Heaven but that what goeth up in a Cloud of Prayer may descend again in a Shower of Blessings And that none of thy prudent Counsels may prove abortive but what thou hast been travelling with for the Glory of God the Welfare of the Church and the Good of the Nation thou maist be able to bring forth The Lord grant that thy Prayers may be followed with satisfactory Answers that thy Counsels may be crowned with prosperous Issues and thou maist prove most happily successful in them both Besides these their Prayers for the King whose Example let us follow in Prayer for ours who highly deserves it at our hands as all must acknowledge who are not basely disingenuous and ungrateful they do in the words of the Text promise and ingage for their interesting themselves in his Good and that his Safety Peace and Welfare shall be the matter of their Comfort We will rejoyce in thy salvation In which words we may take notice of these two parts I. A great Mercy or Blessing bestowed upon the Person of the King that is Salvation II. A sutable Affection thereupon working in the Hearts of the People and that is Joy this they promised We will rejoyce in thy salvation If God be thy Defence that shall be our Delight and I question not their Performance good Men will be as good as their word And may their Example be followed by us may all the People of this Land tread in their steps God hath graciously commanded Salvation for our King and now let us rejoyce in his Salvation Sure I am there is very great reason why we should The Doctrine which I shall from hence draw and insist upon will be this DOCT. The Prince's Salvation is just and great Cause for the Peoples Joy When the Prince's Salvation goeth before the Peoples Joy should quickly follow after Praises should even tread upon the heels of Mercy and answer presently as the Eccho doth the Voice And now that our King who hath receiv'd the Mercy doth out of that kindly and deep sence he hath of it call us to the work of Praise we should have our Ears open to the Call and our Hearts rais'd and tun'd for the Work Now that their Majesties say to us all Bless the Lord with us that Man who will not come forth with a Blessing deserves to meet with a Curse at home He that is without his Joy is unworthy of a share in the Benefits of the Salvation In the Prosecution of this Point I shall observe this Method 1st I shall prove it and give you some Reasons for it why the Prince's Salvation should be the Peoples Joy 2dly I shall instance in some particulars which do accent the Salvation and therefore may very well raise and encrease the Peoples Joy A special Salvation ought to be attended with more than a common Joy Here I shall present you with some Considerations that may help to furnish you with the better Sacrifices of Thanksgiving and prove as Fuel to raise a higher and more noble Flame 3dly I shall in a few things shew you what kind of Joy we should have what ought to be the Properties of it if we desire-it may be accepted and approved of God and then 4thly We shall make some Improvement of it in a way of Use and Application and in all have a due Respect to the Time We will begin with the first and shall speak to it as at this day it hath a direct reference to his present Majesty his Salvation doth loudly call upon us to rejoyce in it for these Reasons 1. Because it is such a Salvation as hath come to him upon the Wings of Prayer Sudden and unexpected Mercies Deliverances and Salvations ought to be rejoyced in such as come to us in a way of Surprize when God doth for us things that we thought not of that we looked not for these we should entertain with Joy and be thankful for These speak the watchful Care and rich Mercy of a gracious God But when we can look on a Mercy a Salvation as an Answer of Prayer it puts a further and very delicious Sweetness into it and accordingly calls for the higher Praises When a poor Woman hath been in hard Labour and had many a severe Throw and terrible Pang that hath extorted Groans and Shreiks from her Oh! what Joy is there when she is told that a lovely perfect Child is brought forth into the World If we do not trifle with Duty but understand what Prayer is and manage it aright we do travel in Prayer we have our Pangs and Throws and surely it is with great Wrestlings that we wrestle and when the Mercy sticks in the birth what an Agony is the holy Soul put into And when we do prevail when Free-grace saith Be it to you even as you will and Divine Providence midwives the Mercy into the World we should be very disingenuous ingrateful and unworthy if we should not heartily Welcome it embracing and hugging it with joyful Arms. A bare Salvation is a Mercy a single Mercy but a Salvation fetched in by Prayer is a Mercy doubled upon us A meer Salvation is but a common Mercy extended to the Bad as well as to the Good to Brutes as well as to reasonable Creatures for God preserveth Man and Beast But that Salvation which is commanded and sent in as a Return of Prayer is a special Mercy How greatly upon that account was the Heart of that good Man David affected in the 66 Psal. 19 20. Verily God hath heard me he hath attended to the voice of my prayer Blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me Now while our King hath been studying caring and consulting for us while he hath been travelling labouring and fighting for us we have been praying for him Some of us have been