part haue no Commission to commend that reading vnto you Vers 6. Yet haue I set my King vpon my holy Hill of Sion As much to say as notwithstanding all this maugre the Folly and Fury and Vproares of the People maugre the Wit and Pollicy and Cunning of the Magistrate I God the Father the First Person in Trinity Vncreate Incomprehensible Eternall Almighty maker of Heauen and Earth and of all things Visible and Invisible and disposer of all things to their truest ends Haue set my King that is my holy One my beloued Sonne in whom I am so well pleased vpon Sion to wit the Church vpon my holy Hill of Sion my holy Catholike Church For p Aug. in Joh. Tract 115. Sion ille Mons ille non est de hoc Mundo This Sion and this Hill is not of this world Quod est enim eius Regnum nisi Credentes in eum Non ait Nunc autem Reguum meum non est hîc sed non est hînc For what is his Kingdome p Aug. in Joh. Tract 115. saith S. Austen but those that beleeue in him He saith not My Kingdome is not hêre but my Kingdome is not hence Concerning the Hill of Sion there is much speech in holy Scripture The Hill of Sion q Ps 48.2 saith our Prophet in another place is a faire place and the ioy of the whole earth vpon the North side lieth the City of the great King God is well knowne in her Palaces as a sure refuge Againe r Ps 68.15 As the Hill of Basan so is Gods Hill even an high Hill as the Hill of Basan Why hop yee so yee high Hills This is Gods Hill in the which it pleaseth him to dwell yea the Lord will abide in it for ever And yet againe Å¿ Ps 78.68 He refused the Tabernacle of Ioseph and chose not the Tribe of Ephraim but chose the Tribe of Iuda euen the Hill of Sion which he loued And there he builded his Temple on high and laid the foundation of it like the ground which he hath made continually Now it is here said that the Lord hath placed his Annointed vpon this Hill of Sion for that Sion and Ierusalem were the very first places in the World from whence this Gospell did first beginne Come yee t Esay 2.3 saith the Prophet Esay and let vs goe vp to the Mountaine of the Lord to the House of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs of his waies and we wil walke in his Paths for out of Sion shall goe forth hâ—â— Law the Word of the Lord from Ierusalem It is called here Holy Hill or in regard of that peculiar presence which the Lord at that time afforded to it like as he said to Moses u Exod. 3.5 The place whereon thou standest is holy Ground or in regard of the Temple and divine worship therein exercised like as Ierusalem is tearmed The holy City both by x Esay 48.2 Esay the Prophet and by y Mat. 4.5 S. Mathew Vers 7. I will preach the Law whereof the Lord hath said vnto me Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee The Prophet in the Verse before declared vnto vs what the Father said of the Sonne concerning the Kingdome in this Verse he declareth concerning the said Kingdome what it is the Sonne himselfe saith Which is thus much in effect I for my part shall bee farre from opposing force to force I will not seeke humaine helpes and encounter in like sort with the Folly or Fury or Pollicy of mine Enemies I will only rely on that Word which the Lord hath said concerning me and it shall bee powerfull enough against all resistance Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee This Word this Law this Decree of God aboue is powerfull enough and much more sharpe then any two edged Sword It is mighty through God to the pulling downe of strong bolds z 1. Pet. 1.24 Al Flesh is as Grasse and all the glory of Man as the Flowre of Grasse the Grasse withereth and the Flowre thereof falleth away but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever Concerning the words here Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee the Arrians laid hold vpon them to impugne therby the Eternity of our Saviour all for because forsooth mention is here made of Hodie this day Wherevpon S. Austen Quid me stimulas Arriane rides cum audis hodie Arrian a Aug. de quinque Haeresib c. 4. saith S. Austen why dost thou iog me on the elbowe and laughest in thy sleeue when thou hearest these words This day Why man with God it is neuer to Morrow nor Yesterday but alwaies this Day The Yeare is not turned about with the Circles of the Months the Month is not passed ouer with Daies that are still comming and still going the Houres are not changed the Times and Moments are not altered the Day is not finished with bonds limits nor begun with any beginning Againe in his Confessions speaking vnto God Thy Yeares b Aug. Confess l. 11. c. 13. saith he nether come nor goe but these of ours both goe and come that all at length may come All thy Yeares are altogither and all for because they are nor they that goe are excluded from them that come because they passe not but these of ours shall all of them bee when as all shal not be Thy Yeares are one Day and thy Day is not Quotidie every Day but Hodie this Day because thy Hodiè this Day giues not place vnto to Morrow the reason is for that it succeeded not Yesterday Thy Hodiè this Day is no whit lesse then Eternity it selfe and therefore thou didst beget one Coeternall to thy selfe whenas thou saidst This Day haue I begotten thee And yet againe in another place The Baptisme of Christ c Aug. Enchirid. ad Laurent c. 49 saith S. Austen is not in water only as was the Baptisme of Iohn but also in the Holy Ghost that whosoeuer beleeues in Christ might bee regenerated by that Spirit by whom Christ being regenerated needed no Regeneration Wherevpon that voice of the Father that came vnto him at his Baptisme This day haue I begotten thee pointed not out that one Day of time wherein he was Baptized but that of immutable Eternity thereby to shew that his being a Man pertained to the Person of his only Begotten For where the Day is nether begun with the end of a former nor is ended with the beginning of any that followeth there is alwaies This Day There are that d Vid. D. Boys Festiv Thursd in Easter week interprete these Words Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee of the day of our Saviours Incarnation the Apostle S. Paul he interpreteth it of the Day of his Resurrection e Act. 13.33 We i saith he declare vnto you glad Tidings how that the Promise
4 He that dwelleth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord shall haue them in derision 5 Then shall he speake vnto them in his wrath and vexe them in his sore displeasure 6 Yet haue I set my King vpon my holy hill of Sion 7 I will preach the Law whereof the Lord hath said vnto me Thou art my Sonne this day haue I begotten thee 8 Desire of me and I shall giue thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the vttermost parts of the Earth for thy possession 9 Thou shalt bruise them with a Rod of iron breake them in peeces like a Potters vessell 10 Be wise now therefore Oye Kings be learned ye that are Iudges of the Earth 11 Serue the Lord in feare and reioyce vnto him with reuerence 12 Kisse the Sonne least he be angry and so ye perish from the right way if his wrath be kindled yea but a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him THE ANALYSIS THis Psalme is one of those Three that besides the ordinary saying of it the first day of the Moneth is appointed to be read in the Church at Morning Prayer on Easter day Why it was selected to that purpose we shall perceiue by the Annotations and especially the Annotation at the end of this Psalme In the meane time supposing this Psalme to be meant of our Sauiours Kingdome let vs consider Verse by Verse the Prophets Method in this Psalme The Prophet then after the Description of the Enterprises of the Wicked against that Kingdome First in the Peoples opposition and that in the First Verse Secondly in the Counsailes and Endeauours of the Magistrates and that in the Second and Third Verses he obserueth two points First he proposeth to them certaine Conclusions Secondly he dealeth friendly with them by way of perswasion The Conclusions he proposeth are partly in respect of the Lord and things to bee done by his power partly in respect of Men and things to be taught them by the Gospell The things to be done by the Lordâ— power are First that he litle reckoneth of these their Attempts and that in the Fourth Verse Secondly that in time he would crush them euery one and that in the â—ift Verse The things that by the Gospell are to be taught vnto men are that Christ being a King appointed by the Lord himselfe as it is in the Sixt Verse the Lord first proclaimed it to the whole World as it is in the Seuenth aâ—d then endowed him with the Possession of it as it is in the Eight and Ninth Verses At length descending to perswasion he dealeth with the Magistrates whom it principalâ—y concerned to be wiser then the rest and that in the Tenth Verse First that they would presently serue the Lord as it is in the Eleuenth Verse Secondly his Anointed that is his onely begotten Sonne Christ Iesus whom in his owne sâ—eed he had placed ouer them as it is in the Twelfth and last Verse a Hyper. de Rat. Stud Theol. l. 2. c. 27. Obseruat 3. Hyperius makes this whole Psalme as it were a kinde of Dialogue wherein are many Speakers First the Prophet Secondly the Wicked Thirdly God the Father Fourthly and lastly God the Sonne First the Prophet he begins by way of Admiration and that in the First Verse then by way of Narration and that in the Second The Wicked they speake tumultuously and that in the Third The Prophet he replyes and that in the Fourth and Fift Verses God the Father in the Sixt God the Son in the Seauenth God the Father againe in the Eight and Ninth The Prophet againe by way of Exhortation in the Tenth Eleuenth and Twelfth Verses And thus much of the Analysis VErse 1. Why doe the Heathen so furiously râ—ge together and why doe the People imagine a vaine thing First as touching the Heathen here it is in the Originall Goijm Gentes by which appellation the Iewes call all those Nations that were not of their Religion The Heathen then here meant in respect of Dauid might be the Iebuzites the Philistians the Moabites the Syrians and the Ammonites with whom King Dauid had so much to doe In respect of our Sauiour Christ all the Nations of the World might here be meant Gentiles and Iewes to For how did the Gentiles rage against his Kingdome how did the Iewes b Senec. Herc. Fur. Act. 2. sc O Magne Nunquid immunis fuit Infantis aetas King Herod heard no sooner of his Birth but himselfe was c Mat. 2.3 troubled and all Hierusalem with him And how like a Fox he went about to haue surprised him the Story is manifest The People are d Horat. Epist l. 1. Ep. 1. Bellua multorum capitum a Beast with many heads who if they be once vp in armes e Virg. Aeneid l. 1. Iamque Faces Saxa volant furor arma ministrat Fire brands and Stones flye about the Streets and that 's a Weapon that com s next to hand Where the People are principall Actors f Dr Fentoa Sermon 6. Wisd of the Ritch p. 81. saith a good Divine there 's a dangerous peece of worke towards How many seuerall times is it said in the Booke of Iudges vpon occasion of great misdemeanors in the Kingdome of Israel g Iudg. 17.6.18.1.19.1.21.25 In those dayes there was no King in Israel but euery man did that which was right in his owne Eyes How furious popular Tumults haue bene in this case no History whatsoeuer but hath Examples thick and threefold but of all Histories that of Iosephus concerning the Warres of the Iewes is in my minde most remarkeable But what is this Vaine thing here imagined by the People Concerning the Word Vaine Aulus Gellius h A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 18. c. 4. tels of a great Controuersie betweene two notable Grammarians about the propriety of the Word The one of them maintaining that Vanity and Folly were both one the other that Folly is one thing and Vanity an other But howsoeuer they dissented the meaning of the Word in this place may well be agreed vpon by vs all that all that was done in this case or by the Heathen or by the People was done to no purpose at all So St Austen Pro eo dictum est vt quid ac si diceretur Frustra It is here i Aug. in hunc Ps said Why doe they so to intimate vnto vs that it was but lost labour that so they did it being most true which the Prophet Esay hath l Esay 8.10 Take counsell together it shall come to naught speake the Word and it shall not stand for God is with vs. And againe m Esay 40.15 Behold the Nations are as a drop of a Bucket and are counted as the small dust of the Ballance behold he taketh vp the Yles as a very little thing n Vers 17. All Nations before him are as Nothing and they are counted to him
