's God that bringeth down the high and exalteth the low That drieth up the Green Tree and that causeth the Dry Tree to flourish God is Judg he setteth up one and pulleth down another Thou art the great Rewarder and Punisher of Good and Evil. Thou fillest Heaven and Earth with thy presence Thou art acquainted with all our ways and ponderest all our goings Thou sittest upon the Thrones in the Heavens and from thence beholdest the bottomless places There is not any Creature that is not manifest in thy sight All things are naked before thine Eyes with whom we have to do He that planted the Ear shall he not hear and he that formed the Eye shall he not see Thou discoverest Deep things out of Darkness and bringeth to Light the Shadow of Death Thou declarest the things that are past and for to come and revealeth the steps of hidden things No thought escapeth thee neither is any word hidden from thee The ways of good men and the goodness of their ways and the ways of evil men and the evil of their ways are not hidden from thee The Lord is in his Holy Temple the Lords Throne is in Heaven his Eyes behold his Eye lids try the Children of Men. Thou searchest the Heart thou triest the Reins that thou may'st give unto every Man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings Thou watchest over the Wicked to pluck them up and to destroy them but thou watchest over the Righteous to build them and to plant We own thy absolute Soveraignty over us and although thou art girded with Strength and who can say What doest thou Yet thou doest nothing but what is equal and right Thy ways are always full of righteousness tho not always full of clearness to mortals Thou art righteous in all thy Ways and just in all thy Judgments As thou art known to be King of Nations by thy works of Providence abroad in the World so thou art known to be the King of Saints because the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a Scepter of Righteousness Thou lovest Righteousness and Judgment and takest pleasure in Uprightness All the Works of the Lord are good he giveth every one in season and when need is so that a man need not say this is worse than that for in due time all thy doings will prove worthy of praise Our God one day will bring forth all the grounds of all his Dispensations towards Man and all the Proceedings with him in such a demonstrative and undeniable Consonancy even to the very Reason of Man that every Mouth shall be stopped It s far from thee to do wickedness it s far from the Almighty to commit iniquity Thy Counsels of old are Faithfulness and Truth Thou sittest upon the Throne of Holiness To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbaoth Righteousness and Judgment are the Habitations of thy Throne Thou keepest the Paths of Judgment According to thy Name O Lord so are thy praises to the ends of the Earth thy right hand is full of Righteousness Thou exercisest Loving Kindness Righteousness and Judgment in the Earth for thou excellest therein They that honour thee thou wilt honour but they that despise thee shall be but lightly esteemed The righteousness of the Upright shall deliver them but the Wicked shall be caught in their own naughtiness The Lord loveth the righteous but the wicked and him that loveth violence his Soul hateth The Lord is known by the Judgment that he executeth the wicked is snar'd in the work of his own hands The foolish shall not stand in thy sight thou hatest all the workers of iniquity He that will not bow to thy Scepter of Mercy shall be crushed in pieces by the Rod of thy Wrath. With thee is terrible Majesty Thou canst shew thy strength at all times and who may with-stand the power of thine Arm. At thy wrath the Earth shall tremble the wicked shall not be able to abide thine Indignation Thou who build'st the World can'st easily destroy the wicked Thou art wise in heart and mighty in strength who hath harden'd himself against thee and prosper'd The Pillars of Heaven tremble and are astonish'd at thy reproof Thro the greatness of thy power shall thy enemies submit unto thee We adore thy righteousness O God when thou punishest the wicked because they trample upon thy most righteous Edicts When thou judgest 't is not out of Soveraignty but Justice Thou never did'st command Man to do any thing but what was conducible to his own happiness Thou madest the World for Man thou madest Man to obey thee and the reason thou commanded'st Man to serve thee was that thereby he might be eternally blessed If we had walk'd in thy Counsels they had before this time led us out from under the Curse we are now labouring under One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand elsewhere It 's better to be a Door-keeper in the House of God than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness We taste and relish the joys of Heaven when we contemplate thy Attributes which are the Notifications of thy Nature so far as is knowable The