in the right way let me not range out of it any more novv that by the same grace I am vvashed from my sinnes let me not defile my selfe againe now that I am by this grace cured of my disease of sinne let me not fall into it againe novv that my mortall wouÌ„des are healed by this grace let me not renew them For vvhat vvould it auaile to be risen vp if I fall againe the after fall vvould make my rising more difficult What to haue vvalked in the vvayes of thy commaundementes if I loose this vvay againe I shall the more hardlie finde it What to haue been vvashed cleane in the lauer of penance and by thy grace if like a swine I vvallovv my selfe againe in the puddle of sinne the stayne vvill more hardlie be gotten out better it is for me to say vvith the Spouse Cant. 5 I haue washed my feete hovv shall I defile them What vvill it auaile to haue beene cured of the ague of sinne if I admitte an other accesse of it Recidiuation is more dangerous then the former sicknes What to haue been healed of so many mortall vvoundes as mortall sinnes if I renevv them againe the renevving makes them harder to be cured then before Wherefore turne not thy face froÌ„ me by vvithdrawing thy grace for then I shall fall againe into all those miseries to haue vvell begun is a small thing how many good beginners are novv in Hell perseuerance is that vvhich maketh vs goe on to the end and the end crowneth the vvorke And therefore ô Lord take not thy holy spirit from me Take not from me the create spirit of grace by vertue of vvhich I may perseuer to the end yea ô Eternall Father ô Eternall Sonne giue me your increate spirit the holy Ghost vvho proceedeth from you both and vvho is equall coequall and consubstantiall to you both and who is your mutuall loue and eternall knotte of freindship take not froÌ„ me this your increate Spirit So long as this Spirit supporteth me I can not fall Heauen vvill sooner fall then I so supported can fall 4. And thou ô penitent Christian desire almightie God to turne his face from thy sinne but not from thee it being thy onelie comfort in this life to haue its benigne aspect and the light of grace which proceedeth from it and vvhich illuminateth thy vvay vvhich thou art to vvalke Desire him also not to take avvay his holy Spirit from thee vvithout vvhich liuing thou art dead liuing in bodie dead in soule vvhich if thou fall will raise thee if thou stand vvill so direct thy steppes as thou shalt neuer fall againe Ioan. 1. This Spirit houered ouer the waters in the first creation gaue them fecunditie to bring forth fish and fowle The same spirit houered ouer the waters of Baptisme when thou vvast regenerated of water and the holy Ghost Ioan. 3. and gaue it force to this day to bring forth Spirituall fishes to vvitt Christâ—ans who are spawnes and young fishes of the great fish CHRIST IESVS Tertul. lib. de Baptismo Aug li de Ciuit ca. 18. stiled by the Sybille in the first letters of her Greeke verses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a fish because in the riuer of Iordan vvhere he was Baptized by S. Iohn Baptist he like a fish did as it vvere swimme and thereby gaue vertue to the water of baptisme to regenerat ChristiaÌ„s whereas ChristiaÌ„s haue their origin froÌ„ the water as fishes haue This Spirit againe houered ouer the vvaters of contritioÌ„ the SacrameÌ„t also of penaÌ„ce wheÌ„ it inspired into me the Spirit of coÌ„punction and contrition by which from my sinnes committed after Baptisme I vvas againe vvashed and rose againe from sinne to iustifying grace Let it giue me also ô most mercifull Lord the grace and guift of perseuerance vvhich is all in all and without vvhich all is nothing Do not take this Holie Spirit from me and I shall perseuer to the end against all tentations maugre all the Deuills in Hell 5. S. Peter before he vvas fortified by this Spirit vvas so frayle fearfull and cowardlie that he denied his Master at the voice of a Maide-seruaunt a woeman dashed him out of countenance but after he vvas armed fortified by this Holy Spirit he feared not the Tyrants of the vvorld nor all the tormentes that cruell heartes could deuise but like a rocke vvithstood the boisterous windes of their persecutions vvhich did but breake wast themselues mooued not him And he the rest of the Apostles vvho fled vvhen their Master vvas taken and vvho eueÌ„ after his death and resurrection assembled themselues together and shutte the doores Propter metum Iudaeorum for feare of the Ievves Ioan. 20. after they had receaued this Holy Spirit they feared not the Tyrants of earth nor all the Deuills in Hell Yea they but twelue set vpon all the vvorld and not iointly neither but singlie and made a conquest of a greater world then euer Alexander the Great did subdued not onelie their bodies as he did but their vvilles and vnderstanding subiected the Empire to the Churche the Scepter to the crosse made philosophie stoupe to Christes doctrine Matth. 