hath this passage also Rightly to vnderstand this double Sense we must distinguish Subjectum à Praedicato the thing whereof any thing is said from the thing which is said or affirmed of it The Subiect is Transient and Ambulatorie one thing named not so much for it selfe as for another intended and signified thereby but whither we respect the one or the other the Praedicatum or thing affirmed or spoken is Really and Literally vnderstood and meant of both He maketh instance in the three Examples before that of Exodus and of S. Iohn that of Hosea and S. Mathew that of Samuel S. Paul And to this double Literall sense n Hieron in Ierem c. 11. in fine saith he S. Ierom was faine to flie though he expresly name it not to rid himself of much difficultie in the Interpretation of Scriptures Verse 3. Let vs breake their Bonds asunder and cast away their Cords from vs. He that keepeth his Mouth o Prov. 13 3. saith Solomon keepeth his Life but he that openeth wide his Lips shall haue Destruction Here is an opening of the Lips so wide that they set vpon Heaven it selfe and they will by no meanes indure to heare that our Saviour by Bonds and Cords that is by his Ordinances and his Lawes should fasten and tie them to himselfe These Sonnes of Belial p D. Fenton Ser. 1. Want of Disciplin p. 67 saith a good Divine who cannot abide a Negatiue will breake them I but yet they can be contented with q Esay 5.18 Cords of Vanitie and to be bownd with Sathans Cart-roaps and they are no whit troubled therewith Indeed Religion is a Bond and therefore Lactantius Being tied r saith he q Lact. Instit l. 4. c. 28. with this Bond of Pietie Deo relegati sumus we are tied vnto God from the which kinde of Tye Religion hath her Name not as Tully will haue it A Relegendo of reading againe Å¿ Tully de Nat. Deor. l. 2. So S. Austen de Civ Dei l. 10. c. 4. or remembring And againe in the same Chapter We haue said that the name of Religion is deduced from the bond of Piety inasmuch as God hath tied Man to himselfe and bownd him by Religion So that as the Poet in another case t Senec. Troas Act. 4. sc Quicunque Profuit multis capi it hath beene Happy for Many that they haue beene taken Captiues so especially may wee say in this Case where the x 1. Io. 5.3 Yoke is so easie and the Burthen light u Mat. 11.30 where his x 1. Io. 5.3 Commandements are not greeuous and as wee are taught by the Church to acknowledge y Commun Booke Sec. Coll. for Peace His Service is perfect Freedome The same which Boethius hath in his Booke of Consolation z Boet. de Consol l. 1. Pros 5. Cuius agi Fraenis atque obtempe-Iustitiae summa Libertas est Verse 4. He that dwelleth in Heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord shall haue them in derision Nihil horum sapere oportet carnaliter a Aug. in hunc Ps saith S. Austen This Scorne and Derision here spoken of we must not so vnderstand as if such Affections were in God To Scorne and to Deride are Properties peculiar vnto Men and indeed to the worst of Men such as come within Horace his Verge b Horat. Serm. l 1. Hic Niger est hunc tu Romane caueto He is a Blacke one with a witnesse it is good to beware of such a Fellow Yea but how then come these tearmes to be applyed vnto God To shewe c Calv. in hunc Ps saith Calvine that when the World is vp in Armes against him he needeth no Munitions no Fortifications or Engynes in behalfe of himselfe but that he can bridle them in an instant with as much facility ease as a Man is said to laugh who laughs by nature Now it is here said in this place He that dwelleth in Heauen in opposition vnto that which formerly was spoken of the Kings of the Earth as being no lesse difference betweene them indeed there is much more then is in common estimation betweene Heaven and Earth And he is said to be in Heauen not for we inclose him wholly within the Circle of Heaven Behold the Heauen d 1 Kings 8.27 saith Solomon and Heauen of Heauens cannot containe thee but for that the Heauen is his Throne as e Esay 66.1 speakes the Prophet Esay Verse 5. Then shall he speake vnto them in his wrath and vexe them in his sore displeasure The Word Then in this place signifies the fittest time opportunity that the Iudgments of God were to come vpon those Heathen and vpon the People It is as if the Prophet had said After that the Lord hath suffered awhile their Attempts and Oppositions against the Government of his Sonne he shall in a time convenient to speake vnto them in his wrath as that he shall vtterly confound them Which Speaking of his is not so to be taken as if himselfe would vouchsafe to talke with them Face to Face as f 2 Ioh. 1.12 3 Ioh. 1.14 speaks the Apostâ—e St Iohn as it may be thought he spake with g Gen. 3.17 Adam with h Gen. 4.10 Cain and others no but sometimes by his Ministers as he did by the Prophets of old sometimes by Plagues and Punishments as he did to the Egyptians and sometimes by both i Iob. 33.14 For God speaketh once yea twice yet man perceiueth it not In a Dreame in the Vision of the Night when deep sleepe falleth vpon men in slumbring vpon the bed then he openeth the Eâ—res of men and sealeth their Instruction that he may withdraw man from his purpose and hide pride from man l Verse 19. He is chastned also with paine vpon his bed and the multitude of his bones with strong paine So that his Life abhorreth bread and his soule dainty meat His flesh is consumed away that it cannot be seene and his bones that were not seene stick out And thus the Lord sometimes speakes in the Fire of his Iealousie and in his Fury and in his Iealousie and in the Fire of his Wrath as the Prophet m Ezech. 36.1 Vers 6. Ezech 38.19 Ezechiel tels vs and therefore the Israelites to Moses n Exod. 20.19 Speake thou with vs and we will heare but let not GOD speake with vs least we die I am not ignorant that insteed of these words Tunc loquetur ad eos in ira sua Then shall he speake vnto them in his wrath Others o Drusius Observat l. 7. c. 25. say it should be read Tunc occidet fortes eorum Then shall he slay their strong men the word Iedabber in the Originall comming of Deber that sometimes signifies the Plague or Pestilence But seeing it is not so in this Translation nor in the last Translation of the Psalmes I for my
acknowledge none in thee none at all for they say there is no Help in thee Vp therefore and Helpe me O my God But now concerning the Words Vp Lord. First what the Prophets meaning may here be by saying Vp Lord we may gather by another place For in an m Ps 44.23 other of his Psalmes speaking in these words Vp Lord why sleepest thou awake and be not absent from vs for ever he may be thought to intimate that the Lord by reason of differring his Helpe had beene as it were asleepe And yet himselfe knewe full well and profest it accordingly that He that keepeth Israel and who are the true Israel n Ps 121.4 but the o Gal. 6.16 Godly shall neither Slumber nor Sleepe Secondly whereas he saith Vp Lord it is to be observed that he goeth not to Saints for helpe but directly to the LORD a point of Divinity which the Church of Rome will in no wise learne No doubt Abraham Isaac Iacob and Moses were for Saints asmuch accounted of by our Prophet as euer Peter and Iames and Iohn and the Blessed VIRGIN in the estimation of Christians could haue beene yet goes our Prophet to none of them all but directly vnto God I will lift vp mine Eyes to the Hills p Psal 121.1 saith he from whence commeth my helpe Mine helpe commeth euen from the Lord which hath made Heauen and Earth And againe q Psal 73.24 Whom haue I in Heaven but thee and there is none vpon Earth that I desire in comparison of thee If the holy Angels and Saints in Heaven were at all to bee implored r Vid D. Abbots True Ancient Rom. Cath. Part. 1. p. 356. why did not David in all his Psalmes implore their helpe The Apostle St Paul stood in need of other mens Prayers and therefore craueth the helpe of the Å¿ Rom. 15.30 Romans and hopeth by the helpe of the t 2. Cor. 1.11 Corinthians Prayers to bee delivered from great dangers but did he euer desire the helpe of the Saints that were dead as more charitable and desirous of Gods Honour and our spirituall Good more forward to pray for vs and more gracious in Gods sight to obtaine our Requests No he knew no such Prayers who no doubt had hee known them would haue imparted them to the Church no man sooner I could in this case produce u Aug. in Ps 64 cont Epist Parmen l. 2. c. 8. St Austen x Orig. cont Cels l. 8. Origen y Theodoret. in Coloss c. 2. Theodoret and z Tertul. de Trin. Tertullian but I had rather send you vnto a Vid. D. Abbots Answere to D. Bishops Epistle to the King §. 9. Him who produceth them at large and discourseth so learnedly of them in his Answere to D. Bishops Epistle to the King But how comes it to passe that hauing said in the Fourth Verse before I did call vpon the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of his holy Hill And againe in the Fift Verse The Lord sustained me And againe in the Sixt Verse I will not be afraid for tenne Thousands of People that haue set themselues against me round about how comes it to passe I say that here in this place he seemes to be somewhat d ffident Vp Lord and helpe me as if now very now he were afraid to loose his Life The Answere is that the Security which the Godly haue amidst their Troubles and a Contempt in some respects of the Life they here enjoy and the Petitions in this kind of sauing the same Life if it stand with Gods Pleasure may well accord and agree together For although they are farre in loue with the Life that is to come insomuch that they may say as b Tul. Som. Scip. Laelius in Tully Quid moror in terris why stay I longer on the Earth or with the Apostle St Paul rather c Philip. 1.23 I haue a desire to depart and to be with Christ yet cast they not off all caâ—e concerning thâ—s Life They know that this Life present is a sin ulaâ— Gift of God and that it is against all good Military Discipline to leaue their d Retinendus Animus in custodia Corporis nec iniussic eius a quo ille est nobis datus ex hominum vita migrandum est ne munus humanum assignatum a Deo defugisse videamini Tul. Som. Scip. Station before their Generall discharge them In which case Paul himselfe who contemned his Life no man more would be beholding to a e 2. Cor. 11.33 Basket to saue it and David to saue his Life would be beholding vnto f 1. Sam. 21.13 Madnes at leastwise to a dissembling and counterfaiting thereof Elisha bade g 2. Kings 6.32 shut the Doore when a Messenger came from the King to take away his Life who before when Horses and Charets and a great Hoast compassed the Place where he was and purposed to take him Feare not h Verse 16. saith he to his Servant who was much affrighted therewith for they that bee with vs are more then they that be with them But why cryes the Prophet here for Helpe vnto the Lord He yeelds the Reason here himselfe For thou smitest all mine Enemies vpon the Cheeke-bone thou hast broken the Teeth of the Vngodly where First let vs see what it is To smite vpon the Cheeke-Bone Secondly To breake the Teeth Thirdly the dependance that these Words haue with them that went before Percutere Maxillam figura quasi Proverbiali significat Paenam cum Ignominia Dedecore coniunctam To smite vpon the Cheeke-Bone i I. Drus Observat l. 3. c. 5. saith Drusius signifies in a Proverbial kind of speech a Punishment joyn'd with Discredit Reproach and Infamy But of that more hereafter Concerning Breaking of the Teeth it is that which aggravates the manner and magnitude of their Punishment For as the Cheeke-Bone may be smitten and the Teeth safe ynough like as Micaiah was l 1. Kings 22.24 smitten by Zedekiah the false Prophet so if with the Blow the Teeth be strucke out besides the violence it is the disfiguring of a Man Teeth m Plin. Nat. Hist l. 7. c. 16. saith Pliny serue not onely to grind our meat for our daily food and nourishment but necessary also they be for the framing of our Speech The Fore-teeth saith he stand in good steed to rule and moderate the Voyce by a certaine concent and tuneable accord answering as it were to the stroke of the Toung and according to that rowe and ranke of theirs wherein they are set as they are broader or narrower greater or smaller they yeeld a distinction and variety in their words cutting and hewing them thicke and short framing them pleasant plaine and ready drawing them out at length or smuddering and drowning them in the end but when they be once falne out of the Head Man is bereaved of
Philosopher be put to Silence nay hee had such Skill that when hee was thought most of all to bee caught and taken like a slippery Snake hee would slide away from them But that God might shew that his Kingdome is not in x 1. Cor. 4.20 Word but in Power there was among the Bishops One of the Confessors by a Man most simple and knowing nothing els but y 2. Cor. 2.2 IESVS CHRIST and him crucified Who when hee saw the Philosopher insulting vpon our Men and boasting himselfe vpon the Skill hee had in Reasoning desires of all that were by to yeeld him roome that he a little might talke with that Philosopher Our Men that knew the Simplicity of the Man and his vnskilfulnesse in that kind began to Feare and withall Blush least that holy Simplicity of his should happely be exposed to the Scornes of those crafty Companions The old Man persisted in his Purpose and thus began O Philosopher saith he in the Name of IESVS CHRIST heare thou those things which are true God that made the Heauen and Earth and gaue Man a Spirit whom he framed of the Dust of the Earth is one he hath by the Vertue of his Word created all things both Visible and Invisible and strengthened them by the Sanctification of his Spirit This Word and Wisdome whom we call the Sonne taking pity vpon humane Errors is borne of a Virgin and by the Passion of his Death hath deliuered vs from euerlasting Death and by his Resurrection hath giuen vs euerlasting Life Whom we looke for to come to be the Iudge of all we doe O Philosopher beleeuest thou this Whereupon he as if he had neuer learnt the Art of Contradiction was so amased by Vertue of the Words that were spoken that being mute to all that was alleaged onely this he was able to answer that it seemed so to himselfe indeed and that there was no other Truth then what was deliuered by that Party Whereupon the old Man Why then if thou beleeuest saith he these things to bee true arise and follow me to the Church and take thou Baptisme the Seale of this Faith Hereupon the Philosopher turning to his Disciples or to those that there were present and came to heare O you Learned Men saith he hearken vnto me While this Matter in hand was perfourmed by Words I also opposed Words vnto Words and those things which were spoken able I was to confute them by the Art of Speaking but now that insteed of Words Power is proceeded from the Mouth of him that speaketh neither can Words resist that Power neither can Man withstand GOD. And therefore if any of you here present can beleeue these things that haue bene spoken as I my selfe doe beleeue them let him beleeue in CHRIST and follow this old Man in whom GOD hath thus spoken And so at length the Philosopher being made a Christian was glad that hee was so vanquished I shall not need here to relate those Legendary Tales of S. Nicholas when he was an Infant how as soone as hee was borne he began to serue God for he would not take the Brest to suck a The Liues of Saints in Spanish by Alfonso Villegas and translated by W. and E. K. B. Part. 2. Decemb 6. Printed at Dâ—wâ—y 1615. they say but one time onely in a Day especially twice a-Weeke to wit on the Wednesday and the Fryday and how hee obserued this Fast all the Dayes of his Life Of S. Romuald who as soone as he was borne b Nova Legend Anâ—l in Vita Runâ—wâ—ldi See My LORD of CAN 1. Answer to Hill 〈◊〉 6. â— spake Divinity