubled afflicted children of God which are counted of the world either heretical or sedicious or else fooles and abiectes But this consolation they haue that seeing the holy Ghost in this Psalme doth teach them how to pray in these distresses they shall be heard and though they be here contemned and counted the outswepings of the earth they shall be made glorious in the kingdom of God. Verse 1. I lift vppe myne eyes vnto thee which dwellest in the heauens This is a vehement groning of a troubled mind looking about and seeking euery way for comfort and succour but none could be found Whether then shall I miserable maâ—â—stie saith he in this distresse Strength to with stand mine enemies I haue none Of wisedom and counsell beeing compassed with such a multitude of aduersaries I am vtterly destitute To thee therefore I come O my God To thee I lift vp mine eyes which dwellest in the heauâ—â—â— â–ª Here note that the heauens are called the habitatioÌ„ of God not because he is there conteined for as the heauens are his seate so is the earth his footestoole but because he doth from thence more manifestly shew the maiestie of his diuinitie And what so euer he hath at any time done vppon the earth by reuelaâ—ions visions or oracles he seemed to doe it from heauen From whence also haue come the most notable and seuere punishments of the wicked as of the first worlde by the flood of the Sodomites by the rayning downe of fire with brimstone of the Egyptians by haâ—se mixed with fire of the Amorrâ—ans by the rayning of stones from heauen And hereof come these sayings He that dwelleth in the heauens shall laugh them to scorne The Lorde looked downe from heauen The Lord hath prepared his seate in heauen Our God is in heauen and doth what soeuer he will. VVhich dwelleth in the light that none can attaine vnto Therefore we reade that Christ commonly when he prayed or when he gaue thankes to his father looked vp to heauen And when he departed hence vnto his father he was seene to ascend vp into the heauens These things are spoken to this ende that we may knowe that God our father is not earthly â–ª infirme or corruptible but the Lord and inhabitour of heauen as a place without all corruption and therefore a most meete habitation for him almightie and ruling ouer all euerlasting incorruptible seing all things percing all things The prophet also calleth God here the inhabitour of heauen to signifie that the earth is full of the proude and scornefull and that the godly are troden vnder foote of those that dwel vpon the earth and are counted the ouâ—swepings of the world and therefore he seeth none besides the Lord and inhabitour of heauen of whom he may looke for helpe and succour The great daunger whereof the Prophete complayneth is herein expressed in that he looking about on euery side and seeking for succour could find none to helpe him but onely the inhabitour of heauen These thinges make the tentation much more greeuous and terrible and therfore he prayeth with such wordes in his tentation as perhaps he at that time did not perfectly vnderstand as Sainct Paule also sayth VVe vnderstand not what we pray The spirite knoweth and vnderstandeth what these wordes meane but man can not conceiue the power therof in the time of his tentation whiles faith is infirme and is yet in the conflict But when our petition is graunted prayer heard then faith hath her force and we haue more perfect vnderstanding both of the tentation and also of the prayer which we therein vsed The Prophet therefore in this verse setteth the inhabitour of heauen against the inhabitours of the earth and conceiueth comfort and courage that albeit the world is great and mighty yet God is more mighty This is the meaning of the Prophet in this verse And albeit the wordes bee but simple as ye see yet are they full of consolation to him that beleeueth The spirite which ministreth these wordes and stirreth vppe these groninges in the heartes of the afflicted knoweth with what maiestie and power they
become as it were inuisible and by faith in pouertie to beholde riches in heauines and sorrowe ioy and comfort in desolation and destruction helpe and succour and when we seeme to be cut of and to be cast away from God euen then to beleue and by faith to lay sure handfast on Gods eternall mercie and grace in Christ As Dauid here did who was afflicted and felt no comfort and yet he sayth I lift vp myne eyes to the hilles from whence commeth my helpe Thou must lift vp thine eyes therfore and in no wise fixe them vpon the present troubles calamities or afflictions whatsoeuer the fleshe seeth feeleth or suffereth for that is to obey and consent to the eyes and the eares that is to say to harken to the flesh which is alwaies ready to perswade thee that God is angry with thee that he hath forsaken thee that thy daunger is such and so terrible that thou canst neuer escape it Here therefore thou must lift vp thine eyes to the hills of the Lord and harken to the voice of God who sayth and promiseth that helpe shall surely come from those hills which albeit for the tyme it be inuisible and can neither be seene nor felt yet is it most certayne and infallble They that are in wealth glorie and dignitie lift not vp their eyes to these inuisible thinges and therefore they are puffed vp with pride and caried away with all noysom lustes But such as are in pouerty contempt of the worlde afflicted in body or minde are forced to lift vp their eyes that the helpe which is inuisible may be made to them visible by fayth according to the promise of God made vnto them in his word These are the words therefore of a man that felt the same that we feele that is to say our hearts to be oppressed with sorrow and heauines when we thinking our selues to be desolate and forsaken can see no succour when we see not riches but pouertie not glory but ignominy shame and confusion In these calamities the heart is an heauie burden weying downe to the grounde the eyes and the head that they can see or thinke vpon nothing else but terrene and earthly thinges Therefore he exhorteth vs by his owne example to lift vp our eyes and looke to inuisible thinges which the word promiseth we shall certainly enioy Thus we see the nature of faith liuely set out in this Psalme Nowe followeth as it were an explication what hills he speaketh of Verse 2. My helpe commeth of the Lord which hath made heauen and earth He speaketh here of such hills as the eyes of the flesh could not see For who was so quicke of sight to see or so wise to perceiue and vnderstande that the hill Moria was a holy hill A heape of earth the bodily eyes might see but the holynes the power and the Maiestie of God there present they could not see nor that the word of the Lord was there that the Lord had promised there to dwell and abide that he had put a memoriall of his name in that place and that there he would be sought there he would be found For he that sought not God in this place coulde not finde him in heauen Like as since God hath reueiled him self in that man Christ we truly say and also beleue that whosoeuer doe not imbrace and by faith lay hold on this man which was borne of the virgin they can neuer beleue in God but although they say they beleue in the maker of heauen and earth yet doe they in deede beleue in the Idoll of their owne heart for without Christ there is no true god Therefore Dauid beholdeth these hills in Ierusalem not with bodily eyes as the oxe doth his stall but with the eyes of the spirite he seeth that God dwelleth there by his word Therfore these hils are nowe no more earth and molde but they are the hilles of the Lorde and the fulnes of his godhead so that with out these hills concerning God there can nothing be found Therefore it is truly sayd of the Prophet that from these hilles commeth help and succour that is to say from God dwelling and abiding there by his word Like as we beleue that Christ is the throne of grace in the which is the treasure of all good thinges and heauenly blessinges to be found and without the which there is nothing Now in that he doth not onely say My helpe commeth from the Lord but addeth moreouer which made heauen earth he reproueth condēneth all other helps which men seeke procure vnto them selues besides God with false trust affiāce in the same as Idols of their owne imagination So is Mammon a god also that is to say is worshipped of men as a god helpeth them also sometimes But in penury of food vittells what succour can he bring no man can satisfie his hungrie belly with gold and siluer Likewise in drowth and barennes of the earth what can he help What good can he do in diseases infirmities of the body If then in these corporall maladies he can not help what can he doe when the conscience is troubled with sinne the horrour of death It is therefore but a false pleasure and delite that Mammon bringeth which is but only to satisfie please the eyes as a picture or painted table Against these helps therfore such like which the world seeketh after the prophet setteth the Lord him self who made not only gold siluer not only foode sustenance heauen and earth that is to say angels men and the whole world but besides these giueth remissiō of sinnes faith righteousnes ioy peace of hart with euerlasting life He is sayth the Prophet my almighty and sure help of whom I can not doubt that he will euer fayle me the twinckling of an eye To this Lord I flye for aide succour who not onely in this life can and doth giue health welfare for a fewe yeres with securitie of cōscience cōtempt of death all the furies of the world but also after this life eternal felicity life euerlasting Thus the Prophet inflameth him selfe stirreth vp his faith for our example that we likewise should magnifie the blessings good gifts of God in vs also our hope trust in him For if the riche men of the world doe glory in their money if they vaunt of their wealth and riches why should not we also glory in the trust confidence we haue in God which hath made heauen and earth which hath also in his hand all thinges necessary both for this life for the life to come But because these things are inuisible can not be seene but with spirituall eyes therefore we commonly neglect thē And albeit the Lord do somtimes hide these helps from vs let vs feele the lacke therof for a time as he doth in deede to make vs the more desirous of thē
are spoken Verse 2. Behold as the eyes of seruaunts looke vnto the hande of their maisters and as the eyes of a mayden vnto the hand of her mistres so our eyes waite vpon the Lord our God vntill he haue mercy vpon vs. Here the prophet setteth forth by similitude the nature of true pietie As if he sayd Great is our affliction and yet the Lord prolongeth his helpe neither easing our miserie nor reuenging our wrong He suffereth the cruel the proude and the scornful to treaâ— vs vnder foote and to prosper in our sight This delay is tedious greuous vnto vs Notwithstanding we will not murmure or become vnpatient in these our afflictions but as good seruaunts in their distresse looke to the hand that is for help and succour at the hand of their masters mistresses so will we attend vpon y Lord our God vntill he haue pitie vpon vs. Thus we see that the Lorde sometimes deferreth his helpe neither shewing how nor when he will help but leauing his Saints in such perplexitie as though he had no regard either of the time or of the maner of their deliuerance so that they seme to hang as it were in the middes betwene heauen and earth These things are greuous and excedingly encrease the tentation Therefore we must lay sure hold on this consolation which the Prophet here setteth forth that our tentation shal haue an end but not as we would lest we seeme to appoint the time and maner of our deliuerance which the lord reserueth to him self alone And here is an example set forth vnto vs patiently to wait vpon the Lord in the time of trouble to be instant in prayer and neuer to let our hands fall or turne our eyes from the Lord but constantly to perseuere in sure hope expectation of his gracious deliuerance and of his helping hand to be present with vs in our necessitie whereof our Sauiour Christ also warneth vs in the Gospell of the woman and the vnrighteous iudge who although he neither feared God nor man yet because this woman neuer ceased to call vpon him he was compelled to heare her cause For if the worst man be not yet so wicked but he may be ouercome with instant and continuall prayer what shall we not hope to obteine at Gods hand which willingly offereth him selfe to heare our prayers and also commaundeth vs to pray yea and is more ready to graunt our petitions then we are to aske For in that he differreth his help he doth it not because he will not heare vs but to exercise and stirre vp our faith and to teach vs that the wayes whereby he can and doth deliuer vs are so manifold miraculous that we are neuer able to conceiue them Therfore let vs thinke that the thing which we aske is not denied but differred assure our selues that we are not neglected because of this delay The patient abiding of the afflicted saith Dauid in an other Psalme shall not perish yea the Lord will not lose the glory of his name which Dauid in the same Psalme attributeth vnto him namely that he is a helper in time conuenient And here is to be noted by the way that the holy Ghost commendeth the gouernment of housholds and families in this place and signifieth that to serue is a vocation which pleaseth him if it be done in faith For seruauntes are here mentioned for the comfort of all good seruauntes and in them is commended not onely their patience but also the confidence and trust which