his sight that was none of his workes but is a destroyer of his workes Is it possible that a thing which destroyes his creatures should have a Title of more value in his sight then his creatures themselves O my soule this is one of the Myracles of his Saints and perhaps one of those which Christ meant when he said to his Apostles that greater Myracles then he did they should doe themselves for what greater Myracle than this that Death which of it selfe is a thing most vile in the sight of God yet once embraced by his Saints as it were by their touch onely becomes pretious in his sight and to alter a thing from being vile to be precious is it not a greater Myracle then to turne Water into Wine Indeed so it is Death doth not damnifie his Saints but his Saints doe dignifie Death Death takes nothing away from his Saints happinesse but his Saints adde lustre to Deaths vilenesse and it is happy for Death that ever it met with any of Gods Saints for there was no way for it else in the world to be ever had in any account But why say I in the world for it is of no account in the world for all this It is but onely in the sight of God but indeed this onely is All in All for to be pretious in Gods sight is more to be prized then the world it selfe For when the World shall passe away and all the glory of it be laid in the dust then shall Trophyes be erected for the death of his Saints and when all Monuments of the world shall bee utterly defaced and all Records quite rased out yet the death of his Saints shall stand Registred still in faire Red letters in the Kalendar of Heaven for if there be glory laid up for them that dye in the Lord much more shall they bee glorified that dye for the Lord. I have wondered often-times why God will suffer his Saints to dye I meane not the death naturall for I know Statutum est omnibus semel mori but the Death that is by violence and with torture for who could endure to see them he loves so cruelly handled but now I see the reason of it For Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and what marvell then if he suffer his Saints to dye when by dying they are wrought and made fit Jewels to be set in his Cavinet for as God hath a Bottle which he fills up with the teares of his Saints so I may say he hath a Cabinet which he decks up with the deaths of his Saints and O my soule if thou couldst but comprehend what a glory it is to serve for a Jewell in the decking up of Gods Cabinet thou wouldst never wonder why he suffers his Saints to bee put to death though with never so great torments for it is but the same which Saint Paul saith The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall bee revealed But if you will have a Glasse to view the Extent of this pretiousnesse and plainly to see how pretious in the sight of God the death of his Saints is then look upon the revenge that is taken for it for there is nothing that God takes so much to heart and of which hee takes so sharpe revenge as the death of his Saints to touch them is to touch the Apple of his eye and if the punishment of Cain bee not thought sufficient to make it appeare at least the complaint of Christ against Hierusalem will be sufficient O Hierusalem Hierusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and it is thought by some that the destruction of Hierusalem was the rather hastened to revenge the death of James who was called the Just but how soever this wee know it was therefore executed to revenge the death of Jesus who was truly the Just and may we not well take notice that the death was exceeding pretious when the revenge that was taken was so exceeding furious But why speake I of Death when I may yet doe God good service in life and if the death of his Saints be pretious in his sight certainly the life of his servants is not unregarded For whether we dye wee dye to the Lord or whether wee live wee live to the Lord and though in this life we cannot expect the reward of Saints yet in this life wee may claime the respect of servants and in this I claime an interest my selfe Verse 16 for truly O Lord I am thy servant and oh that I could serve thee so truly that I might heare thee say Euge bone serve For we are all very ready to professe our selves thy servants but very unready to doe the service of our profession and specially in these times when Servant is growne to be a word of complyment rather than of truth that to say I am thy servant is all one as to say I am an Hypocrite But O Lord let it not be found so in me not be thought so of me for I am thy servant by a double right and oh that I could doe thee double service as thou art the Lord of life and as I am the sonne of thy Handmaid Not of Hagar but of Sarah not of the Bond-woman but of the Free and therefore I serve thee not in Feare but in Love or therefore in feare because in love and then is service best done when it is done in love and in love indeed I am bound to serve thee For thou hast loosed my bonds the Bonds of death which compassed me about by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse and restoring me to health or in a higher kind Thou hast loosed my Bonds by freeing me from being a Captive to bee a Servant and which is more from being a servant to be a sonne and more then this yet from being a sonne of thy Hand-maid to be a sonne of thy selfe and therefore indeed a sonne of thy selfe because a sonne of thy Handmaid for what is thy Handmaid but thy Church and he that is not borne of this Handmaid though he may have the generall benefit of a servant sustenance and protection yet hee can never have the speciall benefits of a sonne freedome and inheritance Or thou hast loosed my bonds Thou hast freed me from the heavy yoak of the Ceremonies of the Law and hast Enfranchised mee with the glorious liberty of the Gospell that where before thou didst require the sacrifice of Servants which was the bloud