Demonstrations that thou hast given of thy self in thy Attributes is sufficient if we did but rightly consider to make us both fear and love thee Thy Holiness Justice and Power well consider'd would put a Bridle in our Jaws to keep us from rushing into Sin as a Horse rusheth into the Battle And thy Mercy Truth Goodness and Sufficiency well learn'd is enough to make us love thee and to be a willing people in the day of thy Power Confession of Sin OUR Guilt flasheth in our Faces wo unto us for we have sinned We have not kept the way of the Lord but perfidiously departed from our God In the greatness of our Folly we have gone astray We have Prophan'd our Affections which are due onely to God by setting them upon base and contemptible Objects The Spirit of Fornication is in the midst of us According to the multitude of the Fruit we have increased the Altars according to the goodness of our Land we have made the Images We have gone a Whoring after our own Inventions Sin like a strong Byass hath drawn our hearts from God We have run after other Lovers our Adulteries are between our Breasts We have tempted Temptation to deceive us How hotly we have follow'd the Chase of our own Delusions We are guilty of the two Old Evils we have snatch'd at the Shadow but let go the Substance VVe have forsaken the Fountains of Living Water and have hewn unto our selves broken Cisterns that hold no VVater Instead of trusting in God that giveth good things we have trusted in the good things that God hath sent Instead of rejoycing in God that giveth us Blessings we rejoyce in the Blessings that God hath given We have gaz'd upon the brightness but consider'd not the britleness We have
who worship Idols How lamentable it is to go into a Church when the Minister is at Prayer and the People about him scarce one of them shewing any Respect Reverence Affection or Devotion their eyes wandering from one part of the Congregation to another the Men adjusting of their Hair or Peruque and the other Sex their Ornaments some whispering others in intolerable Postures yet will observe their times to give their Responds and speak to God when they do not think of him These are they that God complaineth of That draw near unto him with their lipps when their hearts are far from him I plead not for outward Postures and Gestures yet I am sure if the heart be rightly affected it commandeth the Body When the Mind is fill'd with what concerneth us in the performance of this Duty we are far from notifying other Trifles How many there are that think they have performed their Duty of Prayer when they have rabbl'd over a many words altho they have no more sense or knowledg of what they say then Parrots have I have read of one Bolus an Actor upon a Stage in the Representation of Grief he feign'd a Weeping but at the very time he remembred the death of his onely Daughter then he weep'd in earnest I wish that our ordinary Actors when they say daily We have left undone those things that we ought to have done and done those things which we ought not to have done and that there is no health in us c. The words are good and above exception as indeed in my Judgment is all the Liturgy of the Church of England I wish that they that daily use it did but feel the weight of the words and that their Understandings did go along with their Tongues and remember what they speak is true they would be sorrowful indeed When we say We have left undone those things that we ought to have done We say in effect we have not paid that Fear Adoration Reverence Honour Praise Love Obedience c. that is due from us to God nor that Love Pity Charity and Mercy that is due to our Neighbours And when we say That we have done those things that we ought not to have done that is we have made unto our selves other Gods that we have imagined Security in transitory things prophaned the Name of God and his Saboths that our lives have been disorderly in Disobedience Cruelty Incontinency Rapine Perfidiousness and Coveteousness and when we say There is no health in us We own that our Brain is the Forge of Wickedness our Eyes full of Adultery our Tongues unruly Evils full of deadly Poison our Throats open Sepulchres our Hearts deceitful above measure and desperately wicked yea all our Members the Instruments of Iniquity Now if our Consiciences were but as ready as active as Nathan was to David and tell us yea convince every one of us that thou art the Man that hath contracted all this guilt and art so wretched and God darting in some beams of Divine light as he commonly doth when we wait upon him in sincerity this would make us turn our formalities into realities I must say I have had many times a warm heart full of Devotion in reading the Common Prayer by fetching and binding my Understanding to the sense of the words I own their Zeal and Piety that were the Compilers of it but think it 's impossible to perswade me that they ever intended to blind and