they haue in the goodnes of their maisters assuredly trusting with patient tarying to finde mercie and fauour in their sight in time conuenient But in deede Dauid speaketh here of better seruauntes then are commonly seene at this day for there is no kinde of people more deceitful negligent and stubborne euen when there is great cause of sharpe and seuere correction Wherefore let all such as will be counted good seruaunts remember the example and rule set forth here by the holy Ghost and obserued of all good seruaunts which is that they are not froward and stubborne but patiently endure all things and do the duety of true and faithfull seruaunts hauing alwayes a watchfull eye to the hand of their maisters And further note how humbly the faithful think of them selues in the sight of god They are called and chosen to this dignitie to be the heyres and children of God and are exalted aboue the Angels and yet notwithstanding they count them selues no better in Gods sight then seruauntes They say not here beholde like as children loke to the hand of their fathers but as seruaunts to the hand of their masters This is the humilitie and modestie of the godly it is so farre of that hereby they lose the dignitie of Gods children to the which they are called that by this meanes it is made to them more sure and certaine Moreouer here is to be obserued that Dauid sayth not simply VVe lift vp our eyes to the Lord but he addeth moreouer to the Lord our God that is to say that God which hath reuealed him selfe to vs in his word for otherwise he were not our god The gods of the Gentiles idolls which men deuise vnto them selues are called gods but he is the true God and none but he which hath declared him selfe to vs in his word and promised in the same that he will be our God c. The Papistes haue deuised vnto them selues a seruice and worship of God contrarie to the word of God and therefore they worship not the true God in deede but an idoll of their owne heart yea they worship a creaâ—â—â— made and fashioned with mans handes for the almightie creaâ—â—â— of heauen earth But our God is he not whom we haue deuised but which hath paynted and set out him selfe in his Scriptures how and by what meanes he wil be serued and worshipped This our God because he seemeth oftentimes to estraunge him selfe from vs and to haue no care of vs the wicked doe shunne and forsake and seeke helpe of Peter and Paule and many times of Satan through sorcery and witchcraft and other deuilish meanes thinking because God prolongeth his helpe to finde thereby more speedye succour But thus our God is wont to deale with vs first as is sayd to proue and exercise vs and so to bring vs to the knowledge of our selues that we may see our owne weakenes and frailty which are so readie to be ledde away from him then also to bring vs to the knowledge of him whereby we may see both how willing he is and also howe able by farre better meanes to helpe vs then mans heart can conceiue Verse 3. Haue mercy vpon vs O Lord haue mercy vpon vs for we haue suffered too much contempt Here may we see that the godly doe not onely feele their owne crosse but the affliction of other also is to them a great crosse and as
that he is able likewise to destroy both body and soule if God did so permitte but also to stirre vs vp to faith and prayer that we should call vpon him for ayde and succour agaynst these perilous snares and being deliuered should giue him thankes and prayse for the same Moreouer euery tentation is a snare whether it be of the flesh or of the spirite Persecution torments imprisonment sclaunder diseases and infirmities of the body be snares which as they are permitted of God to exercise and strengthen our fayth so by the malice of Satan they are wrought to afflict and to vexe men that he may bring them to infidelitie and desperation and so into the snares of eternall death From the which snares but by the speciall grace of God there is no way to escape Thus our life lyeth alwayes open to the snares of Satan and we as sely birdes are like at euery moment to be caried away Notwithstanding the Lord maketh a way for vs to escape Yea when Satan seemeth to be most sure of vs by the mighty power of God the snares are broken we are deliuered Experience hereof we haue in those which are inwardly afflicted with heauines of spirit greeuously oppressed that when they seeme to be in vtter despaire ready as you would say now to perish yet euen at the last pinch in the vttermost extremitie commeth the sweete comfort of Gods holy spirite and raiseth them vp againe When we are most ready to perish then is God most ready to helpe Except the Lord had holpen me sayth Dauid my soule had almost dwelt in silence Verse 8. Our helpe is in the name of the Lord who hath made both heauen and earth This is the conclusion of thankesgiuing contayning a worthy sentence of great comfort that against sinne the horrour of death and other daungers there is no other helpe or safetie but onely the name of the lord If that were not sayth he we should fall into all maner of sinne blasphemy errours and into all kind of calamities But our helpe is in the name of the Lord which preserueth our faith and our life against the Deuill and the world And as ye heard in the other verses before so he sheweth in this verse also that God suffereth his Sainctes to be tempted and in their tentation to fall into great distresse as euen nowe readie to be drowned and swallowed vp presently with great floodes of water yet notwithstanding this comfort he sheweth them that he will not vtterly forsake them By the which examples we may learne to know the will of the Lord and to seeke our help and safety at his hands which suffereth his people to be exercised in the fornace of Egypt not to their vtter destruction but onely to kill the olde man with his vaine hope and confidence which he hath in his owne strength This is the cause why God suffereth his people so to be exercised For it is not hearing reading talking or teaching nor speculation onely which maketh a Christian man but practise is that which specially is required in a true Christian that is to say the crosse to plucke downe the fleshe and bring it to nothing that man despairing of his owne strength and seeing no succour in himselfe should resigne him selfe wholly vnto the Lord looking with patience and hope for helpe at his hande for this is the will of god Neither must we imagine to our selues any other God then such a one as will helpe the afflicted and oppressed with desperation and other calamities To knowe this doctrine is one peece of the victory For they that know it not when tentation assayleth them either doe dispayre or seeke other helpes Let vs learne then out of this Psalme that it is the will of God to exercise his Sainctes with troubles and afflictions Who suffereth great floodes of water to runne ouer their heades who also permitteth them to fall into the snares of the wicked and tryeth euery way not to destroy them but to shew them what they are of them selues so to teach them to trust in his sauing health But the flesh looketh to the power and multitude of the aduersaries and her owne infirmitie but to looke vnto God and to hope for his helpe and succour it is not able Wherefore this is a necessary conclusion Our helpe is in the name of the Lord. It is a short sentence but it setteth foorth most worthie doctrine and consolation whereof ▪ specially in these latter daies we haue great neede seeing the Pope togither with the greatest part of the Princes rulers of the world so cruelly doe persecute the doctrine of the Gospel In respect of these huge mountains what are we small molehills Yea though there were no force nor power of man for vs to feare how are we able to stand against not onely so many deuills but euen the very gates of hell also And yet this experience we haue of the great mercy and goodnes of the Lord our God that when we are euen in their handes and neuer so much oppressed yet are we not forsakē but are safe through our confidence and trust in his helpe But to this wisedom it is vnpossible for vs to attayne without continuall afflictions whereby it is necessary that the confidence of all worldly succours should be beaten downe For vexation and trouble bringeth vnderstanding as Esay sayth whereby we are compelled to cry Helpe Lorde for else we perish So in the last houre when death approcheth there is nothing wherein mans heart can repose it selfe or finde comfort but his trust and confidence in the helpe of the Lorde There is rest and quietnes there is perfect peace He that can then say My helpe is in the name of the Lord dyeth happely and is out of all daunger Thus we may learne what it is to haue and enioy God euen to rest in the sure trust of his mercifull helpe and succour in all daungers These are the wordes therefore of a victorious and triumphing fayth Our helpe is in the name of the Lord which made heauen and earth As if he sayd The maker of heauen and earth is my God and my helper Shew me a God O ye my aduersaries like vnto him What are your snares and your traynes then compared vnto this God What are your threatnings your power your pollicies c. Thus he setteth the eternall God the maker of heauen and earth against all terrours and daungers against the floodes and ouerflowings of al tentations and swalloweth vp as it were with one breath all the raging furies of the whole world and of hell it selfe euen as a litle droppe of water is swallowed vp of a mightie flaming fire And what is the world with all his force and power in respect of him which made heauen and earth Let the worlde fret then let it rage so that this succour neuer faile vs And if it be the will of
enemies of the word rage they neuer so furiously shall not preuaile against the Church because the Lord hath promised that he wil there make the horne of Dauid to budd Some do vnderstand that by this word to budd Christ in whom the kingdom of Dauid is truely established is couertly bere shadowed and signified Against this interpretation I will not greatly stand and yet I rather rest in the simplicitie of the letter which seemeth playnely to promise vnto Dauid a certeyne place and posteritie The name of budding he vseth here to signifie an encrease and to encrease is to be preserued So the Church buddeth and encreaseth although outwardly it seemeth to be diminished and defaced because God preserueth and encreaseth it daily by his worde and his spirite The sense and meaning then is this that God will blesse defend and preserue the horne of Dauid that is to say the kingdome the strength and the power of that nation For here he would specially notifie the person to this ende that the posteritie might be certeyne of the house of the person and of the place of this kingdom That which followeth I haue ordeyned a light for mine anoynted is an hebrewe phrase which kinde of speech we also doe vse As when we saye that Iohn Hus was the lyght of the Church of Bohemia Leonard Kesar for his singular confession of the fayth and constancie in the truth of the Gospell was the lyght of Bauaria This maner of phrase is vsed also 2. Samuel 21. That the lyght of Israell be not quenched And in the 2. Chronic. 21. as touching Ioram For God would not destroy the house of Dauid because he had promised to giue a light to him and to his children for euer For Ioram was the laste of the posteritie of Salomon They that reigned after him were of the posteritie of Nathan which at the captiuitie of Babylon when the Citie was destroyed and the Kinge in captiuitie and bandes seemed to be vtterly extinguished But the Lorde chastised both the place and the person he neither chaunged nor reiected them Againe at the birth of Christ the kingdome was translated from the stocke of Dauid to the Machabees and the Romanes Wherefore as touching the outwarde appearance this light was vtterly quenched but to the spirituall man and to the eyes of faith it was yet glorious For there were certeine persons remayning of the tribe of Iuda of whome afterwardes Christ was borne Wherefore he calleth the preseruation of the kingdom a light but in respect of the thing it selfe and not of the outward shew for therby it seemed that both the place and the person were clene gone for God through idolatrie and presumption was constreined to destroy them So the kingdom was taken from the tribe of Iuda Then came Christ who builded a new Ierusalem which shall remaine for euer There is also a certaine vehemencie in this word haue prepared for it signifieth that this kingdome was defended not onely against all enemyes and conspiratours at home and amonges them selues but also against all the deuills and the gates of hel euen to the comming of christ Yet notwithstanding the historie sheweth howe it was humbled through many calamities and afflictions Likewise we haue a promise as touching the Church that it shall continue vnto the ende of the worlde and that the gates of hell shall not preuaile against it and yet who knoweth not howe it hath beene humbled oppressed and in a manner abolished vnder the Pope There was taught and worshipped not Christ but the virgine Mary the Apostles c. So that according to the saying of Christ except the Lorde had shortened those dayes no flesh shoulde haue beene saued Wherefore we must regarde the Maiestie and power of the promiser more then all the offences that either the world or the deuill can raise vppe against vs and let vs not be discouraged when the Pope with his curse and the world with the sworde doe rage against the Church For although the Church neither in number nor in power be like vnto the aduersaryes yet shall it endure