and forthwith being baptized did preach high Points of Doctrine and liued in all but three Dayes Or of the Child of nine c Dr Poynets Defence of Priests Marriages p. 200. Dayes old Christned by B. Aldelme and answering to certaine Questions and clearing Pope Sergius of a shrewd Crime that was laid to his Charge All that I will say to these and to such like Stories as these is that of Iob d Iob. 13.7 Will you speake wickedly for God and talke deceitfully for him Truth indeed may spare such Proctours Verse 3. For I will consider the Heauens euen the Works of thy Fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordeined There are specified in holy e Zanch. de Oper l. 1. c 4. Scripture three kindes of Heauens The First is that whole Space that reacheth from the Earth to the Moone where the Meteors are engendered or to speake more plainly the Aire next vnto vs where the Birds vse to fly and from whence the Raine doth showre downe vpon vs. Thus the Windowes of Heauen were opened as we read in the Booke of f Gen. 7.11 Genesis of Heauen that is of the Aire for so Heauen is taken in diuerse Places of the g Mat. 8.20.13.32 Marc. 4.4 Luc. 8.5 New Testament The Second kinde of Heauen is all those Heauenly and mooueable Orbs that is all that Space that those visible Heauens and Orbs doe containe and herein the Sunne the Moone and the Starres are all of them comprehended whereof we may reade in h Deut. 17.3 Deuteronomy and in many other Places of Scripture besides and with these Zanchius comprehendeth the Ninth Sphere also howsoeuer it bee invisible to the Eye The Third Heauen which is of a farre other kind then are the other Two is that peculiar Place where GOD himselfe is said to inhabite and into which as we read our Saviour CHRIST did ascend and wherein our i Ioh. 17.24 selues also as many as shall be found Faithfull shall be hereafter with our Sauiour And to these Three the Apostle S. Paul did seeme to allude when speaking of himselfe he said that hee was caught vp into the l 2 Cor. 12.2 Third Heauen No doubt but the Prophet here meanes them all Three especially the Second for that the same of all the Rest was onely visible to the Eye That hee calls them here the Workes of the Fingers of God and in an other place the m Ps 102.25 Work of his Hands and the Prophet Esay to the selfe-same purpose n Esay 48.13 Mine Hand hath laide the Foundation of the Earth and my Right Hand hath spanned the Heauens it is for that they are of such Excellency as if they had bene his handy-worke indeed which yet were made by his Word onely as o Gen. 1.6 Moses and p Ioh. 1.3 S. Iohn doe declare q St Francis Eacon of the Advancement of Learning l. 1. p. 27. b. Excellent is that Passage which that great Advancer of Learning hath and suitable hereunto It is to be obserued that for any thing which appeareth in the History of the Creation the confused Masse and Matter of Heauen and Earth was made in a Moment and the Order and Disposition of that Chaos or Masse was the Worke of six Dayes such a Note of
what end purpose mankinde was created and set in this world after they had driven the matter as far as they might by naturall knowledge at length they concluded some that man was made to know the properties and qualities the convenience or difference of naturall things either in the ayre or in the water or in the earth or under the earth Some other that man was made to consider and behold the Sunne and Moone the Starres course and revolutions of the Heavens And so they judged that man which either had most abundance of naturall reason or beheld and considered the heavens best to be most perfect of all others and that he came nearest to the end of his creation Thus said they as men without feeling of God onely endued with the light of nature But as God himselfe declareth who fashioned us and made us and knoweth us best the very true end why man was made was to know to honour God Therefore whoso knoweth him best and honoureth him with most reverence he is most perfect he commeth neerest the end of his creation When Solomon had described the deceaveable vanities of the world and said vanitie of vanities Eccl. 1. vanitie of vanities all is vanitie When he had concluded by long discourse that riches Empires honour pleasures knowledge and whatsoever else under the Sunne is but vanity he knitteth up the matter with these words Eccles 12. Feare God and keep his Commandements for this is the whole dutie of man that is this is truth and no vanitie this is our perfection to this end are we made not to live in eating and drinking not to passe our time in pleasure and follies not to heap up those things which are daily taken from us or from which we are daily taken away but that in our words in our life in our bodie in our soule we doe service unto God that we look above the Sunne and Moone and all the heavens that wee become the Temples of the holy Ghost that the holy Spirit of God may dwell in us and make us fit instruments of the glory of God Therefore God gave his holy word and hath continued it from the beginning of the world untill this day notwithstanding the Philosophers and learned men in all ages who scorned it out as the word of folly for so it seemeth to them that perish notwithstanding the wicked Princes and Tyrants high powers of the world who consumed and burnt it as false and wicked and seditious doctrine notwithstanding the whole world and power of darknesse were ever bent against it yet hath He wonderfully continued and preserved it without losse of one letter untill this day that we have whereby truly to know him the true and onely God and his sonne Jesus Christ whom he sent Therefore have we Temples Churches places to resort unto all together to honour to worship and to acknowledge him to be our God to joyne our hearts and voices together and to call upon his holy name In such places God hath at all times used to open his Majestie and to shew his power In such places God hath made us a speciall promise to heare our praiers whensoever wee call upon him Therefore are they called the dwelling place and house of God In such places all godly men set their greatest pleasure thought themselves miserable when they were secluded or put off from the same as the Prophet and holy Prince David Psal 122. Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi in domum Domini ibimus O saith that holy man my heart rejoyced within my body when my fellowes called upon me and said let us goe into the house of the Lord. Againe I am in love with the beauty of thy house And againe O how beautifull is thy Tabernacle O Lord O thou the God of hosts my heart longeth and fainteth to come within thy Courts His spirits were ravished with the sight majesty of the Tabernacle not for that the place it selfe at that time was so beautifull for in Davids time it was almost rotten ruinous a homely thing to behold nothing in comparison to that Temple that was afterwards built by Solomon But therein stood the shew worthinesse of that holy place that Gods truth and law was opened and proclaimed in it and the Sacraments ceremonies so used in such forme order as God had commanded them to be used and the people receaved them obediently lived thereafter Therefore when the Tabernacle was restored when the Arke was fet home from Obed-edom and set in the mount Sion when religion Revived which through the negligence and malice of Saul was forsaken when he saw his Nobilitie his Bishops his Priests all his people willing forward he could not refraine himselfe but brake out and sang Haec est dies quam fecit Dominus exultemus laetemur in ea This is the day which the Lord hath made let us be glad and rejoyce in it Let us be merry and joy that ever we lived to see it Even so Paul when in his time he saw the Gospell take root and prosper that the savour of life was powred abroad that the kingdome of God was enlarged the kingdome of Satan shaken downe his heart leaped and sprang within him Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile behold now is the acceptable time behold God hath looked downe mercifully upon the world behold the day of salvation is come upon us But the godly man as he rejoyceth at the beauty of Gods house so when contrariwise he seeth the same disordered filthily when he seeth the Sacraments of God abused the truth troden under foot the people mocked the name of God dishonoured he cannot but lament and mourne and finde himselfe wounded at heart When the good King Iosias saw the book of God which was so long hid in the wall and out of remembrance when he considered the blindnesse in which they had lived and the unkindnesse of their fore-fathers he could not forbeare but fell a weeping he feared least God should take vengeance upon them for so great contempt of his word When Ieremy saw the wilfulnesse and frowardnesse of the people which would not submit themselves and be obedient unto God he cried Oh that my head were full of water Ierem. 9. and mine eies a fountaine of teares that I might weep day and night c. Such care had they for Gods people Thus the zeale of Gods house had eaten them up Zeale if any man know not the nature of the word is an earnest affection and vehement love as is the love of a mother towards her children or of the naturall childe towards his mother This zeale cannot abide to see that thing which it loveth despised or hurt Such zeale care carrieth God over his people he loveth them as a mother loveth her children he will not suffer them to be hurt Esay 49. By the
Prophet Esay he saith can a woman forget her childe and not have compassion in the sonne of her wombe Though they should forget Zach 2. yet will not J forget thee Zachary also saith he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye For God hath said they shall be my people and I will be their God Such care likewise beare all the godly towards their God they love him with all their soule with all their heart with all their strength they reverence him as their father they are grieved with any blasphemy and with any contempt of his holy name But as every man be he never so wicked yea even he that saith in his heart there is no God which is become filthy and abominable in all his doings yet in his talke outwardly saith he hath a God and that he believeth in him even so there is none so wicked or so forsaken of God in his heart but he perswadeth himselfe he hath the zeale of God and what he doth in selfe-love of his owne fantasie he will beare in hand he doth it for the loue of God The overthrowers wasters of the Church will seem to shew a speciall care for the Church dissemblers hypocrites despisers scorners even such as sin against the holy Ghost which deny the truth of God after they have knowne it which witting and knowing fight against the truth which say of Christ we will not have him to rule over us which worke that sin which will never be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come yet notwithstanding will pretend and seem to have the zeale of God Thus the Scribes Pharisees set up their bristles against Christ thy Disciples keepe not the common fast thou sufferest them to pull and to eat the eares of corne thou sufferest them to eat with unwashed hands thou breakest the tradition of the Elders thou breakest the law of God which he gave us by Moses thou art a seditious teacher thou art a Schismatick thou art an Heretick They said We fast twice in the week we have Abraham to our Father we are Moses Disciples Therefore when they heard Stephen speaking those heavenly words Act 7. Behold I see the heavens open and the Sonne of man standing at the right hand of God through zeale they gave a shout with a lowd voice and stopped their eares and ran upon him all at once Mark 14. When Christ had said Yee shall see the Son of man sit at the right hand of God and come in the clouds of heaven the high Priest through zeale rent his cloathes and said yee have heard the blasphemie this naughty man speaketh blasphemy against God he called a Councell the Scribes and Pharisees met together not one man amongst them but of themselvs they looked about them as if they only were the pillars buttresses of the Church and were only zealous and carefull for the house of God But their meeting was as David forespake and as Peter declareth and as We know against the Lord and against his anointed they were touched with the zeale of their own glory and not with the zeale of Gods truth they sought their own praise but not the praise which is of God they made cracks that they knew the Scriptures that they were the Temple of God that they had the consent of all Antiquity as others have done since that time and as wee see many doe this day in very deed these men have now even as much as they had then as by proofe and triall it will appeare There are others which have a feeling of God and a great care for his Church but such a feeling and care as cometh either of their own fantasies or of some opinion credit they have in their fathers which were before them not of the understanding of Gods pleasure Such are they which offend God not of malice or wilfulnesse but onely for lack of teaching understanding Such were they which withstood S. Paul in all his preaching for that they took him for an Heretique and thought his preaching was against God Rom 10. I beare them witnes saith he that they have the zeale of God but not according to knowledge Such a zeal have many who forbid that which God commandeth command that which God forbiddeth such a zeale had Paul himselfe I was a blasphemer and a persecutor 1. Tim. 1. and an oppressor but I was receaved to mercy for I did it ignorantly without beliefe Such a zeale have they who think they doe God good service when they kill and murther the righteous and good servants of God Such a zeale have they who as saith Nazianzen defend Christ against Christ and defend the Church against the Church And these things doe they not of malice nor of wilfulnesse nor against their conscience but because they know not God the father nor his Christ whom he hath sent therefore they stumble at Christ and spurne away the Gospell of God and think ill and speak evill of the word of life because they know not the Gospell of God nor the word of life Thus they perswade themselves that they defend the Church that they honour the sonne of God that they doe God great service and that they have the zeale of God But this pride was ever in the heart of man and it appeared even in our grandsire Adam whatsoever liketh us well we think that cannot but please God Such is the opinion we fondly conceive in our fantasies in trust whereof whatsoever we doe we think our selves sure and safe Origen in 10. Rom. lib. 8. Origen writing upon the place of the Apostle Zelum Dei habent sed non secundùm scientiam they have the zeale of God but not according to knowledge saith similiter potest dicere Apostolus de aliis quòd timorem Dei habeant sed non secundùm scientiam de aliis c. in like manner the Apostle may say of others they have the feare of God but not according to knowledge of others they have the love of God but not according to knowledge of another hee hath the faith of God but not according to knowledge and another may be said to fast but not according to knowledge And so in all things whatsoever we doe unlesse we have knowledge and understanding it may be said unto us that we have the zeale of a good wâ—rke but not according to knowledge Ideo danda est praecipuè opera scientiae neres nobis infeliciter accidat ut in fide positi frustremur à fide zelum habentes bonorum decidamus à bonis Therefore all heed is chiefly to be given to the attaining of knowledge least it goe not well with us least we faile from our faith when we think we believe thinking we have a zeale of good works we be found void of all good works The wise man saith Wisd 14 this was not enough for them that they erred in the