of Beasts now thou acceptest the sacrifice of sonnes which is Verse 17 Prayer and Thanks-giving I will therefore offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and call upon thy Name For Prayer and Thanks-giving make both but one Sacrifice and seeing all sacrifice is due onely to thee therefore to thee onely I will offer both my Thanks-giving and my Prayer I could not make Thankes-giving a Sacrifice if Prayer did not begin it I could not make Prayer a Sacrifice if Thanks-giving did not finish it If there should bee Thankes-giving and no Prayer the Sacrifice would want a foot if Prayer and no Thanks-giving it would want a Head for as the Basis is Prayer so the Coronis is thanks-giving Although perhaps Thanks-giving bee but the Act and Thankfulnesse the Habit and it is the Habit that makes the Sacrifice because it must bee Juge sacrificium A continuall Sacrifice which the Act cannot be And if there had beene a word to expresse the Habit of praying as Thankfulnesse doth of Thanks-giving perhaps Saint Paul would have used it where he saith Pray continually for who can doubt but hee meanes the Habit of praying and not the Act and where he saith In all things give thankes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It intends perhaps but this In all things be thankfull And what then shall the Thankfulnesse or the Thanks-giving be that I will offer to God for a sacrifice O my soule it shall bee an acknowledging of his benefits and of his onely benefits it shall be a proclaiming him to bee my Patron and my onely Patron It shall bee an extolling him for his Mercy in forgiving my sinnes for his graciousnesse in healing all my infirmities for his compassion in Redeeming my soule from destruction and for his bountie in crowning me with loving kindnesse and tender mercies it shall bee indeed a Vowing to him the whole service of all the faculties of my soule and body And not to be done in a corner as though I were not willing it should be knowne nor before some few people onely as though I were loath too many should see it but I will pay my vowes to him in Verse 18 the presence of all his people that young and old rich and poore high and low may all bee witnesses of my thankfulnesse This for the persons before whom it shall be done and then for the place in which it shall be done it shall be done in the courts of the Lords house if any Verse 19 place be more conspicuous more publick then other it shall be done there it shall be done in the midst of thee O Hierusalem that the Fame of it may be spread that the sound of it may equally goe forth into all parts of the world that as all thy people shall be beholders of my thankfulnesse so all the world shall bee admirers of thy goodnesse and as there is in Heaven an Allelujah of thy Saints so there shall be in Earth an Allelujah of thy Servants of which Number of both which numbers my hope is to be one and that I may be sure to be one O my soule praise thou the Lord and because my owne praising will be but a very small service therefore mend it my soule by calling upon others and saying Praise yee the Lord. FINIS
there not a necessitie of speaking many things besides Gods praises yet nothing must bee spoken but either his Praise or to his praise or else wee breake our Vow And how then is this Riddle to bee expounded Is it not as Saint Paul expounds it Whither yee eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the praise and glory of God And if all wee doe may bee done to the praise of God then certainly all we speake may bee spoken to the praise of God and indeed seeing he never ceaseth to send forth continually his blessings with what reason can we cease to set forth continually his Praises But when I make this Vow to blesse God at all times I make it not presuming upon any abilitie in my selfe Alas I know my owne weaknesse and how unready I am to any goodnesse but my soule maketh her boast in the Lord Verse 2 My confidence is that he who hath given mee the resolution to will it will give mee also the power to performe it that Hee who hath begun the worke will also finish it and being so good an Architect as he is will not lay a foundation but will as well also set on the Roofe If I should boast in my selfe I should doe wrong to God but if I boast not in God I doe wrong to my selfe seeing God is a strength to none but to them that make him their strength and none make him their strength but they that make their boast of him It is a hard matter to bring Boasting and Humilitie to meet together in one subject betweene which there is so naturall an Antipathie yet here it is done for this I may say is the humble boasting where a vaine man may glory without vaine-glory where a weake Agent may presume without presumption Not like the boasting of the Pharisee so hatefull in the eyes of God so offensive in the eares of the humble For the Humble can heare this boasting and bee glad which they would never doe if it were not conformable to the rules of Humility Can any boasting be greater then to say I can doe all things yet in this boasting there is humilitie when I adde In him that comforteth mee For though God like not of boasting yet he likes of this boasting which arrogates nothing to our selves but ascribes all to him and seeing my soule boasteth her felfe of God I doubt not but as the humble heare it and bee glad so God sees it and is pleased and accepts my Boasting as a sacrifice of Humilitie But to what end is it that my Boasting tends Is it to set forth my owne worthinesse and to vaunt of my abilities Is it to tread in the steps of Lucifer or to walke in the way of the Pharisee God forbid the humble then would not be glad to heare my boasting No my soule it is to magnifie the Lord O therefore Verse 3 magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together for alas what am I to magnifie his Name my selfe alone if I