prorogue my life and for thine honour sake I entreat that thou respite me that thy servants may sée that thou hast made good thy Word unto me and thy enemies may not have occasion to deride the Truth of thy promises and blaspheme For this reason especially unto thee O Lord I cry in my distress and unto the Lord do I make my supplication Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me Lord be thou my Helper And when I thus prayed Thou O Lord in mercy hast heard me I cryed and thou hast healed me I called in the pit and thou stast lifted me up Thou hast brought my soul from the Grave Thou hast kept me alive that my enemies should not rejoyce over me Thou hast turned for me my heaviness into joy Thou hast put off my sack-cloth with which I am cloathed as became a Mourner and girded and compaised me on every side with gladness For thine anger in which thou didst justly chastise me though sharp was but for a moment and in thy favour I have found life weeping hath endured with me for a night but joy came to me in the morning Therefore my tongue shall sing and praise thee I will not be silent of thee O Lord my God I will extoll thy Name and give thee thanks for ever And all you who are his Saints joyn your voyces with me and give thanks to him remember that he is a good and merciful God remember that he is a holy God and will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth Generation Remember that he is a gracious God and will not alway be chiding nor keeps his anger for ever Appear then before him and where he is pleased to be present sing Praises to him O Lord we will â—lwayes send forth thy honour through the Name of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. XXXI For one in anxiety of spirit THIS Psalm is composed and mixt of diverse affections for David sometimes prayes sometimes he gives thanks now he complains now he hopes one while he fears another while he exults This vicissitude of affections is sixfold and it may very well divide the Psalm 1. With great confidence he prayes to God from ver 1. to 6. 2. He exults for mercy and help received ver 7 8. 3. He grievously complains of the misery he was in from ver 9. to 14. 4. He prayes again upon the strength of Gods goodness from ver 15. to 18. 5. He admires and exults and proclaims Gods goodness from ver 19. to 22. 6. Lastly He exhorts others to love God and be couragious ver 23 24. In the six first verses He prayes The first part he prayes to God and shews his Reasons 1. Ver. 1 That he be never shame in his hope Let me never be ashamed 2. That he be delivered speedily delivered 3. Ver. 3 That God would be his Rock and House of defence to save him 4. That God would lead him and guide him Lead me guide me 5. That God would pull his feet out of the Net that they privily laid for him In effect his Petition is the same His Reasons viz. to be delivered from his danger and his Reasons to perswade God to do this for him Ver. 1 are 1. His faith and confidence In thee O Lord I put my trust 2. The reason of his faith God a Rock Thou art my Rock and Fortress 3. That this would redound to Gods honour For thy Names sake lead me 4. Thou art my strength 5. I rely upon thee Into thy hands I commit my spirit 6. Do to me as thou hast ever Thou hast redeemed me heretofore 7. I do not as other men trust to vain helps but on thee only I have hated them that regard lying Vanities but I trust in the Lord. And in effect as his Petition was the same so are his Reasons also His confidence in God to be his Deliverer his Fortress Rock Redeemerâ— c. In which we have an example of a man in misery that thinks he can never say enough for himself and that makes him descant on the same thing which is no flat Tautology but an elegant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Expolition Then again we have a pattern for a pious soul in trouble to imitate Ver. 1 that be the pressure never so great yet he sayes to his God Thou art my Rock my Fortress my Strength Thou hast redeemed me I know I shall not be ashamed of my hope therefore I will trvst in thee So he begins so he concludes this first part of his prayer 2. Next he exults and gives thanks for some former deliverance The second part and by the experience of that doubts the less in this Perhaps the Chorus sang this He exults and gives thanks Moller 1. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy And his reason follows from his experience 2. For thou hast consider'd my trouble 2. Thou hast known i. e. Vers. 7 seen my soul in adversity I have seen Upon his deliverance I have seen the afflictions of my people c. 3. And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy 4. But hast set my feet in a large room 3. And now he prayes again 2. The third part He prayes again And complains of what he suffer'd within and without 1. He prayes Have mercy upon me O Lord. Vers. 9 2. Then he complains Complains and in his complaint shews the reason of his prayer for mercy 1. Within at home he was in a sad case For I am in trouble my eye is consumed with grief yea my soul and my belly Totus marcesco Of the sad case he was in My life is spent with grief and my years with sighing my strength faileth because of my iniquity and my bones are consumed 2. Without I have little comfort either from friends or enemies 1. I was a reproach among all my enemies 2. Then for my friends they stood afar off They especially but especially among my neighbours and I became a fear to my acquaintance They that see me without fled from me 2. And then he aggravates the greatness of his grief and scorn This he aggravates and contempt I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind u muertos y ydos no son amigos I am become as a broken vessel What more vile what more useless 3. And which is yet more the people they mock me I have beard the slaunder of the many 4. And the Consequent was mischievous Fear is on every side 2. While they conspire or took counsel together against me 3. And their counsel was they devised to take away my life What could enemies do more or friends permit And after his Complaint The fourtâ—â— part he comforts himself with his first and chief reason again But I have trusted in thee O Lord and said Thou art my God Vers. 14 Let them conspire take counsel and devise
that fear thee It passeth mans understanding to conceive and the eye of humane reason sées it not which judgeth of all things by the present success This thou hast reserv'd in secret for those which serve thée with a sincere heart and in thy good time thou by great works which thou wilt do for those who trust in thee wilt manifest it even before the sons of men The pride of man is great and in their pride they attempt to throw down those who in sincerity worship thée their tongues are sharp and contentious and in their malice they invent many lyes and scandals against them but thou O Lord wilt hide those thou lovest in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man and wilt keep them secretly as in a Pavilion from the strife of tongues And yet I pressed with the consideration of many evils in which I thought my self forsaken said rashly in my hast Surely I am cut off from before thine eyes thou wilt never certainly cast any favourable look toward me Such was my infirmity so great my inconsideration But thy mercy passed by even then my weakness and setled my staggering soul Notwithstanding my imperfections thou heardst the voice of my Supplications when I cryed unto thee Hear me then now O Lord consider my troubles know that my soul is in adversity have mercy upon me for I call unto thée for help and let me not be ashamed But as for the wicked let them be put to confusion and let them be cut off for the grave that they be able to do no more mischief Let those that invent and speak lyes be put to silence that with pride disdain and cruelty speak against the righteous Blessed be the Lord and praised be his name who hath not only delivered me out of danger but hath shewed unto me in a superabundant manner his marvellous great kindness and loaded me with happiness glory and superfluity of all things yea and set me in a safe and defenced place O lovâ— ye the Lord all ye his Saints all ye that serve the Lord in holiness murmure not against his providence but when ye sée me a man destitute of all humane help delivered hope for the same favour from his hands be of good courage and strengthen your hearts O Lord preserve the faithful and though the wicked flourish and pride it in their success yet look upon our affliction and plentifully reward the proud doer As for those who with an honest heart serve thée give them constancy and perseverance in thy love fear and Truth and let their hope in thée be well rooted and confirmed through the Son of thy love Iesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen PSAL. XXXII Is Doctrinal and sets forth the happiness of one whose sins are remitted THE Title of the Psalm is Maschil and at the eighth verse the reason is given I will instruct thee and teach thee In this then there is an instruction given especially about these three points which divide the Psalm 1. The Happy estate of a justified person vers 1 2. 2. The unhappy condition of that man who is not assured that he is justified and reconciled to God vers 3 A justified person is happy 4. and the way prescribed how to gain that assurance vers 5. 3. A Lesson given for obedience after a man is brought into that state v. 8 9. 1. The Prophet first instructs us in what justification consists It is a free remission The first part How he must be qualified a covering of sin a non-imputation of iniquities 2. How the man must be qualified that obtains it He must have an honest sincere and upright heart Vers. 1 be far from guile doubling hypocrisie vers 3. Now such a one he pronounceth Vers. 2 A Happy man Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered He must confess his sin not excuse or hide it Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile who doth not excuse palliate extenuate his sin but confesseth it 2. The second part And this he makes good by his own experience he hid his sin he doubled with God he confessed not and he was in an unhappy and unquiet condition all the while This David did he hid it 1. I held my peace I confessed not I did not ask pardon and When I held my peace And he was unquiet in his soul and kept silence dissembled my sin 2. I was wounded with the sting of a guilty conscience fears horrours troubles of soul c. My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my moysture is turn'd into the drought of Summer 3. But when he confessed it And then he shews you the way he took to recover his happiness which was a clear contrary course He would conceal his sin no longer from which he had so much unrest but he was resolv'd to open and display it before his God 1. Vers. 5 I acknowledg'd my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid 2. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. Of which the effects are divers 1 He obtained remission 1. The first upon himself He recover'd his happiness consâ—â—ing in Remission And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin 2. 2 By his example others seek for grace The second upon the whole Church upon every good man that took out and follow'd his example For this i. e. that thou hast been so merciful to me Vers. 6 and pardoned me a penitent confessor shall every one that is godly pray unto thee for pardon in a time when thou may'st be found in the day while grace is offered 3. Vers. 6 Comfort in extremities and safety in the greatest dangers Surely in the floods of great waters 3 And are secure in extremities in an inundation of calamities the troubles shall not come nigh him that depends upon Gods goodness and mercy and is reconcil'd unto him by repentance And he shews the reason from his own experience God was his Protector 1. Thou art my hiding place thou shalt preserve me from trouble 2. Thou shalt compass me about with Songs of deliverance deliver me and make me sing for joy and give thanks 3. And now David sets down the Duty of a justified person The third part David instructs a justified person in his way that he be after his pardon obedient to his God and that not out of compulsion but freely and willingly About which that he be not to seek either God from Heaven or David in his person becomes his Doctor I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go I will guide thee with my eye Vers. 8 And a good servant needs no stripes he will observe nutum or nictum heri As my eye is alwayes over you carefully to instruct
each form hath a reason annexed 1. Ver. 1 Bow down thy ear hear me Ratio For I am poor and needy i. e. destitute of other help 2. Ver. 2 Preserve my soul Ratio For I am holy i.e. pious and studious of holiness ready to serve thee 3. Ver. 3 O thou my God save thy servant Ratio That trusteth in thee relies on thy help and for that exposed to dangers 4. Be merciful unto me O Lord Ratio For I cry unto thee dayly I cry and call without intermission 5. Rejoyce the soul of thy servant comfort me with thy presence and sense of thy favour Ratio For unto thee O Lord I life up my soul i. e. with great desire I long after thee And all these Reasons perswade to Audience from the person of the Supplicant who because he was in distress and yet studious to please his God did rely upon God and daily cry and earnestly desire the sense of his favour therefore he did lift up his soul to him The second part A continuance in his Petition from the nature of God 2. And yet he continues his Petition from the consideration of the Nature and Person of God to whom he prayes Hear me and turn away thy wrath 1. For thou O Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee Ver. 5 give ear therefore unto my prayer and attend to the voyce of my supplications 2. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee Ratio For thou wilt answer me it runs thus Thou art merciful to them that call upon thee ver 5. I call None like to him in his works therefore thou wilt answer 3. There is none among the gods like unto thee O Lord neither are there any of their works like thy works None like in goodness wisdom power in thy works which thou dost to save thy people and therefore I call and cry to thee for help And this the Prophet amplifies in the two next verses as if he had said the event doth shew That there is none like thee no works like thy works for 1. All Nations which now worship Idols she ll come i. e. be converted and worship thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy Name 2. For thou dost great and wondrous things of which the conversion of the Gentiles is one Thou art God alone And upon this Reason Therefore he begs to be governed by his Word and Spirit that none is like God none comparable to him in his works 1. He falls to prayer again and first begs of God that he may be governed by his Word and Spirit for then he would be an obedient servant Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy Truth unite my heart to fear thy Name For which he professeth to be thankful 2. And secondly professeth he would be a thankful servant I will praise thee O Lord my God with all my heart and I will glorifie thy Name for evermore To which he subjoyns his Reason For great is thy mercy toward me and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Hell i. e. from the greatest troubles And upon both these his obedience and thankfulness he pleads to be heard 3. And yet he presseth another Argument viz. The third part He presseth his prayer from the nature of his enemies The person and quality of his Adversaries 't is but Reason that God hear him for he was beset with enemies and these were proud men 2. Potent men 3. Ungodly men 1. Proud they were The proud have risen up against me 2. Potent they were and many of them The Assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul 3. Ungodly men Atheists Scorners They have not set thee before them 4 And now he hath recourse again to his former Arguments The fourth part He amplifies his former Argument but amplifies them 1. First drawn from the Nature of God ver 5. But thou O Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth 2. The second from his own condition ver 1 2. O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength unto thy servant and help the son of thy Handmaid i.e. one born within thy Covenant and of a poor humble mother 3. The third from the quality of his Adversaries that they which were Atheists might see Gods hand in his deliverance and confounded by it Shew me a token for good i.e. shew by some evident sign that thou art not angry with me but that thou hast received me into thy favour That they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou Lord hast holpen me and comforted me The Prayer collected out of the eighty sixth Psalm O Lord great in Power infinite in Majesty so great is our misery and poverty and so destitute we are of help Ver. 1 that we are unworthy of any gracious aspect from thée but since thou art a God who lookest upon thy néedy and poor servants vouchsafe us one good look let our humility bend thy Majesty Bow down thine ear to our prayers and condescend to our requests Ver. 2 Kéep our lives that we fall not into the hands of our enemies O thou who art our God sée'st and know'st that we desire and endeavour to serve thée in holiness preserve therefore the souls of thy servants who have no other hope but thée Be merciful unto us O Lord who every day call and cry to thee Rejoyce the grieved and sad souls of thy servants who renouncing all worldly helps do lift up their souls unto thee Give ear O Lord to our prayer and attend to the voyce of our supplications if not for our sake if not out of the consideration of our present miseries yet for thine own be to us now what thou hast alwayes béen and alwayes wilt be Thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy toward all that call upon thee This Lord is the day of our trouble a day of darkness and gloominess and in this we call upon thée Lord hear us bow down thine ear and according to thy wonted mercy receive our Petitions O good God be propitious for if thou wilt thou canst relieve us among men some would but cannot some can but will not help And among the Angels there is none of what order soever like unto thée their power though great is not to be compared to thy power their works though marvellous are nothing to thy works which are so full of wonder that even those Nations who yet know thée not and are out of the Covenant upon whom thou hast together with us set thine own image even these being moved by the greatness of thy works shall at last come and bow and worship before thee and magnifie and glorifie thy Name for thou dost great and wondrous things Thou art God alone O God at this time because we have béen ungrateful