and the aduersaries shall perish For he is greater that is in vs then he that is in the world and the word because it is the eternall power of God shall easily ouercome Satan and all the furies of hel Verse 18. His enemies will I cloth with shame but on him his crowne shall flourish Not the King of Babylon not of Syria not of Edom not of Moab not of Egypte briefly no enemy shall preuaile against this kingdom but this kingdome shall stand vnmoueable and mightely established euen vnto Christ and the enemyes of this kingdome shal be all clothed with confusion This light shall neuer be quenched vntill he come which shall fulfill all thinges This throne although it be neuer so contemptible and odious to the whole worlde shall remaine in glory not onely before men but also before the worlde Neither could Satan yet euer bring to passe although with all his force power and policie he hath continually attempted it that the posteritie of Dauid should be extinguished before Christ should be borne To these promises as vnto a sure staffe yea as vnto a strong rocke the Saincts of God haue alwaies leaned in great calamities wherewith Satan exercised this people to the ende he might hinder the promise concerning christ And in deede Antiochus aboue all other laboured with maine and might to roote out and to destroy this people for euer But as the Psalme here promiseth because he was an enemie to this holy nation therefore he was clothed with shame and confusion But on him his crowne shall flourish That is to say although the crowne of Dauid often tymes shall seeme in outwarde appearance to decay and perishe yet by a secret and a diuine power it shall be renued plenteously fructifie and gloriously flourish But the trueth of this promise resteth in Christe of whose kingdome there is no ende For vppon his head hath flourished a crowne which could neuer decay as the crownes of worldly Princes do For the crowne of the sonne of God is farre otherwise to whom all power is giuen both in heauen and in earth In the meane time the Lorde preserued this temporall kingdome vntill that was accomplished in the person of his onely begotten sonne which he would â—ignifie vnder those shadowes and figures But because this externall kingdome of Dauid was of this world and earthly therefore was it but temporall and for a tyme But the kingdom of Christ because it is not of this worlde but heauenly and spirituall is eternall and shall endure for euer This Psalme conteyneth a prayer for the preseruation of the word and publike peace For this must we specially desire in our prayer except we will be found vnthankfull Moreouer we must not be offended when we see that the common wealth is disquieted through the disobedience of the people or wickednes of the Magistrates or
a complaint Verse 5. VVoe is me that I remaine in Mesech and dwell in the tents of Kedar Hitherto the Prophet hath declared the daungers both of him selfe and of the church with prayer to be deliuered from the same Now he addeth hereunto a complaint for that the church of God being in the middes of her enemies is continually vexed on euery side and true doctrine assailed with power subteltie As though he should say Being in this distresse and daunger this is all that I am able to doe faithfully to teach feruently to pray and paciâ—ntly to suffer To this ende I teache that the worde may be publikely mainteyned and kept I pray that the word may preuaile and haue the victory and till it shall ouercome I must paciently abide what trouble or affliction soeuer shall happen He that will not thus doe is but a shrinker and his fall will be fearefull In like maner haue we bene troubled in these our dayes with Epicures Libertines Anabaptistes c. We haue sustained the cruel oppression of the word by the power and subtelty of the Papists that cursed seede of Cain amongst vs there is also no smal number which fearing neither God nor deuill doe not onely contemne the ministery but would wish it to be vtterly abolished These are heauy crosses to the godly when they must be compelled both to see them and suffer them and yet can finde no remedie for the same This forceth vs to say with Dauid VVoe is me that I remayne in Mesech c. By Mesech and Kedar he meaneth two sorts of people inhabiting neare vnto the Iewes of which the first came of Iapheth as Moises teacheth and the seconde of Ismael Both of them were barbarous cruel and without all humanity dwelling in tents By these he meaneth such as were of his owne nation being no lesse cruell and spitefull against Gods people then these were like as in an other place the corrupt degenerate Iewes he calleth GeÌ„tiles And that he might the more sharpely reprehend Gods enemies and his of purpose he nameth those people which the Iewes knew to be most cruel and barbarous meaning that if he dwelt in Mesech Kedar he could not be amongst more cruel enemies As if he should say I am compelled to comfort my self with hope and pacience and would be glad that the churches were in peace quietnes and the pastors and rulers thereof in a godly vnity but this wil not be Wherfore I wil commit the whole cause of God by prayer teach the word faithfully In the meane season we must beare these offences that by the good we may ouercome the euill Thus we se then that the office of teaching is a miserable kind of life For besides other calamities which the preachers teachers of Gods word must suffer at the hands of the vnfaithful this also must nedes be vnto them a great crosse to see the word of God and true doctrine miserably corrupted and the Church disquieted by false brethren But for the Lords cause these things we suffer and we say with Dauid VVoe is me that I remayne in Mesech and dwell in the tents of Kedar barbarous and cruell people Verse 6. My soule hath too long dwelt with him that hateth peace Here he sheweth plainly whom he meaneth by Meâ—ech Kedar to wit those wicked Israelites which forsaking the wayes of their godly fathers became spitefull and cruell against the faithfull amongst whom he was compelled to dwell a long season and to suffer great iniuries and cruelty at their hands And this is the subteltie of the malignant spirite that whom he can not ouer come by the multitude and greeuousnes of tentations those he goeth about to weery with tediousnes long continuance therof Wherfore many being unskilful of this spiritual warfare fight valiantly at the beginning but in the ende they faynt and cowardly giue ouer This daunger Dauid did foresee complained therof Long haue I dwelt sayth he amongest those that hate peace that is which continually trouble disquiete the church of God and neuer will be at peace with it thinking by importunitie and long coÌ„tinuance at the length to get the victory So Iob with one kind of calamity was not discouraged but wheÌ„ one messenger followed an other and one calamitie likewise came vpon an other then his minde by litle and litle began to be troubled And this is the malignity and malice of Satan Wherefore let vs cast away all hope of peace so long as we liue here and let vs assure our selues that if this day we ouercome one kinde of tentation to morrowe Satan will set vpon vs againe with an other And here behold the craft and subtelty of the worlde The holy Ghost calleth them heretikes which are haters of peace and concord and this name they spitefully apply vnto vs Thou say they art he that troublest Israel Thus they which trouble the Church in deede accuse the true Church and call them selues the louers of peace and concord This must we also suffer and so content our selues with the testimony of a good coÌ„science which shall cleare vs before God that we seeke the peace of the church wherunto they are vtter enemies as followeth Verse 7. I seeke peace when I speake thereof they are bent to warre This is the testimonie of my conscience that I loue peare and seke after it Wherof then commeth all this trouble all this deadly warre of me I graunt but not by my default For if I would suffer these disturbers and haters of all godly peace and concord to say and to doe what they list then would they not so rage then woulde they not seeke my hurt as they doe then would they liue in peace But how can we hide those thinges that we haue seene that we haue heard that we are commaunded to speake and declare not in our chambers but on the house toppes For Christ saith God and preach the Gospel to all creatures And againe No man hideth a light vnder a bushel This is the cause that the word is in our mouth as a burning cole which can not be kept in but compelleth vs to open our mouthes Hereof then come all these troubles because they take away the commaundement of God yet would haue vs to holde our peace And here we see it come to passe that Christ saith in the Gospell when a strong man kepeth the house all things are in peace but when a stronger then he cometh then troubles arise This is then our consolation that what troubles soeuer doe arise we rest vpon the testimony of our owne conscience that we do nothing else but speake and declare that we are commaunded It is not our life therfore which they accuse but our doctrine abideth the blame which is not ours but Christes Wherefore let vs not only contemne all peace and concord but let heauen and earth also perish rather then the
thy wife thy children Thou fallest into sicknes and infirmitie of body Thou losest thy goodes thine estimation the peace and tranquillitie of conscience yea and some time according to thine owne sense and feeling Christ him selfe also These are great matters in deede But beware that whilest thou iudgest these thinges after thine owne sense thou make not of a droppe an infinite sea and of a sparcle a flaming fire Though it be neuer so great which thou feelest and sufferest yet God is greater If God and Christ then perish not if they still liue and reigne what if thou lose thy wife thy children thy goodes yea and thy life also For what are all these if thou compare them to the inestimable grace of God and the riches which he hath promised in his word but mere nothing Therefore let vs lift vp our mindes to these heauenly riches and let vs learne rightly to discerne betwene the crosse in respect of it selfe that is of the flesh and the sense of our owne heart and in respect of God and his rich promise Which if we consider as it is in it selfe and without Christ what trouble is so small that shall not vtterly ouerthrowe vs and so shall euery trouble be vnto vs intolerable But if we behold the same in respect of God with the eyes of faith though our afflictions and calamities seeme neuer so great and greeuous yet the super abundant mercy of God in Christ swalloweth them vppe all Who albeit he suffereth vs to be afflicted for a litle season yet shall the entâ—e be full of ioy and comfort So sayth the Prophet Esay For a litle while haue I forsaken thee This momentane and short time to the flesh seemeth an eternitie But as I said our carnall eyes doe but deceiue vs Therefore we must iudge according to Gods promises concerning inuisible things and see what God hath said in his word This is the exercise of faith whereof Dauid speaketh in this place admonishing vs to looke to the word and promise and to lift vp our eyes to inuisible things and thereafter to iudge and not according to thinges present And here experience teacheth vs what an infinite wisedom true diuinitie is which in this life we can neuer fully and perfectly attaine vnto For to what sudden mutations this life is subiect we see To day aliue and in good health to morrow dead and gone Yea how infinite are the troubles calamities tentations and daungers wherewith our life is tossed as a shippe on the sea which so terrifie vs that heauen and earth are to little for vs yea the whole creature is to vs a very hell This is the nature of flesh which Satan moreouer so inspireth and bewitcheth that it seeth not God but rather as it iudgeth some great and horrible mischiefe not life but death and destruction But this is no iudgement but rather a delusion of the flesh and the deuil against the which we must fight yea and beleue that euen in our destruction as to vs it seemeth God is present with vs and in our death Christ our King liueth in whose sight our tribulations and afflictions yea and death it selfe are altogither as you would say but one nothing and if we compare them vnto God by the iudgement of faith we shall feele them so to be in deede But who hath sufficiently learned thus to doe Somewhat we may say and teach other after a sort but vse and experience with inward practise and feling is that which maketh a right diuine and a true Christian in deede so that he may be able boldely to affirme and say with Dauid He will not suffer thy foote to styppe that is to say he will not suffer thee to be vtterly ouerthrowne and perish But the flesh saith the contrary because it feeleth not onely thy foote to slyppe but it selfe also to be troden vnder foote Beholde the sonne of God what he suffered Behold Iohn Baptist the virgin Mary the Apostles the Prophets what they suffered Behold the church at this day what danger it is in what troubles and afflictions it continually suffereth And this is the state of the godly Upon the experience whereof ariseth this prouerbe The more wicked the more happy And therefore the worlde fearing and shunning these daungers can neuer abide the Gospell And thus it appeareth to them not to be true that Dauid sayth here The Lord wil not suffer thy foote to slippe but rather the contrary that he causeth thy foote to slyppe Albeit it doth but seeme so for he doth not so in deede and that to the flesh onely but contrariwise to the spirit