praying for him every day and more than once in a day you know what Prayers have been made and multiplied for him in our publick Congregations and solemn Assemblies what Clouds of Incense have ascended to Heaven what Days of Prayer have been spent and set apart for him what Fastings and Prayers there have been and in them the Pourings out of our Souls and it hath not been in vain God hath heard and answer'd and done therefore let us be joyful in the Lord and his Goodness and take up the aforesaid Expression Blessed be God that hath not turned away our Prayer nor his saving Mercy from our Soveraign Yea and again let us say Blessed be God 2. The King's Salvation is and ought to be the Matter of our Rejoycing because by means thereof there is the continuance of our Peace and Prosperity Indeed when Princes instead of being the Fathers of their Country do become Tyrants and their Government degenerates into Oppression when they bind heavy Yokes and Burdens upon their Subjects and sport themselves in their Sorrow and Ruine when they take destructive Courses and are
instead of setting up Mischief by a Law hath by Law as we to our Ease and Comfort see given them Protection and Encouragement opening unto them by a gracious Hand a wide Door though there be many Adversaries to whom it is an Eye-sore The good Lord grant that none might be able to shut it and that all might be made so wise as not to abuse it It is great a very great Mercy to a Protestant People to have a Protestant King and Queen set over them and this is the Mercy which our God hath now extended to this sinful unworthy and provoking Nation And oh that it may be continued to us and blessed for ever blessed be his holy Name that it hath been continued to us so long and upon that account let us heartily rejoyce in their Salvation Fourthly The Salvation of the Prince is to be looked upon by the People as matter of great Joy when it hath been a Salvation from great and eminent Dangers The greater the Dangers have been the greater is the Deliverance and the greater the Deliverance is the greater should the Rejoycing be So far as our Ability reacheth there ought to be some Proportion between the Receipt and the Return We shall be too low when we rise up to our highest it is a shame for them to content themselves with doing little things for God for whom God hath been pleased to do great things David took special notice of this as to himself in the 18 Psal. 50. Great deliverance giveth he to his king and sheweth mercy to his anointed I doubt not but we may say Our King is God's King God hath set his King upon the Throne in these Nations he was raised up and sent to us by God he was called and spirited by God he was advanced over us as by the general Choice and Consent of the People so by a special and mighty Hand of God It was the Lord's doing and well may it be marvellous in our eyes 118 Psal. And great deliverance hath God given to his king Let the King remember and with all Humility own what followeth That God sheweth mercy to his Anointed Though he hath deserved great things of us yet nothing of God he hath deserved a Crown of us but not a a Crum of God of us he hath highly merited but not of God 16 Psal. O Lord said the King my goodness extendeth not to thee His Deliverance was a great Mercy and we may well call it a great Mercy because it was a great Deliverance Great it was in itself and great I hope it will be in its Effects May Proud and Cruel Lewis feel it so It was a multiplied Deliverance a repeated Salvation not only from one single Danger but from several there was a Complication of them some of them are known and are there not more unknown It is like the Devils name Legion may very fitly be given them for they are many Something we are made acquainted with by the Royal Proclamation A Preservation of their Majesties Government notwithstanding the Designs and Attempts of their open and secret Enemies Though their Government hath been so just that it pleaseth good Men and so mild that it might attract and reconcile bad Men yet still they have their Enemies There are those that rather than they will not be Enemies to our King and Queen will fall out with Reason and be Enemies to themselves and their own Interest and we may be sure they are not without their Design because they are wicked nor without their Attempts because they are restless And there are too many of both sorts for certain more than are good Abundance of open Enemies the God of Heaven fight against them abundance of secret Enemies the Lord discover them and either change their Hearts or blast and confound them both Great Deliverance the King had from many and great Dangers of War in his late Expedition beyond the Seas when Swords were drawn against him Bullets flew thick about him and he was the principal Mark they levelled and aimed at besides there was the Defeat of an horrid and barbarous Conspiracy for the cutting off his Sacred Person and putting a Period to his precious Life by Assassination Hell and Rome and France have been busie at work and God knoweth how many more of the Divel's Imps concurr'd and joyn'd with them But his and our God hath had an eye upon him for good delivering him from bloudy and violent Men and giving him the Shield of his Salvation his right Hand hath holden him up This one thing being well and throughly consider'd will do much to the inlarging of our Hearts in Praises