10. and Idolatrie to Christian religion And whereas they were sent as sheepe amongest vvolues yet these sheepe strengthened by this Holy Spirit were to hard for the wolues and as fire coÌ„uerteth all into it so they inflamed vvith this HeaueÌ„lie fire consumed sinne and Idolatrie and like so many walking fiers set all the world on fire conuerted all to Christ and made all like themselues that is Christians 6. I ô Lord request at thy bountifull handes with Dauid a guift of this Holy Spirit Act. 20 and this Heauenlie fire which descended on the first Christians in the forme of fierie tongues corroborate and encourage me by this Holy Spirit inflame me with this heauenlie fire and harden me with it that no assaults of the Deuill world or flesh may be able to ouerthrowe me that for feare of persecution I may not deny thee but as now as I hope I am risen by thy Holy Spirit and grace of iustification so by thy guifte and grace of perseuerance the proper effect of it I may neuer fall againe by mortall sinne from thy grace fauour face and eternall vision the blisse of the blessed which is onelie graunted to them who perseuer to the end Redde mihi letitiam salutaris tui Et spiritu principali confirma me Render vnto me the ioy of thy Saluation and confirme me with thy principall Spirit 1. I Remember ô Lord saith Dauid say the same ô penitent soule with him what ioye peace of conscience and comfort I enioyed in thee and in thy seruice before my sinne and when I was enriched with thy grace the fountaine of true peace and ioye Then I tasted and sawe how sweet thou art then I experienced Psal 33 how great is the multitude of thy
inflamed with charitie so he inflameth that he with an hot cole taken from the Altar may touch my mouth Isa c. 6 and purge my lippes from all filth of sinne See S. Thom. Lyra. Hector Pintus and SaÌ„ctius on the sixt chap. of Isaiâ— that is that he vvith the burning cole of charitie taken from the Altar of the crosse or CHRIST his passion endured on the crosse for that is the source of all grace and charitie may purge my hart and lippes as gold in the fornace from all drosse of sinne that my hart may thinke nothing my mouth and lippes may speake nothing which is not pure chast and holie For then my mouth vvill be apt to shew forth thy praise Or else send ô Lord one of thy Priestes who by office is a Seraphin instituted and ordained to illuminate and inflame the heartes of the people by preaching and administration of the Sacramentes And let him either by the burning cole of thy word for thy word is fired exceedinglie or by that sacred burning cole of CHRISTS holie bodie in the Eucharist burning continuallie vvith the Diuinitie Ps 118. yet not consumed taken from the holie Altar vvhere it is offered daylie in the Church of God may inflame my heart purge first it and then my lippes vvhich are the interpreters of the heart from all filth of sinne Or else ô my svveet God send vnto me one of thy Seraphins one of thy Priests vvho ministeriallie by meanes of the SacrameÌ„ts vvhich he ministreth giueth the Holie Ghost that he by the hot cole of this holie Spirit proceeding as ardent loue from God the father and God the sonne coequall and consubstantiall vnto them vvho in the day of Pentecoste descending fom heauen in the forme of fierie tongues inflamed purged th' Apostles and first Christians may inflame purge my heart lippes from all filth of sinne and so may make me fitt to shew forth thy praise for vntill I be purged from sinne Ps 49. I am a sinner to the sinner thou sayst why doest thou declare my iustices and takst my Testament by thy mouth And Ecclesiasticus telleth me Eccleisastici 15. that praise is not comelie in the mouth of a sinner 3. But open my mouth ô Lord stopped by sinne and purge my lippes polluted by sinne and then not onelie my mouth shall be the trumpet to sound forth thy prayses vvhich thou ô penitent sinner must say after him but my soule shall say to her selfe Ps 102. My soule blesse thou our Lord and all the thinges that are within me my vnderstanding my vvill my memorie my heart and all that is in me shall blesse and prayse God yea my body and all the senses and partes of it as myne eyes myne eares the rest of my senses my heade my haÌ„des my feete in imploying theÌ„selues in thy seruice shall be so many trumpets to sound forth thy praise 4. And not onelie vvith bodie and soule I vvill praise thee but I vvill coniure all people and natioÌ„s to ioyne vvith me in thy praise for I vvill crye vnto them Ps 1â—6 Praise our Lord all the Gentiles praise him all the peoples yea I vvill coniure all thy creatures asvvell reasonable as vnreasonable sensible as vnsensible to praise thee and confesse thee to be their Creatour and to say as they doe say euerie day to those that haue intelligence He made vs Psa 99. and not we our selues I vvil vvith Sidrach Dan. 3. Misach Abdenago call vpon all creatures to praise thee I will sing daylie their Canticle and Benedicite All workes