and faith it is exaltation and glory before god They iudge that death which is suffered for the confession of the Gospell to be a beginning of a better and eternall life Ignominy shame and contempt of the worlde they count inestimable glory in the sight of God. This is the iudgement of faith albeit the flesh thinketh otherwise But we may not iudge after the flesh for if we do what needeth then the doctrine of the word what neede exhortations what neede the promises Therefore we must turne the euill into good and where the fleshe concludeth that it is continually troden vnder foote there faith must confesse and say that by the crosse and by these afflictions we are made like to the sonne of God fashioned like vnto Christ For these things are to be beleued as inuisible and also insensible and not as things to be seene and felt But such as will not beleue but follow their owne sense and feling doe rather choose the glory pleasures of this worlde which so litle while endure and so suddenly vanish away But how miserable shall their condition be when after these transitory momentane and vaine pleasures they shall find and feele nothing but anguish torments with weeping wailing for euer without end How much better had it bene for them to haue suffered for a while with Lazarus both sicknes and pouerty then for a little season to flourish with the rich glutton in welth and prosperitie with him to be tormented in euerlasting fire This doctrine therfore pertaineth to those which desire to beleue not to fele that they may discerne betwene God their afflictions not fixing their eyes vpon the present calamities but looking vp to the inuisible help promised in the word For those troubles daungers where unto the faithfull are subiect do in deede cause the foote to slippe but yet so that faith wil not suffer them to fall but maketh them able to passe ouer those rockes be they neuer so daungerous to compare their momentane afflictions with those things which are infinite and euerlasting as to God him selfe his power his grace and finally eternall life which God hath promised in Christ to them that beleue in him To know these things it is necessary that we may be able to comfort both our selues
protection of this good keper and watchman whom Dauid here speaketh of Thus doth our diuinitie teach and thus doe the godly beleue For by their owne experience they proue and by experience of the whole Church that Satan wil neuer rest vntill he destroy if he may either soule or body The destruction of the soule he seeketh by lying by corrupt doctrine by wicked false worshipping and seruing The destruction of the body he attempteth by infinite sleights practises wherof we haue experience daily in our selues and other For as much then as these things doe not come to passe either in such sort or so often as Satan would it is the benefite not of Satan but of this our vigilant keeper and watchman Thus we are taught euen by our owne experience taking this for a principle that the kingdom of the deuill is the kingdome of sinne and of death that we are continually and euery moment preserued from death and other daungers both corporally and spiritually by the singular goodnes and grace of Christe into whose kingdom through baptisme and faith we are translated And hereof come these heauenly sayings of the Prophets The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord his mercy endureth for euer c. In deede sometimes Satan so preuaileth and hath such successe in that he goeth aboute that by sudden plagues he bringeth men to horrible destruction Such examples ought to warne vs of those mischeuous practises which he continually goeth about and faine would bring to passe as he might easily doe if he were not letted by the vigilancy of our good watchman in heauen For as for the power of this our aduersary I doe beleeue that he is able in one hower to destroy all the people that are liuing vpon the earth Now if both he be able and also leaueth no practise vnattempted so to doe why then is it not done Because our good keeper watcheth ouer vs But these be matters of faith they muste be beleued and therefore he addeth this word beholde Whereby it may appeare that his purpose is earnestly to commend and set forth the great vigilancie and tender care of God towards vs whereby he keepeth and defendeth vs that we perish not And here note that this care and vigilancie for the safety and preseruation of our life countrey cities familyes peace and tranquillitie amongst vs c. is of the Prophet wholy attributed vnto God when as notwithstanding God vseth to worke the same by other meanes as first by the ministery of Angels and then also of men as of Princes and other inferiour magistrates c. Wherby we are admonished that these inferiour meanes which God vseth as his instrumentes for our preseruation are not able to doe vs any good at all except God him self take vpon him to be our chiefe watchman and defender God therfore vseth the ministery of these for our succour and reliefe euen as he doth bread drinke and other sustenaunce For as bread and drinke doe not preserue our life for then no man should dye and yet because of the ordinance of God and the fraile condition of our nature they are necessary for the sustentation of our life so doe these meane helpes nothing auayle vs except God the keeper of Israel doe watch for our succour and defence This watching this defence the â—orde of God doth reueile but the fleshe can not see it and therefore by a contrary sense thus it expoundeth these wordes The keeper of Israell that is to say the forsaker of Israell doth not sleepe that is he is not onely in a moste deade sleepe but also is without all sense and is in deede nothing For reason iudgeth according to euery pinch and pange that the flesh feeleth and according to the beginning of afflictions or first assaults and not according to the word and the end or deliuerance which God promiseth in the word Verse 5. The Lord is thy keper and he is thy shadowe or protection at thy right hand In this verse he setteth foorth more at large the certainty of Gods ready helpe and protection Wherin speaking to euery one priuatly he sayth The Lord is thy keeper that no man should doubt to apply that vnto him selfe for his owne comforte which pertaineth to al Israel He is called the shadow at thy right hand to teach thee that he is at hand and standeth euen by thy side ready to defend thee Or else the Lord is thy shadow at thy right hand That is he prospereth all thy affaires he giueth successe to all thou takest in hand If thou be a preacher a teacher in the Church of God if thou trauell in thy vocation vprightly and with a good conscience to prouide for thy selfe and thy family thou shalt not lack thy crosses But be of good comfort for the Lord hath promised to be on thy right hand he will ayde thee and succour thee in all things that thou shalt either doe or suffer But here againe we must remember as I said before that these things are spoken and taught in vaine except we first thinke our selues to be as it were vtterly forsaken and destitute of al help and succour Therefore when he speaketh of this tender care that the Lord hath ouer his in keping in shadowing in defeÌ„ding them that they perish not he meaneth therewithall that they are such as seeme to them selues so to be forsaken and neglected of God as if he had no care of them at all This is therefore a sweete doctrine and full of consolation that the Lord sheweth him selfe to knowe and to pittie our miseries and calamities and commaundeth vs to beleeue that he is our shadowe to couer defend vs against all perils daungers In him therefore let vs assuredly trust with comfortable expectation of most ioyfull deliuerance who hath promised to be with vs with a fatherly care to prouide for vs to defend vs to strengthen to succour and to comfort vs in all our troubles afflictions and calamities Verse 6. The sunne shall not hurt thee by day nor the moone by night The heate of the Sunne maketh mens bodyes weake feeble So doth the Moone also hurt not onely with colde but also with moysture By these speeches he meaneth all maner of tentations and perils and that God will be with vs in the middest of them to succour vs and to deliuer vs albeit we seeme for a litle while to beare all the heate and burden of the day alone that is to be vtterly forsaken and destitute of all helpe and succour But if we were alone then should the tentation haue no ende yea it should presently swallow vs vp for we are not able of our selues to endure the space of one moment Now the Lord suffreth Satan to vomet out his poyson and to practise against vs the beginning of his malice but he will not suffer him to hurt so much as he would doe Therefore because we haue the shadowe to couer vs
a pastour or preacher in the Church These the elect I meane the Lorde hath here and there sparsed emong the wicked as precious stones in the middes of the earth Therfore thou must not think to preach to these only which were to be wished but that can not be because they are mixed with the vngodly multitude Likewise when thou art called to be a ciuill magistrate or a gouernour of a houshold thou shalt not finde all to be precious stones gold or siluer but let it suffice thee if in a whole multitude as it chaunceth in mynes thou find but one veine of siluer or emongst a great deale of earth but one precious stone For the greatest part in the Church is hereticall godles the least part in the ciuill state obedient louing of vertue Hereof it commeth then that al things are ful of trouble to the godly pastour the Magistrate the housholder because the wicked with such successe contemne and disobey all godly orders Notwithstanding thou man of God stand in thy calling do thy duetie pray for peace exhorte counsel reproue those whom thou hast charge ouer For since that now by the word of God the church is somewhat purged of false religion superstition and idolatrie the Magistrates better instructed of their duety and office Satan rageth as a strong armed man keping his house when a stronger commeth Be strong therefore in these tentations and think that as these things are not begun by the power of Satan so though he rage against the same neuer so much thou must not be discouraged or slacke the Lords busines but first serue the Lord and then thy brethren and neighbours For their sakes the Churches must be instructed the common wealth gouerned not for the worldes sake and the vngodly multitude for it is not worthie that a theefe should be hanged an adulterer or murderer put to death but the Lord in heauen and our brethren neighbours in earth are worthy of this seruice as he addeth in the verse following Thus I expounde this verse to be a consolation for pastours ciuill Magistrates and gouernours of families against the multitude of the wicked and the trobles which by them the godly doe sustayne Verse 9. Because of the house of the Lorde our God I will procure thy wealth This is an other cause why he prayeth for the peace and prosperitie of Ierusalem for that the Sanctuary of the Lord and the feate of true religion being stablished in that citie if it prospered not the worship and seruice of God could not there continue As if he sayd The Lord our God hath stablished his seate in thee O Ierusalem and in the middes of thee hath he set vp his worship For the which cause I loue thee and thinke thee worthy of all prosperitie But why doth hee adde hereunto Our God Because God had chosen this nation to be as his own peculiar people And this also was the cause why Dauid so loued them and was not discomforted with these troubles which he for their sakes susteyned both in the Church and in the ciuill gouernment but being chosen to be a King and a Prophet to this people he constantly endured all troubles and herewithall comforted him selfe that first he serued the Lord his God then his brethren and was not an vnprofitable seruaunt but fruitefull vnto God that he might be glorified and to his neighbour and brother that he might be saued Let vs likewise pray for the welfare of our brethren and for the house of the Lord with Dauid who as this Psalme sheweth did wel vnderstand the power and glory of the word and therefore he neither giueth thankes nor yet reioyceth for the abundance of gold and siluer which notwithstanding he lacked not but for the word and true worship of the lord Where these two are not lacking all other incommodities may easily be borne For if we haue the Lord abiding with vs if we maintaine his word and his true seruice and seeke the saluation of our brethren what can we desire more But where the word true worship of God is not regarded there is no God no mercy no saluation neither doth there any thing else remaine but the cursed multitude which shal be damned in hell Therefore Dauid exhorteth vs in this Psalme aboue all things to reuerence the word and by faithfull prayer to seeke the aduauncement thereof Also to giue thankes vnto God for peace and true preachers which gouerne the Church according to his word for where these things are not there must needes be trouble and vexation vnquietnes of conscience murder adultery such other horrible sinnes which the Lord turne away from our Churches preserue that poore remnant emonges the damnable multitude which serue and worship him according to his word By these two latter verses we are admonished first how euery Christian ought to regard him which is his fellow in faith and religion that is to say as his brother and neighbour Then also why he ought to haue a harty loue and zeale to the Church and congregation of the faithful For my brethren saith Dauid and for my neighbours And againe for the house of the Lord our god These two thinges ought to be considered in the Churche of christ In it are our brethren and neighbours in it is the house of God yea rather it is the house of God it selfe in the which are the children of God and true brethren O happy is he and a right Christian in deede which beeing indued with the true knowledge and faith of Christ and also with that brotherly loue which is according to the spirit of the children of God can vnfainedly and hartely say For my brethren and neighbours and for the house of the Lord our God I both seeke and I wish the prosperitie and welfare of the Church of God. The 123. Psalme I lift vp mine eyes vnto thee c. This Psalme as ye see is but short and therefore a very fitte example to shew the force of prayer not to consist in many words but in feruency of spirit For great and weighty matters may be comprised in few words if they proceede from the spirit the vnspeakeable gronings of the heart especially when our necessity is such as will not suffer any long prayer Euery prayer is long enough if it be feruent proceede from a heart that vnderstandeth the necessitie of the Sainets not in such small matters as y world counteth great and weightie as pouerty losse of goods and such other worldly incommodities but when the Church is oppressed with violence and tyranny when the name of God is prophaned with wicked doctrine or if there be any thing else that either hindreth the glory of God or the saluation of soules These perils can not well be vttered in prayer and therfore the prayer of the faithfull is then most effectuous when with griefe of heart and affliction of spirite they see