but in vain to offend thee and think to be hid to attempt to break in pieces thy heritage and murder the innocent and think to escape The Lord knows the thoughts of man that they are vanity Thou Lord at this time hast shewed thy people heavy things thou hast given us a Cup of deadly wine to drink Vers. 20 The enemies of thy Truth have set themselves down in the Throne of iniquity they have framed mischief by a Law they have gathered themselves together met in Assemblies and Synods against the soul of the Righteous and have condemned the Innocent blood Who shall now rise up for us against the evil doers Or who dare stand up for us against these workers of iniquity At this their prosperity our feet had well nigh slipt at this their oppression the treadings of many were well nigh gone Nothing can support us but thy mercy make us trust to it nothing can comfort us in our sorrows but thy promises In the multitude of the thoughts that we have in our hearts send down thy comforts that may delight our souls Make us know that thou wilt have no fellowship society or commeres with the Throne of iniquity that thou art not in the midst of their Assemblies and Councils to bless them nor doest approve their mischief framed by a Law Vers. 14 Teach us out of thy Law that the afflictions of the godly are from thee our Father and a seal of our adoption and therefore Blessed is the man whom thou chastnest Vers. 13 and instructest with this Rod. Out of thy Law we learn That God will not cast off his people nor forsake his inheritance O let this quiet our hearts and set them at rest in these dayes of adversity Laught we are again out of thy Law Vers. 15 That judgement shall return unto righteousness that thy judgements which now seem to sleep will at last awake Vers. 13 and in justice overtake the murderers of thy people assured we are that the pit shall be digged up for the ungodly till that be done let us wait with patience Vers. 15 and wish an upright and sincere heart acquiesce in thy promises and follow the wayes of thy justice approving thy wisdom knowing the time thou choosest is best for us In the mean time be thou our help our defence our rock or refuge our help Vers. 17 when these wolves are ready to devoure us our defence when they strike at us Vers. 22 our rock when they come as the waves of the Sea about us and our City of refuge when they pursue us But as for them the time is best known to thée and we submit to it and when that time is come bring upon them their own iniquity cut them off in their own malicious wickedness Vers. 23 yea cut them off O Lord our God to thee be praise glory and honour now and ever PSAL. XCV A Psalm to be sung at all times in all places Bellar. by all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FOR it contains an invitation to praise God with internal and external worship and therefore is fitly chosen by the Church to be sung in the beginning of our Liturgy to excite all men present to serve God infear and rejoice with reverence Two parts of this Psalm 1. An Exhortation to praise God to adore worship kneel ver 1 2 6. 2. Reasons to perswade to it 1. Gods mercies ver 3 4 5 7. 2. His judgments in punishing his own people Israel for their neglect of this duty from ver 8. to 11. 1. David begins this Psalm with an earnest invitation including himself The first part David calls an Assembly crying 1. O come let us come along with me though a King he thought not himself exempted Ver. 1 2. And the Assembly being come together he acquaints them what they came for 1. To sing to the Lord heartily merrily joyfully Exaltemus 1 To sing to God 1. Let us make a joyful noise make a Jubilee of it Jubilemus 2. Openly and with a loud voyce Let us make a joyful noise with Psalms 3. Reverently as being in his eye his presence 4. Gratefully Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving 2 To adore and worship outwardly inwardly 2. To worship to bow down to kneel ver 6. Adoration humble Adoration outward worship that of the body as well as inward that of the soul is his due and that for these reasons Ver. 6 2. For God calls for nothing from us which there is not great reason The second part His Reasons to perswade it but that we yield him serve him then we ought with heart and body out of many respects 1. Because he is the Rock of our salvation whether temporal or spiritual Ver. 1 so long as we rely on him as a Rock 1 Because our Rock safe we are from the tyranny of men from the wrath of God from the power of the Divel death hell 2. Because he is a great God and a great King above all gods Jehovah Ver. 5 a God whose Name is I am an incommunicable name to any other 2 A great God and King for his Essence is from himself and immutable all other derivative and mutable and the great Jehovah great in Power Majesty Glory and greater than all other Nuncupative gods Idols Kings for he is above them all above all gods 3. The whole orb of the earth is under his power and dominion Ver. 4 3 Under his Dominion the whole World In his hands are the deep places of the earth the strength of the hills is his also The globe of the earth in all its extensions is subject to him 4. And no marvail for he is the Creator of both 4 The Creator which is another Argument The Sea is his and he made it Ver. 5 and his hands formed the dry land Ver. 6 5. He is our Maker the Creator and Lord of man also 5 Our Maker 6. Our Lord God in particular 6 Our Lord God for he hath called us to be his inheritance For we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand Now all these laid together and well weighed being wonderful expressions of his mercy and loving-kindness are of strength enough to perswade us heartily reverently openly to sing to and praise him to adore bow down and kneel before him 2 In which duty if we fail he proposeth what is to be expected by the example of the Israelites 2. In which if we obstinately and stubbornly fail we have a fair warning given us what is like to follow by the example of the Israelites purposed here by the Prophet That if mercy will not win upon us then judgment may Lege Historiam ne fiat Historia Numb 14. Exod. 17. The sum is this 1. God gave them a day and he gives it you 't is the hodie of your life 2. In this day he speaks he utters his voyce
néedy to an opulent and a voluptuous life which the many aim at in their prayers but the end of this our Request is That thanks may be given to thy holy Name and that we may triumph in thy praise that the purity of that Religion which thou hast delivered and committed unto us may be conserved and propagated and thy worship now intermitted may be restored and thy praises which by the sadness of these times have béen silenced may again with triumph be heard in the Congregation Then with joyful lips we shall give thanks unto the Lord and by experience make it known That thou art good and that thy mercy endureth for ever Ver. 1 Not indéed as we ought not as thou deservest for who can utter the mighty Acts of the Lord or who can shew forth all his praise But we will do what we can exalt with our voyces and honour thée with our lives We will keep thy judgments and do righteousness at all times that thy praises may be comely in our mouths and our lives become thy Gospel Grant us this mercy O Lord and then the Priests shall sound forth at thine Altar Blessed be the Lord God of Israel and all the people shall say with a chearful heart Amen Hallelujah The end of the fourth Book of the Psalmes according to the Hebrewes PSAL. CVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE Title of this Psalm is Allelujah because in it are set forth the praises of God for delivering such as are oppressed from four common miseries after every of which is expressed those intercalary verses Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness c. Then they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble As also for the effects of his Providence who only by his power orders and governs the change and vicissitudes we see in the World There be four especial Points handled in this Psalm 1. A Preface in which he exhorts all to praise God especially the Redeemed ver 1 2. 2. A Declaration of his goodness in particular 1. To the banished and strangers famish'd from ver 3. to 9. 2. To the prisoners and captives from ver 10. to 16. 3. To the sick from ver 16. to 23. 4. To the Mariners from ver 23. to 32. 3. A praise of Gods Power and Providence which is evidently seen in the changes and varieties of the World of which he gives several instances by which it is proved That he is the sole Disposer and Governour of the Universe from ver 33. to 42. 4. The Conclusion which sets forth the use we are to make of it ver 42 43. 1. The first part He incites all to praise God This Psalm begins as did the former and the intention in it is the same viz. That we celebrate and set forth Gods praise yea and for the same Reasons O give thanks unto the Lord Ver. 1 1. For he is good 2. And merciful For his mercy endureth for ever 2. And those who he invites to perform this Duty are indeed all who are sensible that they have received any mercy or goodness from him any way Especially the redeemed in Soul or Body whom he calls the Redeemed of the Lord that men may know when they are freed from any evil that it is only by chance or by their wisdom c. Gods hand is in it he is the first and chief cause of it the rest inferiour instruments to bring to pass his Providence 1. Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so i. e. that he is good that he is merciful 2. Ver. 2 They say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy If the Holy Ghost by the enemy means the Devil then he speaks of our Redemption by Christ if by the enemy some Tyrant Tribulation c. then a corporal and temporal Redemption but the last is generally understood and especially is referr'd to the first afflicting misery Banishment and the next verse intimates so much 3. And gather'd them out of the Lands from the East and from the West from the North and from the South which is yet as true of our spiritual Redemption and Christs collection of his Church from all parts of the World Mat. 8.11 John 10.16 11.52 2. Most Expositors therefore begin the second part at the second verse But some at the fourth The second part but the matter is not much material In those two there was mention made of Gods goodness in their deliverance in their collection from all lands But in the following is an evident Declaration of what they suffered during their absence from their Countrey which is the first misery described here by the Prophet to which a mans life is subject And it is the heavier Cross when a man is forc'd to it by Banishment as is apparent by the complaints that have been made of it by those that have suffer'd they are sine foco sine lare Curat nemo vagos laedere nemo veretur Exul non curae creditur esse Deos. Omnes exhausti jam casibus omnium egeni And this is the misery which the Prophet first instanceth in this place which first he describes then shewes the course the Banished took and lastly acquaints us with the manner of their deliverance which is the method in the rest 1. The first kind of misery Banishment Their misery was 1. That they wander'd no small discomfort to an ingenuous nature to be a Vagrant to walk from place to place and not have a certain House to put his head in In which they 1. Wandered 2. In solitary places Gods people were for a time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pilgrims and strangers and all that time few and evil were their dayes 2. The place adds to the misery Banished men are not confined to solitary places alwayes though that they have not the company they desire yet company they may have but the case of these Banished was That they wander'd in the Wilderness in a solitary place they fovnd no City to dwell in Literally it was fulfilled in the Israelites while they travelled through the Wilderness 3. Hungry and thirsty omnium egeni Men may wander and be in solitary places 3 Suffer'd hunger and thirst but yet have a supply of necessary food To this pass sometimes Gods people come that they have nor meat nor drink as Eliah the Israelites David c. 4. 4 Even to fainting And the Famine may be so great that their souls that is their life is ready to faint in them This is the Incrementum that the Prophet useth to aggravate the misery of Banished men and are the several steps by which it riseth 2. The course they took Next the Prophet shewes us the Course that these banished and hungry souls took for ease and help and that it failed them not no nor the rest following that took the same Course and therefore he four times repeats it versu intercalari The way was
remember what was done for them after They proved a rebellious people for which God humbled them and brought the Philistins and the Babylonian Kings against them who conquered them and kept them under and in subjection But God in this their oppression when they cryed and turned to him forsook them not but raised up some Judge King or other to deliver them as Gideon Sampson David Cyrus c. which the Prophet mentioneth in the next verses Ver. 23 Who remembred us when we were in our low estate for his mercy c. And hath redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy Psal 135.14 5. Lastly That this goodness is not extended only to his people 3 And his providence to all creatures but even to all Creatures is manifest in that he provides for nourishes and conserves every living creature for Caro here signifies every thing that hath life and bread all kind of nourishment by which the life is sustained Ver. 25 Who gives food to all flesh for his mercy endures for ever 6. He concludes as he begun O give thanks unto the God of Heaven The conclusion that we praise him for his mercy endureth for ever And he calls him the God of Heaven because he only made the Heaven and hath his Throne in Heaven Ver. 26 having the whole World under him and in his power that preserves moderates governs all things by his wisdom power mercy The Hymn collected out of the One hundred and thirty sixth Psalm O Omnipotent God so great is thy goodness so infinite is thy mercy to the sons of men that we are not able to express it because we cannot comprehend it Whatever we enjoy is from thy mercy whatever we hope to enjoy is thy mercy Thy mercy endures for ever and therefore we will sing of thy mercies from everlasting to everlasting Ver. 5 Whethersoever we cast our eyes we find objects of thy mercy whether we behold the Heavens framed by thy wisdom and adorned with great lights the Sun to rule the day or the Moon and Stars to govern the night or whether we look down upon the earth stretched out above the waters that it might be the habitation and yield food for all creatures in both these nay in all places they occur unto us ample Testimonies of thy bounty and mercy all which should we consider with a pious and serious mind we must néeds with an inflamed heart and free tongue never cease to sing with the Prophet Ver. 25 Thy mercy endureth for ever In the Creation of all things From Ver. 10. To Ver. 22. in giving food to all flesh thy mercy hath been wonderful But in the choosing gathering conserving revenging the wrongs and pardoning the sins of thy people more wonderful our hearts were as hard and as cold as a stone should we not consider what thou didst for thy people Israel which is an engagement to us what thou wilt do for thy Church For thy mercy endures for ever Thou smotest Aegypt and slew mighty Kings for their sakes Thou didst lead them as a Captain and provide Manna and Quails and waier for them as a father defend them from their enemies and never cease to prosecute them with mercy till thou givest them the heritage of the Heathen yea when they were brought to any low estate Thou redeemest them from their enemies for thy mercy endures for ever Thou therefore who art rich in bounty clemency and mercy that never can have an end behold we beséech thée thy Church and remember it now in a low estate remit our sins pardon our transgressions repent concerning thy servants and redeem us from our enemies for thy mercy endures for ever Thou which givest food to all flesh Ver. 25 féed our souls with the celestial Manna thy Word and thy Sacraments for thy mercy endures for ever So shall we give thanks to thee O Lord because thou art good and thy mercy endureth for ever Ver. 1 So shall we give thanks to the God of gods for his mercy endureth for ever So shall we give thanks to the Lord of lords for his mercy endureth for ever We will give thanks to the God of Heaven for his mercy endureth for ever Ver. 26 PSAL. CXXXVII AT the composure of this Psalm the Jewes were in captivity at Babylon under the heavy yoke of the Assyrian Tyrant far from their own Countrey banished from the Temple of God deprived of all publick Exercises of Religion scoffed and scorned by the pride and insultation of an enemy and now they begin to complain and pray remember what they were and what they are what they enjoyed and what they want that at Jerusalem they could sing songs of Zion but now at the Rivers of Babylon they must sit down and hang up their Harps The Psalm hath two parts 1. A complaint of Israel because of the insultation of the Babylonians in which they deplore their sad condition remember the pleasures of Jerusalem and the Religion of the Temple and long to be there from ver 1. to 7. 2. An imprecation for they pray for Divine vengeance to descend upon their Persecutors ver 7.8 9. Israels complaint in their captivity 1. Their complaint ariseth from the sense of their captivity which is aggravated The first part 1. From the place Babylon By the waters of Babylon 1 From the place a place far from their own Countrey where they served a cruel and barbarous people a people that were Aliens from the Covenant God made with Abraham Ver. 1 and scorners of their Religion that had wasted their City consumed with fire defiled robbed their Temple by them they were disposed to the Banks of the Rivers where in their fields they were forced to base and servile works 2. From the continuance of their captivity and misery There we sate down 2 From the continuance and misery took up the seats they alotted us and durst not remove for seventy years exposed to wind and weather and injuries of wild Beasts 3. From the effect it produced in them tears mourning yea 3 The effect tears we wept so we spent our time but our enemies cruelty was such that our tears wrought not any compassion on their hard hearts 4. From the cause that drew these tears from them 4 The cause the remembrance of Zion not so much their present calamities as the remembrance of what they enjoyed before but now were deprived of the Religion and Service of their God We wept when we remembred thee O Zion Toties quoties so often as they remembred the Temple the Feasts the Sacrifices the Songs the Hymns they sung to God in Zion so often they sate and wept 5. From the intensiveness of their grief so great it was 5 Their grief intensive that they laid aside whatever should provoke mirth they had more mind to weep than sing their Harps were unstrung Ver. 2 and their Instruments of Musick laid aside As for
thy fear will I worship And yet not relying so much upon himself as in the goodness and mercy of God he professeth vers 7. As for me I will come into thy house upon the multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear will I worship toward thy Holy Temple In which observe 1. A difference betwixt bad and good men In their wayes and hope As for me Vers. 7 2. And shews his demeanour in Gods service That David would come to Gods house the place of prayer 3. But not presumptuously or Pharisaically Upon hope of mercy 4. There he would worship I will worship 5. But with reverence In thy fear I will worship And thus David having petitioned for audience The second part Davids Petition and deliver'd the grounds of his confidence he brings forth his Petition That his life be holy and innocent 1. Lead me forth in thy righteousness 2. Make thy way strait before me of which he gives this reason Vers. 8 Because of his enemies which dayly laid wait to intrap him and subvert him in his goings These his enemies he describes to the life The third part He farther describes his enemies By their Mouth Heart Throat Tongue 1. There is no faithfulness in his mouth 2. Their inward parts are very wickedness Vers. 9 3. Their throat is an open Sepulchre 4. They flatter with their tongue And then he falls to prayer again 1. Against his enemies 2. The fourth part He again prayes against them Then for Gods people or the Church 1. Against his enemies 1. Destroy thou them O God 2. Let them fall by their own counsels 3. Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions Vers. 10 Of which Imprecation he gives this reason For they be Rebels For they have rebell'd against thee Rebels not against David but against God for he that resists the power resists the Ordinance of God They have not rejected thee but they have rejectect me The fifth part And for Gods people The Conclusion contains his Prayer for Gods people whom he here describes and calls The righteous 2. They that put their trust in God 3. They that love his Name And he prayes for them that Vers. 11 1. They may rejoyce that they may shout for joy 2. They may be joyful in God And he adds this reason Whom he knows God will favour Because thou defend'st them thou wilt bless them and with thy favour thou wilt compass them as with a shield The Prayer collected out of the fifth Psalm O Most Gracious and Holy God who hast saught us that thou art not a God Vers. 4 who hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall any evil dwell with thee Vers. 5 in whose sight the foolish shall not stand Vers. 6 and by whom those who speak leasing shall be destroy'd Thou that hatest all the workers of iniquity and abhorrest both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man We a sinful Nation press'd with the weight of these grievous sins and sensible of thy heavy judgements Vers. 7 yet are bold to come into thy house upon the multitude of thy mercies and in thy fear to worship toward thy holy Temple We beséech thée to give us a true sight and sense of these our heinous transgressions that so our true repentance and amendment may move thée to repent of all the evil thou hast brought upon us Vers. 8 And hereafter lead us in thy righteousness iâ— an innocent and harmless course of life and make thy way strait before us that we erre not in it and fall not from it and from thée Thou who wast pleased to pay that dear ransome upon the Cross for us on purpose that thou might'st redéem us from all iniquity and purisle unto thy self a peculiar people zealovs of good works We beséech thée write thy law which is our way in our hearts that most excellent divine law of thine that we may know it and do it and turn every one from our iniquities Enemies O good God we have too many Vers. 9 besides the devil and the flesh to turn us out of this good way Enemies in the way of truth Enemies in the way of life Enemies in whose mouth there is no faithfulness Enemies Vers. 10 whose inward parts are very wickedness Roaring enemies whose throat is an open Sepulchre to devour us Lying crafty enemies who flatter with their lips for to deceive us Frustrate Gracious God their counsels destroy their power and forces cast all those out in the multitude of their transgressions who have rebell'd against thee Give ear Ver. 1 O Lord to our words and consider our Meditations hearken to the voice of our cry Ver. 2 our King and our God For unto thee do we pray To thee alone we fly Ver. 3 Our voice shalt thou hear in the morning In the morning will we direct our prayer unto thee and will look up expecting thy comfort and help from heaven to descend upon us O let us then hear the voice of joy and deliverance beâ—ime in the morning Vers. 11 that those who love thy name may rejoyce at thy justice done upon the wicked and at thy goodness and mercy shew'd toward the righteous let them glory and make their boast that thou art a just and a merciful God just to deliver thy people from evil and merciful to reward them with the chiefest good Arise O Lord to bless us and compass us with thy loving-kindness as with a shield Confirm us in faith and hope that we may rejoice make us love thy name that we may once more shout for joy Impute unto us thy righteousness that may make us just and give us the graces of thy holy Spirit that may make us righteous in our generation so that thou may'st be moved to bless us in this valley of tears and to crown us with blessings in the life to come where we may live an everlasting blessed life of love and holiness with thée O Father of mercies and with thy Son and holy Spirit for ever PSAL. IV. Which is the first of the Penitentials and is fit for a Penitent afflicted under Gods hand THE streins of this Psalm are two in general 1. A Petition to God for himself contain'd in the seven first verses â— An insultation over his enemies contain'd in the three last The Petition stands upon two leggs 1. A deprecation of evil 2. A petition of good First he prayes to God to avert his wrath The first part He prayes that God avert his wrath O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger nor chasten me in thy heavy displeasure Secondly he intreats to be partaker of Gods favour Have mercy upon me 1. Vers. 1 To his body Heal me O Lord. 2. Then to his soul Return O Lord deliver my soul oh save me 2 Shew mercy And this his Petition he inforceth upon divers and weighty reasons Vers. 2 1. Vers. 4 This he inforceth 1. From the greatness of his calamity From