have not company to helpe me All I can doe and all the humble can doe is but to say Not unto us Not unto us O Lord but to thy Name give the glory which is rather a vilifying of our selves then a magnifying of him they must be creatures of a better mettall that can serve and yet cannot serve to magnifie him as they should and it is not the worke of a few all the Millions of millions in Heaven and Earth have enough to doe and more then enough to exalt his Name O therefore yee Blessed Spirits of heaven doe you magnifie the Lord but take mee with you in your company that though I adde nothing to the weight of the worke yet I may adde one to the number of the worke-men in magnifying his Name We that are dwellers on the Earth can exalt his Name no higher then the Heavens and there you that be Inhabitants of Heaven must take it and exalt it higher and so betweene us all wee shall make a shift to exalt him to his true Elevation for his Glory is above the Heavens But if perhaps you thinke scorne of our company as being men of polluted lips and therefore not worthy to bee of your Consort yet the humble will make a consort by themselves and will not indeed cannot be kept from exalting his Name for our Humilitie is his Exaltation and then wee raise him up to the height of his Throne when we cast our selves downe as low as his Footstoole that it is but a diverse expressing of the same thing in substance whither we say Let us exalt the Name of the Lord Or let us fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker David is not wont to use Exclamations but upon speciall occasion if he use one here and say O magnifie the Lord we may know that to magnifie his Name is a thing of great importance indeed so great that all things besides it at least all things without it are nothing but vanitie O then all you that be exalted in Heaven and all you that bee humble in the earth and lest any be left out where all are too few O all ye workes of the Lord blesse yee the Lord Praise him and magnifie him Verse 4 forever For I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered mee from all my feares To seeke and upon seeking to be heard is a great favour but to bee heard and upon hearing to bee delivered from all feares is a favour that deserves Magnifying in the highest degree But why is it that I sought him is it not because I had lost him before and why should I seeke to get him againe and would not keepe him when I had him O my soule Carendo magis quam fruendo Wee know the goodnesse of things more by wanting them then by enjoying them though I could not see what happinesse it was to have him yet I see what miserie it is to want him and yet in this I account my selfe happy that I have sought him while he was within hearing for alas if I had stayed from seeking him till hee had beene out of hearing What hope could I have had of ever recovering him But O the tender mercies of God that hath not suffered me to put off my seeking him so long for O my soule it is no lesse his mercie that I seeke him then that hee heares me my desire is not more to have him then his to bee had for how else could he have heard mee as soone as I sought him but that hee stood listening as it were when I would seeke him and he heard me not as one that were indifferent whither he head me or no but he gave me audience with no lesse Intention to grant my suit then attention to know it for heare the successe of my seeking him see the fruit of his hearing me He delivered mee from all my feares To have delivered mee
of God Marke therefore how David speakes They will be still praysing him It is not enough to praise him it must bee a praising him still before it will make a Blessednesse and though to praise God be an easie matter yet to praise him still will be found a busie worke indeed to flesh and bloud a miserable worke for if I be still praising him what time shall I have for any pleasure O my soule if thou make it not thy pleasure thy chiefe thy onely pleasure to bee praysing him thou art not like in hast to come to Blessednesse And marvell not that David speakes thus under the Law When Saint Paul under the Gospell saith as much Whether ye eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the glory and praise of God And indeed how can I doubt of attaining to Blessednesse by praising of God when it is praising of God that makes the Angels in heaven Blessed for the seeing of God would never make them blessed if seeing him they did not praise him and praising him would never make them blessed if they did not praise him continually crying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath for as we praise God here on Earth with saying O Lord God of Hosts because here he fighteth for us against our enemies so wee shall praise him in heaven with saying O Lord God of Sabbath because there he will give us rest from our enemies Verse 5 But if it bee thought that praising of God will not be enough to make Blessednesse or not to make Blessednesse enough at least take this with it and it will surely be enough Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are For though our praising of God being our owne worke must needs be too weake to make a blessednesse yet when our strength is in God this makes it his worke and then our blessednesse hath a sure foundation When we trust to our owne strength for Blessednesse we are often deceived indeed as often as alwayes but when our strength is in God we may rest secure our blessednesse is upon a Rocke and cannot be shaken But then Gods wayes must be in our hearts for what way hath his strength to the heart if his wayes be not in the heart That 's their place if wee looke for strength from him Are we not in a continuall fight against Sin and have we any strength to fight but onely in him and will he take it well to be placed in a Wing No my soule he will strengthen us no longer then