holy and a profitable kind of life is worthy of the commendation which this Psalme here giueth vnto it ▪ although the flesh and the world can not praise it because of the incommodities and troubles which it bringeth with it but highly extolleth the single life This is not to follow the word of God but the iudgement of the flesh which commendeth giftes and maketh a difference of them according to his own fantasie and thinketh to serue God more truely and purely in the single life then in matrimony as Hierome doth in his pestilent bookes which he writeth against Iouinian who sheweth him selfe to haue more learning and iudgement in his litle finger then Hierome hath in all his body For he ought not to haue praysed virginitie with the reproch and disprayse of matrimony but thus should he rather haue sayd that as they which are virgins should serue God in their gift and calling so matrimony is not to be condemned but praysed as a kind of life ordeyned of God euen then when nature was yet sounde and vncorrupt and not yet infected with any sinne But Hierome hath neyther so much godlines nor iudgement but peruersly bursteth out into these wordes It is good for a man so to be therefore to haue a wife it is euill But to be a virgine and to be married although they bee diuerse giftes yet is God as well pleased with the one as with the other For where as they obiect these wordes as touching matrimony Such shall haue trouble in the flesh this do we also confesse Notwithstanding matrimony is not the cause hereof but sinne which they also haue that are not married Gen. 3. Thus much I thought good to say as touching the grosse error prophane opinion of Hierome trifling and by foolish allegories with his companion Origen imagining spirituall fathers and spirituall children whereby they haue giuen occasion vnto the Pope to make him selfe the bridegrome or the husband of the church and so one error hath brought forth an other But I would rather wish that this bridegrome were hanged vppon a tree with Iudas and buried in hell then that by this meanes he should spoile Christ of his name For Christ Iesus alone is the husband of the Church All the Sainctes of God besides are but the frendes of the bridegrome as Iohn the Baptist calleth himselfe The Church is the spouse or the wife the children are the faithfull which dayly come vnto the marriage These also are made the spouse for they become partakers of the good things and the blessinges of the bridegrome and they obteyne the righteousnes of Christ and of his merites If the Pope be good then is he in the number of these and not the bridegrome not the husband but the spouse and is partaker of the benefites and the blessinges of the bridegrome But if he be euill he is the bridegrome of Satan and the friend of Iudas This is then the summe and effect of our aunswere that this Psalme compelleth none to marry as though it were necessarie that al should liue in matrimony For it is not against these words of Christ he that is able to receiue this let him receiue it But this is his onely drift and purpose to set foorth and commend matrimony contrary to the corrupt iudgement of the flesh and the pestilent examples of the world which doe altogither fight against this kind of life because of the troubles and incommodities which are incident thereunto These troubles they that flie will not feele therefore abhorre matrimony defile them selues with whordom and al vncleannes and so do much hurt by their deuilish and damnable example Against these viperous tongues examples full of offence this Psalme armeth vs The world calleth the wife a necessary euill But Peter vpon certeyne consideration and yet without reproch calleth her a weake vessell But marke what the holy Ghost sayth in this place marke how he bewtifieth and commēdeth the wife whiles he compareth her to a fruitefull vine and the children which she bringeth forth to oliue plants Tell me if in any monuments there are to be found such two excellent similitudes as these are yea if there be the like to be seene in all the Scriptures For he taketh two of the most excellent trees that are to be found vpon the earth the vine and the oliue of the which are gathered two notable and precious licours to these he compareth the wife and the children her fruite before the world most contemptible things The wife if you consider her condition is farre inferior vnto the man in those thinges which pertaine either to the body or to the minde specially as touching the affaires which are done by the man and can not be done by the woman But the holy Ghost considereth the gift and through the greatnes and excellency of the gifte he couereth what incommoditie so euer is in the womankinde and shadoweth the same with most excellent and goodly similitudes Now that we may see somwhat the causes why the holy Ghost so greatly commendeth the woman kinde let vs imagine that we are all vnmaryed for the worlde detesteth mariage but specially they that are vnmarried Yea let vs presuppose that in the worlde there is neither man nor woman but such a one as is neither of them both that by this meanes singlenes of life may be imagined to be the more perfect What shall become I pray you of such a happy world pure chastitie and singlenes of life how shall mankind continue Shall not the whole world within twenty yeares be like vnto a desert and a wilde wildernes what vse shall there be then of Golde and siluer Yea what vse shall there be of the Sunne the Moone and all things else that growe vpon the earth ▪ if mankind suddenly decaying matrimony by this meanes should be abolished and singlenes of life onely aduaunced Yea where shall the ministery of the word become What fruite shall there be of the benefite of Christe Why doost thou then so praise the single life that therby thou shouldest diminish the dignitie and excellent fruite of matrimony Nay praise them both according to their worthynes and especially mark here how the holy Ghost teacheth thee to beholde and to consider of thy wife that is to say not as weake flesh which doth the common offices and duties of nature with reuerence and shamefastnes be it spoken for so I am compelled to speake because of the blasphemous contemners of the creature of God For why doost thou not likewise euen in the vine also Why doest thou not contemne it for the dunge that is layed to the roote thereof Nay rather hast thou not a more regard of the licour which by this meanes is gotten out of the vine Likewise in the Oliue the roughnes of the rinde offendeth no man or that the roote thereof must be dressed and as it were fatned with doung For we haue all a
Wherefore these high commendations of matrimony are here set against the venemous tongues both of Satan and of wicked men wherewith they do so maliciously sclaunder this kind of life Also against the corrupt peruerse iudgement of the flesh whereby we are prouoked either to a lothing contemning of this kind of life or else to impaciencie when our eyes are blinded in discerning and iudging the benefites and commodities thereof and are still in beholding of the faults the incommodities or troubles that belong to the same Thus the wiser sort euen emongst the Gentils would not doe For they did se that there is a naturall affection in the man and the wife towards their children and a mutuall loue faithfulnes betwene them selues both these things they praysed and set forth with greate commendation So God by the smal number of the wiser sort euen emong the Gentiles did ouercome the multitude of these viperous tongues which are so venimous spitefull against this kind of life How much more then ought we to defend matrimony we I say whom the holy Ghost moueth stirreth vp so to do by these excellent similituds wherby he sheweth that God is so delited with the life of married folkes that not onely he giueth his blessing for the sustentation of this life but also the blessing of the belly and of the brestes as Moises calleth it This no doubt would not God doe if he hated such as are maryed For he said vnto Adam All that groweth vppon the earth shall be vnto thee for foode and sustenance After the floode also he gaue vnto man the vse of cleane beasts Yea he giueth vnto matrimony what treasures and riches so euer are in the worlde and what so euer in nature is conteyned All these are liuely testimonies that God approueth lyketh and loueth this kinde of life although the holy Scriptures should speake nothing thereof at all Moreouer who seeth not that the propagation of man and woman kind is ordained of God Let vs therefore be mindful of these similitudes therewith arme our selues against the wicked peruerse iudgement of reason against the deuil venimous tongues which magnifie and ertoll vanitie and abhominable filthynes and these inestimable giftes they most wickedly dispraise and despise Verse 4. Lo thus shal the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. Hetherto we haue hearde those excellent commendations of matrimony which the holy Ghost setteth foorth to confirme and comfort such as are appoynted to this kinde of life that they might patiently suffer the incommodities the troubles and tentations of matrimony and not followe the iudgement of the worlde which like vnto the mule and the asse followeth the fence of the fleshe and is ouercome with these troubles and tentations The good giftes of God it vnderstandeth not but some tymes it detesteth and abhorreth them For ye shall finde many to whom it semeth a great misery to haue many childrē as though matrimony were ordayned for beastly pleasures onely and not to this end rather that we might doe acceptable seruice both to God and man in nourishing and bringing vp of children These men are ignorāt of that which is most comfortable in matrimony For what is to be compared vnto the loue of parentes towards their children especially since here thou seest that children are the greatest portion of Gods blessing But here againe we haue nede of faith For the world taketh it not for a blessing when a man getteth his liuing by labour trauel suffereth the troubles and vexations of his wife his children his seruaunts and such like whereof in matrimony there are many These thinges I say the world estemeth not as blessinges but abhorreth them as maledictions But the holy Ghost to confirme the mindes of the godly cōmendeth and setteth forth all that he hath hitherto said by this sweete and comfortable name and calleth them blessinges to the ende he may stirre vs vp to know God and his giftes rightly lest that in the middes of his benefits and blessings we should fall to a lothing thereof as the world is wont to doe which regardeth not those things which it hath presently enioyeth but desireth the things which it hath not Wherefore this vehement kinde of speech is diligently to be noted in that he calleth this life blessed and happy which to the iudgement of reason is miserable and full of calamitie when he saith Loe thus shall the man be blessed c. What canst thou desire more In that thou hast a wife and children and liuest with the labour of thy handes it is in deede the blessing of god Wherfore thou hast not onely great cause not to be offended but also to giue God thankes for his great blessings But how few are there to be found which doe beleue this And if any doe beleue it yet through infirmitie they are led away from this faith and forgetting the blessing they become vnpatient as if they were in the middest of Gods malediction It is therefore to be wished that this saying of the holy Ghost as a singular consolation might be alwayes before the eyes and in the eares of the godly For how shall we finde a more manifest argument that the life of such as are married pleaseth God thē this that their whole life is nothing else but a blessing In deede it so commeth to passe often times that they are vexed with the sinne of impatiency through the offences of their familye their children and some times their neighbours But what then All things cannot be so pure and so perfect in this our infirmitie but that oftentimes we shall feele either some excesse or some lack both within the house and without But this sinne of impatiencie the dayly prayer of the godly doth quench ouercome And thus must the godly comfort them selues that they are placed among Gods blessings and liue a life blessed of god This faith the greater and stronger it is the more ioy it bringeth For albeit some troubles doe happen we some times also are ouertaken with sinnes yet is the worde of God omnipotent Wherefore in all tentations the victory is theirs which stick faithfully thereunto These wordes therefore muste be receiued as the oracles of God and this kinde of life we must adorne with due praise and honour since that God doth so richly poure out his blessing vpon it This must we not onely knowe that we may set it forth and commend it to others but all of vs which liue in this kind of calling must commend and apply the same also vnto our selues that whether pouertie diseases vexations troubles of our familie or any other like tentations doe oppresse vs we may endure the same with patience resting vpon this most plentifull consolation that the holy Ghoste calleth this state a blessed kinde of life And this they finde this they know and this they doe which feare God and serue him truely as he sayth So shall the