And oh that they may be so this day and longer too Fifthly The Prince's Salvation well may yea and ought to be by the People looked upon as great matter of their Rejoycing when much exceeding much depends upon his Life Who is there that can tell or conceive what never enough to be lamented Changes and Alterations would have attended his Miscarriage What a dismal Catastrophe would there have been upon his Dissolution How many pale Faces aking Hearts in these three Nations What Floods of Tears wringing of Hands and trembling of Limbs would have followed not only here but in all places where the Everlasting Gospel is in Estimation And on the other side what Te Deams and Triumphs in France what Insultings Healthings and Huzza's among the Atheists Papists prophane Debauchees and vilest of Men among us Had our implacable Enemies prevailed against him they would not have question'd the working their Will upon us Had he not returned in Safety and with Honour to us we might have bid a sad Farewel to our Religion Peace Prosperity all that we can call good and wished for Death rather than Life seeking Ease and Rest in the silent and lonely Grave which we could not possibly have enjoyed above Ground His Fall would have shaken all the Protestant Princes and States in the World and made so great a Gap and wide a Breach among ourselves as that an Inundation of Evils would suddenly have broken in upon us and we been deluged with all sorts of Miseries which it is in the Power of prevailing and enraged Enemies to bring upon the People of their Wrath. That was a notable Expression of David 75 Psal. 30. The earth and all the inhabitants of it are dissolved His meaning is they were so in the time of Saul who was wicked himself remiss in his Government and suffered the Reins to lie loose and Men to take the Bit in their Mouths and run into what Villanies they pleased all was turned into Disorder and Dissoluteness From the Throne of GOD and the the LAMB 22 Revel there proceeds a pure River clear as Chrystal but from the Throne of Saul there came a Stream as black as Hell which poysoned the Country There was no Care taken of Religion nor of the due Administration of Justice and so both Place
A SERMON Preached on the Thanksgiving-Day The 27 th Day of October 1692. AT CROSBY-SQUARE By SAMUEL SLATER Minister of the GOSPEL LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultry over-against the Compter 1693. TO THAT Flock of GOD which meets at Crosby-Square Dearly Beloved THE following Discourse was through Divine Assistance prepared for you and deliver'd in your hearing it is now publish'd upon your Desire which would not take a Denial Ambition of appearing in Print is far from me the very Trouble of it is sufficient to discourage one who hath so much Work besides to engage him But you are so dear over me and to me that to refuse what you request is next to impossible specially when it speaks your Zeal for their Majesties Interest and tends to the promoting of common Good The Acceptance my poor Labours find with you is a great strengthening of my Hands as your Peace and Unity among yourselves and the sincere Love you bear to all that love our dear Lord Jesus is no less the matter of my Rejoycing Sad Divisions there are to be found up and down at this day which cause great Thoughts of Heart and call for great Searching Oh that the infinitely great and wise Physician would be pleased to speed the Healing of them and blessed be his Name the Devil hath not hitherto set his Cloven Foot among you and oh that he never may And that you may still keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace growing exceedingly and sensibly in Grace and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shining with the bright Beams of Holiness to the Adorning of your Profession And that you may meet with God in Ordinances here to your Comfort and Improvement and after that have a full Enjoyment of him and immediate Communion with him in his Heavenly Kingdom for ever is and shall be the hearty Prayer of him who is Yours to serve you in the Gospel of Christ S. SLATER From my Study Nov. 14 1692. XX. Psalm v. We will rejoyce in thy salvation THIS short but sweet and excellent Psalm was indited by the holy Spirit of God and penn'd by David the sweet Singer of Israel in the form and manner of a Prayer for the help of the Church in their imploring Blessings and Successes upon their Kings whom God by his Providence had set over them though here is also a particular Reference or Respect had unto the Lord Jesus who is the Head of the Church and over all things to the Church King of Sion and of Saints Of whom those other Kings in their Power and Authority were Types shadowing of him out in his Royal Office and Dignity and some of them as David and Solomon were so in a more special and peculiar manner The Psalm indeed doth contain in it two parts or is made up of two things Prayer and Praise The former of these namely the Prayer takes up the five first Verses in which they do humbly and heartily beg of GOD these things for the King First They beg of GOD Audience for the KING The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble Where we may observe that Kings may be in Trouble as well as meaner Persons They have Burdens upon them the Burden of Government which calls for a strong Sholder and the Burden of Care which requires an able Head and Heart And as they have