revenge upon us for our disobedience Thou hadst more glorious creatures in heaven to set thy love upon those great whéels which are the work of thy fingers the Moon and the Stars Vers. 3 which thou hast ordained And these are not nor ever were disobedient to thy word they do their duties they move in a constant course and send forth their light and influences they set and rise and rise and set by that perpetual law that thou hast prescribed Whereas Man is a rebellious creature that disobeys thy word and daily provokes thée to displeasure the imaginations of his heart being evil continually What is man therefore that thou shouldst be mindful of him Vers. 4 or the son of man that thou shouldst consider him and visit him Thou art potent man is weak thou wise man foolish thou the Lord of all man poor and in want thou inhabitest eternity man is a mortal thou art glorious man base and vile from the dust and to return to the dust thou holy and man sinful and wilt thou open thy eye upon such an one wilt thou kéep him in mind wilt thou remember so vile and disobedient a wretch for good and visit him with thy grace and mercy Was it a small thing that thou shouldst create him after thine own image that thou shouldst cloath féed and sustain him in this life but that when he had wilfully defaced this thy image and was utterly lost thou shouldst send thine own Son in the similitude of sinful flesh to visit and redéem him The Angels are the most glorious of thy creatures Vers. 5 and thou hast made man little lower than those blessed Spirits He fell from this high dignity became destitute of grace subject to sin vanity misery and punishment but in this forlorn condition thou didst not forsake him but hast crowned him with glory and honour Thou honouredst him that deserv'd to lie under disgrace and ignominy thou restoredst him to life that deserv'd to dye thou madest him partaker of the Divine Nature who had blotted out the Divine Character from his soul in a word of a servant and have of sin thou framedst him anew and madest him a Lord and preparedst a Crown of glory for him To enjoy that Lord is our hope and expectation because it is thy promise Vers. 6 and that our hearts fail us not in the way thou hast in the mean time left us a pledge and a pawn Man by his fall lost his Soveraignty over the creatures but thou hast restored him in thy Son to his command Vers. 7 Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and hast put all things in subjection under his feet Thou hast given him Sheep to cloath him Oxen to labour for him the beasts of the field to obey and fear him the fowls of the air and fishes of the Sea and whatsoever walketh through the paths of the Seas for varieties and dainties to féed and supply him The consideration of this thy bounty to mankind that deserv'd it not enforceth from me Vers. 9 that exclamation with which I began O Lord O Lord our governour how excellent is thy Name in all the earth O our God since thou hast béen so mindful of us never suffer us to be unmindful of thée since thou hast shew'd thy mercy in visiting and redéeming us never let us shew ourselves unthankful for this thy visitation and redemption Suffer us not to abuse thy creatures which thou hast given us for food nor thy gifts bestow'd for clothing nor wantonly and cruelly to make use of our dominion But give us grace so highly to estéem of thy rich mercies and with such temperance and sobriety to use thy creatures that thy Name thereby may still be the more magnified thy bounty exalted thy providence more declared thy honour enlarged thy person glorified and our souls at last saved by the merits of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen PSAL. IX This is a Psalm of thanksgiving for a victory over his Enemies IT consists of five chief parts 1. Davids thanksgiving or profession of praise vers 1 2. which is amplified and illustrated and continued till the tenth verse 2. An exhortation to others to do the like vers 11. and a reason given for it vers 12. 3. A Petition for himself vers 13. and the reason for it vers 14. 4. A remembrance of Gods goodness in the overthrow of his enemies for which he exults and sings a Song of Triumph from vers 15. to vers 19. 5. The conclusion which is petitory vers 19 20. 1. The first part Davids profession of praise His profession of praise is set down in the two first verses in which we may observe 1. The matter of it with the extent All the marvellous works of God 2. As if he could never express these enough how he varies the Synonima's I will praise thee I will shew forth I will be glad and rejoice in thee I will sing praise to thy name Vers. 1 I will shew forth I will be glad and rejoice in thee I will sing praise to thy name O thou most high In which words there is an Incrementum or Climax 3. The principle whence this praise flow'd Not from the lips but from the heart 2. From the whole heart I will praise thee with my whole heart This he amplifies from the cause Which he first amplifies from the causes which is double 1. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which outwardly moved him and gave him a just occasion to do so 1 The overthrow of his enemies The overthrow of his enemies when my enemies are turned back which were not overcome by my strength and valour but by the presence of thy power 2. Vers. 3 They shall fall and perish at thy presence Thou wert the chief and principal cause of this victory 2 That God alone did it â—â—d therefore deserv'st the thanks Of this the Prophet makes a full Narrative in the two next verses setting God as it were upon the Bench and doing the Office of a Judge 1. Vers. 4 Thou maintainest my right and my cause 2. Vers. 5 Thou satest in the Throne judging right 3. Thou hast rebuked the Heathen 4. Thou hast destroy'd the wicked thou hast put out their name for ever and ever In a word thou art a just Judge that defend'st the innocent and punishest their oppressours and therefore I will praise thee 3. Vers. 6 And then upon the confidence of Gods justice and power he insults over his enemies with this Sarcasm For this he insults over his enemies O thou enemy destructions are come to a perpetual end Thy power of hurting and destroying is taken away and the fortified Cities in which thou dwell'st are overthrown And shews the super-eminency of Gods power and their and thy memory is perish'd 4. Next to make his assertion clearer to the Enemies power he opposeth Gods his Kingdom to their Kingdom But the
They part my goods among them and cast lots upon mine inheritance But O thou God of Israel thou continuest propitious and benevolous Vers. 3 why then doest thou stop thine ears at my prayers Thou hast perform'd thine Oath to out fore-fathers they trusted in thée in the depth of their calamities and thou didst comfort or deliver them They cryed in their afflictions and thou sentest them help they hoped in thée and were not ashamed or frustrated of their hope But me who have alwayes call'd upon thée who have alwayes hoped in thée thou hast deserted and forsaken exposed as the vilest and most contemptible worm to be trampled upon by every foot and insulted over by my cruel enemy Yet O Lord I am thy creature and thy hands have fashioned me in my mothers womb and being fashioned thou art he that brought'st me into this light upon thée have I fastned all my hope even from my infancy even from that time to this very hour thou hast shew'd thy self a merciful God in nourishing governing and preserving me from all evil Do not thou therefore who hitherto hast béen present with me whom I have acknowledged whom I have honour'd in whom I have hoped Do not O do not thou depart be not farre from me for most grievous trouble is near and there is none besides to help me none to mitigate the pressnre of my calamities with any comfort But O thou Father of Mercies deferre no longer but haste thee to help me O Lord my strength deliver my soul from the Sword my soul I say which is only dear to me from the power of the Dogg Save me from the Lyons mouth from my Adversary the Devil that goes about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour and hear me and frée me from the hands of Tyrants This if thou shalt do for me Vers. 22 as I certainly believe thou wilt then I will appear before thee in the great Congregation then I will declare thy Name thy Power thy Goodness to all my brethren to those who are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh to all those who are partakers of the same Covenant and of the same spirit with me I will fréely and openly profess and praise thée Before thée and of thée shall I make my boast in the most frequent Assemblies of thy Servants Thy praise shall ever be in my mouth and those sacrifices of thanksgiving which I have vowed these I will pay in the presence of all thy people And I will call to my brethren to ioyn with me saying O ye of the seed of Jacob that fear the Lord and O all ye of the seed of Israel that imitate his faith and piety praise the Lord glorifie my and your God fall low before him adore and worship him for he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of me a poor afflicted despised wretch neither hath he hid his face from me but when I cryed unto him he heard me O Lord thou heardst thy Son when he pray'd for himself hear him we beséech thée Vers. 16 when he prayes for us And look nor upon us as we are in our selves wretched polluted creatures but look upon the face of thine anointed behold his hands and his féet digg'd through with nayls for our sake behold his blood poured out like water and all his sinews stretched upon the Cross and his bones put out of joint consider his bitter Agony in which as if he had béen near some furnace he fell into a sweat and melted into drops of blood when thou hidd'st thy face affordest him no comfort when in bitterness of soul being forsaken by thee he complain'd and cryed My God my God Remember how for us he became the reproach of men Vers. 1 and the out-cast of the people Vers. 7 how they laugh'd him to scorn and shak'd their heads at him forget not those Bulls those Lyons those Doggs that came about him to devour him and when they had brought him to the dust of death they parted his garments among them and cast lots upon his vesture O let not this blood be spilt in vain but for these sufferings unknown to us but felt by him have pity upon us and save us Since he hath given his soul a Sacrifice for sin Isa 53. divide him a portion with the great and let him divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul to death and was numbred with the transgressours and bare the sins of many let him see his seed let him prolong his dayes and let the pleasure of the Lord prosper in his hand Since he hath borne our iniquities and made intercession for the transgressours let him see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied and let this thy righteous Servant justifie many Let all the ends of the world remember themselves Vers. 27 mourn and deplore their former estate lament for their impiety and forsaking their lewd conversation be turned unto the Lord and let all the kindreds of the Nations instead of the creature worship the Creatour For thine O Christ is the Kingdom and Power and Glory and thou by the meritorious Death and Passion Vers. 28 hast merited to be the governour among the Nations A seed even of the Gentiles shall serve thee they shall be counted to the Lord for a generation Vers. 26 These are the méek upon earth these are the poor in spirit these are the contrite and broken-hearted To these thou hast sent the glad tidings of the Gospel for these thou hast prepared a banquet of thine own flesh and blood Oh give us grace so to eat thy flesh and drink thy blood that we may eat and be satisfied and being fill'd with joy of heart we may praise thée that we séek to thée and please thée and our consciences being quieted and secured by this repast we may acquiesce and live in the perswasion of thy peace and reconciliation for ever O let the fat on earth the greatest the richest the mightyest Princes and Potentates on earth long after this food and in testimony of their faith and Religion eat adore and worship These even these must go down to the dust for no man can keep alive his own soul Let these then together with all other Mortals bow their knées at the Name of Iesus and come and eat this spiritual meat that they may live for ever Thou O Iehovah art our righteousness this will we declare to a people that shall be born our childrens children shall know that thou alone hast done this for us that thou hast redéemed us that thou alone art the Authour and Finisher of our justice and salvation that thou doest justifie thou doest sanctifie thy people and wilt save them by the meritorious Death and Passion of our Lord Iesus Christ And therefore for this we will declare thy Name unto our brethren we will praise thee we will glorifie thee we will fear adore and worship thee Our
as some great King in his Throne providing for all the parts of his Empire examining all Causes and doing justice to every one 1. Vers. 13 The Lord looks from heaven and beholds all the sons of men 2. That he sees all From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth Vers. 14 3. And he is not â—â—iosus spectator neither Vers. 15 He sees and considers their hearts their works Considers in what men put their trust And he sees in what they put their confidence in their Armies in theiâ— strength in their Horse not in him But all in vain Vers. 16 For there is no King that can be saved by the multitude of an Hoast Evacuates their designs A mighty man is not delivered by much strength An horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any man by his great strength Multitude strength c. without God are useless 2. Hitherto he hath given a proof of Gods providence toward all men 2 But defends his Church but now he descends to a particular proof of it by his care over his Church which he wonderfully guides defends protects in all dangers and assaults And that notice be taken of it he begins with an Ecce Behold the eye of the Lord his tender'st care is over them that fear him Vers. 18 upon them that hope in his mercy To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine Upon this Gods people The third part The three last verses contain the Acclamation of Gods people who believe and place all their hope and trust in God For being excited as it were by the former Arguments They do three things Vers. 20 1. They express and profess their faith and dependance on God 1 Wait on him Our soul waiteth on God he is our help and our shield Vers. 21 2. They publish upon what hope they are held up and how comforted 2 Publish his name and rejoice in it For our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his Holy Name Vers. 22 3. Upon this hope they commend themselves by prayer to God 3 Commend themselves to Gods mercy Let thy mercy O Lord be upon us according as we hope in thee The Prayer collected out of the thirty third Psalm O God thy goodness is so great thy faithfulness so constant thy power so wonderful thy providence so universal but thy care so Fatherly toward thy people that we were unworthy of the least of thy mercies should we not acknowledge them and return thee due honour and thanks For there is nothing in the whole world which doth not witness thée to be a bountiful God Vers. 4 and a most Merciful Father Thy Word O Lord thy Decrée for the Creation and Government of the World is right and equal and all thy works are done in true wisdom righteousness and judgement Vers. 5 For there is nothing that thou hast commanded which is not just Nothing that thou hast promised which thou wilt not make good and bring to pass Out of that love thou bearest to righteousness and judgement the earth is full of thy goodness there being in it nothing so minute and vile which one way or other doth not partake of thy bounty Vers. 6 and commend thy goodness and mercy to us By thy Word alone and sole Command were those incorruptible Orbs of the Heavens made and confirm'd and all the hoast of them that multitude of starres so orderly and beautifully disposed by the breath the word the Fiat of thy mouth Thou hast gather'd together those unruly waters of the Sea into one place and shut them up with bounds and limits that they return not again to cover the earth And thou hast hidden and laid up great streams of waters in the bowels of the earth as in a Treasure-house which at thy pleasure thou bring'st forth to water a thirsty Land He spake and all this was done he commanded and it stood fast For so great is thy power that without any labour without any delay without any help all this was done and that by thy Will and Word only and by thy Word and Will it is that it doth so now continue and remain without dissolution Therefore O ye righteous rejoice in the Lord Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner Vers. 2 praise therefore a righteous God with an upright heart Neither with your mouth only express his praise but set it forth with musical instruments Praise the Lord with the Harp sing unto him with the Psaltery and an instrument of ten strings And you who have so often sung of his honour now since he hath renew'd his mercies set forth your joy with a New Song play skilfully with a loud voice So set forth his praise his power his wisdom his mercy that all the earth may fear the Lord and the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him For what he hath ordained by his eternal counsel shall be fulfill'd and stand fast for ever and the thoughts of his heart to all generations Since then thou O Jehovah art most just most merciful most Mighty blessed is that Nation who have chosen and worshipped thee O Lord for their God and happy is the people whom thou hast chosen for thine inheritance O make us Lord alwayes of this people that we may be happy under thy protection Dwell in the midst of us and bless us But O Lord bring the counsels of wicked men against this thy people to nought and make the devices of the people of none effect Look down from heaven and behold all the sons of men from the place of thy habitation look upon the inhabitants of the earth Thou searchest the very hearts and reins and knowest all their plots and secret counsels they take against thy people thou séest their preparations and provisions O Lord make them know and so fashion their hearts that they may perceive that all hope and confidence is in vain which is not in thée Because there is no other can save besides thy self For there is no King that can be saved by the multitude of an hoast neither is a mighty man deliver'd by much strength An Horse whether in battle or flight is a vain-deceitful thing to save a man neither shall he deliver his rider by his great strength It is not in these vain helps we put our considence our hope is in thée alone on thée we relie to thée we trust from thée we look for help Let thy eye therefore O Lord be upon us that fear thee who relie not upon any merits and creatures but on thy méer mercy let thy everlasting mercy then follow us and deliver our souls from temporal and eternal death and suffain us with a sufficient livelihood in the time of famine Upon thee O Lord our soul doth wait be our shield to protect us our help to deliver us So shall our heart