oblige Gifted Men so to it as not to exercise their Indowments Neither do I find that the Governours of our Church pretend to it It was a sweet Admonition of St. Paul to the Corinthians Neither to give offence to the Jew nor to the Gentile nor to the Church of God God knoweth my endeavors are for Love Peace and Unity I have been very careful in my Studies not to write any thing that could give just offence If any thing in this Epistle seem to be too severe and that there are too many grating Reflections so far as I know my own heart the Arrows I have shot I sent them with a good will not for ruin but remedy Why shall I not meet with a Candid Interpretation But if otherwise I determine to be purely passive and receive all the Scorn Contempt or what else can come with an indeclinable acquiescence in the Will of God that will e'r long discover the secrets of all hearts In the interim I doubt not but these my labours and endeavours will be a Guide and Assistance to many that are hungering and thirsting after Righteousness that are inquiring Where Christ feedeth and where his Flocks rest at Noon day That wait for Wisdom as they that watch for the Morning But let no one speak to God by mine or any other Directions except the heart speak the words and the words the heart And that you may so do I 'll but open one Text of Scripture and conclude this It is in Joshua 15. 16. And Caleb said He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher and taketh it to him will I give Achsach my Daughter to Wife This Kirjath-sepher was a City in Canaan that held out after that the Israelites had got possession of the Land Caleb seeing it to be very desirable and most necessary for them propoundeth his Daughter Achsach which was very beautiful and worthy as a Reward to any one that should take Kirjath-sepher What chiefly concerneth me to open to you is What this Kirjath-sepher and Achsach and how to apply them in a Spiritual Sense Kirjath-sepher signifieth the Strong-hold of the Letter and Achsach the Rending of the Vail so whosoever smiteth and taketh the Strong-hold of the Letter of the Scriptures or any other Divine Truths shall have the Rending of the Vail That is Whosoever shall find out the spiritual Meaning of the things written in Scripture or else-where that are Divine shall have the Vail rent that is between us and the things that are spiritually discerned and we shall see into the beauty of Holiness Reader Consider the Letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life Whoever depends upon the External Performances of Outward Ordinances or the Historical Knowledge of Christ for their Salvation will surely meet with such disappointment that death instead of life will be their portion Therefore whatever thou dost gain Kirjath-sepher there lieth all the Treasure then Achsach will surely be thine that Vail which covereth thy Face whilst thou art a Stranger to the Life of Grace shall be rent and thou wilt see that which will make thee cry out Psal 84. 1 2 10. How aimable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord. One day in thy Courts is better then a Thousand else where c. And the Vail that covereth thy Face shall not only be rent but the Vail that covereth thy Heart thou wilt not only see of the Divine Excellencies that are in God and a Pisgah's Prospect
we rise in Thankful Praises It s great Condescension in thee to be content to be prais'd or beloved by such miserable Creatures of uncircumcised hearts and lips Eternity it self is little enough to praise thee Blessed be the Majesty of Heaven for our Creation and that we are Men and not Beasts Blessed be God for our Immortal Souls that are capable of Communion with thy own self for ever and ever Let our never-ceasing Praises wait upon thee for our Redemption the great Work which the Angels desire to look into Everlastingly praised be our God for the light of his Glory that shineth in the Face of Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of his Grace Our Praises wait upon thee for Free Grace that unlimited Treasury of the highest Love and Bounty Thy precious Love is from Eternity to Eternity That hath prevented the Lion from coming out of the Thicket and hath kept the Destroyer out of sight That hath stopp'd the Mouths of the Lyons of thy Judgments so as they have not torn in pieces when there was none to deliver us Our Praises wait upon our God for Free Grace that Blessed Root out of which springeth all the pleasant and precious Mysteries of the Gospel The most Beautiful Womb out of which Christ Jesus with all his Heavenly Treasures the unspeakable Priviledges Prerogatives Graces and Comforts that are to be had in him and by him do come forth The Blessed Cause that is sufficient to produce the Blessed Effects of the Salvation of our Souls thro Jesus Christ our Lord. The Blessed Fountain that continually sends forth Streams of Comfort to refresh the dejected disconsolate weary and