their Burdens so their Troubles Crowns and Thrones are not without their Thorns no more than other Things Trouble will make its entry into the Prince's Palace as well as the Peasant's Cottage Observe again As Princes have their Troubles so they should not be without their Prayer It is not enough for them that their Clergy and other Subjects are Suitors on their behalf but they ought to spread their own Case before God and make their Requests known to him while their People pray for them they should pray for themselves and their People too As they are Men of Power so they should be Men of Prayer I give my self unto prayer said David And happy that Nation which hath a Praying King such a King as is valiant and dares fight with Enemies for them and being gracious knoweth how to wrestle with GOD too It is in the Text taken for granted that the King prays and therefore they desire he may be heard Observe again While the King prays it is the People's Duty to back him and set in with God with him and for him We owe him a special Room in our Hearts and Petitions The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble Doth the King pray oh that he may prosper oh that his Prayer may come up before God as Incense oh that his Prayer may be accepted and granted The Lord hear thee Secondly They desire Protection for him The name of the GOD of Jacob defend thee Do Troubles encompass thee let Salvation do so too Are Men thine Enemies let God be thy Guard his Name is a strong Tower let it be so to thee from the Face of thine Enemies Let all his glorious Attributes which are as so many Letters of his Name be engaged and employed for thy Security and Preservation Thirdly They beg Assistance for him not only that the Divine Shadow may be over him but that the Divine Hand also may be with him and the Everlasting Arm stretched out on his behalf Send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Sion Help when thou needest it and callest for it maist thou never be without the help of God Strength when thou hast Enemies to grapple with that thou maist conquer them and when thou hast Work to do that thou maist go thorough with it and do it to Acceptance Praise and Honour send thee such Help as will be seasonable and such Strength as will be sufficient Fourthly They beg for him Acceptance with God and the gracious Remembrance of all his Religious Services Remember all thy offerings and accept all thy burnt-offerings O my Friends what a singular Comfort is it to a gracious People when they know their King to be a true Worshipper of God together with them and have reason to look upon him as one that is devoted to the Fear Service and Honour of God and when they are so perswaded it is unquestionably their Duty to desire that he might in all that he doth be accepted of God acceptable to his People at least to the best and most judicious of them and to his God too Lastly They beg the fulfilling of all his Counsels and of all his Petitions Verse 4. Grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfil all thy counsels And v. 5. of which the Text is a part The LORD fulfil all thy Petitions The Lord grant that when thou hast directed thy Prayer and lookest up thou maist see something of Mercy coming down That none of thy Prayers may miscarry none drop by the way and fall short of
known to joyn with a common Enemy in order to the Overthrowing of all then it must be own'd a Mercy to have them taken away for it is a good Riddance and that Hand which gives them a fatal Stroke or a seasonable Remove reacheth out a singular Kindness to the People It 's sad when they sit in the Throne who will not mind and pursue the great Ends of Government But the Salvation of a Prince whose Heart is set for publick Good and who doth as David said bear up the Pillars of a Land should engage all his Subjects in the Work of Praise There are I would hope not many among us but what are sensible what a potent and cruel Enemy we have too too near us that hates us with an implacable Hatred a declared Enemy both to us and our Religion and who will if ever it come within the reach of his Power make us pay dear and smart bitterly for the Opposition we have made him and the Blows we have given him of which he possibly is soar and it is not a little slight Revenge that will satisfie his Rage Rods will not be thought bad enough no no they must be Scorpions And some who have their eyes in their Heads and open do and cannot but see what kind of Persons we have living among ourselves what Vipers lurk in our own Bosoms who are full of Discontent and Malice so that they cannot command themselves nor bridle their Passion but must give Vent We see their Restlesness we are not Strangers to their Purposes and Endeavours and we hear their Threatnings and if God had not been pleased to guard and establish the Throne to preserve our King abroad and our Queen at home and continue them both to us what Confusion would that sort of Men have put us into before this How would our Land have been made an Aceldama a Field of Blood But through Divine Goodness our King is saved our Peace is preserved you may follow your Callings take the Comfort of your Estates enjoy your Relations delight yourselves with and in your Friends meet together in the great Congregation Worship God in the Beauty of Holiness and sit under your own Roofs Vines and Fig-trees none making you afraid and therefore we have