the highest Heaven there is not any thing which is not partaker of thy goodness Those bottles of Heaven that continually resolve and water the Earth are expresses of thy Constancy and Truth Thy way of suffice is incomprehensible and thy judgments by which thou dispensest all things in the Earth a great deep Ver. 6 which no man can search an abysse which no humane understanding can find out Man and Beast have their being life motion from thée to man and beast thou suppliest wharsoever is necessary for food or existence they are sustained by thy goodness and preserved by thy mercy But thy care O Lord and providence over thy people is far more gracious Who can Ver. 7 as it ought estéem it Who can set a sufficient price upon it O how excellent is thy loving-kindness toward them thou lovest and them that love thée These thou wilt protect as a Hen doth her Chickens under the shadow of thy wings These shall enjoy not only temporary good things common to man and beast but in this present life thou wilt give them a taste of thy heavenly treasures by the Holy Ghost diffused in their hearts which as Rivers of pleasure will refresh their thirsty souls and after receive them into a celestial mansion where they shall be satisfied with the abundance of thy House that is with the beatifical vision and full fruition of thyself for thou art the fountain of that life which is true life indéed and perpetual Thou art the spring of light and when we come to enjoy that light all darkness being dispelled we shall sée light indéed Till we come thither we pass through a vally of darkness and live a life that may rather be called a death 't is so full of cares so full of miseries so full of sin howsoever in this let us have a taste of thy mercies protect us under thy wings let us dwell in thy house satisfie us with the graces of thy Spirit let us drink of the Rivers of thy pleasure make our life comfortable and let us enjoy the light of thy countenance This will be life to us even when we sit in this shadow of death this will be light to us even while we remain in this darkness Here we are subject to many temptations and the ungodly thrust sore at us that we might fall But O never let the foot of pride come and prevail against us let not the hand of the wicked remove us We know O Lord that their malice is so great against thy Truth that they are not moved with any fear or reverence of thy Name resolved they are to please and flatter themselves in their own eyes till their iniqity be found out and made apyear to be odious before God and man whatsoever they speak is full of iniquity and fraud they are not only ignorant but they will not be taught to be wise whosoever shall advise them to do good is accounted their enemy and hateful in their sight In the night-season when the mind is retired and should meditate on the best things then they fasten it upon the worst in their Bed they devise mischief and so hardned in their sin that they will not set themselves in any good way nor abhor even the foulest evil Therefore O Lord for thy mercy and faithfulness for thy loving-kindness and righteousness sake we beséech thée suffer not our souls to be delivered over as a prey into their hands and since they will not desist from their mischievous and bloody enterprise let these worker of iniquity fall together for peace let them find war for security trouble let them be cast down from their fancied state of dignity and felicity and never be able to rise again by the power of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen PSAL. XXXVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE intent of this Psalm is that good men be not over-much troubled at the prosperity of wicked men and what is here delivered may be reduced to these two general Heads 1. He sets down the Duty of a good man which is to be patient and put his confidence in God when he sees the wicked prosper and flourish The first part That we fret not at wicked mens prosperity 2. He gives many Reasons to perswade unto it 1. He begins with an Interdict and then descends to give forth some Commands 1. His Interdict is Fret not thy self because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity Be nor angry not envious to which he adds this Reason That their prosperity is but short for they shall be cut down as the grass and wither as the green herb This interdict is repeated ver 7 8. and the reason ver 9 10 35 36 38. He sets down some Rules to keep from envy 2. Then he sets down some commands or rules to keep from fretting and anger 1. The first is a perpetual rule for our whole life Trust in the Lord rely not on humane helps riches friends c. trust to God 2. Do good increase not thy state by ill arts and means 3. Dwell in the land desert not thy station for verily thou shalt be fed 4. And therefore enjoy quietly what thou hast at present 5. Delight thou in the Lord be pleased with his way Ratio Dabit petitiones cordis 6. Commit thy way unto the Lord labour in an honest vocation leave the rest to him for he shall bring it to pass he shall bring forth thy righteousness c. 7. Rest and acquiesce in the Lord and wait patiently for him his time is the best and then he repeats his Interdict Fret not thy self Then he resumes his former Reason mentioned at the second verse The first Reason and amplifies it by an Antithesis viz. that bonis benè malis malè erit ver 9 10 11. The second part Evil doers cut off and so it falls out plerumque but not semper which is enough for temporal blessings 1. Evil doers shall be cut off but those that wait on the Lord shall inherit the Earth 2. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be yea and thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be But the meek shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace To this he adds a second Reason taken from the Providence of God 1. The second Reason Gods Providence Object 1. Bad men hate good men In protecting the righteous and confounding their enemies 2. In blessing the little they have in which he seems to remove a double objection The first about the tyranny of the wicked over just men The second that they were commonly in want and poverty The first Tentation that much troubles pious souls is the power the cruelty the implacable hatred of wicked men The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth To which David answereth Resp God shall revenge it The Lord shall laugh at
is a happy man Now whether he speaks of That is of compassionate bowels and applies the following particulars to the poor and needy or to the man that considers him Interpreters are doubtful the particular comforts are six 1. The Lord will deliver him in time â—f trouble Ver. 2 2. The Lord will preserve him that he faint not in his great troubles The particulars of his blessing 3. The Lord will keep him alive prolong his life and dayes 4. He shall be blessed upon earth God shall enrich him and bless his substance 5. Thou wilt not deliver him to the will of his enemies never to their will to their full desire though sometimes into their hands 6. The Lord will strengthen him upon the Bed of languishing Ver. 3 Thou wilt make his Bed in his sickness He shall have comfort in his grief and assurance of Gods favour in his sick Bed Now before he enters upon the second part The second part He petitions for mercy the complaint of the unkindness of men to him he offers a short ejaculation to God begging mercy health and pardon which he asks upon confession of his sins health he asks first for his soul that being healed from sin he doubts not it would go well with his body 1. Ver. 4 I said the Lord be merciful to me merciful to my sin 2. Heal my soul in which there is yet the sense of thy wrath 3. He complains of others malice And the Reason is because I have sinned against thee And the complaint of himself being ended he complains of others 1. Of their hatred and malice My enemies speak evil of me 2. Ver. 5 Of their cruelty they long for my death they say When shall he dye and his name perish 2 Cruelty They would have no memory left behind of me 3. 3 Perfidiousness Their perfidious dealing and dissimulation They come indeed to visit me but it is to fish what they can from me Ver. 6 to make their advantage of it If he comes to see me he speaks vanity all vain and feigned words for his heart gathereth iniquity to it self fraudulently searcheth my counsels for presently being gone abroad he openeth and tells all to my hurt 4. 4 Conspiracies Of their plots and conspiracies All that hate me whisper together against me Ver. 7 against me do they devise my hurt 5. 5 Joy at his miseries Their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or exultation at his misery An evil disease say they cleaveth unto him and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more 6. 6 Of a perfidious friend Of the perfidiousness of some particular friend perhaps Achitophel Yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lift up his heel against me I fed and fatted the Beast and he kicked at me And then he prayes The third part He prayes to God to raise him But thou O Lord be merciful unto me and raise me up which prayer he enforceth by these Reasons 1. That thereby as a King he should have power to do justice on Traytors That I may requite them 2. Ver. 10 By this he should have experience of Gods favour By this I know thou favourest me c. 3. Ver. 11 This will be a testimony unto me that thou favourest not only my person but my cause Ver. 12 As for me thou upholdest me in my integrity and seâ—tâ—st me before thy face for ever Then he closeth the Psalm with a Benedictus And concludes with a Benedictus Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Ver. 13 Amen Amen The Prayer collected out of the forty first Psalm O Merciful God Ver. 1 who shewedst compassion toward the compassionate and hast promised mercy to those who are merciful so stir my bowels within me that I may rejoyce with thy servants that rejoyce and mourn with those that mourn never let me behold any of thy servants in want distress misery and affliction but let me consider it seriously and wisely lay it to heart make his my own case and chearfully afford him that help and comfort which I would expect and desire my self if it should please thée to visit me with the same or the like affliction This very day is a day of blackness and heaviness of gloominess and sad affliction unto thy servants and Lord out of a fellow-feeling I lay it to heart I pray not for my self alone but for them also O Lord deliver them in this time of trouble preserve them and kéep them that they fall not into evil nor faint not under their pressures Ver. 2 Prolong their dayes that they may sée thy revenge upon their enemies and bless to them good God that little substance which the spoiler and destroyer hath yet left to them The malice of their enmies is unsatiable their desire is to root them out that they may be no more a people O never deliver them to their will nor leave them in their hands into which thou hast now brought them for some reasons best known to thée When thou shalt cast any of these upon his sick bed then stand by him and strengthen him and comfort him though his body languish yet let thy consolations refresh his soul if it so séems good to thée make him whole again however soften under him his Bed ease his pain and let him rest swéetly and quietly in thy arms Make thou for him his Bed in all his sickness Lord be merciful unto him heal his soul and let it not be wounded with a desperate sense of thy hot displeasure As thou hast made him an object of pity to us so make him an object of mercy to thée and in confessing his sin let him find ease and assurance of pardon Thou Lord knowest our enemies how many they are and how they bear a tyrannous hate against us they speak evil of us they imprecate evil against us The prolongation of our life is an eye-fore to them and the lengthning of our dayes a corrosive to their hearts They long for our death and wish the abolition of our names and memory from under Heaven They may come indéed sometimes to visit us and insinuate themselves into our company but it is not out of any good will for even then they lay snares for us The kind words they use are full of falshood and dissimulation their intent is thereby to dive into the counsels of our hearts that they make some narrative to our destruction They whisper and lay their heads together with one consent all that they devise is to do us mischief under their power and command they have brought us and now that we are down their plot is that we never rise again Yea and how many of us may justly say which is a great corrosive to our souls My own familiar friends whom I trusted which did eat of my bread whom I have fed at my Table
his soul as every good man ought in the like vicissitudes of trial and combate by a full assurance faith confidence of Gods favour and protection 1. Chiding himself for his discontent and diffidence Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me 2. Then encourageth and revives his heart upon Gods goodness and faithfulness Hope thou in God for I shall yet give him thanks who is the help of my countenance and my God PSAL. XLIII THIS Psalm is of the same nature with the former and is as it were the Epitom of it and it contains two chief things 1. A Petition which is double 1. One in the first verse 2. The other in the fourth verse Davids Petition that God would be his Judge 2. A comfortable Apostrophe to his own soul ver 5. First He petitions to God The first part 1. That being righteous he would be his Judge Judge me O Lord. 2. That being merciful he would plead his Cause Plead my Cause Ver. 1 3. That being Omnipotent he would deliver him Deliver me ver 1. Of this he assigns two Reasons 1. The first the unmerciful condition of his enemies The Reasons of it two 1. They were a factious bloody inhumane people Plead my cause against an ungodly Nation an unmerciful people ver 1. 2. They were men of deceit and iniquity Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man ver 1. 2. The other from the Nature of God and his relation to him Ver. 2 For thou art the God of my strength ver 2. Thou hast promised to defend me His expostulation upon it and upon it he expostulates 1. Why hast thou cast me off For so to the eye of sense it seems to me 2. Wh◠go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ver 2. Secondly The second partt of his Petition is The second Petition for Gods favour that he may be restored to Gods favour and reduced from banishment to his Countrey ver 3. 1. O send forth thy Light and thy Truth Ver. 3 the light of thy favour and countenance and make thy promises true to me let them lead me ver 3. 2. Let them guide me whether to my dignity and honours No I ask not that so much as to thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacles where I may enjoy the exercises of piety ver 3. Thirdly Ver. 4 Now that he might the more move God to hear his Petition he does as good as vow Which if granted he vows to be thankful that this courtesie should not be cast away upon an ungrateful wretch thankful he would be and make it known how good God had been unto him 1. Then will I go to the Altar of God unto the God of my exceeding joy the joy and content he would take in this should not be vulgar 2. Yea upon the Harp will I praise thee O God my God His joy should be expressed outwardly and Gods Name celebrated with a Psalm and instruments of Musick ver 4. The Petitions being ended The second part His faith by which he quiets his soul and he now confident of audience and favour he thus bespeaks his heavy and mournful heart just as in the former Psalm 1. Chiding 2. Encouraging himself Ver. 5 Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God ver 5. The Petition collected out of the forty second Psalm O most just God for our heinous transgressions and profaness it hath séemed good unto thy Majesty to turn away thy favourable countenance from us and to banish us from those comforts which we were wont to enjoy in thy Temple and in thy Courts By the want we are come to know the just value of those enjoyments and brought to confess the advantage of those Petitions which in publick we offered with thy Saints and servants before those suits which now we singly make in our retirements This is it that in secret setcheth sighs from our hearts and tears from our eyes that we may once more méet in the beauty of holiness Behold as the chased Hart ready to perish for heat and thirst panteth after the water-brooks Ver. 1 so our souls panteth after thee our God our soul thirsteth for God Ver. 2 even for the living God in whom are the Fountains of living water Oh therefore that that day would once come that we might go to thy Sanctuary again and fréely appear in thy presence The insultations of our enemies are many and bitter they judge us quite rejected and cast off by thée and this is it which breaks my heart and my tears have been my meat day and night Ver. 3 while they continually say unto me in derision Where is now thy God Now when I compare my former estate with my present condition I poure out my soul within me for I lay to heart How I had gone with the multitude I went with them to the House of God with the voyce of joy and praise with a multitude that kept Holy-day But now it is otherwise I am driven from thy Sanctuary I am cast out from thy Temple and this is it which makes my soul within me like melting wax this is it which makes my life a burden to me O my God my soul is cast down within me 't is a trouble that I must remember thée even from this place of banishment even from these desolate places and land of strangers to which I am driven here the evils I suffer are grievous heavy many continual One déep of miseries calls upon another and thy Cataracts and Spouts of calamities fall with a great noise upon my head All thy waves and billows of afflictions are gone over me and are ready to sink and drown me Yet Lord I despair not of thy mercy and goodness I know the Lord will command and make me sensible of his loving-kindness in the day-time and in the night-season he will continue his love so that I shall have just reason to sing of him and my prayer shall approach and come unto the God of my life Why then art thou cast down Ver. 5 O my soul why art thou thus disquieted within me why dost thou despair why art thou so impatient O hope and put thy trust in God be bold upon the confidence of his presence and help for I know the day will come when he will yet look upon me with a favourable eye when I shall yet confess his Name and praise him for the help of his countenance I will say unto God O thou my Rock my stay my hope Ver. 9 why hast thou forgotten me why go I mourning while the enemy oppresseth me Their reproach is no less grief unto me than if I felt a Sword of death in my bones Ver. 10 it wounds me to the very heart to hear them daily say unto me Where