hee is placed in the heart of the Battell That 's his place if wee looke to bee strengthened in him It is not enough that Gods wayes bee knowne if they be not walked in nor walked in if not embraced and it is not enough to embrace them with the armes which is oftentimes feigned and but onely complimentall they must be embraced with the two armes of the heart Integritie and Sinceritie Integritie will embrace them all Sinceritie will embrace no other Though Gods wayes be many yet they must all goe into one Heart if any be left out the rest will not tarry though they must be in singlenesse of heart yet they must not be single in the heart They are fruites that grow in clusters not one by one There are many that have Gods wayes in their mouthes can talke holily and make Sermons of godlinesse though they bee no Preachers but because they draw neere to God with their lips and their hearts are farre from him they are like to have but the Pharisees entertainment not so well justified as the Publican There are many that have Gods wayes in their hands they give almes plentifully they distribute their bread to the Poore liberally but because their left hand knowes what their right hand doth they have their reward already They that have Gods wayes in their hearts they onely are in the right way to blessednesse and no rubbes of the world can turne them out of the way For when Gods wayes are in the heart together they lend assistance to Verse 6 one another For passing thorow the Valley of Baca they make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles That which seemed an impediment turnes to a furtherance at least no misery can be so great no estate so barren but a godly heart can make it a Well out of which to draw forth water of comfort either water to clense and make it a way to Repentance or water to coole and make it a way to Patience or water to moysten and make it a way of growing in grace and if the Well happen to bee dry and afford no water from below yet the raine shall fill their pooles and supply them with water from above If naturall forces bee not sufficient there shall bee supernaturall graces added to assist them that though troubles of the world seeme rubs in the way to blessednesse yet in truth they are none they hinder not arriving at the marke we ayme at they hinder us not from being made Members of Syon they hinder us not from approaching the presence of God No my soule they are rather helpes for by this meanes wee goe from strength to strength from strength of Patience to strength of Hope from strength of Hope to strength of Faith from strength of Faith to strength of Vision and then will be accomplished that which David speakes here Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are If my strength were not in God I should not dare to call upon him being Lord of Hosts but now that my strength is in him and that I know hee is Lord of Hosts for me and not against me a Shield to me a Sword onely to my enemies now I have confidence to say O Lord God of Hosts heare my prayer give eare Verse 7 O God of Jacob for as I doubt not but hee will heare me though he bee Lord of Hosts so I have much more confidenne he will give eare unto me being the God of Jacob for he hath made a Covenant with Jacob and with his posteritie for ever that he will be their God and they shall be his people of which number it is my happinesse that I am one not after the flesh which profiteth nothing but according to Faith the onely thing that makes the true Israelite But yet what good will it doe me that God heare my prayer and give eare unto it if he be still averse and turne away his Face O therefore Behold O Lord our shield and looke upon the face of thine anoynted For I shall never come to looke upon thy Face if thou vouchsafe not first to looke upon mine if thou afford me not as well the benefit of thine Eyes to looke upon me as the favour of thine Eares to heare me I shall be left onely to a bare expectation but never come to the happinesse of
a transitorie thing and wert not to continue thou mightst justly then looke after transitorie pleasures and such as have no continuance but seeing thou art a substance perpetuall and immortall O therefore looke after pleasures like thy selfe pleasures that may last and never come to the last that may last and be durable and not leave thee to the miserie of Fuit Ilium ingens gloria teucrorum for Fuisse foelicem miserrimum est To have beene happy and not to bee to have flourished and now to bee withered is the greatest miserie in the world And the greater for that once pluckt off from his stalke Once taken from the Earth the Earth will never know him any more Alas it will scarce take notice that ever such a one there was and the Verse 16 notice it takes but in specie neither not in Individuo some perhaps as of a man None as of this man or rather some as of a Name None as of a man Or is it rather that Man turned once to Dust his place will know him no more for how should it know one from another when they are all so like How know Dives from Lazarus when they have both the same face seeing Death hath but one copie to draw all her pictures by Or is it rather that Man once turn'd to Dust is blowne about with every wind from place to place and what knowes the place when Dust falls upon it whether it be the Dust of a Prince or of a Peasant whether of a Man or of a Beast And must not Man then bee needes very miserable when Time and place the two best helpes of life doe both forsake him for what helpe can hee have of Time when his dayes are but as Grasse What help of Place when his place denyes him and will not know him But O how vaine a thing is Man to forget not onely the very matter of which he is made but the very condition under which hee is made and so to forget it that God must bee faine to remember him of it but much the vainer that being remembred of