is a Bellerophon in the acting and St Pauls Words neuer more true u Phil. 2.21 Omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt All seeke their owne And yet how litle makes Wealth to Mans Felicity The Emperour Constantine to a couetous Wretch shewed the same no man better I pre thee x Euseb de vita Constant l. 4. c. 29. 30. saith he how long shall we endeauour to fill this bottomlesse Gulph of Auarice Then making vpon the ground the full bredth of a Man with the y Per ea adhuc tempora Reges Hastas pro diademate habebâ—t quas Graecè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dixere Iustâ—n l. 43. Speare he had in his Hand Hadst thou saith he all the Wealth of this World in thy Cofers at hoame yet shalt thou enioy no more Ground then I haue here allotted thee out if yet thou enioy so much Concerning PLEASVRE what difference betwixt the very Bruit Beast and Man but that Man speaketh the Beast doth not And yet z Lact. Justit l. 3. c. 8. saith Lactantius an Asse a Dog a Swine had they the faculty of speaking a Body should inquire of them why so furiously and outragiously they seeke their Females and will not be driuen from them with any violence whatsoever what other answer would they make Nisi summum Bonum esse corporis Voluptatem eam se appetere vt afficiantur suavissimis sensibus eofque esse tanti vt assequendorum causa nec laborem sibi vllum nec vulnera nec mortem ipsam recusandam putent Their answere would be this that the Pleasure of the Body is the chiefest Good of all that thereby they desire to be transported with that most exquisite and delicious pleasure of the Senses and that the same is sô to bee accounted of as that to attain vnto it they are perswaded that no Labour no Stripes no nor Death it selfe is to be refused PREFERMENT indeed is that which bewitcheth men nothing more and I dare say not the Ambitious only such as a Senec. Theb. Act. 4. Sc. In me arma say with him in the Poet Pro Regno velim Patriam Penates Coningem flammis dare Imperia pretio quolibet constant benè Preferment is good at any rate what ever the Price be but even those also that are of a more setled disposition But I cannot giue such a better Item then tell them that tale of Ariosto concerning the Folly of such as should by Preferment thinke themselues so over happy which for it may perhaps affect them as much as it did my self when I first read it I will not be scrupulous to set it downe in a b Ariost seauen Satyres Sat. 3. Printed 1611. Translation I take it not much inferior to the Originall Then when this World was in her Infancy And men knew neither Sin nor Trechery When Cheaters did not vse to liue by wit Nor Flattery could each great Mans humour fit A certaine Nation which I knowe not well Did at the foot of an high Mountaine dwell Whose top the Heauens counsails seemd to knowe As it appear'd to them that liu'd belowe These men obseruing how the Moone did rise And keep her Monthly progresse through the skies And yet how with her horned forehead shee Altred her Shape her Face and Quantity They streight imagined if they were so hie As the Hils top they easily might espie And come where she did dwell to see most plaine How she grew in the Full how in the Wayne Resolud thereon they mount the Hill right soone With Baskets and with Sacks to catch the Moone Striuing who first vnto the top should rise And make himselfe the Master of the prize But mounted vp and seeing that they were As far off as before and nere the neere Weary and feeble on the ground they fall Wishing though Wishes are no helpe at all That they had in the humble Valley staid And not like Fooles themselues so much dismaid The rest of them which did remaine belowe Thinking the others which so high did showe Had toucht the Moone came running after them By troopes and flockes by twenties and by ten But when the sencelesse misconceit they found Like to the rest they weary fell to ground He that will not be mooued with Verse I referre him to Senecaes Prose c Senec. Epist l. 10. Ep. 77. Nemo ex istis quos purpuratos vides Foelix est Or for I speake of Prose I referre him to Boethius his Prose who speaking of Preferment d Boeth de Consolat l. 3. Pros 4 Num vis ea est Magistratibus vt vtentium mentibus Virtutes inserant Vitia depellant At qui non fugare sed illustrare potius nequitiam solent Is there such vertue in Preferment saith Boetius that it may plant Vertues in the minds of them that haue it and suppresse Vices Nay but oftentimes so farre it is from suppressing them that it makes those Vices more knowne vnto the World But now to the Text againe Vers 3. And he shall be like a Tree planted by the water side that will bring forth his fruit in due season That Man is like a Tree but a Tree turned vpside downe hath beene a saying of old and is discoursed of by Scaliger in regard of many resemblances Trees e Scal de Subtil Exerc. 140. §. 2. saith he haue their Branches vpwards we our Branches that is our Legs and Armes downewards We inclosed in a skin they in a barck or rinde They their mouth in the earth we haue ours towards Heauen that as they from thence haue all their being so wee should drawe from Heauen all the beginnings of our Actions But it is not in these respects that the Godly man in this place is compared to a Tree The prophanest man that is may in this sort be like a Tree but to be like a Tree in the Prophets meaning f Virg. Aeneid l. 6. Hoc opus hic labor est Few they are that so may be First then let vs consider what Tree it is is here meant for all Interpreters are not of one the selfe same minde Some take it to be the Oliue Tree but Hesiod the Poet who was so skilfull in Husbandry sets so infamous a marke on that Tree that of all Trees bearing fruit a Godly man me thinks should not in any case be like that Tree His Noat is this as g Plin. Nat. hist l. 15. c. 1. Pliny relateth it to vs That to that day a man was never knowne to haue gathered the Fruit of that Oliue Tree which himselfe had planted so late of growth were those Trees in his time and so slowly came they forward But I am of their mind who take it to bee the Palme or Date Tree whereof in that Land there was such plenty Pliny speaking of the Palme or Date Tree It loues h Plin. Nat. Hist l. 15. c. 1. saith he to growe by some Riuers side where it
howsoever by distance of Place hee was depriued of the sight of the Arke yet was that no cause at al but that the Lord might giue him the hearing he being u Ps 145.18 Nigh to all such as call vpon him faithfully Why Holy Hill see x Exposit in Ps 2.6 p 41. before Verse 5. I laid me downe and slept and rose vp againe for the Lord sustained me Philip King of Macedon hauing slept a sound sleepe and waking at the last and seeing Antipater by him No marvell y Plutarch Apopth quoth he I slept so soundly seeing Antipater was by and watched It had not like to haue fallen out with King Saul so well z 1. Sam. 26.15 when he on a time fell asleepe howsoever Abner was neere him that loued him as well as ever Antipater did King Ph lip But no such Keeper indeed as the Lord God of Hoasts not Abner not Antipater Had a Iudg. 4.21 Sisera and b Iudyth 13.8 Holofernes so beene kept they had not miscarryed as they did Not a Night goes over our heads but it may be our owne case such a Death or such like But as our Enemie ever watcheth to play Iael or Iudith with vs so he that keepeth Israel he that keepeth vs c Ps 121.4 will neither slumber nor sleepe It is strange how the Lord of Heauen hath kept Many of his Servants whenas they were in a dead sleepe and none by to watch them but onely the Murtherers themselueâ— I haue read of One in Queene Maries time whom since I had good cause to knowe as being betweene vs both to speake in S. Ieroms words Nomina Pietatis d Hieron de Vitand suspect Contubern Officiorum Vocabula Vincula Naturae secunda post Deum Foederatio that being on a time in bed in an Inne and One that had beene his Servant lying neere vnto him comming at Midnight to haue murthered him the Master was dreaming at that instant that the Bed whereon he lay was all on Fire whereat starting vp and crying to God for help the Murtherer was so affrighted that he desisted from his purpose craued pardon for the attempt and presently revealed to him who they were that set him on worke But concluding this point with that of Moses e Exod. 15.2 The Lord is my Strength and Song and he is become my Salvation he is my God and I will prepare him an Habitation my FATHERS God and I will exalt him I returne vnto my purpose The Prophet could not better make knowne vnto vs the tranquillitie of his minde amidst the many dangers he was in then by these effects hee here tells vs of Lying downe and Sleeping and Rising vp againe For as when the minde of Man is much troubled by reason of any imminent danger or hee goes not to Bed at all or if he goes he sleepes not soundly so if so be nothing trouble him then doth he freely take his rest and much refreshed by that rest hee riseth againe with much alacritie When thou liest downe f Prov 3.24 saith Solomon thou shalt not be afraid yea thou shalt lye downe and thy sleepe shall be sweet This sweetnesse of Sleep as it is not the meanest of those Blessings that God bestoweth on vs and many would giue much for the purchasing thereof so the g Ovid. Met. l. 11. Poet describes it accordingly Somne quies rerum placidissime Somne Deorum Pax animi quem Cura fugit qui corpora duris Fessa ministerijs mulces reparasque Labori and so forth But the Prophet here not only slept but rose againe which Sleeping of his and Rising againe hee ascribeth to the Lord. And indeed as S. Austen h Aug. Hom. 28 Vid. Greg. in Evang Hom. 1. speaketh Nonne multi sanâ— dormierunt obduruerunt Haue not many gone to Bed safe and sound and beene found stark dead by the Morning What need wee Examples of old as the i Exod. 12.30 First Borne of the Egyptians Saraes l Tob. 6.13 Seaven Husbands the whole m 2. King 19.35 Camp of the Assyrians being an Hundred Fourescore and Fiue Thousand I suppose no Man liuing but may call to mind some one Acquaintance or other that hath miscarried in this kinde Now for it may be any mans case which hath beene the case of so many hence is it that our Mother the CHVRCH teacheth all and every of her Children to pray against suddaine Death importing therein as that Worthy n M. Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 5. §. 46. Devine obserueth a twofold Desire First that Death when it commeth may giue vs some convenient respite or Secondly if that be denied vs of God yet we may haue wisdome to provide alwaies before hand that those Evills overtake vs not which Death vnexpected doth vse to bring vpon carelesse Men and that although it be suddaine in it selfe neverthelesse in regard of our prepared minds it may not be suddaine And here I cannot but remember that thrice worthie o He died Ian. 25. 1617. according to the Churches Computation otherwise 1618 and gaue aboue a 1000 Pound towards the new Building of the Forefront of the Colledge Doctor in his Faculty as worthy a Gouernour in the Vniversity the Right Worshipfull Mr Dr Blencow forty yeares Provost of Oriel Colledge who died thus suddainely vntimely to many most vntimely to my self and yet to whom in regard of his prepared minde appearing by his last Will and Testament Death no doubt was not suddaine Hee had the first two Letters of both his Names who some 300 yeares bâ—fore was the First Provost of that House and a most principall Benefactor insomuch that vpon the Death of the Latter these Verses were made on Both. A.B. Praepositus primus sed Vltimus A.B. Auspicium Tecto magnum EDOVARDE tuo Ambos quos vidit disiunctos Nestoris â—â—as Aedificatores nunc habet vna Domus Vna Domus Terris habet illos â—nica Coelis Copula ter faelix COELO eademque SOLO THE ENGLISH That A. B. stood for Provost First and for the Last likewise p K. Edw. the Second Founder of ORIEL Colledge Adam Brown Almoner to the King the first Provost thereof EDWARD it shewed vnto thy House what Fortune shouâ—d arise Those Two whom space of Hundred yeares thrice told did so much seuer One House holds Both Both Builders are and Both she holds together One House in Earth in Heauen one House neither holds one alone Thrice happy Couple whom both HEAVEN and EARTH thus ioine in one But to returne to my purpose Having thus farre spoken of this Fift Verse I might seeme to haue done with it and not to need to goe any farther but that there are of the Fathers that seeme to see more therein then as yet we haue seene Arnobius and S. Austen they see in these words our Saviours Passion his Resurrection both Our Sauiour q Aug. de Gen. cont Manich.