his and so are the Cattle upon a thousand Hills will he eat Bulls flesh or drink the blood of Goats To what purpose are the multitude of sacrifices and the fat of fed Beasts these thou delightest not in incense is an abomination unto thee the calling of Assemblies the new Moons the Sabbaths all external worship is hateful and a trouble unto thée so long as the persons of those who observe them are not accepted so long as the men are Formalists Hypocrites and have their hands full of blood 't is the penitent soul to which thou wilt look the sincere heart which thou wilt regard Cleanse me therefore O Lord and wash my heart give me power to put away the evil of my doings let me cease to do evil and learn to do well that so my person being pleasing in thy sight thou may'st hear my prayers and accept my thanks It is now a day of trouble and as thou hast commanded I call unto thee for help Ver. 15 Lord hear my prayers and deliver me as thou hast promised so shall I glorifie thy Name be obliged to offer thee Thanksgiving and pay my vows to the most High Remit Lord and pardon the sins of thy people put our present sufferings and extream afflictions before thy eyes and return to us who return to thée with fasting wéeping and mourning so shall we have just occasion to offer thée praise and glorifie thée for this great mercy and deliverance for ever and ever thy statutes shall be our song in the house of our pilgrimage and we will run the way of thy Commandments all the dayes of our life PSAL. LI. One and a chief of the Penitentials THE occasion of this Psalm was the message that David received from God by Nathan the Prophet for the murder of Vriah and his Adultery in defiling Bathsheba this put him into the state of a Penitent and to petition to God for mercy for pardon for grace for peace of conscience for renovation of his heart It in general contains Davids prayer 1. For himself ver 1. to 13. 2. And three vows or promises ver 13. to 18. 3. For the Church from ver 18. to the end David being in a perplexed estate conceived he could have no comfort The first part but in Gods mercy and therefore he first in general prayes for that Have mercy on me Ver. 1 O Lord not on David the King thine Anointed but on me The general Petition for mercy that am not worthy to be called thy servant thy son and the motive he useth to gain that is not any plea or merit of his own but 1. The kindness of God Have mercy on me according to thy loving-kindness 2. The compassion of God According to the multitude of thy compassions The general Petition for mercy being offered next he tenders three particular Petitions 1. His first particular Petition is for forgiveness of his sins the fact was past The first Petition for forgiveness but the guilt remained he therefore earnestly petitions Put away mine iniquities and upon this he insists and in other terms comes over it for a soul that is truly sensible of sin is never at rest and satisfied with one deprecation for sin is a spot a deep stain Therefore wash me throughly wash me from mine iniquities Ver. 2 and cleanse me from my sin Amplius lava as if one washing were too little for a double sin for two such sins To this Petition for mercy he subjoins a confession of his sin knowing well To this he subjoins a confession that this was the readiest way to obtain it for he that confesseth and forsakes his sin shall find mercy in which we may learn many excellent conditions requisite in a true Confessionist 1. He enters into a serious consideration of the nature of sin he feels the weight the burden of it feels the anguish and abhors it I excuse it not 1. I know my iniquity I know it now to abhor to reform it Ver. 3 2. It is ever before me not to please me but to trouble and grieve me 3. He aggravates it with divers names iniquity sin transgression it is Pasteanos rebellion it is Greavah crooked dealing Chatta errour and wandring 2. And so he falls upon an open and plain confession Peccavi I have sinned Ver. 4 and this he first aggravates by two circumstances He aggravates his sins 1. From the person 1. Of the person It is against thee against thee I say a good gracious God that from a Shepherd hast made me a King a great and terrible God that art able and hast threatned to punish there was neither grace nor fear in me that I durst sin against thee against thee the Epizeuxis is emphatical yea against thee only have I sinned In maxima fortuna minima licentia So highly thou hast advanced me that I need to fear none but thee but this hath not kept me from this sin in this was unthankfulness Vriah was my Souldier I need not fear him the People my Subjects they cannot judge me it is to thee I am to answer for breach of thy Law I esteem therefore my sin to be against thee only for I had not known this sin to be a sin hadst not thou forbidden it nor need not fear any wouldst not thou punish it 2. Of the manner it was an impudent sin done in thy sight 2 The manner before thy eyes thou being by and looking on and so done without any reverence of thy Majesty as it were in contempt I have done this evil in thy sight So that I confess that in reproving and threatning me by Nathan thou art a just God and to be justified in thy sayings and clear in the judgment of any who with an impartial eye shall examine my offence and thy proceeding for I have deserved whatsoever thou hast threatned and given thee just cause to speak and judge as thou hast done Vt is not here causal but consequential for it is not his meaning that he sinned for that end that God should be justified but that this would follow upon it whensoever he was brought to confess his sin then God would be justified in his proceeding against him Ver. 5 3. He proceeds in the Amplification and Exaggeration of his sin He yet aggravates his sin 1. That it proceeded from original sin in him and declares from what root this his actual sin sprang even from his original Behold I was born in iniquity and in sin hath my mother conceived me This very sin that I have committed gives me occasion to enquire into my state and I find and confess upon a diligent inquisition that I am universally corrupted even from my mothers womb and that I carry about me the seeds of all sin 4. Ver. 6 Another aggravation of his sin is that in himself he found not that which God loves 2 From an insincere heart Thou requirest truth in the inward parts
indulgence to this sin In giving him 1. A right spirit there was a crooked and perverse spirit that had prevailed over him he judged not as he did before of Gods Law but perversly opposed it he desires that God would give him a spirit to judge rightly as he did before and firmly to resolve to keep to that was the right and strait way to happiness Renew O Lord in me a right Spirit 2. A holy Spirit The profane carnal spirit is opposed to this 2 A boly spirit and to that he hearkned by this holy Spirit he was wont to be carried which opposed all carnality but such good and sweet motions he perceived to be departed and therefore he desires of God a restitution of this holy Spirit this sanctifying and renewing Spirit that might again kindle in him the love of God holy motions agreeable to Gods Law and an obedience to the same Take not thy holy Spirit from me 3. A free Spirit He found that ever since he fell into his sin he did his duty 3 A free spirit and served his God with an ill will with much reluctancy he took no delight in the doing of it as he did before this therefore he begs that God would again give and restore to him a free Spirit that freely chearfully willingly he might run the way of Gods Commandments and that he would so uphold him with his Spirit that he might constantly continue in the same to his lives end Uphold me O Lord with thy free Spirit 2. Hitherto the Prophet hath presented his three Petitions The second part of the Psalm in which he vows three things and upon the confidence of these he makes his vows first to teach others secondly to praise God thirdly to offer him the best sacrifice a sacrifice which should be instead of all sacrifices which he knew would accept a contrite heart 1. Then that is after my pardon obtained and my reconciliation unto thee I shall teach Ver. 13 for a man under guiltiness himself is not meet to speak and declare a pardon to others His first vow to teach others 2. I will teach thy wayes to sinners not my wayes of sinning but thy methods of pardoning viz. That to the stubborn thou wilt shew thy self froward and stubborn but to the penitent such as I am thou wilt shew mercy 3. And the effect will be That sinners shall be converted unto thee They who were perverted before and averted from thee being encouraged by the mercy I have found shall be converted 2. His second vow to praise God His second vow and promise is to praise God My tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness Ver. 14 my mouth shall shew forth thy praise But to this he was unapt so long as he remained in his sin Ver. 15 for praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner And also unable to do without Gods special assistance But because not fit to do this he prayes and therefore he prayes for a capacity to do both 1. 1 For remission Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God and then my tongue shall sing 2. 2 For assistance O Lord open my lips and then my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 3. His third vow is about a sacrifice which should be better than any then in use not the sacrifice of a beast but the sacrifice of a heart a heart well-conditioned His Preface to his third vow Negatively That God delights not in sacrifices seasoned with contrition and sorrow such he knew God would accept and such he should have 1. Thou desirest no sacrifice That is the outward in comparison of the inward would the outward please I would not be behind for that also I would give it thee but I know Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings without the heart 2. Nor in the heart till contrite No nor with the heart neither till it be broken and contrite broken for sin and contrite for meer love that it hath offended so good a Father I vowe therefore to bring thee this sacrifice this is instead of all other instead of many sacrifices this thou wilt not despise and this I will tender The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit His third vow a contrite heart The third part in which he prayes for the Church a broken and a contrite heart Thou O God wilt not despise 3. David having finished his prayers and vows for himself forgets not to petition for Jerusalem for Gods Church and the reason might be a religious fear in him lest for his sin Jerusalem might suffer such a thing might happen for so it did when he numbred the people Peccant Reges plectuntur Achivi His method was to be commended and his charity 1. His method first to be reconciled to God himself before he prayes for others for the prayers of a righteous man prevails much and the Apostle speaks of intercession 2. His charity for we are alwayes bound to remember the afflictions of Joseph and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem He prayes then for her 1. Ver. 18 That God who out of his good pleasure did choose a Church would out of his meer good will and love preserve it 1 That God protect his Church Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion 2. That he would have a special favour even to the material buildings Build thou the walls of Jerusalem 2 Even the walls for these fall not alone Religion and the Service of God fall when the Temple and Houses of God fall to ruine Probatum est 3. Then Religion would flourish For the consequence of Jerusalems prosperity would be this That Religion would flourish with it Then there would be sacrifices burnt-offerings and Holocausts Ver. 19 then they shall offer Bullocks upon thine Altar And which is yet more we shall offer And God pleased with it and thou shalt accept Then thou shalt be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness We being reconciled unto thee justified sanctified righteous upon thy account and in favour all our sacrifices shall find a gracious acceptance The Prayer collected out of the fifty first Psalm O Almighty Lord and most merciful God thou hast shewed compassion to many penitent sinners since the very beginning of the World thou never rejectedst any that sought to thée with a penstent soul and therefore Lord since thou art the same and no shadow of change in thée I beféech thée cloze not that door of mercy on me that hath béen opened to receive so many before me and let not those Rivers of compassion be dried up to me that have flowed so plentifully to others Have mercy on me O Lord on me Ver. 1 that have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am not worthy to be called thy son but according to thy goodness and multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquities I know Lord thou hast thy debt-book wherein thou writest the
Wicked men these are corrupters of all Truth and Religion Blood-thirsty men these are that thirst after the blood of thy Saints and use all their force power and conspiracies to root them out of the Earth they lie in wait for our souls they are gathered together for our ruine O send us help from thy holy Heaven and save us from the rage of them who would eat us up Many many grievous offences we have committed against thée our God but it is not for these crimes they at this time invade us but they are haters of true Religion and implacable enemies to true Piety which because we maintain therefore they craftily take counsel and wisely they work to our destruction O Lord Thou knowest that without any fault or offence of ours they run and prepare themselves to Battel Therefore O just God who art a witness of our innocency and their cruelty be not like one that sléeps arise to help us that séek thée behold our miseries and stand up for us that stand for thée and since thou art the Lord of Hosts who hast all Armies at thy Command and the God of Israel whom thy people serve suffer not thy chosen to be thus oppressed by wicked men whose pride excéeds that of the Heathen Visit them in anger O Lord and be not merciful to them that offend of malicious wickedness they are an object of vengeance not of mercy execute then thy severe wrath upon them Are not their works altogether the symptoms of an obstinate and hard heart Earnest they are to execute their plots they run too and fro In the Evening when good men are at rest then they arise for mischief mad as Dogs to bring their purposes to pass They grinne they threaten they walk round the City observing where they may take their Prey Boldly they speak with their mouth what their heart intends and the words that procéed from thence are very Swords breathing to us nothing but death and utter extirpation Thy Majesty they regard not and as for man their pride and power is so great they care not who hears them for they know that few are able and fewer willing to help us But thou O Lord sittest in Heaven upon thy Throne and hearest and séest all things both our oppressions and their insultations frustrate their attempts evacuate their endeavours have their persons in derision and laugh all their projects to scorn Let them not be visited with the visitation of all men Slay them not lest the people forget it but scatter them among the people make them for their flagitious lyes and perjuries become Wanderers and Beggars Let them run here and there for meat and grudge if they be not satisfied Consume them O Lord consume in thy wrath bring them down from their Throne out them from their power and dignity let their unjust gotten goods perish and their great wealth come to nought that they may know that it is God that rules in Jacob and unto the end of the World The sin of their mouth is impudent the words of their lips blasphemy Ver. 12 their very preaching is cursing and lyes therefore spare them not but let them be taken by the pride of their words and fall into that snare of destruction in which they were wont to boast that they would catch other innocent men Make us so happy O our Eod that we may sée our desires upon thy enemies so shall we sing of thy power and praise thy mercy aloud in the Morning and all shall know that thou art a strong Tower of defence and a sure refuge to all that in sincerity of heart in the day of trouble call upon thée Unto thee O Lord will I sing for thou O God art my Refuge and the God of my Mercy Thou alone hast mercy on me and to thée alone will I call for mercy through Iesus Christ my Lord. Amen PSAL. LX. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vel Triumphale BEfore Davids time 1 Chron. 18. and in the beginning of his reign Israel was in a distressed condition He composed and quieted all And made War and conquered the Moabites c. Edom only was not vanquished In this Psalm then he gives thanks for his victories And prayes for assistance for the conquest of Edom. The parts of it in general are 1. A commemoration of the former lamentable distracted condition of the Israelites vers 1 2 3. 2. The condition of it under his reign much better from vers 4. to 9. 3. His thankfulness in ascribing all his victories to God from vers 9. to 12. 1. The first part The former condition of Israel which he laments In the first he shews that God was angry with Israel 1. Of which he laments the effects of his anger 2. And then prayes for the aversion 1. O Lord thou hast or hadst cast us off 2. Thou hast scattered us abroad thou hast been displeased 3. Vers. 1 Thou hast made the earth to tremble 4. Thou hast broken it 5. Thou hast shew'd thy people heavy things 6. Thou hast given us a drink the wine of astonishment Every syllable of which Congeries will appear to be most true to him that shall examine the story of the Israelites before Sauls reign under his government upon his death and the first entrance of David to the Kingdom The stirs he had and wars with the house of Saul until Ishbosheth was taken out of the way 2. Imputes to Gods anger All which wars civil and external with the calamities that flowed from them Vers. 1 he imputes to Gods anger vers 1. Thou hast been displeased 3. And prayes to God to turn to them And upon it prayes 1. O turn thee to us again Let us enjoy thy countenance which was averted Vers. 1 2. Vers. 2 Heal the breaches of the Land Close the wounds made by these contentions and it seems they were not yet all perfectly closed For he adds It shaketh 2. The second part But now the condition of it was much better All being brought under one King The present condition of Israel 2. And he victorious over his forreign enemies 1. Thou now hast given a Banner to them that fear thee All Israel all those that are thy servants are brought to acknowledge and fight under one standard Vers. 4 in effect have receiv'd me for their sole King the factions and parties being quieted David being King 2. That it may be display'd Set up that Israel may know under whom to fight and whose part to take 3. According to Gods promise Because of thy Truth Who by this hast made it appear that it was no fiction nor no ambition of mine to set up this standard But a Truth that I was by Samuel by thy special appointment Anointed to be King And I am now invested with the Crown for the performance of thy Truth and Promise 4. Vers. 5 And the end is especially that I should bring deliverance to thy
and hews it and cuts it down with the sword all which is befallen to it at the rebuke of thy countenance which angry look if it please thée to turn upon our enemies they also shall easily perish One angry and frowning look of thy face will do it O let them féel this rebuke and perish Shew thy power and might and suffer not thy people whom thou hast adopted and joyned to thy self and strengthned by thy promise and Covenant to the ignominy of thy name to perish by the pride of a cruel enemy Vpon which favour and help O Lord we will constantly adhere unto thee and never more depart from thee When thou shalt quicken us from this death and free us from these evils renouncing all other false and strange gods with all humane imaginations we will worship thee alone and call upon thy name for ever Turn us then again O Lord God of hoasts cause thy face to shine upon us and we shall be saved Grant us this mercy good Lord for Iesus Christs sake thy only Son our Saviour Amen PSAL. LXXXI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IN this Psalm the Prophet exhorts the people to praise God in his Festivals for the benefits he conferr'd on them and exprobates their disobedience and shews the events that fell upon it The parts are 1. An exhortation to celebrate in their Festivals Gods name from vers 1. to 4. 2. The reasons he useth to perswade unto it viz. the benefits of God conferr'd upon Israel from vers 4. to vers 12. 3. An exprobation of Israels ingratitude and the consequent vers 12 13. 4. The expression of Gods love and call to amendment which if they hearken to he tells them what will follow from vers 14. to the end 1. The first part He exhorts to rejoice He first exhorts to rejoice and exult But not in any worldly manner as may easily be collected out of the circumstances 1. The Object God To God our strength to the God of Jacob. Vers. 1 2. That this joy be expressed by voice and instruments of Musick In God Sing aloud make a joyful noise take a Psalm bring hither the Timbrel the pleasant Harp with the Psaltery Blow up the Trumpet At his Festivals Signifie your joy alwayes 3. Especially that it be in a fit season In the New Moon in the time appointed on our Solemn Feast-day For then they were to rejoice before the Lord. 2. And now he expresseth the reasons why this was to be done 1. Gods command For this was a Statute for Israel The second part and a Law of the God of Jacob this he ordained in Joseph for a testimony The reason 1. Gods command 2. The antiquity of it Ordained presently upon the time when he that is God went out through the Land of Egypt In remembrance of their deliverance they were to rejoice 2 An old Ordinance Which benefit he amplifies by this circumstance that they were delivered from people of a strange language which is no small benefit the intelligence of any tongue being the bond of all society And now more particularly he recounts Gods favours to them For which they had reason to rejoice 1. That he deliver'd them from a base servitude 3 Their deliverance from a base servitude I removed his shoulders from the burden and his hands that is the Israelites were delivered from the pots 2. And he did this for them when they were in affliction 4 Done upon their cry and cryed to him Thou calledst in trouble and I delivered thee The courtesie was seasonable 3. He did by signs and wonders in Egypt 5 In a miraculous manner shew that he had a care of them Thou calledst upon me in trouble secretly and I answered in the secret of thunder by an open sign I shew'd my presence with thee and my care in secret for thee And here he interserts one particular of Israels ingratitude 6 Though God foresaw their disobedience when they tempted God and murmured for want of water which God let them want for a trial of their obedience I proved thee also at the waters of Meribah Selah Numb 20. And after he proceeds and reckons up a new and the greatest benefit viz. The giving of the Law To which he useth in effect 7 That he gave them the Law the same Preface which is extant Deut. 5.1 before Moses gave the Law Hear O my people and I will testifie unto thee O Israel if thou wilt hearken to me If there were that piety in thee or that love to me as I expect Then there shall no strange god be in thee Neither shalt thou worship any other gods Which is the second Commandment To which he perswades obedience for three reasons To perswade to which he adds three reasons The two first in the front of the Decalogue 1. I am the Lord thy God A God thy God whom else shouldst thou worship 2. Which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt Redeem'd deliver'd thee from bondage 3. Open thy mouth wide and I shall fill it Have no other gods but me and I will largely and abundantly supply thy wants This is his promise Ask and have seek and find but seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness The third part He complaâ—ns of Israels disobedience 3. To this he adds the just complaint of God for Israels disobedience But notwithstanding all the evidences of my might and Arguments of my love they were a rebellious and stubborn people which God layes to their charge vers 11. But my people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me They broke my Covenant and wilfully set me aside for strange gods And this their Rebellion drew on them a heavy Therefore punished grievously for God left them to themselves the severest punishment 1. So I gave them up unto their own hearts lust I let them alone in their obstinacy 2. And they walked in their own counsels They might do what they would I regarded it not A heavy judgement for a man to be left to himself Compare with this verse 2 Thes 2.12 which expounds it 4. The fourth part And yet behold the love of God to a wilful rebellious and obstinate people he wishes that it had been otherwise and by his wish affectionately moves them to repentance Gods love yer in calling them to repentance O that my people had hearkned to me and Israel had walked in my wayes Consider how ardently God desires the good of man and not his ruine The reward of which would be And tells them what should ensue upon it Three very great benefits and most desired 1. 1 A depression of their enemies A depression of their enemies I should soon have subdued their enemies and turn'd my hand against their adversaries The haters of the Lord should have been found lyars i. e. submitted and humbled themselves though