it never so often yet hee regards it never the more but contenting himselfe to be fading grasse at most a fading flowre never seekes to improve his Dust to that true solidnesse which nothing but the feare of God is able to procure nothing but the pitty in God is able to effect But now at last if neither the Distances of Place nor the Affection of Nature can make you sufficiently conceive the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take an expressing in plaine tearmes and this will certainly make you conceive it For his mercy is from everlasting Verse 17 to everlasting upon them that feare him It is from everlasting for it began to be before the Foundations of the world were laid and it is to everlasting for it will continue to be when the Frame of the World shall bee dissolved that now O my soule there can bee no feare of the greatnesse of Gods mercy all the feare now is of thine owne feare for although Verse 18 Gods mercy bee so Everlasting yet it is so but to them that feare him for if thou feare him not and keepe not his Commandements then his mercy to thee is neither from Everlasting nor to Everlasting but if thou feare him and keepe his Commandements then his mercy to thee is both and not onely to Thee as though Gods mercy were onely a Personall benefit and should end with thy selfe but it shall be continued to thy childrens children Et natis natorum qui nascentur ab illis to thy whole Posteritie O my soule what an Inheritance is this to purchase to our children at least if it bee not an absolute Inheritance yet it is so sure an Entayle that nothing but the want of fearing God can cut it off And indeed why else hath God prepared Verse 19 his Throne in Heaven but to the end the godly may bee assured that though they bee now oppressed on earth yet thither they shall come at last to bee with him in Joy to bee there in Joy for having obeyed him when the wicked shall bee left behind to bewayle their miseries for not obeying him For though his Throne be prepared onely in Heaven Yet his kingdome ruleth over all Over All both Man and Beast both the Godly and the Wicked both blessed Angells and damned Spirits and because his Kingdome ruleth over all therefore All shall serve him and shall serve him indeed with feare yet there shall be a difference for the godly shall serve him with feare and joy where the wicked shall serve him with feare and trembling And now seeing God hath prepared his Throne in heaven Therefore O yee his Angells inhabitants of Heaven that obey his Commandements by the freedome of your will Doe you begin first and prayse his Name for you excell in strength and are best able to doe it And seeing his Kingdome ruleth overall Therefore all ye his Hosts his other Creatures that obey his Commandement too though not by will yet by instinct Doe you second the Angels in praising his Name And then thou my soule that partakest of both the Natures Doe thou also and with thee also the Soules of all the godly joyne with them in his Prayses that so at least there may bee a Consort of Three to Blesse and Praise him who is a Trinitie in Unitie Three Persons and one God to be Blessed and praised for ever and ever But to be blessed and praised as by all the persons of his Kingdome so in all the places of his Dominion which are Heaven and Earth and Hell a Triplicitie too for even Hell is a place within his Dominion And for praising him in Heaven the Angells will be sure enough to looke to that and for praising him in Hell let the wicked and the damned spirits looke to that at their perill but for praising him on Earth Thou my soule and the soules of all the godly will undertake to doe that at least will pray continually to him that sitteth upon the Throne to be enabled to doe it and when all these shall faile or lest they should faile when Heaven and Earth shall passe away when Time and Place shall bee no more yet his Prayse shall bee continued still by his owne Workes which are his Glory and his Power his Infinitenesse and his Eternitie but above all which is above all his Workes the Workes of his infinite and Everlasting Mercie THE HVNDRED AND SIXTEENTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Love the Lord because hee hath heard my voyce and my supplication 2 Because hee hath inclined his eare unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live 3 The sorrowes of death compassed me and the paines of hell got hold upon mee I found trouble and sorrow 4 Then called I upon the Name of the Lord O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soule 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous
stand not idle and may have some testimonie for my salvation that it grow not doubtfull There is one Verse 4 thing I have desired of the Lord and that I will seeke after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple This beholding of Gods beauty will be a continuall exercise for my Illumination and this enquiring in Gods holy Temple will give me assurance of my salvation It were very hard if David making but one request to God that God should deny him for hath he not bidden us to aske and wee should have and could David aske lesse then to aske but one thing No my soule God denied it not to David nor will deny it to thee nor to any other that shall aske it in Faith and specially if hee aske it to so good an end as David doth here to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple But seeing David would make but one request to God why would he not make a greater for alas what a poore request is this to desire to dwell in Gods house and what to doe but onely to see and to see what but onely a Beautie a fading thing at most but to enquire and what is enquiring but onely to heare newes a vaine fancie and what cause in any of these why David should make it his request to God But marke O my soule what goes with it Take altogether