heavy loaden ones The Bow thou hast set in the Clouds of Spiritual Sorrow to assure the Contrite Ones that thy Wrath shall not over-flow them Were it not for thy Grace what should we do when our Sins testifie against us but call for the Mountains to fall upon us and the Hills to cover us from the Presence of the Lord. Thy Grace hath kept many Thousands from following Judas into Despair When we know not what to do then we turn our Eyes towards thee and find there is yet hope for Israel It was Free Grace that our great Lord Christ lived and died to declare We adore the great Minister of Grace Jesus Christ our Lord the Ark that saveth us from perishing in the Floods of our Iniquities Who was given for us who was conceived and born for us who lived and died for us who rose again for us and who ever liveth and maketh Intercession for us Who trod the Wine-Press alone The Son of God became the Son of Man that the Sons of Men might become the Sons of God Who was made like unto all that all might be made like unto him Who sought us in sharp ways and bought us with a dear price Who came from Heaven to Earth that we may go from Earth to Heaven The Brightness of the Fathers Glory and the Express Image of Person paid the Price of our Redemption to discharge us Rebels who were in our Filthiness in our Blood Our Jesus leap'd into a Sea of Wrath to save us from perishing He waded thro a Sea of Sufferings to procure a Pardon for our Transgressions Who made himself Sin for us who knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him He suffer'd our Cross that we might wear his Crown He died our Death that we might live his Life Who endured our Hell that we might enjoy his Heaven He bore our Griefs and carry'd our Sorrows He was wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities The Chastisementâ— of our Peace was upon him and by his Stripes we may be healed We all like Sheep have gone astray but on him was laid the Iniquities of us all Adored be Christ Jesus who hath done what we ought to have done and suffered what we ought to have suffered This is the solid Basis of our Comfort The Lord of Life is the Way to escape Eternal Death Altho we have turn'd our Backs on Grace and with the Israelites loath'd the Manna and hath so little regarded what the Lord Christ hath done and suffer'd for us and that Blessed Treasure that he at so dear a rate bought for us and hath been daily offer'd unto us yet he pleadeth for us stoppeth Judgment and stayeth Divine Vengeance Altho the Earth was thought too good for him he thinketh not Heaven too good for us Our Praises wait upon the Majesty of Heaven for the continuance of the Gospel the Wisdom of God ordained before the World unto our Glory the Power of God unto Salvation unto every one that believe That mighty Efflux and Emanation of Life and Spirit freely issuing from an Omnipotent Source of Grace and Love That true God-like Vital Influence whereby Divinity derives it self into the Souls of Men inlivening and transforming them into its own likeness and strongly imprinting upon them a Copy of its own Beauty and Goodness Blessed be God that thy Precepts are yet our Heritage in the House of our Pilgrimage The Light without which the whole World would be but a dark Chaos Our Praises wait upon our God because we are within the sound of his Trumpets Because the Sun of the Gospel shineth upon the Lot of our Inheritance Our Praises wait upon thee because the Holy Spirit is still ready to bear witness to our Spirits the Truth of thy Holy Word which transcribeth thy Heart and Mind unto us Thy Judgments thou hast laid before us and the Way of Truth whereby we may be kept from the Paths of the Destroyer Our Praises wait upon thee our God for all the faithful Dispencers of thy Word and Sacraments It s great favour that thou hast not removed them into Corners and that their Tongues do not cleave to the roofs of their Mouths Jonah was sent from Samaria to Nineveh doubtless we have turn'd as deaf an Ear as ever did Samaria It s unspeakable Mercy that thou hast not commanded the Clouds that they rain no more rain upon us That thou hast not pronounced against us They that are filthy let them be filthy still and they that are unrighteous let them be unrighteous still Our Praises wait upon our God for all the great and precious Promises ratified by the Oath of God the Father sealed by the Blood of God the Son testified by God the Holy Ghost and deliver'd by the hand of Mercy Those Breathings of Divine Love The Breasts of the Gospel out of which we draw forth so much Consolation Those firm Foundations to build upon Great and precious Promises To the Chief of Sinners To them that have been prodigalizing all their days and spent all upon Lust To them that have all the day been standing idle in the Market-place even until the Eleventh hour Altho we have run so much upon the score that if thou shouldst arrest us all the Angels of Heaven could not