The Sacrifice of Praise The Sacrifice of Almes the Sacrifice of our own Bodies wherof the Apostle to the Romans l Rom. 12.1 I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that yee present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable vnto God In regard of which Foure Sacrifices euery Christian is a Priest therfore m 2. Pet. 2.9 S. Peter Ye are a chosen Generation a royall Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People which though it were spoken then to the n 1 Pet. 1.1 Strangers onely scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bythinia yet is it spoken to vs in them forasmuch as now at this time there is o Gal. 3.28 neither Iew nor Greeke there is neither Bond nor Free there is neither Male nor Female for we are all one in Christ Iesus But to returne where I left As David here in this place puts them in minde of a Right Sacrifice so likewise the Prophet Esay or rather the Lord in that Prophet To what purpose p Esay 1.11 saith hee is the Multitude of your Sacrifices vnto me I am full of the burnt Offerings of Rams and the Fat of fed Beasts and I delight not in the bloud of Bullocks or of Lambs or of hee Goats When yee come to appeare before me who hath required this at your hand to tread my Courts Bring no more vaine Oblations Incense is abomination vnto me the new Moones and Sabbaths the calling of Assemblies I cannot away with it is iniquitie even the Solemne Meeting Your new Moons and your appointed Feasts my Soule hateth they are a trouble vnto me I am weary to beare them No doubt the Lord required al these things at their hand even the Multitude of these Sacrifices the burnt Offrings of Rams the fat of fed Beasts the bloud of Bullocks and of Lambs as also of he Goats and that the Offerers thereof should tread in his Courts No doubt he required Incense at their hands the observation of new Moones and Sabbaths and solemne Meetings and appointed Feasts but it was the Manner he misliked not the Materials and therefore in regard of that Manner if so bee they would mend their manners in washing themselues and making cleane in putting away the evil of their Doings from before his eyes in ceasing to doe evill and learning to doe well in seeking iudgement releeuing the Oppressed iudging the Fatherlesse pleading for the Widowe it is a great Invitation and a Promise too that followes after q Esay 1 1◠Come now and let vs reason togither saith the Lord though your Sinnes be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll King Ahasuerus never held out his r Esther 4.11 Golden Scepter to better purpose But besides the Sacrifices to be thus made the Prophet here enioynes them one point more namely To put their trust in the Lord. For as little Children when they learne to goe alone feeling the feeblenesse of their owne Feet are taught by Nature to thrust out the Hand to the Wall and trust to it to stay them so in regard of our own weaknesse and speciall acquaintance with it Nature and Religion both teach vs to trust to a stronger then our selues least we vtterly miscarry Now this stronger then our selues it may not be the ſ Ier. 7.4 Words of Man no nor the t Ezech. 16.15 Bewty of Man no nor u Ier 17.5 Flesh that is the strength of Man nor x 1. Tim. 6.17 Riches which is the Wealth of Man nor y 2. Sam. 15.3 Wit that is the Wisdome of Man nor worldly z Ps 142.2 Princes and earthly Potentates who are the best of the best of Men No but it must be He who is to vs all these both a Rev. 17.14 Bewty Strength and Riches and Wisdome the Lord of Lords and King of Kings as he is styled by the Apostle S. Iohn in his Book of a Rev. 17.14 Revelation It is a desperate b Vid. D. Abb. Apol. against Bish Part. 1. p. 247. Doctrine of theirs then that teach vs to Rely on Saints that wills vs to Pray and make our Petitions vnto thêm to Offer vnto thêm to Sweare by thêm to Giue them the Honour of Temples of Altars for what is it that God himselfe doth more expect at our hands or that we must reserue for him May he not say in these cases as did King Solomon to his Mother when she petitioned for Adoniah c 1. King 2.22 Aske for him the Kingdome also It is the Lord then that wee must trust in the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings that as all Naturall Effects haue recourse to their Causes when ever they stand in need and they become the stronger the Fish distressed to the Water and is relieued the Bird to the Dam and is shrowded vnder her Wings the Child to his Parents and is cherished by them So let vs to the LORD of Heauen who is the Water of comfort the Henne that would gather her Chickens and the truest Father and truest Mother that ever was d Esay 49.15 Can a Woman forget her sucking Child that she should not haue compassion on the Son of her Womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Verse 6. There be Many that say who will shew vs any good c Mr. Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 1. §. 8. As every thing naturally and necessarily doth desire the vtmost Good and greatest Perfection whereof Nature hath made it capable so likewise Man Mans Felicity therefore being the Object and accomplishment of his Desire he cannot choose but wish and covet it This made Aristotle begin his Ethicks with that Vniversall Proposition f Arist Ethic. l. 1. c. 1. All Arts all Learning All Action All Consultation haue their reference to some Good Howbeit Man when as he beginneth to propose to himselfe this Good then is he at a Maze Quot Capita Tot Sensus so many Men so many Minds And yet as that worthy Frenchman obserues g Mornaeus de Verit. Rel. Christ c. 19. When none of vs knowe which way to goe scarcely not one of vs but doth professe himselfe a Teacher and Directer of all others One man he cries to the Right Hand another to the Left a Third will vp to the Mountaines a Fourth will traverse the Fields All alike certaine all vncertaine of the Way Varro as S. Austen h Aug. de Civ Dei l. 19. c. 1. tells vs setting himselfe aworke to number these Diversities of Opinions in this kinde came to Two Hundred Eighty and Eight so many By-waies hath wandring Error Howbeit the Truth is but one Now the Prophet here endeauoring to bring vs all to that Truth proposeth here the like Question concerning the Felicity of Man There be Many saith he that say who will shew vs any Good Many among the Iews
Plut. Apopth Lacon Apopth Vbi Leonina Pellis non sufficit ibi adsuenda est Vulpina Where the Lyons Skinne will not serue it must bee peeced out with the Foxes Case is of much more force with Many then an Hundred of such Passages as these in the Apostle S. Peter z 1. Pet. 2.21 Christ also suffered for vs leaving vs an Example that ye should follow his Steps Who did no Sinne neither was Guile found in his Mouth Vers 7. But as for me I will come into thine House even vpon the Multitude of thy Mercy and in thy Feare will I worship toward thy holy Temple Howsoever the Lord when time was spake by the Mouth of the Prophet Esay a Esay 66.1 The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstoole where is the House that ye build vnto me and where is the Place of my Rest In regard whereof King Solomon had said long before b 1. King 8.27 Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot containe thee how much lesse this House that I haue builded Yet sure and certaine it is that as out of the whole Masse of Mankind the Lord hath reserved Some to Himselfe whom he calleth his Elect out of the Times and Seasons Some which he calleth his Sabbaths and Solemne Feasts out of his Servants and Attendants Some whom he calleth his Ministers and Priests out of the Goods and Wealth of Men Some which he calleth his Tithes and Oblations so out of Houses and Habitations Some he reserueth which he calleth his owne House like as Iacob c Gen. 28.22 prophesied long before This Stone which I haue set for a Pillar shall be Gods House First then concerning the House here specified no doubt but the Sanctuary is thereby meant and it is called the House of God for that God had said he would d Exod. 25.8 dwell amongst them and it was the Place e Ps 26.8 where his Honor dwelt Secondly in that it is called here the Temple the Temple as yet not being built it is by the Figure Prolepsis or Anticipatio and that Figure then is vsed when a Place is called by a Name that it hath a long time after not when formerly it is so called As when it is said in the Book of f Numb 32.9 Nombers Venerunt in Vallem Botri it is so said saith g Aug. Locut de Numer l. 4. S. Austen by the Figure Anticipatio not because that Vally was called so when the Israelites came thither but for that it was so called when the Booke was written It is in the Originall HEICALL which †Vid. Ains worth in hunc Ps signifieth a Palace and is attributed to the Places where Gods Maiesty was said to dwell as the Tabernacle and Temple and Heauen it selfe Thirdly in that it is called The Holy Temple it is therefore so called for that it was set apart by Gods Ordinance to holy Vses and Offices Thus the Priests and the Altar and the Sacrifices and the Shew-Bread and the Fire and the Incense were all of them Holy euen Ierusalem as wicked as otherwise it was was in this respect The Holy City and so stiled by h Mat. 5.45 S. Mathew Fourthly that David here did promise to come into this House was in regard of the great Benefits that occurred vnto him therby what in respect of the Parties that were present in that House what in respect of the Things performed by those Parties Fiftly in that he would come euen vpon the Multitude of Gods Mercy he thereby intimates the Multitude of his Sinnes For as S. Austen on an other Psalme i Aug. in Ps 50. Qui magnam Misericordiam deprecatur magnam Miseriam confitetur he that sues for great Mercy acknowledgeth great Misery right so is it here in this Place he would come to that House even vpon the Multitude of Gods Mercy to diminish thereby the Multitude of his Transgressions Sixtly and lastly whereas hee saith And in thy Feare will I worship toward thy Holy Temple no doubt but that as Filiall Feare is here vnderstood whereof hath bene spoken l Exposit on Ps 4.4 p. 95. heretofore so a holy Preparation to Prayer is intimated also according to that of the Sonne of Syrach m Ecclus. 18.23 Before thou prayest prepare thy selfe and be not at one that tempteth the Lord or that of the Sonne of David rather n Ecclus. 5.1 Keep thy Foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to heare then to giue the Sacrifice of Fooles No doubt but that of Iacob was alwayes in his Minde o Gen. 28.17 How dreadfull is this Place this is none other but the House of God and this is the Gate of Heauen But how is it here said that he would worship toward the Temple whereas he had said in the Words before that he would come into the House The Answer is that the Temple here meant being the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle hauing a Court the Priests onely when they vsâ—d to pray did enter into the Tabernacle the Rest stood without in the Court and prayed towards the Tabernacle Now the Tabernacle and the Court like as afterwards the Temple and the Court were both called Gods House therefore is it here said that David would both come into it and also pray towards it Where by the Way we may call to Minde how Bellarmine wrongs Calvin in a Matter of this Argument Calvin had said in his p Calv. Instit l. 3. c. 20. §. 20. Institutions That Christ being entred into the Sanctuary of Heauen vnto the end of the Ages of the World he alone carrieth to God the Prayers of the People abiding farre off in the Porch Bellarmine hereupon q Bell. de Eccles Triumph l. 1. c. 1. inferrech that Calvins Opinion was that the Soules of the Saints doe not see God before the Day of Iudgment Why because in Calvins Iudgment they are excluded from the Sanctuary of Heaven Yea but then by like consequence the People came not into the Temple But if Bellarmine confesse that the a Luc. 20.1 People I that b Luc. 2.37 Women I that c Luc. 18.10 Publicans went vp into the Temple who were admitted onely into the d 2. Chron. 4.9 Ioseph cont Ap. l. 2. Court of the Temple needs must he granut by like consequence that the Saints euen in Calvins Iudgement were not excluded from Heauen for all our Saviours Prerogatiue in being entred into the Sanctuary of Heauen But to returne vnto my purpose That which caused our Prophet here to promisâ— to come to this House was dâ—uâ—tlesse the Service of God performed in this House and that not only in his Word but in his Sacraments and Sacrifices and Prayer aâ—d Pâ—ayses Especially PRAYER which albeit the Prophet could haue performed by himselfe alone no Man bâ—tter yet did he desire to make his Prayers in those