to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple And now tell mee if there be tell me if there can be any greater request to be made any greater cause to be earnest about it For though worldly beauty be a fading thing yet the Beauty of the Lord shall continue when the world it selfe shall fade away and though enquiring after newes be a vaine fancie yet to enquire in Gods Temple is the way to learne there is no new thing under the Sunne and there it was that Solomon learned that all is vanitie Indeed this one thing that David desires is in effect that Unum necessarium that Christ speakes of in the Gospell which Mary made choyce of there as David doth here and I may say it is that pretious Jewell which the rich Merchant sold all he had to buy and had his bargaine commended by Christ himselfe O how happy were wee if we could bound our desires within the compasse of things necesserie for all our miserie growes from this that our desires have no certaine dwelling but wander and range about from one object to another like vagabonds from place to place and no helpe there will be for it till our desire arrive at that which is the best for as long as there is any better to be had the Desire will never leave desiring and where is that best to be had but in him onely that is onely good in him indeed that is the onely good and seeing there can be no happinesse till the Desire be settled and the Desire will never be settled till wee come at God therefore no meanes so likely to make us happy as to dwell in Gods house for there wee are sure we shall be with him and once with him never have desire to any thing besides him There are other houses which in worldly considerations and to worldly mindes may seeme as convenient and perhaps be more profitable to dwell in then this house of God but that which makes me so desirous to dwell here rather then any where else is partly for the prospect that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and partly for instruction that I may enquire in his holy Temple For there is not such a Prospect againe in the world as this Not on the Mount where Christ was shewed all the Kingdomes of the earth and the glory of them Nor such another place for instruction as here Not all the Schooles of Philosophers Not all the Oracles of the Heathen in any degree to be compared with it And what then is this beauty of God which David is so desirous to behold what this house of God in which he desires to dwell There is a beauty of God in his creatures most glorious indeed and most worthy of beholding but yet this needs no dwelling in Gods house to see it wee may see it as well dwelling any where else but there is a beauty of God in himselfe a beauty which if once we see wee shall never be willing to take our eyes off a beauty which the more wee see the more we shall see cause to desire to see it a Beauty which without speciall illumination neither the eyes of men are able to behold nor the tongues of Angels to expresse and this Beauty is no where to be seene but in Gods house and not there neither but by dwelling in it It is not for every one that comes in as a stranger to see this Beauty they must be dwellers in it continuall and constant frequenters of it or they are never like to be admitted to behold it There is indeed in all the creatures of God in some more eminently a certaine tincture of this Beauty and is perhaps that which deceives us in the estimating of our happinesse because wee take tincture for substance and fixe our selves upon that which is made but onely for a passage For tinctures though they please for a time yet they soone weare out and decay no solidnesse nor durablenesse but in the substance it selfe and no substance of beauty but onely in God and therefore the truest happinesse indeed all true happinesse in onely the beholding of this Beauty And if any man doubt of this because seeing is but the satisfaction of one sense and happinesse gives satisfaction at least to all the senses Let him then heare what David in another place sayes Videte gustate quam suavis est Dominus See and taste how sweet the Lord is For in this Seeing not onely the Tasting but all the senses are united at least the pleasures of all the senses are comprised and the rather if wee consider that Beholding hath a preheminence above Seeing for where seeing may bee in Transitu onely Beholding implyes a permanencie and a fixing our eyes upon it and such is the Seeing that is the Essentiall sense of happinesse And what then is this house of God in which David desires to dwell hath God any other house then Heaven and would David dwell in Heaven whilst hee is dwelling upon Earth will nothing serve his turne but to aske God for impossibilities Indeed Heaven is Gods Throne but Heaven and Earth both are full of the Majestie of his glory and therefore God hath a House on earth too a House dedicate to the honour of his Name and David justly makes his Prayer for this House because indeed it is the house of Prayer and no Rent payd for dwelling in it