to thee for what thou hast done the proud are risen up against us and a whole assembly of armed and violent men have invaded us and sought after our souls and all they imagine is to take away our lives and thy worship not without a great and high contempt of thy Name But thou O Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth Turn thée then unto us and have mercy upon us give thy strength unto thy servants save those who are thy Vassals and deliver our souls from the nethermost Hell O Lord we are oppressed do thou answer for us teach us the way in which we are to go and we will walk in thy Truth unite our hearts close unto thée and we will take delight to fear thy Name shew some token of thy favour at last to us that they which hate us may see it and be afraid let them sée it openly That thou Lord hast holpen us and comforted us So shall we praise thee O Lord our God with all our heart and we will magnifie and glorifie thy Name for evermore PSAL. LXXXVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm is short but sweet for it contains many excellent priviledges of the Church of God of which every one must be a Member that hopes for salvation whosoever was the Authour it was his purpose to excite men to be in love with the Assemblies of Gods Saints and to that purpose the dignity and amplitude of the Church is set forth in this Psalm and the notes of her beauty and perfection may well serve for the Analysis 1. The Church commended 1. For the foundation laid on a holy Mountain First the Church is here commended for her foundation the Authour of it is God it is his foundation and it is surely laid not in the sand but upon a Mountain and no common Mountain neither but a consecrated place laid it is in the holy Mountains His foundation is in the holy Mountain No question the Prophet alludes to the hill of Zion Ver. 1 which was the Type of the Catholick Church and indeed the foundation of it 2 From Gods love to her For the Law was to come out of Zion 2. Ver. 2 The second Prerogative of the Church is taken from Gods love and favour to it 3 From the predictions that went of her far beyond that of any other Assembly The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3. Now besides the commendation it hath from the builder which was God and his free love to it Ver. 3 a third Prerogative it hath and that is from the testimony and predictions of the Prophets 4 From the increase of it by the access of the Gentiles Isaiah Haggai Saint John who not Glorious things are sprken of thee Thou City of God Selah 4. And one of those glorious things foretold by the Prophets was the great increase and amplitude of the Church Ver. 4 by the access of the Gentiles even those Nations which were the greatest enemies to Gods people should become friends and Citizens of this City even the Egyptians Babylonians Tyrians Aethiopians in effect all the Gentiles of what language Countrey soever 1. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me i. e. among my friends and family Behold Phylistia and Tyre with Aethiopia some of all Nations are come into my family there is one Fold one Shepherd 2. This man was born there this man whom you now see a Citizen of Zion was an Alien he was born there in Egypt Babylon c. 5. But now having renounced his Countrey and his fathers house Vers. 5 his Idols and old wayes it shall be said of Zion Vir Vir 5 From her continuance for ever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This and that man was born regenerate and become a new man in her Here he receiv'd his adoption and the earnest of the Spirit 6. Farther yet the felicity of this City shall in this far exceed all other 6 From her free Denizons whose names are that whereas they fall to decay and perish this shall our-last all time The gates of hell shall not prevail against it For the most highest shall confirm and est ablish her 1 Eniâ—ll'd 7. A seventh Prerogative of the Church is That God agit Censum Vers. 6 and does as it were enrole the names of the Citizens So that now there is no difference betwixt Jew and Gentile bond nor free all are one in Christ Jesus The Lord shall count when he writes up the people That this man this cast-off Gentile was burn there Be as free a Denizon and have all the priviledges and prerogatives of this City as the natural Jew 8. Another Prerogative of these Citizens is 2 And they shall enjoy a perpetual Solemnity That they shall enjoy a perpetual Solemnity grief and sorrow shall cease and with Songs and instruments of Musick they shall sound forth Gods praises As well the siagers as players on instruments shall be there 9. Lastly He concludes the Psalm with an excellent Epiphonema Vers 7 that indeed comprehends all that can be said in the praise of the Church viz. For that in her all good is to be found All my springs are in thee Here are the fountains of living water Here are to be found the hidden treasures of all knowledge Here the waters that will refresh a thirsty soul and a fainting spirit Here all comforts all content The waters that are muddy and troubled in other streams in this are as clear as Cristal 'T is Virgo aqua A Prayer collected out of the eighty seventh Psalm for the Catholick Church O Lord Iesas Christ that by thy Almighty power madest all creatures both visible and invisible that by thy wisdom hast disposed all things in a comely order and now doest govern them that by thy unspeakable goodness yet doest preserve protect and promote all actions and successes who by thy mercy doest restore what is decay'd renew what is fallen and raisest the dead Vouchsafe to cast thy eye upon and view with a pleasing countenance thy well-beloved Spouse thy Church which thou hast purchased with thy blood and betroth'd to thy self in righteousness and in judgement and in loving-kindness and in mercies Look upon her with that amiable and merciful face wherewith thou pacifiest all things in heaven and earth Vers. 1 This is that new City that new Jerusalem which thou hast founded upon the Mountains of holiness Thy holy Apostles and Prophets were at thy command the chief Labourers in the building of it and all men since as living stones are built upon their Doctrine Be pleased then to love the gates of this City by which all must enter that look for salvation and prosecute with greater care and affection this thy chosen Spouse than thou didst the old Synagogue even as thou didst love the hill of
would stay here it were but against Man but they add one wickedness to another to their injustice and cruelty they add impiety and blasphemy And of that I complain next Yet they say Vers. 7 The Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regard it That he nor hears nor sees nor regards what they do What tell you us of the Lord what do you talk to us of the God of Jacob that God of revenge tush he hath nor eyes nor eares or if he hath he is far removed and cares not for these things below he shall nor see nor hear nor understand nor consider nor examine what we do in this world This is their impiety this their b asphemy This the true cause of all their injustice tyranny cruelty oppression Now our Prophet sets himself seriously to reprehend and confute this The third part Whom David reprehends for their Atheism confutes and derides By an Apostrophe he turns to them and calls them fools and proves by a manifest Argument that they are fools demonstrating that God is nor deaf nor blind as they presumed and conceived from the cause to the effect and urgeth them Emphatically 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Vers. 8 Vnderstand ye bruitish among the people Oh ye fools when will ye be wise Shews that God 1. Understands what will you be bruitish alwayes will you never have common sense in your heads 2. Vers 9 He planted the ear caused you to hear and shall not he then hear 2 Hears 3. 3 Sees He formed the eye with all the tunicles and put into it a visive faculty by which you see and shall not he see Nil dat quod non habet To say the contrary is as if you should affirm the fountain that sends forth the stream had no water in it or the Sun that enlightens the world had no light or the fire that warms had no heat Are these affirmations fit for wise men Neither is it that the God of Jacob doth nor hear nor see Farther yet Vers. 10 4. He chastiseth the heathen as Sodom Gomorrah c. 4 Chastiseth or he chastises them by the checks of their own conscience the Synderesis being set in their souls to that purpose their thoughts accusing them or excusing and shall not he then correct you who go under the name of his people and yet so impiously blaspheme 5. 5 Knows the vain thoughts of man He that teacheth man knowledge hath endued him with a reasonable soul and made him capable of all Arts and Sciences is he stupid is he without understanding Shall not he know Nay nay say or think what you will it is not so so far he is from being deaf that he cannot hear your words or blind that he cannot see your actions that he looks into your hearts and knows your thoughts counsels and judgeth them all vain Vers. 11 The Lord knows the thoughts of man that they are but vanity With which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he concludes his reprehension 4. And so from them he comes to the Good man The fourth part David shews the happinness of good men who are Blessed and shews his happiness whom he labours to comfort in his extremities whom he pronounceth Blessed Blessed is the man and his blessing lies in these things 1. In his sufferings because when he is punished he is but chastised and his chastisements are from the Lord. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest Vers. 12 2. In his teaching that when he is chastised 1 In his sufferings in that taught thereby Obedience he is but taught obedience to the Law of God taught by book taught out of thy Law which because he hath not well kept therefore he is whipt and by it taught to heed it to love it to affect the observation better hereafter 3. In consideration of the end that he sret not Vers. 13 but bear more moderately the insultations and injuries of the wicked for the end And patience in regard of the end why God chastiseth and teacheth thee out of his Law is That he may give thee rest a quiet and even soul from the dayes of adversity and that thou shouldst expect with patience Domc. so long till the pit be digged up for the ungodly Such a day there is and the day will come Hell as ready to receive the sinner as a Grave digged up for a dead body Expect it therefore with a quiet mind Vers. 14 4. And the reason is That though God for a time seem to be angry Of which the 1. Confirmation is from Gods faithfulness and equity and suffer his people to be afflicted yet he will not utterly neglect and forsake them For the Lord will not cast off his people neither will he forsake his inheritance 5. A day of judgement and execution of justice shall come when judgement shall return unto righteousness Vers. 15 When the Church is in affliction these two seem to be seperated and divorced but they shall meet again and kiss each other The justice of God which seems to be only potential and habitual and as it were asleep while his chosen do suffer and wicked men oppress them shall then be apparent and actual so that the justice of God in the defence and deliverance of his Church and the judgement of God in the condemnation of the wicked shall be conspicuous 2. In which the just shall so fully acquiesce that all those who are upright in heart shall follow it Applaud acknowledge it A second confirmation of the comfort he gave to the Church in affliction 2 Confirm'd by his own example Object is fetcht from his own experience from the 16. to the 20. verse Object Yea but this time of judgement may be long in the mean while 't is necessary to have some helper and help against the persecutions and injuries of cruel men Who will arise for me Vers. 16 and labour to protect me in so great a concourse of devils or mischievous men who will stand up for me and defend me against the workers of iniquity Resp. Even he that then stood up for me No man but God alone Resp. Vers. 17 he did it and unless the Lord had been my help my soul had almost dwelt in silence I had been inter silentes laid in the grave among the dead saith David vers 17. 2. If I said and complain'd to him that I was in any danger Vers. 18 My foot slips I was tempted and ready to fall Thy mercy O Lord held me up in mercy he lent me his hand and sustained me 3. Vers. 19 In the multitude of the thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul 1. The thoughts within me were sorrows of heart and many they were occasioned from within from without a multitude of them and yet I did not only patiently undergo them but found comfort in them 2. Thy comforts delight my soul as were the
thou break a leaf driven too and fro Ver. 11 How long wilt thou pursue the dry stubble While thou Writest these bitter things against us our dayes are like a shadow and decliues and we are withered as grass whose beauty and glory fades in a moment But why art thou thus vexed O my soul Ver. 12 and why art thus disquieted within me O put thy trust in God Call to mind that he endures for ever and the remembrance of his Covenant to all generations 'T is thy promise O Lord we look to 't is thy Covenant only we hope in according to thy word arise and have mercy upon Zion pity thy poor afflicted people for the time to favour her is now very seasonable Ver. 13 yea the time is come For thy servants think upon and take pleasure in her stones not so much those stones with which those goodly structures Ver. 14 in which we were wont to meet and praise thee were built and beautified as those living stones built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Ver. 17 Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone and it pitieth them to see her in the dust In the dust Lord we favour them and for these we pray that they may be restored to their places in thy Sacred Temple Ver. 16 O regard the prayer of the poor destitute and despise not our desire for this will tend to thy honour and enlargement of thy Kingdom being alsured Ver. 15 that when the Lord shall build up Zion and when he shall appear in glory that the heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the earth thy glory Look down then O Lord from the height of thy Sanctuary and from heaven behold the earth Ver. 19 Hear the groaning of the Prisoners and loose those that are appointed to death Ver. 20 that they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise at Jerusalem Ver. 21 May we but obtain so great a mercy it shall be written for the generations to come and the people our children that shall be born Ver. 18 shall praise the Lord They shall praise thee and sing of thy mercy in the great Congregation even when the people are gathered together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. That thou wilt make an Inquisition for innocent blood I am assured that those who have profaned thy dwelling place shall be as a rolling thing before the wind Ver. 23 I do believe that they who have swallowed down riches shall vomit them up again I know for God shall cast them out of their belly But thou hast so weakned my strength in the way and so shortned my dayes that it is not likely I shall lide to sée it Lord might my eyes sée thy salvation I would willingly sing with old Simeon Ver. 24 Now let thy servant depart in peace Yet will I pray O my God take me not away in the midst of my age I am thy Creature O Lord created after thy own image yet not to live for ever on earth as thou shalt live in heaven for thy years are throughout all generations Even the earth whose foundation thou hast laid and the heavens which are the work of thy Power and Wisdom wax old as a garment and as a vesture shall be wrapt up they shall perish and be annihilated spare me a little then because I am a creature of a short continuance and can bear no proportion to thy esernity for thou art the same and thy years have no end But I yield my self to thy Will I submit my self to thy dispose if I cannot arrive to what I desire to sée Jerusalem in prosperity yet grant that I may see my Lord in the Land of the living for I am assured that the children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee and live in thy presence for evermore Amen PSAL. CIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Psalm to David THE Title shews the Psalm to be inspired into David by the Holy Ghost and the end is to comfort a soul heavy and laden but especially with the burden of sin To him every word in it drops like an Honey-comb so that had not the comfort been revealed and sent from heaven it could never have been believed that Almighty God should be so merciful to sinful man Three parts there are of this Psalm 1. The Exordium in which David by an Apostrophe turns to his own soul and stirs it up to bless God ver 1 2. 2. The Narration or an ample Declaration of the Benefits from the first to the last conferred by God upon him and others and the causes of them from ver 3. to 20. 3. A Conclusion in which he makes a motion to Angels and all other Creatures to joyn with him in the praise of God from ver 20. David stirs up his soul to praise God The first part to the last 1. David being fully perswaded that he was one of the number of the Elect stirs up himself in the person of the Elect to praise and speak well of God in the two first verses 1. Bless God think on the Benefit and bless the Benefactor Ver. 1 Extoll him with praises 2. O my Soul bless him because the Soul alone can know and inform the whole man what God deserves for his blessings 2. Again he would not have it a lip-labour but come from a heart affected with it Heartily done for quod cor non facit non fit 3. Not the Soul alone but that all that is within him Totum hominis And the whole man whatsoever is within his skin every part every faculty about him Will Understanding Memory Affections Heart Tongue Hand Eyes c. All joyn 4. And bless Jehovah for he gave them their Being and their Properties and Operations 2. Praise his holy Name his Essential Properties his Wisdom Power Goodness Justice for to oclebrate God in all these is To praise his holy Name 5. Bless the Lord O my Soul for he comes over it again Ver. 2 that he might press the Duty more emphatically and shew his vehement desire to have it done it shewes we freeze and are cold in the Duty and need a Goad to quicken us 6. And forget not all his benefits He repeats it and adds That we forget not His Benefits 1. Forget not He would not be guilty of the common Errour forgetfulness of a good turn for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which if it happen 't is impossible to be thankful and therefore Omnium ingratissimus qui beneficii accepti non reminiscitur Forget not then 2. All his benefits Not all no nor indeed any of them for not one but deserves a blessing 3. His benefits Some read Munera the Vulgar Retributiones If Munera they are freely given if Retributiones they are more than we can deserve yet it pleases him to accompt them so Let but a man well consider how many evils we