purpose let them never bring to proofe what they haue deuised among themselues An excellent Patterne hereof we haue in Achitophel who for the Counsell hee gaue miscarried and was not accepted of made no more adoe but f â— Sam. 17.23 Hung himselfe in a Halter Here a Question ariseth Whether we also as David may Pray against our Enemies we that are Christians And indeed our Saviour vpon occasion g Mat. 12.3 Marc. 12.35 alleaging Davids Sayings and Doings both who would not Say as David who would not Doe as David did But the Answere is that this kind of Prayer here vsed as also h Ps 59.13 Ps 109 7. others of like nature as the Prayers of the Prophet i Ier. 18.21 Ieremy and of l 2. Tim. 4 14. S. Paul sauour of a peculiar zeale which David and they had but are not to be imitated by every Christian And therefore our Saviour to them that in all hast would haue Fire come downe from Heauen to consume the Samaritans that refused him and pleaded m 2 King 1.10 Elias his Example to that purpose Yee knowe not n Luc. 9.55 saith hee what manner Spirit yee are of For the Sonne of Man is not come to Destroy Mens Liues but to Saue them And yet David Ieremy S. Paul pronounced not those Curses Vindictae Liuore sed Iudicio Iustitiae not vpon a Spleene to bee Revenged as o Greg. Moral l. 4 c. 5. speakes S. Gregory but in Iudgement and Iustice for that they knewe by the holy Spirit that they were Abominable and Disobedient as p Tit. 1.16 speakes the Apostle S. Paul and vnto every good worke Reprobate q Aug. in hunc Ps S. Austen he takes these words to be rather a Prophecy then a Prayer And as elsewhere he r Aug. in Ps 68. speaketh of Davids Curses in particular that they were not Stomachatio Maledicentis sed Praedictio Prophetantis of the Prophets in Generall Å¿ Aug. de Temp. Ser. 59. Ser. 109 De Ser. Dom. in Monte. Per Imprecationem quid esset futurum cecinerunt non Optantis Voto sed Spiritu Praevidentis By the Imprecations they made they shewed what was to come not by way of Wishing but by the Spirit of Prophecying But to returne to the Words againe The Prophet shewing here the reason of this his Prayer in this place saith it is Rebellion against the Lord For they haue rebelled against thee Where the Prophet saith not as he might haue said For they haue Rebelled against me No but Against thee alluding in all likelyhood or to that of Moses in the Booke of Exodus or to that of the Lord himselfe in the First of Samuel Your Murmurings t Exod. 16.8 saith Moses are not against vs but against the Lord and They haue not Reiected thee u 1. Sam. 8.7 saith the Lord to Samuel but they haue Reiected me that I should not Raigne over them Little thought those Israelites that their Murmurings and Rebellions were against the LORD himselfe they no doubt would haue made many a Pamphlet in defence of themselues as a Franco-Gallia or a Franco-Iudaae a Philo-Pater or a Philo-Mater a De Iure Regni apud Scotos or a De Iure Regni apud Iudaeos or the like all which might haue beene answered with this single sole Sentence of holy Scripture and the Words we haue in hand IRRITAVERVNT TE DOMINE They haue Rebelled against thee Thus speakes our Saviour of his Ministers too x Luc. 10.16 He that Despiseth You Despiseth Me and yet many of vs as if we had never Read nor Heard it or did certainly beleeue what our Saviour saith are ready to say with the Evill Spirit y Act. 19.15 Iesus we knowe and Paul we know but who are yee And as they said of our Saviour himselfe z Mat. 13 55. Is not this the Carpenters Sonne Is not his Mother called Mary and his Bretheren Iames and Iohn and Simon and Iudas and his Sisters are they not all with vs Right so doe they say of many of vs They knowe our Fathers they knowe our Friends they know our bringing vp and they are offended in vs. But it was an excellent Note of a Oâ—iâ—en in Num. c. 12. Hom. 7. Origen Nunquam invenimus tantas Laudes Deum dixisse de Moyse Famulo suo quantas nunc dici videmus quando ab Hominibus ei derogatum est We never finde that God more praised Moses then when hee was most of all spoken against by the Israelites Verse 12. And let all them that put their trust in thee Reioice they shall ever be giuing of Thanks because thou Defendest them they that loue thy Name shall be Ioyfull in it He comes at length to pray for the CHVRCH even for All and Every of them that put their Trust in the Lord and in none but him There are but Few that can thus doe for what with the Words of Man what with the Bewty of Man what with the Strength of Man what with the Wealth of Man what with the Wit of Man what with Princes the Best of Men as hath beene obserued b Expos on Ps â— 5 p. 102. heretofore there goes our Trust and Confidence away But what is it here the Prophet prayes for For Ioy Gladnesse of Heart Let them that put their trust in thee Reioyce he meant no doubt such a Reioycing as should never be taken from them No not in Infirmities no not in Reproaches no not in Necessities no not in Persequutions no not in Distresses for Christ his sake the Apostle S. Paul may be an Example For when I am weake c 2. Cor. 12.10 saith hee then am I Strong But of this Ioy and this Reioycing hath beene spoken d Expos on Ps 4.8 p. 106. heretofore Come wee now to the Effect thereof and that is Thankes-giuing for so it is in the next Words They shall ever be giuing of Thankes Euer that is continually that is all the Dayes of their Life to dwell in the House of the Lord as David e Ps 27.4 promised to doe and Anna in S. Lukes Gospell perfourmed no lesse There was f Luc. 2.37 saith S. Luke one Anna a Prophetesse the Daughter of Phanuel of the Tribe of Aser she was of a great Age and had liued with an Husband seuen yeares from her Virginity And she was a Widow of about Fourescore and foure yeares which departed not from the Temple but serued God with Fasting and Prayer Night and Day No doubt but amongst those Prayers this Giuing of Thanks is included Giuing of Thanks being the most proper and peculiar Seruing of God For as that worthy g D Howson his Sermon at Oxford Nov. 17 Aº 1602. Doctor now our Right Reverend Diocesan hath observed God is not only or chiefly worshipped Evangelici Sermonis Auditu by hearing the Word preached sed Latriae Cultu in
great difficulty in obtaining of Pardon as it is written l 1. Pet. 4.18 saith hee in another place If the Righteous scarcely be saued where shall the Vngodly and the Sinner appeare Verse 4. Turne thee O Lord and deliuer my Soule Oh saue me for thy Mercies sake Himselfe being now converted to the Lord his Petition to the Lord now is that the Lord would be converted vnto him according vnto that of the Lord himselfe in the Prophet Zachary Turne yee vnto me m Zach. 1.3 saith the Lord of Hoasts and I will turne vnto you saith the Lord of Hoasts Now what hee here meant by the Lords Turning vnto him hee explicateth in the Words that follow namely in deliuering his Soule and sauing him for his Mercies sake First for his Soule likely ynough that his Life is meant thereby being now as it were at the last cast and vpon the Coâ—fines of Death For howsoeuer the Soule is sometimes taken for that Spirituall and best Part of Man whereby we vnderstand and discourse of things sometimes for the Will and Affections whereof the Soule is the Seat yet here in this place considering the Sequences it may be taken for Life by the Figure Metanomia for that the Soule is Cause of Life Secondly where he petitioneth to be Saued and that is the Summe of his Request he tooke no doubt the right course in making his Repaire vnto God For as this our Prophet acknowledgeth elswhere that he is the n Ps 17.7 Saviour of them that put their trust in him so the Lord saith of himselfe o Esay 43.11 I euen I am the Lord and besides me there is no Saviour And againe p Esay 45.21 There is no God els beside me a iust God and a Saviour there is none beside me The like hath the Prophet q Hos 13.4 Hosea True it is that the Word to SAVE is applyed to Others to either Spiritually or Corporally as Paul to Timothy r 1. Tim. 4.16 Take heed vnto thy selfe and vnto the Doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both saue thy selfe and them that heare thee and S. Iames to this purpose Å¿ Iam. 5.19 Brethren if any of you doe erre from the Truth let him know that he which converteth a Sinner from the Error of his Way shall saue a Soule from Death So Ministers by Preaching Magistrates by Protecting Christians by Admonishing doe saue But thus to saue is to serue Gods Providence onely as a meanes in the preservation of others as Instruments vnder God who for their Service herein honoureth them with the Title belonging to Himselfe Thirdly where he pleads not Merit but Mercy which Merit no doubt he might haue pleaded aswell as any our Merit-mongers whatsoeuer it teacheth vs what wee in like case should bring as a Present to the true IOSEPH our Governour not a t Gen. 43.11 little Balme and a little Hony Spices and Mirrhe Nuts and Almonds of our owne Workes and Deeds but only his owne MERCY Periculosa habitatio eorum qui in Meritis suis sperant periculosa quia ruinosa Dangerous is their Dwelling u Bern. in Psal Qui habitat Ser. 1. saith S. Bernard that trust in their owne Merits it is a Dangerous for it is a Ruinous Dwelling When an House is ready to tumble downe x Plin. Nat. Hist l. 8. c. 28. saith Pliny the Mice goe out of it before and first of all the Spiders with their Webbes fall downe and surely we should bee more brutish then either Spiders or Mice should we trust to such ruinous Dangers as such Confidence would bring vpon vs. Vers 5. For in Death no man remembreth thee and who will giue thee thankes in the Pit Two Sorts of Men haue liued in the World would God we might say Haue liued as Tully y Plut. in Cic. said Vixerunt of Some whom he had caused to bee executed as Traitours for so are these against God but two Sorts of Men haue liued in the World that deny the z Zanch. de Oper Dei Part. 3. l. 2. c. 8. Immortality of the Soule the One of them absolutely the Other by a Consequence Of those which doe it absolutely we haue now no cause to speake cause we shall haue sufficient when we come to the Fourteenth Psalme They which doe it by a Consequence are such as hold that the Soules dye when as the Bodies doe dye and that they rise not till the Bodies rise againe They dare not deny flatly a Zanch Ib. saith Zanchius the Soules Immortality for that it is so manifest throughout the whole Scriptures but what they dare that they doe they depriue it of all Sence of all Knowledge of all Affection and Operation stifly maintaining that it sleepeth forsooth till the Day of the Bodies Resurrection and then that it shall bee wakened and not till then Among the severall Parcels of Scripture which they haue heaped vp to this purpose this of this Psalme is one and as many besides in the Psalmes as describe Man to bee of such a Condition as that hee cannot after Death praise the Name of the Lord any more As namely where David b Ps 88.10 saith Doest thou shewe Wonders among the Dead or shall the Dead rise vp againe and praise thee Shall thy louing Kindnes be shewed in the Graue or thy Faithfulnes in Destruction Shall thy wondrous Workes be knowen in the Darke and thy Righteousnes in the Land where all things are forgotten And againe c Ps 115.17 The Dead praise not thee O Lord neither all they that goe downe into the Silence but we that is we which liue will praise the Lord from this time forth for euermore And yet again d Ps 30.9 What profit is there in my Bloud when I goe downe to the Pit Shall the Dust giue Thankes vnto thee or shall it declare thy Truth But there is as Zanchius e Zanch. vbi supra obserues a twofold Praise the One when in this World we shew forth vnto Others the Lords Goodnes towards vs that Others also by our example may be stirred vp to put their Confidence in God and to worship God in like sort and of this kind of Praises are the foresaid Places to be vnderstood The Other when the Praises of God are reserved for the World to come to be perfourmed by the blessed Saints that shall at that time praise the Lord. And that they praise the Lord in the World to come witnes those severall places in the Revelation that might bee brought to this purpose f Rev. 5.13 Euery Creature which is in Heauen and in the Earth and vnder the Earth and such as are in the Sea and all that are in them heard I saying BLESSING HONOVR GLORY AND POWER BE VNTO HIM THAT SITTETH VPON THE THRONE AND VNTO THE LAMB FOR EVER AND EVER Againe g Reu. 14.2 I heard a Voyce from Heauen at the
Chrys in hunc Ps saith S. Chrysostome For his Righteousnesse namely in destroying his Enemies For it is a Righteous thing with God Å¿ â— Thess 1.6 saith the Apostle to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you Not that he reioyced in the Slaughter and Destruction of them but for he imbraced Gods Loue and Mercy towards himself PSAL. VIII Domine Dominus 1 O Lord our Gouernour how excellent is thy Name in all the World thou that hast set thy Glory aboue the Heavens 2 Out of the mouth of very Babes and Sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine Enemies that thou mighst still the Enemy and the Avenger 3 For I will consider the Heauens euen the Workes of thy Fingers the Moone and the Starres which thou hast ordained 4 What is Man that thou art mindfull of him and the Sonne of Man that thou visitest him 5 Thou madest him lower then the Angels to crowne him with Glory and Worship 6 Thou madest him to haue dominion of the work of thy Hands and thou hast put all things in subiection vnder his feet 7 All Sheep and Oxen yea and the Beasts of the Field 8 The Foules of the Aire and the Fishes of the Sea whatsoeuer walketh through the Pathes of the Seas 9 O Lord our Gouernour how excellent is thy Name in all the World THE ANALYSIS THis Eight Psalme beside the ordinary saying of it the First Day of the Moneth is the First of those Three that are appointed for Morning Prayer vpon the ASCENTION DAY Why it was selected to that purpose will appeare in the handling thereof In the meane time let vs consider that it wholly consisteth of Praising God whose MAIESTIE the Prophet here extolleth partly in respect of the whole World in generall as it is in the First Verse partly in respect of the Creatures therein contained This his Maiesty very Babes and Sucklings doe seeme to acknowledge to as it is in the Second Verse The Creatures contained in the World are first of all those Celestiall Orbs the Heauens and Moone and Starres as it is in the Third Verse Secondly Man whose Dignity the Prophet sheweth partly for that the Lord had such a peculiar loue vnto him as it is in the Fourth and Fift Verses partly for hee gaue him Dominion ouer all things liuing in the World as it is in the Sixt Verse whether they were Terrestriall as it is in the Seauenth Verse or Fowles and such as liued in the Water as it is in the Eight Verse The consideration whereof made the Prophet ende with the selfe same Words he did begin withall as it is in the Ninth Verse And thus much of the Analysis VErse 1 O Lord our Governour how excellent is thy Name in all the World thou that hast set thy Glory aboue the Heauens The Prophet is here as good as his word He had said in the Psalme before a Chrys in hunc Ps saith S. Chrysostome Confitebor Domino secundum Iustitiam eius psallâ—m Nomini Domini altissimi I will giue Thanks vnto the Lord according to his Righteousnesse and will prayse the Name of the Lord the most high here hee performes his Promise offering vnto him an Himne And those things that are there said saith S. Chrysostome they are spoken in the Person of one only for there he saith O Lord my God in thee haue I put my trust saue me and so forth here hee speaketh in the Person of Many O Lord our Gouernour how excellent is thy Name It may seem somewhat strange b Calvin in hunc Ps saith Caluin that the Prophet should beginne with an Exclamation when as