Verse 7 Moses his Acts to the children of Israel For when Moses went up to the Mount Sinai and tarried there with God the space of fourtie dayes we may well thinke that God in that time revealed many secrets to him and particularly made knowne his wayes not onely his wayes in which he would have us to walke but his wayes in which hee walkes himselfe and the course he holds in the Oeconomie and government of worldly affaires why hee suffers the wicked to prosper and why the godly to be oppressed These wayes of his hee made knowne to Moses to the children of Israel onely his Acts Hee shewed them his Wonders upon Pharaoh and that was his Judgement and he shewed them his wonderfull favours to themselves in the Wildernesse and that was his righteousnesse but hee shewed them not his way and the course he held in them They saw onely the Events of things they saw not the reasons of them as Moses did no more doe we nor is it fit we should It is enough for us enough for our comfort that we know this of God in generall That hee is mercifull and gracious Verse 8 slow to anger and full of compassion Not that any slownesse is in God but his slownesse is his Patience and his Patience is out of compassion for alas if God were as ready to anger as we are ready to provoke him to anger we had long ere this been turned to dust and utterly consumed O my soule here are foure properties spoken of to be in God and are all so necessary that we could not misse one of them If hee were not mercifull we could hope for no pardon and if he were no more but mercifull we could hope for no more but pardon but when besides his being mercifull he is also gracious this gives us a further hope a hope of a Donative and then it will not be what we are worthy to receive but what it is fit for him to give If he were not slow to anger we could expect no patience and if he were but onely slow to anger we could expect no more but patience but when besides his slownesse to anger hee is also full of compassion This makes us expect he will be the good Samaritane and not onely bind up our wounds but take care also for our further curing What though he chide and be angry for a time It is but our being patient awhile with him as he a long time hath beene Verse 9 patient with us For he will not bee alwayes chiding neither will hee keepe his anger for ever No my soule consider the rule of Nature that Nullum violentum est diuturnum and you will find it true in the God of Nature Mercy and Compassion are kindly and naturall in God and therefore these will continue and never leave him but chiding and anger are things I may say violent and not naturall in him and therefore it cannot bee that these should last or continue long with him Certainly it is as unpleasing to God to chide as it is to us to be chidden and so little hee likes of Anger that he riddes his hands of it as fast as he can he is not so slow in comming to it but he is as quick in getting from it for chiding is a barre to Mercy and Anger an impediment to Compassion and nothing is so distastfull to God as that any block should lye in the way of his Mercy or that the libertie of his Compassion should have any cause of restraint and then we may be sure hee will not himselfe lay a block in the way with chiding nor be a cause to restraine his Compassion by keeping his Anger And we may the better be perswaded of this in that which is to come by taking notice of that which is past For Hee hath not dealt Verse 10 with us after our sinnes neither rewarded us according to our iniquities Though he have chidden yet hee hath not strucken or if hee have strucken yet his blowes have not beene great not so great to doe us any hurt for there is mercy in his very Anger and though we keep our selves within no bounds of sinning yet he keepes his Anger within the bounds of Mercy Alas O Lord if thou shouldst deale with me after my sinnes as I have used no measure in my sinning so thou shouldst use no measure in my punishing and what then could I expect to befall me but utterly to perish But why is it that God hath not dealt with us after our sinnes Is it not because hee hath dealt with another after our sinnes Another who tooke our sinnes upon him of whom it is said that God chastened him in his fierce wrath and why did he chasten him but for our sinnes O gracious God Thou art too just to take revenge twice for the same faults and therefore having turned thy fierce wrath upon him Thou wilt not turne it upon us too but having rewarded him according to our iniquities thou wilt now reward us according to his Merits O Deere Jesus let not thy painfull sufferings bee made frustrate by my sinfull doings but so mediate betweene God and my sinnes that hee may turne away his angry Countenance from me and looke upon me onely with the eye of his Mercy And O my soule how canst thou doubt of this when As high as the Verse 11 Heaven is above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that feare him and who would wish for a greater mercy to bee in God then this But yet the distance betweene Earth and Heaven though great and indeed very admirable great is but a limited distance and is there then a limitation and a boundary of Gods mercy May I not as truly say as low as Hell is beneath the Earth so great is my sinne in the sight of God and how then am I sure that Gods mercy is any greater then my sins and if not greater how can it pardon them O my soule though the heighth of Heaven be limited yet Gods mercy hath no limitation for his Mercy is above all his Workes and therefore above Heaven the worke of his hands Or if hee seeme to set a limitation to Gods mercy is it not perhaps because there is some sinne that is not capable of his Mercy for sinne against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come But O my soule though Gods mercy bee without limitation yet let it not make thee the bolder to sinne for though it be so great yet it is so great to none but to them that feare him for to them that feare him not it is not so great Alas it is not great at all Alas it will be none at all but if thou feare him and to feare him is to feare to sinne then thy sinne can never be so great but that Gods mercy which is as high as Heaven will bring thee to bee admitted into the