that they may glorifie my Father which is in Heaven Thy praise I will sound forth thy Name I will magniffe confess I will that thou hast been to me a gracious God and merciful Father even in the Courts of the Lords house even in the midst of thee O jerusalem in which I know thou wilt alone accept of thanks and hear and grant the pelitions of thy servants that are offered unto thée through the merits and in the Name of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord and Saviour PSAL. CXVII A Hymn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm is short and sweet it contains a Doxology to God for his mercy and truth and it is also Prophetical in reference to the calling of the Gentiles as it appears Rom. 15.11 Two parts there are of it 1. An Exhortation to all Nations to praise God The first part 1. A Doxology both Gentiles and Jewes 1. He speaks to the Gentiles Praise the Lord all ye Nations he means after they were converted and made sons of the Church For how shall they call on him in whom they have not believeâ—â— Rom. 10. 2. He speaks to the converted Jewes whom he notes under the name of people as they are call'd Psal 2.1 Acts 4.25 Praise the Lord all ye people Both now make but one Church and therefore both now ought to joyn together in the praise of God 2. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Reason give for it The second part 1. Because his merciful kindness is great nay confirmed toward us 2 The reason in sending his Son to be a Saviour both of Jewes and Gentiles His Church is built on a foundation against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail 2. Neither is his mercy only by this confirmed but the truth also of his promises fulfilled as he promised to send a Messias so he hath performed it and this his truth endures for ever for it shall never be challenged there is no other Messiah to be expected now for this Praise ye the Lord. The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and seventeenth Psalm O Omnipotent and gracious God when all Mankind walked according to the course of this World according to the Prince of the power of the Aire the spirit that works in the children of disobedience When they walked according to the lusts of the flesh and fulfilled the desires of the flesh and were by nature the children of wrath Thou who art rich in mercy for thy great love wherewith thou hast loved us wast pleased to send thy only begotten Son Jesus Christ and to deliver him to death for the salvation of the World This thy great mercy it pleased thée to make known to us by thy Apostles and to call us who were Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the Covenant of Promise to be partakers of thy merciful kindness In Christ Jesus we who were sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ so great hath thy mercy béen even toward us therefore from us immortal thanks are due unto thée who find our selves saved not for our merits but by thy sole goodness We therefore beséech thée that thou wouldst so confirm our hearts by the Spirit of faith that without any doubt adhering to thy truth which endures for ever we may apprehend those good things which thou hast promised and offerest fréely to us O Lord have mercy upon all Iewes Turks Iufidels and Hereticks and take from them all ignorance hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and so fetch them home blessed Lord to thy flock that they may be saved among the remnant of thy true Israelites let us all méet in one Fold and have but one Shepherd that all Nations may praise the Lord and all people sing Hallelujah to thy holy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID being freed from many dangers and confirmed in his Kingdom according to Gods promise in this Psalm gives thanks The parts of this Psalm are 1. An Exhortation to praise God for his mercy from ver 1. to 5. 2. A perswasion to trust in God and that from his own example who call'd upon God in trouble and was deliver'd from ver 5. to 15. 3. The Exultation of the Church for it from ver 15. to 19. 4. A solemn Thanksgiving kept for it and in what manner it was celebrated from ver 19. to 28. 5. David invites to praise God The first part A short Doxology ver 28 29. 1. David invites all to praise God O give thanks unto the Lord and adds his Reasons 1. For he is good than which nothing could be said more briefly nothing more powerfully he is properly and absolutely good and therefore ought to be praised because there is nothing rightly worthy of praise but that which is good Ver. 1 Solum honestum laudabile 2. His reasons are 1. Good Good to us a mercifull God But secondly He is good and ever good to us a merciful God which flowes from his goodness and is then most conspicuous when it is imparted to those in misery Praise him because his mercy endureth for ever His mercy created us his mercy redeemed us his mercy protects us his mercy will crown us there is then no end of his mercy This his mercy extends especially to his people To his people and therefore he puts into the mouth of all his people this song of his mercy whom he distributes into three parts 1. Ver. 2 Let Israel now say the whole Nation that his mercy endureth for ever 2. Ver. 3 Let the house of Aaron that whole Tribe consecrated now to him say that his mercy endures for ever 3. Ver. 4 Let them now that fear the Lord Proselytes c. now say that his mercy endures for ever that is the burden of the Hymn so he begins so he ends ver 29. 2. The second part And so in general having given a Commendation of his mercy he desoends to that particular in which his mercy did consist The particulars of his mercy viz. A great deliverance of him when he was in a great strait which he could impute to no other cause than his mercy 1. Ver. 5 I was in distress And that 's the case of Gods people as well as Davids 2. I called upon the Lord I boasted not of my merits I complained not that I suffered unjustly but I fled to his mercy and invoked so did the Church in Peters case Of which he is an example Acts. 12.5 3. The issue was The Lord answered and set me in a large place and so it fell out to Peter Upon which experience David exults Shewing how God had been mercifull to him upon which he makes three Conclusions as the Church in the like case may so that all be still attributed to God and his mercy 1. The Lord is my helper And the first inference upon it
morning and cried 2. Mine eyes prevent the night morning and evening he prayed 2. For audience deliverance increase of grace That which he pray'd for was 1. Audience Hear me O Lord And again Hear my voyce ver 5. 2. Ver. 1 Deliverance Save me ver 2. 3. Increase of grace Quicken me ver 5. 3. Ver. 2 The end that he desires salvation and grace 1. That he might keep Gods statutes First is That he might keep Gods Statutes Hear me I will keep thy Statutes 2. Ver. 1 Save me that I may keep thy Testimonies ver 2. 3. Ver. 2 I prayed and watched that I might meditate in thy Word ver 4. 4. Ver. 4 Quicken me according to thy Word for the self-same end ver 5. 4. His arguments to perswade it The Arguments he especially useth besides the former to move God to hear and grant his Petitions are 1. His faith and hope I cried because I waited and hoped in thy Word and promises 1 His faith 2. Gods mercy Hear my voyce according to thy loving-kindness The common Argument to be used by all Gods children 2 Gods goodness for were they never so righteous and just yet in mercy they must desire to be heard and not for their merits 3. The danger that he was now in by persecuting enemies 1. Ver. 6 They draw nigh they are at hand the danger is near 2. 3 The danger he was now in His comfort that God was near him Yea and great too for they are mischievously bent they follow after mischief hunted after all occasions to do evil 3. Most impious men they are far from thy Law they hate it shun it labour to make it odious in every eye 5. But the comfort is that they are not so near but thou art as near they to do mischief but thou to defend me let then their number power malice be what it will thy power and mercy is beyond it 1. Thou art near O Lord let then these my enemies be far from thy Law they cannot be far from thee Ver. 7 Thou art near and wilt reach them by thy justice And would not desert him and this is my comfort 2. For all thy Commandments are Truth Albeit the evil of wicked men follow me because I follow thee yet I know thy Commandments are true and it is not possible that thou shouldst desert thy servants who stand to the maintenance of thy Word their wickedness shall never escape thy hand of punishment they may punish my body but they cannot deprive me of my Crown of glory 6. He concludes with an Epiphonema Of which he is confident being assured upon his own experience of the stability and immutability of Gods Word I know thy Commandments are Truth for Ver. 8 1. Concerning thy Testimonies thy Will that thou hast testified in thy Word 2. I have known of old even ever since I began to look into them study them and practise them 3. That thou hast founded them for ever They are of eternal Truth immutable and indispensable and this is the Anchor of our souls that we be not carried away with the winds and waves of tentations The Prayer OVL of a vehement desire I have cried to the Lord for help and that not only with my tongue and voyce but with my whole heart Ver. 1 hear me good God which if thou wilt vouchsafe to grant I will more studiously and fréely séek to know and kéep thy statutes Ver. 2 I have called and eried to no other God but thée therefore save me from these pressures and dangers Ver. 3 and being by thée saved and delivered I will more diligently kéep thy Testimonies Neither have I only called upon thée by bay but I have prevented the bawning of the morning with a great cry I have sought thy face and implored thy help because I repose my sole hope in thy promisses I have prevented also the night watches my eyes day and night have béen intent upon thée that I might be occupied in the meditation of thy words both in those in which thou hast promised thy mercy and in those in which thou hast signified thy Will and exacted my obedience Hear therefore my voyce according to thy loving-kindness and according to that equity by which thou usest to procéed with all those that love thée and call upon thy Name quicken me with the sense of thy savour and deliver me from this imminent death and danger And the impiety of my enemies makes me be the more instant to obtain this mercy for they that persecute my soul are set upon mischief they hunt after my life nay they hate not me only but thy Law it is odious in their eyes they look strangely upon it and desire it should be as odious in others From this imminent dagger it is not possible for me to be safe but by thy hand and guidance As then they approach near to hurt so do thou approach near to help and make it appear by my deliverance that all thy promises are truth This I have known long since and now Lord let me have erperience of it again so shall I have just cause to praise thy judgments and sing of thy mercies and make it known That thou hast founded them forever nor the rage of man nor the malice of Devils shall be ever able to shake thy-Truth or evacuate thy promises which thou hast maâ—â— to thy Church in Iesus Christ our Lord. 20. RESH IN this Section David petitions to God for help in his affliction The Contents 2. Complains of the multitude of his persecutors 3. Laments their condition 4. And shewes his constancy and love to Gods Word 1. David in his affliction prayes to God David begins with a petition In afflictions it is some comfort to us to have our case known consider'd and examined especially by those that love us therefore David desires 1. Ver. 1 That God would consider his case Consider my afflictions so much at least 1 To help him 2. Then that he would help him Deliver me from my tempting enemies 3. His Reason to perswade both For I do not forget thy Law though I perfectly keep it not yet I have not cast it behind my back I do not forget it I desire to keep it This he could plead with a good conscience if not what he had done yet what he would have done therefore he could boldly make this request Deliver me 4. 2 To be his Advocate But yet he goes further and desires God to be his Advocate to him he appeals 1. Plead my cause and deliver me At the bar of men a just cause oftentimes miscarries for want of a good Advocate Ver. 2 and is born down by an unjust Judge wherefore I beseech thee who art the just Judge of the World take my cause in hand plead it to their faces and deliver me Arise up for me in the judgment that thou hast commanded 2.
expresseth these three things 1. Her confidence and hope in God for to him she flies ver 1. illustrated by two similitudes ver 2. 2. Her prayer for mercy ver 3. 3. A short Recapitulation of her distress ver 4. 1. The first part The Church flies to God The Church shewes her trust in God and in it directs us to whom to flie in distress 1. Vnto thee lift I up mine eyes To thee no other and from thee I look for help Ver. 1 succour defence 2. And depends on him as servants to their Masters O thou that dwellest in the Heavens by which words she acknowledgeth his inspection and power Out of Heaven the Lord beholds the Earth and by his wisdom goodness power governs all things Thou canst take me out of the hand of the wicked and mighty therefore to thee I lift mine eyes And this the Prophet illustrates by a double similitude of servants and handmaids I look upon thy hand now heavy upon me and beating me by wicked men Behold 1. As the eyes of servants look unto the hands of their Masters i.e. Men-servants Ver. 2 2. And as the eye of a Maiden to the hand of her Mistress Both of both kinds may be beaten Now as they are whip't they cast back their eyes and look to the hand that strikes them begging even with their very heart some favour and an abatement of stripes 3. When beaten by them So our eyes wait upon the Lord our God Gods children alwayes are expectants 4. Until he have mercy upon us Abate his stripes and take off his hand 2. The second part For which the Church prayes in the next verse and in ardency of spirit ingeminates it Have mercy upon us And desires God to take off his hand O Lord have mercy upon us before she lifts the eyes but now cryes 3. Ver. 3 Of which clamour in few words she yields a Reason the great contempt she was fallen to The third part 1. Ver. 4 For we are exceedingly fill'd with contempt And again Our soul is fill'd To suffer contempt is much Because she was in contempt And fill'd with it to be fill'd with it more it argues that she was long under it but to be exceedingly fill'd intolerable especially when it comes to scorn as here 2. Our soul is exceedingly fill'd with the scorning Subsannatione geering derision which to a generous spirit is very heavy it wounds his very soul of which Beasts and Fools have little or no sense despised they may be but of reproach they are not capable And this the Prophet amplifies by the circumstances of the persons that â—â—ntemned and scorned 1. And that by Epicures They were such as were at ease in Zion law no Changes had all things â—â—â—ceeding ex voto as they would have it and no greater contemners and scorners of men in misery than such 2. And proud men And with the contempt of the proud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Satiety breeds pride and pride makes men injurious apt to heap up contumelies disgraces scoffs scorns and geers upon that man which is brought to a low 〈◊〉 Again proud men are for the â—â—â—part empty 〈◊〉 pâ—ted men and contempt and scorn from such wounds very deep especially if they rise as they often do from the Dunghil The Prayer out of the One hundred and twenty third Psalm O Lord it hath pleased thée to suffer thy people to be brought to great distress and their condition is so deplorable that there is no comfort or help to be expected Ver. 1 but from above therefore unto thée we lift up our eyes expecting salvation from thée alone Thou sittest in the highest Heavens and â—â—est all things Thou sittest in the highest Heavens and over-rulest all things to whom then should we flée for succour but to thée since thou hast ereated and redéemed us by right we are thy servants and never did servants more look to the hands of their Masters in expectation of favour from them than our eyes are intent upon thée our Lord and our God till thou remit off thy stripes and have mercy upon us Withdraw good Lord thy severe hand from us and chastise us not to destruction say unto thy destroying Angel It is enough it is enough spare thy people whom thou hast redéemed with thy precious blood Ver. 3 and be not angry with us for ever Have mercy upon us O Lord have mercy upon us Ver. 4 for except thou be merciful unto us we must perish since we can expect no mercy from men It is not unknown unto thée with what contempt and scorn we are loaded we are excéedingly fill'd with contempt our soul is pierced with the scoffs of proud insolent men and such who for the abundance of spoil now live at ease Good Lord let not the pride and contempt of these rebellious and treacherous wretches procéed any farther who by their successes are so pust'd up that they think they cannot be repressed by humane power O Lord look not upon our unworthiness but consider the dishonour and contumely that in us is cast upon thy Name for while they insult over us the injury redounds to thée while with arms and cruelty they Lord it over us they barbarously do suppress thy Worship thy Religion thy Truth thy Word We thy servants by them thus oppressed contemned derided and scorned have none to flie to but to thée alone O merciful Lord do thou set an end to these contumelies and injuries we séek not our solves in this but thee the desire of our soul is That thou wouldst vindicate the honour of thy Name and glory of thy Gospel which these Miscreants have in contempt O God bring it so to pass that at last these enemies of thy Truth may seel and consess the Truth of thy Word and will they nill they acknowledge thée to be the only God and him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXXIV THE people of God newly escaped from some great danger The Sum. both acknowledge it and that God only was the Authour of their safety and victory for which they thank him 1. The Prophet begins abruptly The Prophet gives the glory to God alone for their deliverance as is usual to do in pathetical expressions with much joy he expresseth Gods protection over his people and how by his hand meerly they were delivered by some unexpected way and he desires the people to acknowledge it with him 1. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side that had stood and fought for us so that it was not our Swords but his hand that delivered us Nam qui supponit ponit 2. Now may Israel say Now after the victory after the deliverance and his intent is That they thankfully acknowledge it with him 3. On our side when men rose