liuely testimony against the gods Yea the godly are so vehemently tempted through this long continuance fall so farre that they thincke God hath no regard of them Wherfore we must so arme our selues with Christian patience that albeit we feele the tedious long continuance of these furrowes we be not therfore offended but when one tentation is ouercome we must prepare our selues to an other For our backes must be alwayes ready to beare the long continuance of these sorrowes This is the first part of the Psalme in the which he confesseth the diuine miracles and miraculous power of God whereby he preserueth his children not only against the world but also against sinne death and the deuill and praiseth God for that he giueth victory to those that are ouercome and putteth those to flight which doe ouercome This ioyful ende and this successe he willeth vs to looke and waite for and exhorteth vs to patience Now he turneth him selfe to prayer and not onely prayeth but also promiseth to the enemies of the Gospel that although they obstinatly continue in afflicting the faithful without checke or punishment yet shall their ruine ouerthrow be such that they shall neuer rise againe as experience doth shewe For I pray you what kingdom from the beginning of the world hath alwaies continued and prospered The places and spaces of the earth doe remaine void and desolate the kingdoms are gone as though they had neuer bene Againe the crueltie tyranny of the kingdomes of the world was neuer so great that it was able to oppresse the church For the Church stil continueth shall continue to the ende of the world as followeth Verse 4. The righteous Lord hath cut the cordes of the wicked These wordes are so full of consolation that to the children of God in their calamities and afflictions nothing can be more comfortable For they knowe that no munitions no furniture of war can be so strong Firste of all therefore wey and consider why he calleth the Lord Righteous and you shall see that he so doeth because that when a man considereth according to the iudgement of the fleshe the thinges which are here done and how God gouerneth and ruleth the same it seemeth no otherwise but that he is vnrighteous and vniust in supporting the tyranny of the wicked with great riches power dignitie c. When reason seeth this it can iudge nothing else but that if there be a God he is vniust For first of all thus doth reason gather If there be a God he is able to resist the wicked and vtterly to destroy them For to be a God is to be almighty Againe thus carnall reason argueth If there be a God he must needes knowe those thinges which are done in the world For it can not be said of God that he is ignorant of any thing Now what else followeth heereof but that if God knowe these thinges to be cruelly and vniustly done and is able to resist them he ought also to be no lesse willing to doe the same For if we thinke that he wil not doe that whiche he knoweth and is able to doe it must follow that he is not good but euil not iust but vniust Nowe lay these thinges togither If God haue power wisedom and goodnes in him if he be able to helpe if he knowe how and also be willing to help why are all these things done and gouerned in the world in such sort that the wicked haue power riches and dignitie as a rewarde of their impietie and contrariwise the godly for their pietie and godlines are many wayes and most cruelly afflicted All these thinges are a liuely testimony against God as before we said of Diogenes This argument of Epicurus and such like atheistes is to the flesh inuincible Wherefore reason beeing altogither blinded and wrapped in these snares inclyneth to this opinion that there is no God or else that he regardeth not the affaires of men Of this offence and stumbling blocke the holy Ghost warneth vs when he attributeth this name vnto God that he is righteous whom vnrighteousnes and impietie pleaseth not Therefore although he suffer the wicked to flourish for a time yet at the last he cutteth their cordes that is he destroyeth both their power and them according to that saying Thou art not a God that loueth wickednes Wherefore let Christians learne to iudge not by that which presently they fele but by that which the word of God promiseth and shall assuredly come to passe to witte that the wicked when they haue long plowed vppon the backs of the faithfull and many wayes afflicted them shal perish at the length For God is iust and his iustice wil not suffer the righteous to be oppressed Verse 5. Let them that hate Sion bee confounded and turned back This as before I haue said is a prayer But ye know that in euery prayer there is a promise included which promise this word Righteous doth expresse in the former verse with a singular vehemencie to the ende we shoulde not murmur or blaspheme God as though he were not mindfull of vs or had no regard of vs Now where he saith Let them be confounded turned backe it is an exposition of that which he saide before that their cordes should be cut that is to say their kingdoms their power their riches their lawes and finally their whole politike body and common weale should be brought to nought as it befell to Babylon Niniuie Ierusalem Athens Corinth Thebe Rome and briefly to all kingdoms and common weales which did not submit them selues vnto the Gospell For when they proudly stretched out their neckes and set them selues against Christ their Ring and by their power sought to oppresse him they were destroyed In like maner must we also pray and certainely looke for the executiō of Gods vengeance vpon those which at this day haue set them selues against the Gospell as the Pope and his Bishoppes with all their faction and with all the Kings and Princes of the earth which maintaine and defende their impietie for at the last they shall be confounded But the Gospell and the worde of the Lord shal endure for euer For the name of Christ shal neuer be oppressed but being faithfully called vpon shall alwaies be ready to help the afflicted and shall cut the cordes now of this wicked man and now of that Thus the holy Ghost comforteth vs sundry wayes For when we haue learned that Satan is such a spirite as neuer ceaseth to tempt and to vexe vs so that when he can not ouercome vs by the greatnes and the multitude of tentations he goeth about to doe it by the tediousnes and long continuance therof he would haue vs to comfort our selues herewith that albeit these tentations continue long yet notwithstanding they shall haue an ende And since we are forwarned both of the continuance and of the ende thereof it is the more easie for vs to beare them
and Bishops is that which is according to the eye onely For God which saith Be of good comfort I haue ouercome the world Also Feare not those which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soule the same God alone I say is the very true greatnes to the which if you compare Satan and al the fury of the whole world what are they else but a bubble what are they else but grasse but light strawe and stubble But when they are considered with out God then doe they terrifie with a false fearefull shew and seeme to be great in deede Wherefore Christians must iudge not according to their opinion but according to the truth For an opinion is that which reason bringeth forth besides the word but truth is grounded vpon the word which iudgeth the fury the crueltie of the world raging against the faithful to be like vnto grasse vpon the house â—ops This promise being setled and surely fixed in the minde confirmeth the godly against the great power as to reason it seemeth of the world Satan Like as on the other side where the word is not that mind deceiued through a terrible shew of truth the iudgement of reason is oppressed with terror These things must not so be takeÌ„ as though we did vtterly condemne the power of Princes of the world which we count to be the creature of God but their presumption the abuse of their power is it that we condemne because they fight therewith against God and his church Let them be Princes on the earth Let them vse their power and authoritie in the world but when they will needes make warre in heauen and with their power go about to inuade and oppresse the word this is horrible this is execrable and damnable And who so compareth them to bubbles to grasse to stubble yea and to nothing he saith truely he iudgeth rightly For why doe they fight against God Thinke they that we knowe not what God is and what man is what the creature is and what the Creator is Wherefore they are rightly compared to grasse on the house toppes for more contemptuosly the holy Ghost could not speake of them For this grasse is such that it soone withereth away before the sickle be put vnto it Yea no man thinketh it worthy to be cut downe no man regardeth it euery man suffereth it to bragge for a while and to shew it selfe vnto men from the house toppes as though it were somewhat when it is nothing So the wicked persecutors in the worlde which are taken to be mightie and terrible according to the outward shew are of all men most contemptible For Christians doe not once thinke of plucking them vp or cutting them downe they persecute them not they reuenge not their owne iniuries but suffer them to encrease to bragge and glory as much as they list For they know that they can not abide the violence of a vehement wind Yea though all thinges be in quietnes yet as grasse on the house toppes by litle and litle withereth away through the heate of the Sunne so tyrannes vpon small occasions doe perish and soone vanish away The faithfull therefore in suffering doe preuaile and ouercome but the wicked in doing are ouerthrowne and miserably perish as all the historyes of all times and ages doe plainly witnesse Verse 7. VVhereof the mower filleth not his hand neither the glainer his lap Here the holy Ghoste maketh a comparison betweene grasse which yeeldeth no fruite and true corne which is fruitefull that thereby he may the better commend vnto vs the former similitude and withdraw our mindes from the false dreade and terror which that vaine and counterfet shewe bringeth Fruitefull corne sayth he is such that he which moweth it shall fill his hand and he that gathereth the sheaues shall haue plenty to carry into his barne Here ye see is a truth and not a vaine shewe But grasse on the house toppes maketh a shew of that which is not true because it is fruiteles So the Pope and his Prelates with other tyrannes and persecutors haue a resemblance and a counterfet shewe that they are the Church They hold and enioy dignities Prebendes benefices as grasse hath his stalke and â—are but in deede they are none of the Church like as grasse is no corne for it withereth away before it can bring forth fruite For this is the chiefest argument wherwith they fight against vs that for this glorious shew whereof I spake they vsurpe and chalenge to them selues the title of the Church But we are commaunded to take heed that we be not deceiued by outward shewes Yea and we are admonished also that such shewes are often times occasions of great calamities Beware saith our Sauiour Christ of false prophets which come to you in sheepes clothing Also by their fruites ye shall know them Wheras then they chalenge vnto them selues the name of the church for a goodly shew which the grasse also that groweth on the house toppes hath as well as they will be counted good corne this will not we graunt them For if they be good corne let them fill the hand of the mower but this doe they not They are vnprofitable grasse yea worse then grasse For in that filthines of their wicked lustes fleshly pleasures wherewith they are horribly polluted that crueltie which they exercise against the true Church they reteine not so much as the outward shew which they pretend Wherefore since there is nothing to be founde in our aduersaries but a naked and an hypocritical shew and the same also miserably and many wayes deformed and defaced since I say there is nothing else in them but meere hypocrisie we iudge denounce them not to be the Church of Christ but of Satan Wherefore they are prepared as chaffe and stubble to the fire although vnder a shewe and colour of the Church they afflict and persecute vs neuer so much Verse 8. Neither they which goe by say we blesse you in the name of the Lord. This also commendeth and setteth forth vnto vs the similitude of the grasse For true corne hath this commeÌ„dation that it is the blessing of god They therefore which see it growe doe wish that God would blesse and prosper it This sayth Dauid shall not be sayd of that grasse that is to say of the tyrannes and the aduersaries of the Church but rather they shall be cursed of all men yea the malediction both of God and man shall be heaped vpon them Like as it hath also hapned to the Church of Rome which before our doctrine and preaching most gloriously floâ—rished But nowe that the Gospel hath plucked away her visour and sheweth that she is without fruite all her cursed hypocrisie is bewrayed and her memory is perished from among the godly Thus the Prophet comforteth the faithfull and sheweth that the wicked what glorious bragge and pretence so euer they make are in deede