kingdome of Heaven But if you thinke this distance of height from Earth to Heaven not sufficiently to expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take the distance of length from East to West For as farre as the East is from the West so farre Verse 12 hath he removed our sinnes from us that if the East and the West can never come to meet together no more shall our sinnes bee ever able to come against us in the sight of God But alas this gives not so good satisfaction as the other for though the distance from East to West bee vast indeed to us as to which our sight cannot reach though wee should use all the Perspective glasses of the world yet what is this to God who can as easily see from East to West as if they were hard by and close together But is it not that all Gods mercy to us is onely in Christ and may wee not then conceive that these Distances are represented by the manner of Christs hanging upon the Crosse where his Feet and his Head seeme to point from Earth to Heaven and the stretching out his hands seemes to point from East to West But though Relation to Christ be not the ground of these expressions yet it cannot be doubted but that they sufficiently expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy seeing they are the greatest distances that humane apprehension is capable to conceive But if you bee not satisfied with these expressings from Distances of place then take an expressing from the affection of Nature Verse 13 For as a Father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him And now let any that is a Father examine his owne Bowells how much he pitties his children and then say If Gods pitty to them that feare him be not in a very high degree Certainly if any Name could expresse a greater pitty then the name of a Father Christ would never have taught us to use this Name in making our prayers And who could be so fit to make this comparison as David who gave a testimonie of it in himselfe by making his moane O my sonne Absolom my sonne my sonne Absolom would God I had dyed for thee O Absolom my sonne my sonne that now it seemes Gods pitty is matcht and this example reacheth home to expresse the greatnesse of Gods pitty to the full No my soule it is too short yet for though the pitty of a Father may reach to be willing to dye for his Child yet Gods pitty reacheth further not onely to be willing to dye but to dye indeed and not onely for a Child but for his Enemies for when wee were enemies even then did Christ very God dye for us that Gods pitty holds the supremacie still and cannot indeed be matcht alas it cannot be exprest by any thing that is in man But though there may be comparison in the tendernesse of their pitties yet in the abilitie there can bee none for a Father pitties often-times a child when he cannot helpe him but Gods pitty is alwayes active and powerfull and never without releeving that though it be commonly said It is better to be envied then pittied yet here it is not so but it is a farre happier thing to be pittied of God then to be envied of men But whom is it that God pitties onely them that feare him and indeed Feare is a thing that deserves to be pittied for it makes the joynts to tremble and puts the spirits in amazement But O my soule it is not such a Feare that is here meant but this Feare is all one I may say with love and differs but in the Object for looking upon Gods Justice wee feare him and looking upon his Mercy wee love him although wee love him for his Justice too and wee feare him for his Mercie too for as there is Mercie with him that hee may be feared so there is Justice with him that he may be loved But why is it that God pitties them that feare him Indeed hee hath cause enough to Verse 14 pittie them For hee considers of what wee are framed Hee remembers that we are but dust and alas what is there in dust to helpe it selfe if God in mercy take not pitty upon it When God lookes downe upon us and sees how foule we are growne whom hee Created cleane hath he not cause to fall a chiding and to be angrie yet when he considers of what we are framed and that wee are but dust this is some cause againe to make him leave his chiding and not to keepe his anger for ever that we may truly say Our miseries are our happinesse for if it be our miserie that we are framed of so meane a matter as Dust It is our happinesse that wee have the meannesse of our matter for God to take into his consideration and perhaps this was it at least one circumstance that made so ill for the Angels that fell that God could find no excuse of their sinne in their matter the more hee considered of what they were framed the more he found he had cause to bee angrie and therefore no marvell if his anger to them continue for ever But this is every ones case to bee framed of Dust and why then should God pitty some more then others seeing they bee equally of Dust All Is it not that hee is the lesse angrie indeed for that they are but Dust but yet he pitties them not for being Dust but for being Dust and fearing him for if they feare him not he never pitties them but lets them goe on in their Pride at least in their securitie and make what they can of their Dust for they reckon upon great matters from their Dust and thinke they can improve it to a great heigth but alas what can they make of it but to come to be grasse at most to get up to be a flowre a poore fading thing that whether Verse 15 you gather it or let it grow whether the Sunne shine upon it or the Wind blow upon it it quickly withers and once withered becomes a pittifull sight to be seene a loath some thing to be smelt that where all the grace of it consisted in the two Senses of sight and smelling it is now offensive to both and is no longer carried in the hand or worne in the bosome Alas it is scarce thought worthy to have a place upon the dunghill And indeed what could more be lookt for of Dust being so light a thing as it is that if the wind but passe over it if you but blow upon it it is presently scattered and gone and the place where it was will know it no more And such is Man his flourishing is but as a Flowre as quickly withered as a Flowre and as soone cropt off from his stalke as a Flowre and alas what good is in a flourishing that ends in a withering What happinesse in pleasures that have no continuance O my soule if thou wert thy selfe