reason to rejoyce in the King's Salvation 3. The Salvation of the King is and ought to be the Matter of our Rejoycing because it is a great ground of Hope and comfortable Expectation for the future The broken hearted and weeping Prophet Jeremiah did teach the Inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem to bewail their own Loss by the early Death of that gracious and most excellent King Josiah in these Expressions 4. Lam. c. The breath of our nostrils the anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said Under his shadow we shall live among the Heathen Blessed be God our King is not taken in their Pits nor fallen by their Swords nor stab'd by their Ponyards nor poysoned with their Figs nor wounded by their Bullets nor cut off by any of their cursed Plots But may we not say He is the breath of our Nostrils I mean under God for without him he is no more than another Man but it is to him under God that we do owe our being a Nation a Nation in so much Peace a Protestant Nation and may we not hope and say That under his Shadow we shall live notwithstanding the burning glowing Fury of our inraged Enemies and under his prudent and happy Conduct we shall be delivered from and prevail against the Power and Attempts of those Sons of Perdition who are skilful and greedy to destroy and who would gladly make us their Prey and swallow us up quick Surely we may look upon this Preservation in the midst of so many Enemies and Dangers as being a singular Token for Good and comfort ourselves with the thoughts of this that he is continued by God in Mercy to us to the Nation to Europe and to the Church of CHRIST And that as he hath not only exalted him and placed him in the Throne but likewise honoured him already by making use of him as an eminent Instrument in his Hand for Good so he will go on to imploy and prosper him yet further and that he still hath more great and excellent Work for him to do both among us and in the World And that as his Hands have laid most happily the Foundation of our Peace and Prosperity so he shall proceed until he hath added the Top-stone upon which theâ—e shall be joyful Acclamations Grace grace to it And since God hath put it into the Hearts of their Majesties with so much Thankfulness to own him in the Mercies which they have received in the Deliverances which have been commanded for them and in that signal Victory which was given their Forces at Sea I do heartily pray that they may and I do with no small Confidence perswade my self that they do and will look upon these Mercies Deliverances and great Success as laying upon them strong Obligations to a continued and vigorous Appearance for the Honour of his holy Name and the Prosecution of the great and glorious Ends of Government that so Mercies may not turn Plaintiffs nor the Expectations of God and good Men be disappointed I conclude that upon these accounts it is evident the Prince's Salvation should be the Peoples Joy My Work in the next place will be to offer to your serious Consideration some things which may advance and increase your Joy in order to the filling up of this Day with the Duty of it that the Flame may be answerable to the Occasion the high Praises of God being both in our Hearts and Minds Now to this purpose know that an ingenuous and rightly spirited People should and will raise up their Joy and Thankfulness to a lofty pitch a very high degree for the Salvation of their Prince when it is accompanied and cloathed with such Circumstances as these First When the Prince hath been the means of their Salvation when he that is now their King was before their Saviour when he is not only their Governour but their Redeemer and Deliverer also when that Crown which now he wears upon his Head was placed there by the Hands of an engaged and grateful People as a Reward due to him for the special Kindness he had shewn them and the eminent Service he had done them and when the Royal Scepter which he now sways was by them put into his hand as an Acknowledgement of his having drawn his Sword in their Quarrel and for their Defence Whatever some Sons of Discontent do mutter we cannot but know how sad and doleful our Condition was and what a black Cloud sate upon the face of Things among us when he was by a gracious and compassionate God sent in to our Relief You cannot so soon forget what a Multitude of perplexing Thoughts crowded in upon you what Fears did
and People were ready to sink under the weight of their Iniquities but David came in and set his Shoulder to it I bear up the pillars of it I am the Basis that doth uphold those things upon which the Earth should stand and without which Kingdoms must and will fall into Decay and Ruine I make it my business to reduce all into Order to set and keep matters in a due Frame and Posture by a regular and religious Government And upon this account also blessed yea for ever blessed be the Father of Mercies for putting his Everlasting Arms under our King and Queen and for bearing them up who bear up the Pillars of our Country without this we should soon have had among us a terrible Earthquake to an utter Overthrow But once more Sixthly It is most certainly the Peoples Duty to increase their Joy in the Lord upon the Prince's Salvation when it doth not come alone but attended with a great and lovely Train and bringeth other choice and desirable Mercies in its company when it is usher'd in by