vnderstanding thereof into a fantasie of their owne imagination For the Prophets did know that the true God although he be of him selfe and of his owne nature infinite and incomprehensible was included notwithstanding in the Mercieseat whereunto he had bound him selfe by his word and promise Wherefore although they called him the God of heauen maker of all thinges yet this had they as a more neere proper token of the true God that they knewe him to haue his dwelling in Sion When they prayed therfore vnto God or talked of God they did it according to that forme and maner wherby God had reueiled him self in his word and promises Albeit therefore the Prophet maketh no mention in this place of that tabernacle or promises but semeth to speak vnto God simply and without all respect thereof yet we must vnderstand that he speaketh no otherwise to God then as he is setts forth in his word worship Like as we ought now no otherwise to thinke or speake of God then as he is in our true Mercieseate christ For so Christ himselfe saith vnto Philip He that seeth me seeth my father No man commeth vnto my father but by me When we haue attained this knowledge then may we safely worship God and call vpon him as he is the maker of heauen and earth and so shall we vndoubtedly find him For although of him selfe and when he is not thus reueiled he is vnsearchable and not to be found yet in his word and promises wherein he wrappeth him selfe he will both be found knowne of them that will there seke after him The Iewes therfore praying before the arke worshipped the true God of heauen and earth For God by his worde had promised that he would be there present there would heare the praiers of his people Euen so we likewise loking vnto Christ worshipping him doe worship the true God for he hath reueiled him selfe in christ Therefore Christ saith VVhat so euer yee shall aske the father in my name he will giue it you They therefore that pray vnto God and fasten not their eyes and minds vpon Christ come not vnto God but worship the imaginations of their owne harts in steed of the true God are plaine idolaters For neither wil god be sought nor found nor heare our praiers but in our mercieseat Christ. Wherfore if we wil find God in deede knowe him as we should do with boldnes come vnto him let vs loke vnto Christ according to y saying of S. Iohn He that seeth me seeth my father Thus y word gathereth togither y wandring cogitations of our harts vnto this only person Christ God man to the end we should know that there is or can be found no God without Christ Dost thou not beleue saith he that the father is in me I in him In like maner did the holy Iewes pray vnto God dwelling in Sion That place who so euer neglected although they vsed one and the same kind of worship the same wordes in prayer which they did notwithstanding they committed idolatrie because they did contrary to this commaundement namely that he would be worshipped in Ierusalem This is then a general rule to be obserued in all the Psalmes in the whole Scriptures that in the olde Testament there was no God but in Sion or in the place of the tabernacle and that all prayers were made vnto God sitting betwene the Cherubins Nowe when this temple was destroyed God set vp an other temple in the which he would be sought serued and worshipped Without this temple there is no God but the deuill in steede of God is there both sought and founde and therefore men fall either into desperation if they haue an euil conscience or else through hypocrisie into presumption as did the Idolatrous Iewes and as our Papistes now doe most arrogantly presuming of their owne righteousnes Hereunto doe these and such like sentences of the Psalmes the Prophets apperteine I lift vp mine eyes vnto the mountaines Again The Lorde out of Sion blesse thee In like maner are all such other sentences also to be vnderstand wherin is added no manifest signification of the place or of the temple as in this place Out of the depth haue I called vnto thee O Lord. He doth not here cal the Lord absolutely the maker of heauen earth as the Turks also do but the same God which dwelleth in Sion whose word promises they had amongs them that he would there receaue heare their prayes The Prophet resteth therefore wholy onely in the assured confidence of y free mercy grace of God but of that God which was in Sion which said vnto Satan I will put enmitie betwene thee and the seede of the woman For God will not be sought by our deuises Which if we shoulde doe what should we need then the word To what end was the law why was Christ reueiled Behold our aduersaries the papists wherunto they are come They pray much They recite Psalmes often They say Pater noster qui es in caelis c. But becaâ—se they contemne the worde yea and persecute it also with might and maine therefore vnder these good wordes they mainteine plaine idolatrie So hapneth it also to the Turkes euen then when they say they worship the liuing God the maker of heauen and earth For this cause I do so often admonish you that without Christ ye should shut your eyes and stoppe your eares and say ye knowe no God besides him which was in the lappe of the virgine Marie and suckt her breastes Where this God Christ Iesus is there is God wholy there is the whole diuinitie there is the father and the holy Ghost Without this Christ there is no god I haue known many in the kingdom of Antichrist which seeking to comprehend God by mans speculations haue horribly perished and if God through his inestimable mercie had not deliuered me from this tentation I had also fallen headlong into destruction Albeit the Prophet as I sayd maketh here no expresse mention of the temple yet shal ye see how in this psalme he wrappeth the promise concerning christ For this is the whole argument of this Psalme that there is no saluation no grace no iustification but in that God which forgiueth sinnes And is this God any other then the same which sayd vnto the Serpent The seede of the woman shall bruse thy head Therefore he taketh God here as a promise maker and sheweth that Christ was promised of the father to be a sacrifice for the sinnes of the world And here the Prophete setteth foorth vnto vs a principall poynt of doctrine touching Christian righteousnes Christian wisedom and the glory of christ These thinges Dauid treateth of euen then when the law was in his full strength and leapeth ouer the boundes of the law into Paradise or rather into the very heauen of grace mercie For why should I not
he Amos hath conspired against thee The earth could not beare his talke For thus he saith Ieroboam shall dye by the sworde and Israell shall be ledde away captiue out of their owne lande As though this had bene a thing vnpossible and that the Kinge might commit wickednes and doe what he list without ehecke or punishment Notwithstanding the ende afterwards declared that this was a vaine confidence and that the prophet had said truely Thus the wicked do abuse the promises of God applying the same vnto them selues whereas they belong to the true Church onely and so they become presumptuous and careles They think not of their sinnes or of the iudgement of God but boldly without all feare doe persecute the Saintes of God as we see at this day in the papacie So the true church is oppressed of tyrannes oppugned of false brethren suffereth the contempt and hatred of the world and in outward apperance is euery hower ready to perish Here it is necessary that the godly should raise vp them selues with a trust in the mercies and promises of God for to this ende the promises are set forth But they which should beleue and comfort them selues with these promises doe it not For the infirmitie of the flesh will not suffer them which Satan also encreaseth in setting before their eyes their great daungers and terrours Contrarywise the Church of the wicked which for their sinnes ought to feare and tremble presumeth hopeth liueth in great fecuritie and without all feare So the Pope holdeth fast that promise with y which our Sauiour Christ comforteth his Disciples when he sayth I will be with you alway vnto the ende of the world perswading him selfe that Peters voate though it may be in daunger shall neuer be drowned But the true church to that which onely these thinges are spoken doth not so beleue them nor rayse vp it selfe with a trust and confidence in these promises as it should doe Thus in all times and ages the condition of the true Church hath bene alwayes one Now like as the wicked liue in great hope and comfort them selues maruelously so long as they are in prosperitie so when they are touched with aduersitie they most miserably despayre But the godly continue and constantly endure in hope and comfort in all troubles and calamities So this promise as touching the kingdom of Christ was hindred many and sundry wayes by rebellious people by enemies and wicked Kinges vntil at the last the citie and the temple were destroyed the people caried away captiue and none left but plowmen and such as were of the basest sort Nowe the word the worship and seruice of God the accustomed iudgements and briefly the Church the policie and the kingdom were gone Here what hope was left that there should remaine any posteritie vnto Dauid as this Psalme here promiseth This promise therefore was necessary that thereby the godly might be able to comfort them selues that it was impossible for this kingdome to fall before Christ the true seede of Dauid shoulde be reueiled Wherefore when all thinges seemed to be most desperate God raised vp certeine notable Prophets He set vppe Daniel also emonges great and mighty Princes Moreouer the time was appoynted by the Prophet Ieremy namely 70. yeares after the which they shoulde returne into their land The remnant of the royall stocke that is to say of Dauid was preserued euen in captiuity Thus although the kingdom seemed in outward shewe to be vtterly forsaken yet was it not forsaken and the godly constantly continued in hope of deliuerance when the wicked despayred and miserably perished In like maner doe we beleue and comfort our selues at this day that Christ will defend and mainteyne his kingdome and his Church euen to the end of the world though the Romish Antichrist triumph neuer so much sitting in the temple of God and exercising his tyranny as though he would vtterly oppresse the Church For these promises God left with his Church that in such necessitie and daungers it should not be without comfort Which promises albeit the Church can not fully and perfectly beleue yet doth it not deny or reiect the same And Christ accepteth and commendeth our fayth although it be no more then a grayne of mustard feede This to knowe this to teach it is necessary For the time will come if we be not preuented by the later day when Satan by his ministers with might and maine wil attempt all the meanes he can to quench the doctrine of the Gospell Here although we also shall see the kingdom brought into captiuitie and the Arke caried cleane away as the Iewes did yet must we trust that God will giue vs Prophets and that his Church although it seeme to be vtterly forsaken he wil neuer for forsake For the word of God whose promise we haue ought to moue vs more then the present daunger seeme it neuer so terrible For if God through much patience did preserue his Church vnder the Papacie if he suffered many abuses which blind guides and wicked teachers brought into the Church if at the length when all thinges were desperate and past all hope he caused the light of his worde to shine in the middes of most horrible darkenes why should we despayre The mercie of God is greater then heauen and earth is able to swallow vp all errors into the which the very elect by false prophets blind teachers and the iniquitie of time are often times ledde There is no man which would not wish for peace and quietnes in the common wealth and in the people obedience and godlines So is it to be wished that in the Church there might be vnitie and concorde and that there might be no offence either in doctrine or life that Princes and Magistrats would not hate or persecute but like loue embrace the word Notwithstanding such a common wealth and such a Church may well be paynted out of a cunning artificer but in this worlde they coulde neuer yet be founde Wherefore let vs not looke to see the face either of such a quiet common wealth or of so pure a Church But herewith let vs content our selues that the Church and common wealth although they are not without great troubles and daungers doe not vtterly perish that there is some maiestie in the common wealth and in the Church pure and sounde doctrine and that there are some which magnifie the word vse prayer and frequent the Sacraments although the greater part doe the contrary And to this ende doe perteine these consolations that whiles all things seeme to fall to wracke and ruine we cast not away all hope and vtterly despayre When I behold the miserable face of the Church at this day in that the Pastors and Preachers of the worde are so neglected yea so contemned and despised thus I often thinke with my selfe that the whole ministerie although there were no tyrannes to oppresse