the thing to bee admired is commonly declared first what it is and then it is admired but it will appeare saith he not so strange â—f so be we consider with our selues that the Workes of God cannot possibly be expressed by any Words But come wee now to the Words exprest First for the Word Governour it is in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew IEHOVAH Adonénu but for Gouernour Adonai is the Word and it comes of the Hebrew VVord EDEN the Foot or base of a c Barth Schaeraeâ— Itinerar p. 11. Pillar wherewith any thing is sustained Adonai is one of the Lords tenne Names and the Mascrites the Hebrew †Critici Ebraeoâ—um Maâ—sâ—rite Drus Tetâ—agram 〈◊〉 Dedic â—ap 14. Criticks hould that the VVord Adonai is found in Scripture an Hundred and Foure and Thirty times It is worth the noting that in our last Translation though it be translated Lord yet is it not Printed in Capitall Letters as d Vid. Expos in Ps 3.1 p. 64. LORD commonly there is and in the very selfe-same Verse but thus we there read O LORD our Lord how excellent is thy Name where LORD in Capitall Letters shewes that the Hebrew is that Name of foure Letters and Lord in the second place in lesse Characters shewes that the Hebrew VVord is Adonai Secondly for the Word affixed here and the Pronoune Our O LORD our Gouernour it may put vs in minde òf our Community that we ought to haue with one another I meane not an Anabaptisticall Community to haue all things Common nor yet such a Timon-like Propriety as to esteeme of nothing but what 's our owne God e Epistolae aliquot Eruditorum p. N. 2. saith Sr Thomas Moore well prouided when he instituted at the first all things Common our Sauiour Christ provided well to when he endeauoured to withdraw mortall Men from the Private to the Publick He well knew the corrupt Nature of Mortality that it could not be enamoured of that which was Private but to the Dammage and Losse of that which was Publick It is true I haue obserued f Expos on Ps 3.7 p. 76. before that in some Cases as the Prophet so we also by his example may euery of vs say MY GOD in Particular but now that the Subiect of Speech is vpon Matter of Gouernment it becommeth each in Particular to speake thus in Common Thirdly concerning the Name of GOD it is taken here in this place or â—or the Honour Renowne and Glory or for the Vertue and Power of GOD for by these is GOD knowen as Men are by their Names In Iewry is GOD knowen g Ps 76. â— saith Dauid his Name is great in Israel but what is Iewry or what is Israel to all the World besides And therefore the Apostle S. Paul speaking of the Gentiles The Wrath of God h Rom. 1.18 saith he is reuealed from Heauen against all Vngodlinesse and Vnrighteousnesse of Men who hold the Truth in Vnrighteousnesse Because that which may be knowen of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it vnto them For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearely seene being vnderstood by the things that are made euen his Eternall Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse because
difference it pleased GOD to put vpon the Workes of Power and the Workes of Wisdome wherewith concurreth that in the Former it is not set down that GOD said Let there be Heauen and Earth as it is set downe of the Workes following but actually that GOD made Heauen and Earth the One carrying the Stile of a MANVFACTION and the Other of a LAW DECREE or COVNCELL From the Heauens in generall our Prophet commeth in Particular to the Moone and Stars which why they were ordeined at the first Moses declareth in many Words Let there be Light r Gen. 1.14 saith Moses in the Firmament of the Heauen to diuide the Day from the Night and let them bee for Signes and for Seasons and for Dayes and Yeeres And let them be for Lights in the Firmament of the Heauen to giue Light vpon the Earth And God made two great Lights the greater Light to rule the Day and the lesser Light to rule the Night he made the Starres also And God set them in the Firmament of the Heauen to giue Light vpon the Earth and to rule ouer the Day and ouer the Night and to divide the Light from the Darknes Otherwise as ſ Plin Nat. Hist l. 2. c. 107. Pliny noteth it exceedeth all Miracles that any one Day should passe and all the World not to be set on a light consuming Fire But how comes it that in this place there is no mention of the Sunne who is the Chiefe of all the rest For as Light is the Queene of Heauen as t Aug. Confess l. 10. c. 34. speakes S. Austen so who is the King to that Queene but that glorious Planet in Heauen that heauenly u Ps 19.5 Bridegroome who so much rejoyceth euery Day to runne his Course x Chrys in hunc Ps S. Chrysostome is of Opinion that in specifying the Moone and Starres he intimates the Sunne to And because that Some saith he exempt the Night from being the Workemanship of God the Prophet here sheweth them their owne Error in making mention of the Moone declaring in these Words that God was the Workeman thereof Whereunto is correspondent that of the Prophet y Esay 45.7 Esay I forme the Light and create Darknes I make Peace and create Euill I the Lord doe all these things But as the Moone is here mentioned and the Sunne not spoken of so elswhere the Sunne is mentioned and the Moone not spoken of at all as in the z Ps 19.5 Psalme before alleaged In them hath he set a Tabernacle for the Sunne which commeth forth as a Bride-groome out of his Chamber and reioyceth as a Gyant to run his Course a Greg. in Ezech Hom. 13. S. Gregory thinkes that the Prophets omitting the Sunne in this Psalme cannot be excused but by an Allegory I should thinke that this Psalme was made in the Night time when the Sunne being gone from that Horizon the Moone was in her Brightnesse all the Night long as sometimes She appeares to vs when She is in the Full. Vers 4. What is Man that thou art Mindfull of him and the sonne of Man that thou visitest him Man b Calvin Instit l. 1. c. 1. §. 3. saith Calvin is neuer sufficiently touched and inwardly mooued with Knowledge of his owne Basenes vntill he haue compared himselfe to the Maiesty of God And how in that case they are at their Wits end we haue often Examples saith he both in the Booke of c Iudg. 13.22 Esay 6.5 Ezec. 2.1 Iudges and in the Prophets so that this was a common Saying among the People of God We shall surely die because wee haue seene God With like Astonishment is the Prophet David here strucken and as here so elswhere Lord d Ps 144.3 saith he what is Man that thou so respectest him or the Sonne of Man that thou so regardest him And Iob to like purpose What is Man e Iob. 7.17 saith he that thou shouldst magnifie him and that thou shouldst set thine Heart vpon him and that thou shouldst visit him euery Morning and try him euery Moment So that holy Men here speake as Mephibosheth f 2. Sam. 9.8 spake to Dauid What is thy Seruant that thou shouldst looke vpon such a dead Dog as I am Indeed consider we Man as he comes into the World and the great adoe there is about him in the bringing of him vp and when once he is brought vp the many By-wayes that he takes and well may we say as here it is What is Man and the Sonne of Man Pliny saw somewhat in Mans Miseryes when he g Plin. Nat. Hist l. 7. Prooem spake as he did namely of all other liuing Creatures how Nature hath brought him forth altogether Naked and afterwards when he is clothed how she hath clothed him yet with the Bounty and Riches of Others how when he is Borne he is immediatly fast bound hauing no part or Member at liberty a point not practised on the young Whelpes of the wildest Beast that is how among all other Creatures there is not one but by a secret instinct of Nature knoweth his owne Good and whereto he is made able some make vse of the Swiftnes of their Feete Some of their Wings some of their Finnes and so forth Man only knoweth nothing vnlesse he be taught he can neither Speake nor Goe nor Eate otherwise then he is trained to it in a Word how naturally he is apt and good at nothing but to pule and crye but how much deeper should wee looke then Pliny did into the Depth of his Misery should we consider which Pliny did not neither indeed could hee the great and aboundant MERCY of God in bestowing vpon him such Dignities as here are specified by the Prophet amidst those and greater Miseries as First that the Lord is Mindfull of him Secondly that he Visiteth him Memores quasi absentis visitas praesentem Thou art Mindfull h Aug. in Ps 35. saith S. Austen as of one that is Absent thou visitest him as Present Thirdly that he Crowneth him with Glory and Worship Fourthly that he giues him Dominion ouer the Workes of his Hands and puts all things in subiection vnder his Feete as is specified in these Particulars Sheepe Oxen Beasts Fowles and Fishes Nor all this in regard of Princes onely and the high Potentates of the VVorld but as i Lem. Exhort ad Vit. Opt. Instit c. 3. Lemnius well noteth Vniversitatis Prafecturam ac Principatum attribuit etiam infimo cuique Cerdoni ac Plebeio qui non minus fruitur Creatoris Munificentia totiusque Mundi Amoenitate spectabili cum primis ac visenda quà m Regum quivis Copijs Opibusque affluens He bestoweth the Gouernment and Principality of all these worldly Things euen vpon euery meane COBLER and basest Artisan who no lesse inioyes this Munificence of the Creator and Pleasure of the World then the most wealthiest King and Potentate But what hath
Man only haue not Women also these Prerogatiues Yes doubtlesse Women also and they aswel as Men. And therfore consider they with themselues what cause they haue to be ashamed of their Sex as many of them of late shew thēselues to be Insomuch that it seems displeased with their Maker for not making them Men maugre God and Nature they endeauour to transforme themselues into the Habits of Men. Videlicet into their Belt Scarfe Hat Points †Ferrum est quod amant luvenal Sat. 6. Steele-lettoes Cut-Haire Doublet Horsemans-Coat and as it is said Boots to Resolued they are it seemes to bestow themselues on Sathan and to yeeld him somewhat to boote The Prophet l Esay 3.18 Esay hath said ynough so hath the Apostle m 1. Pet. 3.3 S. Peter if neither prevaile with them Law nor Gospel let them beware God himselfe takes not the Matter into his owne Hands n Heb. 10.31 It is a fearefull thing to fall into the Hands of the Liuing God But to returne vnto my purpose First as touching Mindfulnes to speake properly in very deed no Mindfulnes nor Forgetfulnes can be said to be with God forasmuch as with him all things are present both which haue bene from all Eternity which now are at this instant and which shall be euer hereafter vnto the Ends of the World So that as his Substance is Immutable right so is his Knowledge to seeing with him as o Iam. 1.17 speakes S. Iames is no Variablenes neither Shadow of Turning Whensoeuer then in Holy Scripture God is said to Forget as also to be Mindefull it is spoken Figuratiuely according to the manner of Men who Forget or Remember thereafter as they helpe or denye their helpe vnto the Needy Thus Pharaoes Butler p Gen. 40.23 forgat his old Frend Ioseph and Many no sooner vp the Ladder of Preferment but they begin to want in this kind that which Pharaoes Butler had not I mean a good Memory Thus is it said to be with the Lord. q Aug. in Evang Ioan. Tract 7. Almae Nutricis blanda atque infracta Loquela Lucr. l. 5. v. 222 For thus the Scriptures like Nurses speak vnto vs in our own Language When the Lord helps vs not he is said to Forget vs when he helpes vs he is said to Remember like as he remembred r Gen. 8.1 Noah in the Arke Why but will some say if this be all God remembreth euen Beasts to as he did euery Beast and all the Cattell that was with Noah And againe ſ Ps 145.15 Ps 147.9 The Eyes of all waite vpon him he giues them their Meat in due Season hee openeth his Hand and filleth all things liuing with Plenteousnes True he is Mindfull of Beasts indeed but it is for our sakes that he is so Mindfull of them For in respect of themselues Doth God take care for Oxen t 1. Cor. 9.9 saith the Apostle Or saith he it altogether for our sakes and the Answer there is that for our sakes he saith it indeed Secondly concerning Visiting To Visite in holy Scripture is taken two manner of wayes either in Iudgment or in Mercy In Iudgment as elswhere u Ps 89.32 If his Children forsake my Law and walke not in my Iudgments If they breake my Statutes and keepe not my Commandements I will visite their Offences with the Rod and their Sin with Scourges And againe x Ps 59.5 Stand vp O Lord God of Hoasts thou God of Israel to visite all the Heathen and be not mercifull vnto them that offend of malitious Wickednes but in this place as also in some others it is taken in the way of Mercy according to that of Zacharias the Father of S. Iohn Baptist y Luc. 1.68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his People So the Lord is said to visite Sarah in the z Gen. 21.1 Booke of Genesis in that he did to Sarah as hee had spoken concerning Isaac her Sonne borne and bred in her old Age. Vers 5. Thou madest him lower then the Angels to crown him with Glory Worship Two Dignities of Man wee haue heard already this is the Third namely that he is crowned with Glory and Worship which two words Glory and Worship though briefly thus spoken yet conteine no doubt much matter and substance in them I doubt not a Calv. in hunc Ps saith Calvin but in these words he commends those excellent Graces which shew that Men are made to the Image of God and created to the hope of the blessed and euerlasting Life to come For in that they are indued with Reason whereby they may discerne betweene Good and Euill in that the Seed of Religion is sowed in them in that there is mutuall Society betweene them tyed together with certaine Sacred Bonds in that the Respect of Honesty and Shamefastnes and Gouernment of Lawes is of esteeme amongst them all these are of a very excellent and heauenly Wisdome And therefore Dauid in this place worthily cryeth out that Mankinde is crowned with Glory and Worship But what is that he here saith †Ita est Charissimos nos habuerunt Dij Immortales habentque Et qui maximus tribui honos potuit ab ipsis proximos collocaverunt Senec. de Benef l. 2. c. 29. Thou madest him lower then the Angels Man in the former Respects comming so neere to the Deity it selfe b Conimb in 2. de Coel. c. 1. qu. 2 art 2. p. 184. they endeauoured to signifie his Excellency who cal'd him the Tye of all things Visible and Invisible or the Horizon of things Materiall and Immateriall forasmuch as he obtained a middle kinde of Nature that is a Nature aboue all things that were Materiall though inferiour to such as were Immateriall Now of this sort are the Angels Angels c Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 1. §. 4 saith Reverend Hooker are Spirits Immateriall and Intellectuall the glorious Inhabitants of those sacred places where nothing but Light and blessed Immortality no shadow of matter for Teares Discontentments Griefes and vncomfortable Passions to worke vpon but all Ioy Tranquility and Peace euen for euer and euer doth dwell Such Obseruants of that Law which the HIGHEST whom they adore loue and imitate hath imposed vpon them that our Saviour himselfe being to set downe the perfect Idea of that which we are to pray and wish for on Earth did not teach to pray or wish for more then d Mat. 6.10 only that here it might be with vs as with them it is in Heauen And againe a little after Of Angels we are not to consider only what they are and doe in regard of their owne being but that also which concerneth them as they are linked into a kinde of Corporation amongst themselues and of Society and Fellowship with Men. Consider Angels each of them severally in himselfe and their Law is that which the Prophet David mentioneth