of our Lord blesse our Lord ye Angels of our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer ye Heauens blesse our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer All waters that are aboue the heauens blesse ye our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer Sunne and Moone blesse ye our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer In the like manner I vvill inuite the starres planets the showers and dewes the vvindes and tempests fire heate frost and cold yce and snovv and the rest vvhich are inuited to the praise of God in this Canticle for that all those creatures though many of them be deuoide of reason many also of sense doe praise God in exciting men by consideration and contemplation of these admirable vvorkes of God to the praise of him 5. For as vvhen vve see a picture vvell dravvne or a statue cunninglie carued we by and by commend not onelie the picture statue but also and especiallie the painter and Caruer so vvhen vve looke vpon the Heauens and those euer shining lights vvhich may be ouershadovved but neuer are put out and the goodlie order and disposition of the Heauens elemeÌ„tes and creatures in theÌ„ vve praise not onelie them but much more the Creatour And in this fence the HeaueÌ„s though they haue neither reason nor sence are sayd to shew forth the glorie of God Ps 18. vvherefore hence forth with thy grace ô Lord all my actions shall be directed to thy honour glorie euerie morning so soone as I rise or awake both they and all I am haue shall be offered designed for thy honour and so by vvord and worke I will euer shew forth thy praise and I vvill neuer cease froÌ„ singing praises vnto thee till I come to sing Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Holie Holie Holie vvith the quire of thy Heauenlie musicians thy Saintes and Angels Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium dedissem vtique Holocaustis non delectaberis Because if thou wouldest haue had sacrifice I had verilie giuen it with holocaustes thou wilt not be pleased 1. I Promised thee ô Lord saith Dauid that my mouth should shew forth thy praise Ps 4â— because I take the sacrifice of praise to be more pleasing vnto thee otherwise if thou wouldst haue had sacrifice to vvit the materiall corporall sacrifice of brute beastes I would verilie haue giuen it And thou knovvest ô Lord that in such sacrifices I haue not beene vvanting but I know they are not pleasing to thee nay vvith Holocaustes vvhich were the best kind of externall sacrifices as being wholie burnt and consumed to thy honour thou art not delighted as they are taken in themselues vvithout the internall sacrifice of the minde Salomon in the dedication of the Temple 3. Reg. 2. offered of oxen tvvo tvventie thousand of sheepe an hundred tvventie thousand and yet all these sacrifices taken nakedlie in theÌ„selues without the inward sacrifices of the minde were not pleasing to God Mich. 6. For as Micheas sayth Nunquid placaripotest Dominus in millibus arietum can our Lord be pacified with thousaÌ„ds of Rammes Or as thou ô Lord thy selfe sayst will I eate the flesh of oxeÌ„ Ps 49. ibid. or will I drinke the blood of buckgoats Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise and pay thy vovve to the highest 2. And vvhat
2. for to them onelie Christ sayd Ioan. 20. Whose sinnes you shal forgiue they are forgiuen them And therefore Dauid whose consciēce accused him of mortall sinnes which he knew to be greate miseries desired God to haue mercie on him according to his greate mercie 2. Reg. 11. 12. Hee had committed two greate and heinous sinnes for he had committed adulterie vvith Bersabee and to couer it he had killed Vrias her husband and so he stoode in neede of a great mercie 2. O Dauid although thou hadst formerlie been a good King Act. 13. and a man according to God his hart yet I can not excuse thee now from greate sinne and great ingratitude and this thou thy selfe seest and confessest Thow didst violate the wife of Vrias thy faithfull seruant and valiant soldiour and to couer this fault thou addest an other to vvitt the death of this thy innocēt and faithfull soldiour O Dauid doth not the zeale of Vrias thy soldiour confound thee he would not lye vvith his owne wife whilest 2. Reg. 11. 