which went downe on the borders of his garments This is a homely and familiar phrase of the holy Ghost The place is knowne 30. of Exodus where Moses was commaunded to make a certaine precious oyntment with this inhibition that it should be made of none else but of him nor employed to any other vse then to anoynt the bearde of the high priest With this oyntment the Psalme compareth vnitie and concorde as an holy heauenly thing whiche by no power or policie of man can either be gotten or kept For although it be giuen euen to the wicked also as we may see in those kingdoms which are out of the Church yet is it the gift of God and a most holy gift which ought to serue especially vnto holy vses for the aduauncing of religion for the confirmation of matrimony for the education of children and for the maintenance and continuance of all honestie and godlines In that he saith from the head he sheweth the nature of true concord For like as the oyntment ranne downe from the heade of Aaron the high priest vpon his beard and so descended vnto the borders of his garment euen so true concord in doctrine and brotherly loue floweth as a precious oyntment by the vnitie of the spirite from Christ the high priest and head of the Church vnto all the members of the same For by the beard and extreme partes of the garment he signifieth that as farre as the church reacheth so farre spreadeth that vnitie which floweth from Christ her head Or by the beard we may vnderstand those to whome the office of teaching belongeth because the bearde is ioyned vnto the mouth which is the instrument of doctrine and by the extreme partes of the garment the rest of the church which is the garment of christ This similitude expresseth most liuely how great the vertue of the spirite of concord is wherewith all the members of Christ are anoynted For it maketh their life sweete and pleasant in so much that whatsoeuer they do it giueth a sweet odor in the sight of God. If the vnquiet spirits which trouble the Church at this day could beleue that the peace and concorde of the Church is such an holy and a pleasant ointment to the Lord separate from all profane vses they would be more sober and circumspect then they be But because they beleue it not therefore they employ this holy ointment to vnholy vses seeking therby their owne glory Yea they turne the Psalme cleane contrary and say in their harts Behold how pleasant a thing it is to trouble the brethren they would not haue them to enioy this holy oyntment that is to dwell and liue togither in this heauenly concord These we must flie to these we must in no wise be like but must learne that the vnitie of the Church is the gifte of God which we must defend and maintaine with all our power For there is nothing more pleasant in the sight of God and his Angells then when the Pastors and gouerners of the Churches doe dwell togither in godly concorde teaching and following with one consent one true sincere and vniforme doctrine Betwene the Pope and his rable there is great concorde for there is a concord euen amongest theeues as there was betwene Iudas and the Phariseis But this is not the concorde whiche the Psalme here speaketh of but the Psalme commendeth that concord which is amongst those that haue the pure and sincere worde Therefore the Prophet here vseth a similitude which onely perteineth to Aaron named to be y high priest by Gods owne mouth signifying thereby that this concord is spread by the preachers of the word throughout the whole body of the Church so that not onely the body it selfe is refreshed with this oyntment but also the sweete smel thereof is dispearsed euery where and the fame of the Church is glorious both before God men those I meane which vnderstand and acknowledge this heauenly benefite Verse 3. As the dew of Hermon which falleth vpon the mountaines of Sion for there the Lorde appoynted the blessing and life for euer Hermon is a mountaine ioyning vppon Libanus Hereof it commeth that in an other place he calleth Iudea which is compassed with mountaines the land of Hermonijm As touching this similitude I thinke the Prophet vseth the common maner of speaking For whereas the mountaines often times seme to those that beholde them a far of to reach vp euen vnto heauen the dew which commeth from heauen seemeth to fall from the high mountaines vnto the hills which are vnder them Therefore he sayth that the dewe descendeth from Hermon vnto the mount Sion because it so seemeth vnto those that doe behold it a farre of And this clause after my iudgement perteineth to ciuill concorde like as the former similitude perteineth to the Church because God through peace and concord maketh common wealthes and kingdoms to flowrish euen as seedes herbes and plants are fresh and flourish through the morning dewe The beginning of this peace commeth from the Princes Magistrates as from mount Hermon â–ª From whom it floweth vnto euery particular person and to the whole common wealth which is refreshed therwith as it were with the dewe of heauen wherby all things doe prosper and flourish For like as by the dewe all things that growe vpon the earth do spring and encrease euen so small things through peace concord do grow to great increase Contrariwise like as in the time of great heat drowth all things wither away perish so warres seditions tumults suâ—uert and destroy common weales kingdoms Wherfore we haue neede not onely of diligent exhortations but also of continuall hartie and faithfull prayer vnto God that he would gratiously continue this heauenly benefite of peace and concord amonges vs as the Prophet now addeth There the Lorde appointed the blessing and life or liues for so it is in the Hebrewe As much to say as There will God dwell where concord is This is in deede an excellent commendation wherewith he so bewtifieth and extolleth peace And with this commendation ought the hartes of all men to be stirred vp to the loue of peace since they heare that God wil dwel with such Princes such Pastors and such people as loue peace and defende the same It followeth then that where the enemies of peace are and such as delite in vnnecessary warres as are those monsters which are idlely and wickedly brought vp in the Courts of Princes and courtly life togither with the profane godles multitude there dwelleth the deuill with his angells and there hath God appoynted malediction death and destruction There is a certeine vehemency in this word life or liues in the plurall number For it signifieth all kindes of life as the Priests the Leuites the faithfull the Magistrates artificers citizens husbandmen c. As if he sayd All states of life shall be blessed with
holy place must offer vp pure and holy prayers So saith S. Paule also lifting vp pure hands c. for else ye shall pray in vaine Pure hands signifie innocencie from blood extortion spoile robbery The Prophet therfore setteth forth here two sortes of men comming to the temple praying Some there be that come and pray in innocencie and holines Some againe pray in hipocrisie hauing their hands defiled with blood The prayer of such is sinne as the Psalme sayth Paul teacheth in like maner concerning prayer Pray saith he without wrath or doubting Also our Sauiour Christ saith If thou bring thy gift to the altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee goe thy way and first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift For this is a common thing that hypocrites when they haue done all the iniury they can against their brethren are not only without all remorse of coÌ„science but also they make a great shew of religion and holines bragge of the Gospell more then the true Christians doe Against these the psalme speaketh warneth them that when they pray in the holy place they ought to be pure holy For who so euer praieth is possessed with the sinne of couetousnes fleshly lust or any other deuil to him the Lord sayth VVhat hast thou to do to declare mine ordinances that thou shouldest take my couenant in thy mouth seeing thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behinde thee For when thou seest a theefe thou runnest with him thou art partaker with the adulterers c. Such was the prayer of the Pharisey which departed out of the temple vniustified For this is a common euil among men that they which are most impure wicked doe glory more of God his word then such as are godly feare God in deede Wherfore the Scripture expresly declareth that such there be as take the name of God in their mouths and yet in hart life are polluted and wicked And in this place the prophet inueyeth against hipocriets whiche thinke that when they pray God seeth not the vncleannes of their hart This is therfore a necessary prayer the first God would giue vnto vs his word defend the same against all vaine spirits heresies and secondly that he would preserue vs in innoceÌ„cie keepe vs from hipocrisie Verse 3. The Lord that hath made heauen earth blesse thee out of Sion As touching Sion we haue sayd before that God would haue not only certeine ceremonies certeine persons but also a certein place for his seruice worship lest the people should wander vncerteinly and choose vnto them selues peculiar places to worship God in Now for as much as this thing was not without offence for what can be more absurd and contrary to reason then that the God of heauen and earth should be shut vppe in that darkenes therefore to confirme their mindes herein he sayth that the Lord which dwelleth in Sion is the maker of heauen and earth This haue we often declared and necessary it is that it should be often repeted lest we should chose vnto our selues straunge and peculiar kindes of worship For as in the olde Testament there was a certaine place certeine persons and certeine times to the which God had bound as you would say his seruice so we in the newe Testament do find the father in christ In Christ the father is worshipped but without Christ he can neither be worshipped nor found but what so euer is deuised for the seruice of God without Christ is damnable and accursed The summe and effect therefore of all togither is this O ye Priestes ye Pastors and Ministers of the word to you I speake you I do admonish that ye follow the word faithfully and do your office purely For whiles the word and the ministery are sound vncorrupt there is nothing that can hurt vs For although Satan the world do assaile vs what then If God be with vs who can be against vs Let this be therefore your speciall care and endeuour that the word may remaine pure and vncorrupt and pray that the Lord would assist you herein and blesse your labours for of all the blessinges of God this is the greatest Which might be sayd in moe wordes but let this suffice Now it is our duetie likewise in this light of the worde to endeuour by all meanes to doe the same lest that through our vnthankfulnes the worde be taken from vs againe and to pray for the Churches that God would blesse them for Iesus Christ his sonnes sake our Lord our Redemer Amen THE ENDE The word must be continually exercised because of the continuall tentations whereof we are in daunger The lothiÌ„g and fulnes of Gods worde After the lothing of the word commeth contempt and then Gods plague The argumeÌ„t of the Psalm The Psalmes pray in two respctes agaynst Satan Satan how he is a murtherer How he is a lyer Our first parents deceiued by lying The authors of wicked doctrine are incorrigible Arius Proteus was one that could chauÌ„ge him selfe into diuers formes as nowe into a beast nowe into a tree and now into some other thing else Against heresies we must fight especially with prayer Inward tribulation and affliction of the soule The vse and practise of faith Howe the mindes of men must be stirred vp to prayer Tribulation stirreth men vp to prayer Luther writeth that which he hath proued by experieÌ„ce The necessitie of prayer set forth vnto vs in the Lords prayer Prayer is a seruice of God. How poore afflicted consciences are to be comforted which dare not call vnto the Lord. The prayers of the Papistes Nothing more hard then to pray God the hearer of praiers The saying of Bernard God giueth not alwayes that we pray for The prayer of yong children The godly youth in that reformed church being brought vp in the nâ—rture of the lord coÌ„tinuall catechising may shame al our reformation where the youth is so godles for lacke therof Howe God heareth our prayers Wicked doctrine A liuely picture of the Deuill The commoÌ„ people are the framehowse or workehowse of the deuill Deut. 29. Coles Iuniper The fire of the heretikes is more swift then the fire of the holy Ghost Luther prophecieth Kedar and Mesech signifie the enemies of the church Luke 11. The argument of the Psalme This Psalme containeth the doctrine of faith A coÌ„paring of contraries The commendation of faith Idolatry prospereth and flourisheth for a time Humane helps and comforts The help of the Lord. Why he sayth to the hills and not to the Lord. Our mountayne Trust affiance in the helpe succour of the Lord. Remedies in afflictions The iudgement of the word in afflictions must onely be followed The history of Iulian and Athanasius The exercise of faith Experience and practise maketh a right Christian The