those he hath made tame as the OXE to plow the SHEEP to cloath the Nakednesse of our Bodies other labouring BEASTS to cary those things that are to be carryed in or out FOWLE FISH whereby our Table may bee the better furnished b Iam. 3.7 And yet as S. Iames noteth Every kinde of Beasts and of Byrds of Serpents and things in the Sea is tamed and hath beene tamed of Mankinde but the TONGVE can no Man tame it is an vnruly Evill full of deadly poyson But to returne where I left First concerning SHEEPE they are c Plin. Nat. Hist l. 8. c. 47. saith Pliny in great request both in regard that they serue as Sacrifices to pacifie the Gods and also by reason their Fleece yeeldeth so profitable an vse For even as Men saith he are beholden to the Boeufe for their Principall Food and Nourishment which they labour for so they must acknowledge that they haue their cloathing and coverture of their Bodies from the poore Sheepe As touching Sacrifices though the Gentiles had great vse of them as also the Iewes yet we Christians haue none at all and yet I knowe not how the vse of them is such with some Christians that as d Sr Th. Moore Vtop l. 1. Sr Th. Moore obserueth very wittily They that were wont to be so Meeke and Tame and so small Eaters now bee become so great Devourers and so Wild that they eat vp and swallow downe the very MEN themselues They Consume Destroy and Devoure whole FIELDS HOVSES and CITIES Meaning as he there speaketh in the person of another that Noblemen and Gentlemen yea certaine Abbots not contenting themselues with the yearely Revenues and Profits that were wont to growe to their Forefathers and Predecessors of their Lands nor being content that they liue in rest and pleasure nothing profiting yea much noying the Weale-publique left no ground for Tillage they Inclosed all in Pastures they threw down Houses they pluckt downe Townes left nothing standing but only the CHVRCH to bee made a SHEEPE-HOVSE Secondly concerning OXEN they are so profitable to Man that a certaine Roman as e Plin Nat. Hist l. 8. c 45. Pliny reports was iudicially Endited Accused and Condemned by the People of Rome for that to satisfie the minde of a Wanton Minion and Catamite of his who said he had not eaten any Tripes all the while he was in the Country hee killed an Oxe although hee was his owne yea and for this fact was Banished as if he had slaine his Grangier and Bailife of his Husbandry These also serued the Heathen and the Iewes for Sacrifices and though to vs Christians they are needles in that respect yet are they so necessary otherwise as that in many respects we cannot be without them Verse 8. The Fowles of the Aire and the Fishes of the Sea and whatsoever walketh through the Pathes of the Seas When these liuing Creatures here mentioned and in the next Verse before were first created this was the order of them First the First Secondly the Fowle Thirdly the Beasts of the Earth for so we read in the f Gen. 1.21 Booke of Genesis Here and in the Verse before the order is inverted the last first and the first last Beasts in the first place with their kindes Sheepe and Oxen Fowles in the second and Fishes in the third But howsoeuer the order is inverted the meaning is all one both in this place and in that namely that all Creatures of what kinde soeuer which are all comprehended vnder these are put in subiection vnto Man Pecora voluptatis Volucres Superbiae Pisces Curiositatis By Beasts g Aug. in hunc Ps saith S. Austen may Pleasure by Birds Pride by Fishes Curiosity bee meant alluding to that of S. Iohn The Lust of the Flesh h 1. Ioh. 2.16 the Lust of the Eyes the Pride of Life Howbeit I had rather goe more literally with i Chrys in hunc Ps S. Chrysostom to worke and to vnderstand as he doth that we haue Dominion of all these and they are put in subiection vnder our Feet in that God hath giuen vs Art and Cunning to take them Whether they bee the Fowles on high or Fishes beneath in the Deepe or Beasts as it was in the former Verse The Fowles Fishes are thus ioyned here together for that both of them had their first l Vid. Zanch de Oper. Part 2. l. 7 c. 3. Creation out of the Waters though concerning Fowles Aristotle is of another minde Here a Note would be remembred and that a worthy one which Antoninus hath both of the Verse going before as also of this marry I dare not commend it for Currant but onely to our Romish Catholiques and I wonder our Rhemists made here no vse of it The Note is this The m Antonin in summa Part. 3. Tit. 22. c. 5. Man here meant is the POPE The Beasts of the Field Men liuing on Earth The Fishes of the Sea the Soules in Purgatory The Fowles of the Ayre the Soules in Heauen Hee that would see more hereof I referre him to n B. Iuel Defence of the Apol. Part. 1. c. 10 Divis 1. B. Iewel as also to my o Serm. on the Queenes day p. 695. Lord of London and thirdly to p Pseudo-Mart c. 3. p. 91 D. Dunne Verse 9. O Lord our Governour how excellent is thy Name in all the World This Psalme is like a Bracelet it beginneth and endeth with one and the same Linck It is like vnto the Yeere which beginneth where it endeth and ends where it doth beginne q Virg. Georg. l. 2. Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur Annus In a word it is a true Rhetoricall Epanalepsis The Prophet no doubt had great Cause to begin with Admiration but hauing now considered these particulars in this sort hee had greater Cause as here he doth to end with Admiration For if so be we looke vpon Man in himselfe we shall see him so poore a Creature as it may well seeme strange vnto vs admirably strange that God should haue any respect or cast so much as an Eye vpon him And therefore as Elisabeth r Luc. 1.43 said Whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me So whence is it may wee say in our Soliloquies vnto God that hee should visite vs in this sort and haue this respect vnto vs. But is it of Man only that this Psalme doth thus speak Nay doubtlesse but of God and Man of the promised MESSIAS and in that respect this Psalme was a Å¿ Christs Serm. going to Emaus p. 104. p. 105. Vid. Iansen Epist Dedicat p. â— 5. b. Prophesie and many Mysteries of our Faith contained therein to wit our Saviours Passion his Resurrection and Dominion which hee hath over all Creatures both in Heauen and Earth Witnesse the Apostle S. Paul which doth open this Psalme vnto
it with the Terrors and Iudgements of God Vers 7. But the Lord knoweth the way of the Righteous and the way of the Vngodly shall perish d Drusius Observat l. 14 c. 4. A Man is called Righteous or lust foure manner of waies First by Imputation Secondly by reason of the Vertues he hath in him Thirdly by way of Comparison Fourthly and lastly in a Iudiciall kinde of forme By Imputation as the Prophet Habakuk e Hab. 2.4 The Iust shall liue by his Faith By reason of the Vertues he hath as this our Psalmist in another place f Ps 11.3 What hath the Righteous done And King Solomon in this sence g Prov. 10.7 The memorie of the Iust is blessed and oftentimes in that Booke where also in the name of Righteousnes Vertue is vnderstood as in that sentence of his h Prou. 16.31 The hoarie head is a Crowne of Glory if it be found in the way of Righteousnesse By way of Comparison as in Habakuk againe i Hab. 1.13 Wherefore holdest thou thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more Righteous then hee speaking of the Iewes who in comparison of the Chaldaeans were honest and iust men Lastly by way of a Iudiciall kinde of forme and so is he called Iust that hath in Iudgement a iust cause as in the Prophet Amos l Amos. 2.6 They sold the Righteous for Siluer So the Prophet David m Psa l. 7.8 Giue Sentence with me O Lord according to my Righteousnesse vnderstanding by Righteousnesse nothing else but the Righteousnesse of his Cause as if hee had said Giue sentence with mee O Lord according to my Righteous Cause For the better explaining of the Premisses There nether is n Mr Hookers learned Discourse of Iustificat Works c. p. 2. saith Reverend Hooker or ever was any meere naturall man absolutely Righteous in himselfe that is to say void of all Vnrighteousnesse of all Sinne. But we are absolutely Righteous in Christ saith he So that the World must shew a Christian Man otherwise it is not able to shew a Man that is perfectly Righteous And a litle after There is a Glorifying Righteousnesse of men in the world to come and there is a Iustifying and a Sanctifying Righteousnesse here The Righteousnesse wherewith wee shall be cloathed in the world to come is both Perfect and Inherent That whereby we are here iustified is Perfect but not Inherent That whereby we are Sanctifiâ—d is Inherent but not Perfect The Prophet Abakuk saith he doth tearme the Iewes Righteous men not only because being iustified by Faith they were free from Sinne but also because they had their measure of Fruit in holinesse Thus the Prophet here in this place though speaking elsewhere of Men in generall o Ps 14.4 They are all gone out of the way saith he they are altogethe become abhominable there is none that doth good no not one which hee seemeth there to speake with reference vnto God whose eyes are p Ecclus. 23.19 tenne thousand times brighter then the Sunne beholding all the waies of men considering the most secret parts yet speaking now in regard of the VVicked who are so notoriously bad hee acknowledgeth some that haue a measure in the Fruit of Holinesse and a right vnto the Title of Righteous Men. Secondly concerning the Way here The Way of the Righteous and The Way of the Vngodly we are to vnderstand by these Waies Counsails Actions or Endeauours of the Righteous and the Counsailes Actions or Endeavours of the Vngodly for so in holy Scripture are Waies sometimes taken Like as the Prophet Ieremy q Ier. 10.23 speakes I knowe that the way of Man is not in himselfe it is not in Man that walketh to direct his steps Intimating thereby that Men are fowly deceaued if so be they suppose that the event of things is in their own hands for let them consult never so wisely yet if God blesse not their consultations all things happen vnder foot Thirdly by Knowing here in this place is meant approouing and to be pleased with and by intimating He knoweth not the way of the Vngodly for that also is here intimated his not approouing of their Way Otherwise take Knowing for that for which commonly it is taken and he knowes the way of the Wicked more then the Wicked are aware of And therefore to them that say r Ps 73.11 Tush how should God perceaue it is there knowledge in the most Highest His answere is in another place Å¿ Ps 10.15 Surely thou hast seene it for thou beholdest Vngodlinesse Wrong And againe t Ps 94.9 He that planted the eare shall he not heare Or he that made the eye shall he not see The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are but vaine Fourthly and lastly concerning the Way of the Vngodly whereas besides the intimation giuen that it is not approued of God it is directly here pronounced that it shall vtterly perish Hoc eis eveniet u Arnob. in hunc Ps saith Arnobius in sine saeculi quod in fine Psalmi Sermo Propheticus comminatur that shall happen to the Vngodly in the end of the World which the Prophet here threatneth them in the end of this Psalme It it an excellent passage which the Booke of Wisdome hath to this purpose whose Author discoursing of the miserable end of the Wicked They shal be vtterly x Wis 4.19 saith he laid wast and be in sorrowe and their memoriall shall perish And when they cast vp the accounts of their sinnes they shall come with feare and their owne iniquities shall convince them to their face y Wisd 5.1 Then shall the Righteous man stand in great boldnes before the face of such as haue afflicted him and made no account of his Labours When they see it they shall be troubled with terrible feare shall be amazed at the strangenesse of his Salvation so farre beyond all that they loaked for And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselues This was he whom we had sometimes in dirision and a proverb of reproach We Fooles accounted his life madnesse and his end to be without honour How is hee remembred among the Children of God and his lot is among the Saints And againe a little after z V. 8. What hath Pride profited vs or what good hath Riches with our vaunting brought vs All those things are passed away like a shadowe and as a Poast that hasted by Much more they speake to that purpose but it is high time now to come to the Second Psalme PSAL. II. Quare fremuerunt Gentes 1 VVHy doe the Heathen so furiously rage together and why doe the People imagine a vaine thing 2 The Kings of the Earth stand vp and the Rulers take counsell together against the Lord and against his Annoynted 3 Let vs breake their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from vs.