12. The Arke of God and Israel and Iuda dvvelt in pauilions and his Lord Ioab and the seruants of his Lord aboade vpon the face of the earth thou at that tyme lyest with his wife in a soft bed takest thy vnlawfull pleasure with her He exposed his life for thee thy kingdome and the cause of God and thou causest him to be vniustly cruellie murdered and to be sure to kill him thou exposest to danger of death many other soldiours thereby giuest occasiō to the Infidelles to insult ouer the armie of God and to blaspheme the name of God who had eleuated to the dignitie of a King thee who now dealest more traitrously then many of them would haue done 3. And this treacherie crueltie iniustice and ingratitude thou cōmittest ô Dauid after many guiftes of grace nature which God had hestowed on thee Psalm 77. after he had chosen thee and taken thee from the flockes of sheepe from after the ewes with young had made thee of a shephearde a King and of a gouernour of a flocke of sheepe a King Pastour of the people of God after he had honored thee with so many victories first ouer Golias and then ouer the Philistians and Assyrians after he had deliuered thee so often from the hatred enuie and malice of Saul after he had indued thee with the light of prophecie and knowledge of diuine mysteries yea and and with great sanctitie also after he had promised to establish the scepter of Iuda in thy familie Psalm 88. and had begun to fullfill his promise Thou ô Dauid for one filthie and short pleasure ô inconstancie ô leuitie ô ingratitude forgetting all these graces fauours couldst find in thy hart to forsake so good a God and so great a benefactour for so short and so brutish a pleasure and to offend him so greeuouslie who had beene so beneficiall to thee But this thy great fault ô Dauid I need not to aggrauate thou knowest it better then any man else and thou acknowledgest it and therefore for so great a sinne and miserie thou desirest not whatsoeuer but a great mercie 4. God almightie his mercie in it selfe is alwaies great and so great that it is God him selfe for whatsoeuer is in God is God and so infinite as he is but yet this diuine attribute of mercie in its effectes is greater and lesser greater in those to whome many and greate sinnes are forgiuen lesse in those to whom lesser and fewer sinnes are pardoned Dauid therefore desireth God to shew mercie vnto him in effect according as he had shewed to the greater sinners 5. And I ô Lord say so ô sinfull Cstristiā acknowledging my selfe with Dauid a great sinner and if not in the same kind of sinne at least in some other kind as greate or greater and if not in carnall S. Tho. 1.2 q. 73. art 5. at least in spirituall sinnes which are of themselues greater then carnall sinnes as in Schisme Heresie enuy pride ambition hatred of my neighbour and the like doe desire thee to haue mercie on me according to thy great mercie in effect according to that mercie which thou shewedst to Dauid Manasses and other great sinners in the old lawe according to that great mercie thou shewedst to S. Peter S. Mathew S. Paule and S. Marie Magdalen in the new lawe for my sinnes being great doe require a greate mercie Or haue mercie on me according to that great worke of mercie the Incarnatiō to which peraduēture Dauid alluded for out of thy mercie onely not for our merit thou wast incarnate Or haue mercie on me according to that great worke of mercie thy painfull death and Passion which out of mercie and compassiō thou sufferdst for mās redemption And if ô heauenly father out of thy mercie and compassion towards vs thou sparedst not thy owne sonne Rom. 8. though equall consubstātiall vnto thee but for vs all deliueredst him vnto death no doubt thou art readie on thy part for this so extraordinary work of mercie to haue mercie on the greatest sinners Or else thou whosoeuer hast sinned with Dauid say with him haue mercie on me ô God according to thy greate infinite attribute of mercie which is as great as thy selfe who are essentiallie mercie and is so infinite that all the sinnes of the world are but litle drops in regarde of that sea of mercie In this mercie ô Lord that is in thy selfe who art this mercie I principallie hope and next in that great effecte worke of mercie thy Incarnation and bitter passion And if in the Ocean sea I can not want water to wash and coole me If in the sunne I can not want light to illuminate me nor in the fier heate to vvarme me much lesse can I vvant mercie in this Ocean of mercie or light of grace in this sunne of mercie vvhich shineth on the good and the badde or can my cold sinnes make me shiuer for want of heate of charitie in this infinite fier of mercie vvhich consumeth sinnes but saueth soules Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum dele iniquitatem meam And according to the multitude of thy commiserations take away myne iniquitie 1. MY sinnes ô mercifull God sayth Dauid are not onelie great but also many Prou. 24. for if the Iust finneth seuen tymes in a day venially I who haue of long tyme ledd a sinfull life vvho seldome resisted tentations and as seldome flyed the occasions of sinnes but rather sought for them who haue sinned so often that I may say with Manasses Orat. Manas 2. Par. 33 Peccaui super numerum arenae maris I haue sinned aboue the number of the sand of the sea And as Ecclesiasticus sayd Eccles c. 10. Arenam maris pluuiae guttas dies saeculi quis dinumerauit The sand of the sea and the droppes of rayne and the dayes