some and followed by others so that we may say Behold a Troop cometh Had there been no more than the single Deliverance and Preservation of our King who in our Quarrel ventur'd himself in the high places of the Field and upon the mighty Waters we should have been mightily concerned in it and therefore greatly obliged to bless God But as Affliction doth not use to go alone so neither did this Mercy God hath compasted us with Favours and laden us with Benefits of which we may well be glad How precious have his Thoughts been concerning us and how open his Hand of Bounty to us Who can tell the number of the former or measure the largeness of the latter Day unto day hath shewn his Love and night unto night his Faithfulness Take a few Instances and set a mark upon them How gracious hath God been in the Preservation of our Queen let us give him the Glory of that and of his directing and assisting her in a most prudent most just and most gracious Administration of Government His Mercy in the late Earthquake that he did so gently shake his Rod over us and not stir up all his Wrath nor rise up to that height of Severity which he had used a little before upon Jamaica but only shewed us what he could do and we deserved still drawing out upon us a longer Line of Life and Tranquility and giving us space for Repentance Mercy in continuing the Peace of the Nation so that none have been able to disturb or interrupt it Mercy in his gracious Presence with you of this great City in the Choice of your Magistrates under whose Conduct we may promise our selves Encouragement of them that do well and the Suppression of those crying Abominations which have abounded among us And likewise wonderful Mercy in that great and signal Victory given to their Majesties Navy over the French Fleet whereby the Marine Power of that Cruel Nimrod was greatly shaken and shatter'd and his intolerable Pride may well be abated Neither may we forget or in Silence pass by that seasonable Weather which was given to the laborious but then sorrowful Country-man for the gathering in the Fruits of the Earth when the great and continued Rains had threatned us and some begun to hoard up Corn and most did apprehend a Scarcity approaching and at the very Door Shall I bind these up together Our King hath had Salvation abroad our Queen been blest and made a Blessing at home our Forces have been crown'd with Victory our Land enjoyeth Peace when neighbouring Countries have been the Seat of a devouring War we have Plenty as well as Peace yea and the true Religion and Gospel-Truths and ordinances to sweeten all the rest For all this praise the Lord O England praise thy God O London whose Name alone is excellent and his Glory above the Earth In the next place we are to consider what should be the Qualifications what the Properties of this Joy and that I shall do in these three Things I. Our Joy ought to be an hearty Joy not feigned but real not hypocritical but sincere the joyful Sound we make ought not to be an empty Sound It is an impossible thing to deceive God and a dangerous thing to moek him Do not you mock him in your meeting together at this time I wish none might be guilty of it though I fear some will who for Example sake because others do so or out of Fear and to avoid Suspicion will go to Church somewhere or other and sit out the Publick Worship though very uneasily and as upon Thorns and then go to the Tavern and meet their vain Companions and with them drink Confusion to their Majesties sacred Persons and Health to their Enemies Let not such Guilt come upon any one here before the Lord whose eye is upon you that pure and peircing Eye which searcheth the Hearts and looks for Truth What you do this day do it as to the Lord as in the sight of God be affected indeed with this Salvation and with these Mercies and with the great Goodness of God in them and be thankful indeed The Apostle tells you your Love must be such not in word and in tongue viz. only but in deed and in truth Call upon yourselves as that holy Man did 103 Psal. 1 2. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me Bless his holy name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Or let me bespeak you in those words which you have in the 105 Psal. 3. Glory ye in his holy name and let the heart of them rejoyce that seek the Lord. You have been a seeking People you have fought the Lord his Face and Favour and Strength you have been seeking frequently earnestly you have been seeking the Lord on the behalf of your King and Queen we have done it frequently earnestly together and apart many and many a Prayer we have lifted up to Heaven for them and God hath graciously heard us and been found of us Our King hath found God near to him and round about him He hath been followed and guarded with an Army of Prayers and he hath been brought home to us in the Arms of Prayer Now as you have been hearty in your Praying make sure that you be so likewise in your Rejoycing Let the hearts of them rejoyce that have sought the Lord. It is as the Prayer so the Praise of the Upright that is God's Delight It is an Harmony between the Heart and the Lip a Consent and Agreement between the inward Affections and outward Expressions that makes Melody in the Divine Ears Therefore that Request in the 19. Psal. 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer II. Our Joy must not be light and frothy but a solid Ioy There is