reason and sensualitie out of vvhich we his children can not extricate our selues How then ô Lord canst thou expecte of me that am borne lame and crooked to walke so right in the waye of thy cōmandemēts as neuer to halt neuer to stumble neuer to goe awrye neuer to swarue from the rule of reason and thy eternall Lawe Consider ô Lord that this originall sinne by dispoiling me of originall iustice which was the bridle and curbe of sensualitie and which in Adam before his sinne was prepared for me hath caused in me a great pronenesse propension to sensualitie to sinne and vice which being hard to resiste may make some excuse for my manifold sinne 2. And thou ô Christian penitēt sinner alleage also with Dauid thy pronenesse to sinne for thou wast conceiued in sinne as deeplie as he and consequentlie hast contracted thereby the like propēsiō to sinne For this may induce thy mercifull God in that respecte to be the more forward to pardon thee The Angels that fell by sinne could not alleadge this excuse because they had not this pronenesse to sinne so deserued not mercie but seeing thou art conceiued and borne in sinne and hast contracted this propensiō to sinne which is called fomes peccati and which stirreth vp to sinne cry vnto thy Lord Haue mercie on me ô God for behold I am conceiued in sinne and thereby I haue contracted a great pronenesse to sinne which with thy ordinarie grace I can hardlie resiste and without it not at all Haue mercie then vpon me ô mercifull Father excuse thy childes sinne to which he was so much inclined 3. I haue I confesse so much yeelded to this my propension that vvhereas thou hast giuen me reason and grace also sufficient to resiste this propensiō yet I yeelding to it did like the prodigall sonne lauish out prodigally my childs portion both of reason and grace and gaue my selfe to all licentiousnes But thou ô mercifull God art not lesse louing thē vvas that Father I as I hope no lesse penitēt then that his sonne Luc. 15 For as he did so doe I confesse that I haue sinned against heauen and earth and am not vvorthie to be called thy sonne And as he did so doe I return vnto thee againe by sorrow and repentance Embrace me then ô Lord and receaue me in to grace as that Father did his sonne and be not thou ô Eternall Father inferiour to that Temporall Father in mercie and compassion and shew thy selfe as thou art more prone to mercie then I am to sinne more prone to pardon then I vvas to offend Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti incerta occulta sapientiaetuae manifestasti mihi For behold thou hast loued truth the vncertaine and hidden thinges of thy wisdome thou hast made manifest vnto me 1. THou hast ô Lord loued veritie truth and sinceritie of hart in me and that before my falle I was a sincere and true louer of thee and thy lawe no double dealer in any my wordes or actiōs thou hast liked in me and for that cause thou hast reuealed vnto me manie thinges vncertaine to men though not to thee yea altogether hidden to them to witt the mysterie of the Incarnation thy lyfe and death Resurrectiō and Ascension which are the verities of the figures of the old lawe vnder which I liue and which verities thou louest ô Lord before all those shadowes figures for partly by faith partly by spirite of prophecie and reuelation I haue had such knowledge of future thinges that there is almost no mysterie of the new lawe no promise made vnto it vvhich thou hast not reuealed vnto me and which I haue not forseene and fortold also in my psalmes And so thou who hast done me so many fauours vvilt not I hope deny me that grace without vvhich all the reste of thy benefites vvill be cast away and vvill not any vvhitt pleasure me but vvill rather be to my greater damnation And vvhat is that it is remission of my sinnes without the which to haue been good vvill not benefit me without the which the guifte of prophecie and miracles and all other guiftes will not saue me but rather aggrauate my sinnes augment my dānatiō Wherefore ô Lord knowing my selfe to be a great sinner I still crye vnto thee as I did in the beginninge of this my penitentiall psalme Haue mercie on me ô God according to thy great mercie 2. Or saith this Royall Prophet and penitent sinner I might ó Lord in some sorte couer my fault extenuate and excuse my sinnes because as I haue saide in the precedent verse I was conceiued in iniquities and in a greate pronenesse propensiō to sinne but I know thou louest truth that is a sincere harte a true tongue that confesseth the truth And therfore I sincerlye cōfesse that this pronenesse to sinne doth not quite excuse me frō sinne because it could not enforce me against my will I by faith in the Messias who is the waye veritie and lyfe and by his life and death which was reuealed to me and by grace from his death and passion which was not wāting to me hauing had grace sufficiēt by which maugre this pronenesse to sinne I might haue resisted ouercome all tentation to sinne And therefore I will not excuse my selfe by my pronenesse to sinne but ingenuouslie sincerlie and in veritie confessing it I flye onelie to thy goodnes pronenesse to mercie 3. And ó Christian soule say thou also vvith Dauid vnto thy Lord I acknowledge that I haue receaued many benefites and fauours at thy handes Thou hast created me of nothing and made me of nothing something and not what thing soeuer but a reasonable creature resembling thee by the image of thy selfe which thou hast drawne and engraued in me I by sinne as I confesse haue marred what thou hast made and haue blurred slurred blotted and defaced this thy so glorious image But what ô Lord wilt thou therefore abādon thy creature thy owne handworke To haue created me is a great benefit but if thou leaue me to my selfe and in the miserie into which sinne hath plunged me this thy benefite of creation vvill be to me no benefite because better it is not to haue been then to be miserable as sinne maketh me now and vvill make me more miserable herafter in hell into vvhich it will tumbleme vnlesse thou first forgiuest and remittest it Thou then ô Lord who hast done so much for me as to make me vouchsafe to renewe me and to sette a new glosse and hewe on me by thy grace which may vvash avvay my sinne and ridde me of this miserie 4. Thou hast not onelie created me but also conserued me in the being thou gauest me by creation yea thou hast preserued me from manie corporall dangers And great are these benefites in thēselues but vnlesse thou remitte my sinne vvhich maketh me miserable better had it been for me that thou shouldst
sweetnes ô Lord which thou hast hidd for them that feare thee and hast hidden from the worldlings vvho feare thee not Sap. 12. O hovv good and sweet is thy spirit ô Lord in all Math. 11. Thy seruice is à yoke but sweet it is a burden but light And ô my infelicitie who when I sinned left thee and all this true ioye and consolation When by Iustifying grace I liued in thy house I aboūded with this bread of consolation but whē by my sinne I left the house of thee my eternall father followed the seruice of the world vvith the Prodigall sonne Luc. 15 then instead of this bread of true consolation I vvas fedd as he vvas after he left his fathers house with the huskes of worldlie consolation with carnall and brutish pleasures the hoggish fare of sinners vvhich neuer quencheth thirst neuer slaketh or assuageth hunger neuer giueth contentement 2. When I serued thee ô Lord J drank of the fountaine of liuing waters and true pleasures Ioh. 4. whilst I drank those waters I neuer thirsted after any other but vvhen I forsooke thee the Creatour and fountaine of liuing water Hierem 24. and digged to my selfe cisternes broken cisternes which are not able to hold water that is whē I thought to extinguish my thirst by my loue of creatures or create riches or pleasures I found thē to be broken cisternes which doe not containe the water of solid comfort pleasure or contētement When I serued thee I was fedd vvith Manna Num. 21. the bread of Angels which containeth in it selfe all delight but vvhen by sinne I loathed and left this foode of Angels and sought to satisfie myne appetite with worldly and carnall pleasures ô what an ill exchange I made I then sold vvith Esau my spirituall first birth-right Gen. 25 vvhich grace gaue vnto me for a messe of potage Exod. 25. I exchanged Manna for the flesh pottes yea onions and garlick of Egipt I left thee ô Lord the Creatour in whom I had true contentement for thy creatures which by reason of their insufficiencie can not content 3. Thou hast created vs ô Lord to thy selfe and for thy selfe and hast made vs capable of thy selfe by thy cleare vision and fruition and thou being rich eminēt in excellēcie aboue all beautifull most good yea a sea of goodnes hast made vs capable of all these thy Diuine attributes and perfections But because we seeke for these thinges not in thee where they are where onely they content but in thy creatures where is but a shadow of them and vvhere they doe not content we by abuse haue made this our capacitie of fruition of thee thy Diuine perfections which onely can satisfie and fill vs the cause of all our discontentement yea our vices and disorders For whereas thou hast made vs capable of thy Diuine excellencie to vvhich supreame honour is due we by abuse seeke for this excellencie and honour not in thee but in our selues desiring too much to excell others and to be esteemed aboue them this is pride ambition which is neuer satisfied Others giue this excellencie and supreame honour to creatures as to the sunne moone starres and this is Idolatrie vvhereas thou hast made vs capable of thy beautie which is the cause and fountaine of of all beautie we leauing thee doe seeke for it in thy creatures where is but a shadow of that thy beautie and this is carnall concupiscence which is neuer filled Whereas thou hast made vs capable of thy riches and aboundance vvhich comprehendeth all the riches and varieties of Sea and Land that also most eminentlie vve by abuse seeke this aboundance and varietie of all thinges in thy creatures and trouble Sea Land to procure it this is riotte and auarice vvhich is neuer contented whereas thou hast created vs capable of thy bountie liberalitie by vvhich thou shinest raynest by thy guiftes and fauours on the good and badde and castest a largesse of thy infinite guiftes and benefites on all thy creatures euē to the young rauens and crawling wormes we by abuse seeke for this bountie out of thee would be liberall not out of thy aboundance but out of our owne store and this is lauishing prodigalitie vvhich spendeth till it hath ruined the spender and his familie and aftervvard stealeth to spend more more and so findeth no end nor content in spending 4. And the reason vvhy these creatures and create perfections can not content our will or appetite is because thou ô Lord hast giuen to our vvill an infinite capacitie capable of thy selfe who art an infinite sea of all goodnes and perfection whereas thy creatures are finite and limited in perfection an so can not fill a vessell as our vvill is of infinit capacitie and thy creatures are also imperfect so doe not onelie not satisfie and fill vs but doe also by reasō of this imperfection and disproportion cause in vs a spirituall thirst and hungre vvhich vexeth and tormēteth vs. One vvorld was not great enough to content Alexander the Great nor would many worlds haue satisfied him though thy had beene as many as Democritus imagined what rich man was euer satisfied vvith riches vvhat ambitious mā vvith honours what luxurious mā vvith carnall pleasures And no maruayle no create thing is proportionat to mans infinit capacitie All create perfections are defectiue insufficient and vayne like to painted grapes and so can giue no solid satietie or consolation 5. For vvhat are the gold and syluer landes and liuinges and all the riches of the vvorld vvhich are gotten with labour kept with care and lost with sorrow but pelfe and trash and fruites of the earth and so earthlie and consequentlie improportionate to our soules appetite vvhich is spirituall what are the pleasures of the bodie but gay stinking flowers thornie roses sweet poysons delights of brute beastes in vvhich we agree vvith them vvhich so are the pleasures of the bodie that they are the greatest displeasures of the soule what are the honours and estimations of the vvorld which so daste wordlings eyes but blastes of mens mouthes or the transitory conceites of mens mindes which often are erroneous alwaies inconstant and more changable thē the vvinde passing more swiftly them the waues of the running water And as yet the man vvas neuer found which vvas satisfied vvith these painted gugawes 6. Thou onelie ô my Lord and God vvho art infinit in all perfection and goodnes canst fill the infinit capacitie of our soule Thou onelie art the center of our desires in vvhom onelie they rest The stone vvill sooner rest in the ayre before it come to the center then the soule of man in creatures before it come to thee her creatour her first efficient and last end Fecisti nos Domine ad te saith S. Austin inquietum est cor nostrum Aug. lib. 1. Confes cap. 1. donec requiescat in
Church of Christ more then of the first 10. Dauid therefore fore-seeing by faith the glorie of this temple Hierusalem and Church of Christ desireth almightie God that it may be built And why Dauid ô saith he then and not before thou shalt accept the sacrifice of iustice And what is that the sacrifice of the Crosse to wit of Christ Iesus offered by death on the crosse This sacrifice is the fountaine of all grace receiued euer since Adams fall this sacrifice appeaseth God his wrath and satisfieth his iustice in paying the great price of our Redemption by this sacrifice God vvas more honoured then by all the sacrifices that euer before were offered by this sacrifice vve were reconciled to God and his Angels By this sinne vvas cancelled the Deuill vanquished Hell that is limhus Patrum was ransacked and all those prisonners enioyed a iayle deliuerie death vvas despoiled of his sting yea vvas put to death finallie by which onelie hoste once onelie offered our redemption was consummated Hebr. 9 10. for as S. Paul saith by one oblation hath he consummated for euer them that are sanctifyed 11. And peraduenture Dauid beeing a Prophet and hauing a more explicite faith then the other Ievves had Matth. 26. alludeth also to the sacrifice which Christ instituted and offered at his last supper which is repeated by the Priest daylie in the Church And this in respect of the thing offered which is Christ differeth not from the sacrifice of the crosse because in both sacrifices the same Christ the same bodie and blood of his is offered though in other respectes they differ because that of the crosse was a bloodie sacrifice this vnbloodie that was offered in it's owne forme this in the likenes of bread wine that was a reall mactation and killing of Christ this mysticall onelie that was our Redemption this an application onelie of it that was an vniuersall cause of all grace and remissiō of sinnes this is a particular cause as Baptisme is vvhich determineth the vniuersall cause to determinate effectes that impetrated grace by its ovvne vertue this by vertue from that that because it vvas a bloodie sacrifice and contained the full price of our Redemption vvas offered but once because a bloodie sacrifice is but once killed a ransome or Redemption is but once payed this because it is a mysticall mactation and an application onelie of that price of our Redemption is oftentimes offered That vvas offered immediatlie by Christ this novv immediatlie by his Priest at the holy Altar 12. This veritie of the vnbloodie sacrifice Catholique vvriters doe prooue by all those kind of arguments as I my selfe haue in some bookes of myne by vvhich the greatest mysteries and articles of our faith are prooued as by Scriptures Councels fathers and practice of the Church but because I intend in this my Paraphrase to abstaine from controuersies and onelie to stirre vp sinners to repentance I vvill omit all such argumentes and vvill returne to our penitent king and Prophet And vvhy Dauid doest thou so much desire that the vvalles of this Hierusalem and the temple of the Church of Christ should be built out of my zeale saith he of God his greater glorie and saluation of others for then saith he shalt thou accept sacrifice of iustice then and not before shalt thou accept the bloodie and vnbloodie sacrifices of the sonne of God the true sacrifices of iustice because the bloodie sacrifice satisfied thy iustice in paying the price of our redēption the vnbloodie applieth the price then by these sacrifices thou shalt be infinitlie more honoured then by all the sacrifices of the old lawe then thousands more both of Ievves and Gētils shall be saued then vvere in the old lavv then shall be layd on thy Altar not calues and oxen but the sacrifices of thy sacred bodie and blood the verities of those figures 13. In a tropicall or morall sēse Hierusalem the temple doe signifie the soule of man and in this sence Dauid desireth that the walles of his Hierusalem the forces of his soule lost by sinne may by grace be repaired Desire thou also ô penitent sinner vvith this penitent king and Prophet that the forces of thy ruinous Hierusalem of thy soule cast downe by sinne may be repayred that faith the foundatiō of this spirituall temple may be renewed if it be lost or strengthned if it be not lost that the walles of thy hopes by which this Hierusalem and tēple riseth and is raised may be erected fortified that Charitie the toppe and roofe may couer it that this temple may be cleansed from all sinne and that by all Christian vertues it may be adorned by God his grace and guiftes of the holie Ghost embellished and that in it daylie spirituall sacrifices of prayer praise thankesgiuing of a contrite heart of all good workes may be offered to God his honour glorie 14. Lastlie in the Anagogicall sense Dauid desireth that the walles of the celestiall Hierusalem may be built that is that the Heauēlie Hierusalē ruined in part by the falle of Lucifer and his rebellious followers may be repayred and their seates filled For he knew by faith that there vvas a Hierusalem in Heauen farre more glorious then that in earth Apoc. 21. and vvhich by S Iohn his description is built of no vvorse materialls then pearles gold and pretious stones thereby signifying the splendour riches and maiestie of it S. Paul calleth it a mount Sion Heb. 12. the Citie of the liuing God Heauenlie Hierusalem and the assemblie of many thousand Angels the Church of the first borne vvhich are vvritten in the Heauēs This is the true Hierusalem that is the true vision of peace vvhere all seeing God face to face doe all peaceablie aggre in louing praising honouring and seruing him 15. In this Hierusalem euerie Saint and Angell is a liuing stone which cōposeth buildeth vp this Citie euerie Saint and Angell is a courtier of this Court euerie Saint and Angell is a miniō and fauorit of the Heauenlie king euerie Saint and Angell is a Quirester of God his Chappell euerie Saint Angell is a king of a kingdome of no lesse extent then the Kingdome of Heauen 16. In this Heauenlie Hierusalem there is peace vvithout vvarre securitie vvithout feare contentement vvithout disgust satietie without glutting ioy vvithout sorrow rest with without labour light vvithout darkenes morning without euening day vvithout night spring without the falle of the leafe summer vvithout vvinter youth vvithout old age health vvithout sicknes life without death happines vvithout miserie and one happier then an other vvithout all enuie because euery one reioyceth in an others happines as if it vvere his ovvne no sinne against God all iointlie louing him no falling out vvith one an other because all in God doe loue one another and no end of this felicitie but a perseuerance in all this for all eternitie O vvorld