yet thou canst hear me and therefore I cry O Lord hear 3. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications 'T is to no purpose to cry for audience except he will be attentive to whom we cry And therefore begs of God that he would vouchsafe to hear to attend 2. The second part Yea but there was great reason why God should nor hear nor yet encline his ear to his cry He was a grievous sinner and God hears not such Well be it so yet his case was but the same with other men All men involv'd in sin as well as he and therefore if this should be a sufficient impediment that he should not be heard the like lay against other men and so God attentive to no prayer He desires therefore to remit his sin and that this might not be charged upon him 1. Ver. 3 If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquity O Lord who shall stand mirabilis rhetorica 2 He cryes for Remission of Sin I nor no other man can bring into thy sight any thing else but filth sinne shame and therefore if thou shouldst deal with us in rigour of justice and execute thy anger necessary it is that all be condemn'd not a man stand in thy sight 1 Acknowledging his own misery But it becomes not thy infinite goodness to destroy all men and therefore I need not seem overbold if I cry out of my depths and ask a pardon 2. Ver. 4 But there is mâ—rcy with thee or forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feard 2 Gods mercy True repentance requires two things the recognition of our own misery and the perswasion of Gods mercy Both are needful for he that knows not his own misery seeks not for help and he that knows not Gods mercy despairs In the three former verses David acknowledgeth himself in a pitiful case for he was in the depths and cryes from thence that if God should deal with him in rigour of justice he were undone never able to abide it In this verse he comforts himself with Gods mercy and that notwithstanding the greatness and multitude of his sins he hoped for pardon as if he had said Though no man can abide it if thou shalt mark our iniquities yet I know that by nature thou art merciful and forgivest fin 2. 3 The end of remission that God be feared That thou mayst be feared not with a servile but with a filial fear which comprehends invocation faith hope love adoration confession giving of thanks and all the duties of the first Table With this fear I fear thee in this I fly to the throne of grace and because thou art a Merciful God I hope for pardon 3. The third part The method of Gods Servants in their addresses to heaven is that they Believe 4 He hopes and expects favour Hope Pray Expect This course David took he prayed believed he hopes in Gods mercy and now he expects to find favour in the fifth and sixth verses Ver. 5 Every word of which is able to inform confirm and comfort a distressed soul 1. I expect the Lord. Upon him only he relies and prescribes nor time nor manner leaves to him to succour him at what season he pleaseth For his part he would be still an Expectant 2. For which he will wait My soul doth wait His expectation was not formal but real an expectation that proceeded from the fervency of his heart He hungred and thirsted after righteousness 3. His expectation was no presumption Upon Gods word but well grounded upon Gods Word and Promises Dent. 4.29 30. And in his Word is my hope 4. And that we may know his expectation was earnest Ver. 6 full of faith and hope he repeats it My soul waits for the Lord He ingeminates his hope which he declares by a Similitude of men set upon a watch in the night that long for the morning 5. I wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning I say more than they that watch for the morning It was now night with him darkness and misery was upon his soul the morning he expected was remission which must come from Gods mercy for this he waited this he expected more greedily than watchmen look for the morning light that they may be freed from their station Which though it be not in their power yet they expect it He proposeth his example to Gods people 4. This his example he proposeth to Gods people and exhorts them to do the like and to animate and encourage them in it adds his reasons 1. Let Israel hope in the Lord. Take out my example Ver. 7 and do thereafter Let them cry è profundis expect upon his word and promise wait his leasure For which God is mercy 2. For with the Lord there is Mercy Not only a Merciful God but Mercy it self With him it is and from him it flows to us And our Misery is a fit object for his Mercy No other creature can help because miserable And plentious redemption 3. And with him is Redemption That we needed being sold under sin and that we found a price given for us to redeem us the precious blood of his dear Son 4. And this his Redemption was Copiosa redemptio plentiful abundant for by it he redeemed the whole world 1 Joh. 1.2 Ver. 8 and bequeathed to his an inheritance in heaven Rom. 8.17 Which he will apply to Israel only 5. But this is to take effect upon Israel his people only For he shall redeem Israel from all his sins It is not as the Jews expect a temporal redemption but a spiritual as the Angel told Joseph His name shall be Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins which is begun in this life and shall be perfected in the other where we shall be delivered not only from sin but the punishment and danger of sinning The Prayer out of the one hundred and thirtieth Psalm O Most just and holy God whose eyes cannot approve iniquity no not in thy best and dearest servants we must néeds confess that for our rebellion and ingratitude against thée we are justly brought to this abyss of troubles from which without thy help we cannot escape Ver. 1 Being then oppressed and overwhelmed with these depths of sin and misery Ver. 2 from the bottom of our hearts we cry unto thée O Lord Lord hear our voice and let thine ears be attentive to our supplications lest if thou make as though thou hearest not we become like them that descend into the pit Pity our infirmities and remember thy mercy for which our misery is a fit object be not unto us a severe Iudge but a merciful Father and take not that revenge upon us which we deserve for if thou shalt observe and punish according to the rigour of justice Ver. 3 what man amongst us is so holy and pure in thy eyes that he may
stand before thée and abide thy sentence We flée then from thy feat of justice to thy throne of Grace Ver. 4 With thee there is forgiveness Mercy is so genuine and natural unto thée that thou canst no more be than not be Merciful Therefore out of this thy inclination and facility to remit iniquities and pass by transgressions in fear and reverence in faith and hope we opproach thy presence and beg a pardon It is at the gate of thy mercy we lie Ver. 5 there we expect and wait for our Lord our soul doth wait for the accomplishment of thy Word and promise who hast said that if in our tribulation we shall turn unto thée and séek thée with all our heart and with all our soul thou wilt be found by us Remember then thy Word in which thou hast caused thy servants to put their trust for in this night of misery we relie upon it Ver. 6 and our souls wait for it more than they that watch for the morning yea I say more than they that wait for the morning Thou art the hope and fear of Israel Ver. 7 and with thee is plenteous redemption a price thou wast pleased to accept for our ransome and thy beloved Son was pleased to lay down the price for the merit then of that price being the blood of thy dear Son Ver. 8 accept us into thy favour pardon our iniquities and redéem us from the guilt from the power from the punishment of our sins and bring us to thine everlasting Kingdom where we may reign with our belssed Redéemer for evermore PSAL. CXXXI DAvid being accused by Sauls servants that he aspired to the Kingdom protests his innocency his humble thoughts and meek deportment 2. That his confidence was upon Gods promise to that he trusted and therefore was far from any ambition And by his example calls on Israel to trust in God as he did 1. David protesteth his humility He professeth he was far from pride in his heart in his carriage in his undertakings 1. 1 Far from pride No pride there was in heart Lord my heart is not haughty and calls God to witness of it 2. Ver. 1 No arrogance in his gesture carriage brow Nor my eyes lofty 3. Nor in his undertakings Neither do I exercise my self in great matters which are too high for me He kept himself within his bounds and vocation attempted not to meddle with matters of State when out of his employment and beyond his strength 2. Ver. 2 Now that which kept from pride was the contrary vertue Humility to which he brought down 2 Humble as a weined child and composed his soul made it as submissive as is a new weaned child 1. Surely I have behaved and quieted my self Calm'd all high thoughts that might arise in me 2. As a child that is weaned of his mother My soul is even as a weaned child which modestly expects what the mother will give it depends on her and her care and carves not for it self Nor do or will I for I depend on God and shall expect and receive gratefully what he shall bestow 3. Which he confirms by an Oath as some conceive For it is to be read Si non composui seclavi animum If I have not composed and quieted my soul as a weaned child then let this and this befall me Which clause is to be supplyed 3. Ver. 3 Lastly he proposeth his own example of humility for all Israel to follow Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth He proposeth his example to Israel even for ever The Prophets intention was not then to boast of himself as did the proud Pharisee or to be puffed with pride because he was not proud but to admonish the people how little they ought to presume of themselves The they trust not on themselves but God and how much to repose their confidence in God For if a King and a Prophet dare neither boast of his wisdom and power nor presume upon himself but trust upon God fit it is that the people depose their high thoughts that they think not too well of themselves and think themselves to be something when they are indeed nothing that they trust not to their wit strength arms but that they trust in God both for the present time and hereafter also The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and thirty first Psalm O Almighty God who gives grace to the humble and resists the proud suffer not haughtiness and arrogance to puff up our rebellious hearts Ver. 1 or pride and loftiness to take up its feat in our eyes or bold and arrogant actions too high for us to be attempted by our hands But we humbly beséech thée to give us a modest heart a composed and quiet spirit regulated and moderate desires Ver. 2 that may never excéed or attempt matters which are beyond the Bounds of our Vocation O God so subdue our affections that our soul may be as a weaned child that depends only upon the hand of the mother and receives with thanks that nourishment and nurture which she is pleased to give Ver. 3 so let our souls depend upon thy bounty and take thankfully what thou art pleased to bestow We know thy Church can never be happy except despairing of her own strength she take thée for her Resuge we beséech thée therefore give her grace that renouncing her own merits she may humbly pur all her confidence in thée Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever Amen PSAL. CXXXII THE intention of this Psalm may easily be collected out of 2 Sam. 7. and 1 Chron. 17. For when David purposed in his heart to build a house to God where the Ark should rest and God perpetually be served he was commanded to forbear the work by Nathan and leave it to his son the place being shew'd where the Temple was to be erected which pious intention of David was much approved by God so that he promiseth to him and his posterity a perpetuity in the Throne and very great prosperity which promises are mentioned and inculcated in this Psalm Either then Solomon composed this Psalm when the Temple being built he brought the Ark of God and setled it in the place prepared for it Or else which is more likely it was composed by David himself and left to his son to be sung at the Dedication of the Temple That Solomon then made use of some part of it is apparent 2 Chron. 6.16 41 42. The parts of this Psalm are three 1. A Petition before which is express'd Davids care and vow to settle the Ark mentioning the place where it was before and with what reverence they would settle it in the Temple and then sets down the solemn prayer then used from ver 1. to 11. 2. An Explication of the promises made unto David for the continuance of his Kingdom in his posterity ver 11 12. and Gods love to his Church
the Amoritish Kings and the thirty one Kings of Canaan He smote great Nations and slew mighty Kings as for example Ver. 10 Sihon King of the Amorites and Og the King of Bashan Ver. 11 And gave away their land for an heritage Ver. 12 an heritage unto Israel his people All which is evident out of the books of Numb Deut. Joshua 5. The fifth part For this he extols God To the commemoration of the revenge that God took upon the enemies of his people and the benefits he bestowed on them he adds a conclusion formed into an Epiphonima in which he first extols Gods name and then shews his mercy to his people 1. Thy Name O Lord endures for ever i. e. for these thy wonderful works 2. And thy memorial throughout all generations Thy memory thy fame the remembrance of thy Acts shall flourish and remain to all posterity 2. And the reason is drawn from his mercy which excites us also to praise him 1. And shews his mercy to his people For the Lord will judge his people The world judgeth them forsaken but he is their keeper and defender and will judge their cause and at last take revenge on their persecutors and deliver them 2. And he will repent himself concerning his servants Though he punisheth his dearest children yet he will be at last entreated be propitious and kind and remove his heavy hand Psal 136.23 6. The sixth part 2. God above all gods The Prophet hath proved that God is absolutely great in himself which he proposed vers 5. And now he proves the second part of his proposition that our Lord is above all gods For being compared to the Idols of the Heathen he far exceeds them They were Divels not gods they the work of mens hands made of earthy materials they could not infuse life sense reason into their images as God did into his image man they nor saw nor heard nor moved For he shews their vanity divers ways And shews the vanity of Idols 1. From their matter wherof they were made The Idols of the beathen are silver and gold Ver. 15 2. From the efficient cause their makers men The work of mens bands 3. From their impotence from performing any act of life They have mouths but they speak not eyes they have but they see not They have ears but they hear not neither is there any breath in their mouths 4. From the sortishness and misery of those that worship them They that make them are like unto them Ver. 18 so is every one that trusteth in them The makers are blind mute deaf understand nothing at all who suppose that they can make gods And they that trust in them more sotrish that think a stone can help them 7. The seventh part In the last part he invites all the true worshippers of God to praise him because they are lively images of the living God they see they hear they speak they understand That therefore all praise God and therefore they praise that God from whom they the faculty of living hearing speaking seeing and understanding To this he invites 1. All Israel Bless the Lord O house of Israel 2. Ver. 19 Then the Priests Bless the Lord O house of Aaron 3. The Levites Bless the Lord O house of Levi. 4. Lastly of all the Laity Ye that fear the Lord bless the Lord. To which he adds his own vote concluding with this Epiphonima 1. Blessed be the Lord out of Zion where he shews his presence by the Ark. 2. Which dwelleth at Jerusalem who though he be every where by his Essence and presence yet peculiarly dwells in his Church by his inhabiting Spirit Let the Citizens of Zion and Jerusalem never cease to bless him The Hymn and Prayer collected from the One hundred and thirty fifth Psalm O Omnipotent God all we thy servants now gathered together in thy Spirit to blesse thy name and here met in the Courts of the house of our God to praise thee Ver. 1 do acknowledge that we have instnite reasons to pay this debt to thy divine Majesty For we know O Lord that thou art good good absolutely in thy self and gracious unto us and that all our goodnesse is as nothing in comparison of thee We know again that to sing praises unto thee is a pleasant thing and therefore our heart shall be glad when we send forth prayses unto thee with joyful lips Wee know also that thou art great and far above all Gods Thy benefits are innumerable not only which thou hast conferd upon thy chosen people thy Israel who is thy pecultar treasure but even which with a full hand thou hast poured forth upon all mankind For in heaven the earth the seas and in all deep places thou hast done whatsoever thou pleasedst Thou so orderest the clouds the vapours the lightning winds and rain that they may be obedient to thee and serviceable for the use and sustenance of man And when thou hast in thy power the hearts of all Kings and Princes thou so bendest them as may make most for the good and saidation of thy people upon them thou revengest their wrongs and deliverest in due time thy chosen people from their power and oppression Egypt the Amorites and Canaanites felt thy power whom thou smotest in thy anger plaguest and slew in thy wrath and gavest away their Land for an heritage even for an heritage to Israel thy people Thy Name O Lord endureth for ever Ver. 13 and thy memorial through all generations and therefore our hope which is grounded upon thy promises is thereby confirmed and increased that though thou art risen up in judgment against thy people yet at last it will repent thée concerning thy servants O merciful God arise we beséech thée and behold the miseries and calamities of thy poor servants and deal not with us according to the merit of our iniquities Pardon our offences and let it repent thée of the evil thou hast brought upon us We have liv'd unworthy of thy Name unworthy of our Vocation yet at last break the force of the Devil and his instruments and repress their pride and boldness that we be not compelled to fall down and worship the imaginations of their own brains which are little better than the Idols of the Heathens that nor saw nor spake nor heard nor understood Which mercy if thou will grant us then all that fear the Lord both Priest and people the whole house of Aaron of Levi and all Israel shall have just occasion to bless the Lord and say Blessed be the Lord out of Zion which dwelleth at Jerusalem Allelujah PSAL. CXXXVI THIS Psalm is of the same Argument that the former For in it all men are call'd upon to praise God for his greatness and goodness his providence and mercy in creating governing and ordering the world but especially his love shew'd to his people the Church All which works because they proceeded from his Mercy therefore
that Attribute is made the burden of the Psalm and the close in every verse And this was a Solemn form in use in the Jewish Church as is apparent 2 Chron. 7.3 6. 20 21. The parts of this Psalm are 1. A general exhortation to praise God for his goodness Majesty vers 1 2 3. 2. A declaration of his goodness and Majesty by the effects 1. Of his Creation from vers 4. to 10. 2. Of his Providence especially in conserving his Church and exercising his judging toward her enemies from vers 10. to 25. 3. That his Providence extends to all creatures vers 25. 3. A conclusion fit for the exordium for it calls us up to praise God vers 26. 1. The first part An invitation to praise God In the three first verses the Prophet invites to praise God for his goodness and mercy 1. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good For his Mercy endureth for ever 2. O give thanks to the God of Gods For his Mercy endureth for ever 3. O give thanks to the Lord of Lords For his Mercy endureth for ever In these verses Expositors find the Trinity 1. In the first Jehovah God the Father who is the fountain of Being 2. In the second God the Son who is the God of Gods whether Angels or Princes who are called Gods but he is over them 3. In the third the Holy Ghost who is Lord of Lords who as the wind blows where when and on whom he will Other Lords have not Free-will but as Servants must do his pleasure Bellarmine His reasons are The chief reason because good merciful for ever that we give thanks to him because he is good because merciful and his mercy endures for ever For 't is his mercy that we shall live for ever so that his mercy is extended to us both while we live on earth and when we live with him in heaven It is no improbable conjecture of Musculus that this Psalm was sung by the Quire and that the people at the end of every Versicle sung this Responsory For his Mercy endureth for ever Which was no Battology neither saith Moller for it follows and applyes every particular benefit 2. The second part The Prophet now begins to praise God for his great and wonderful works which he alone was able to do such as was the work of Creation in which he used not the power of Angels And farther for his works but his own only Give thanks to the Lord 1. Who hath done wonderful things His instance is presently in the Creation 1 Of Creation in all which he shews his mercy 2. For his Mercy endureth for ever His Mercy was conspicuous in this work for he made not any thing of necessity as if he needed the creature Ver. 4 but meerly out of his ineffable good-will and Mercy Of these wonderful things Instance first the Prophet his 1. 1 The heaven First instance in the heavens To him give thanks that by wisdom made the heavens It was his first work Gen. 1. For whether we look upon the magnitude the figure the beauty the motion the order of the Orbs the splendor the influence the effects of the celestial bodies there is a strange and wonderful evidence of wisdom and power in them not unitable by any creature 2. For his mercy endures for ever because it pleased him to create these heavens out of nothing to be an eternal habitation for Men and Angels 2. Ver. 5 His second instance is in the earth In the beginning God made heaven and earth 2 The earth Heaven to be the Palace of immortal Citizens The Earth to be the Mansion of Mortals 1. Give thanks to him that stretch'd out the earth above the waters So naturally it could not be because it is the heavier element but he furrowed the earth and let into the concavities thereof the water that men and beasts might live upon it 2. For his mercy endureth for ever In this there was a threefold mercy 1. In respect of the earth to make it something of nothing 2. In respect of the water to which he prepared a setled place 3. In respect of man to whom he gave the earth uncovered and safe from the waters yet watered with rivers that he might live in it till it and reap the fruit of it 3. Ver. 6 The third instance is the two great Luminaries and the Stars in the three following verses 3 The Sun and Moon 1. Ver. 7 Given thanks to him who made great lihts For his Mercy endureth for ever The Sun to rule by day For his Mercy endureth for ever The Moon and the Stars to rule the night For his Mercy endures for ever These do wonderfully adorn the heaven and profit the earth For these lights especially by illuminating the earth do comfort us and are over our works by night and day And he instanceth in these rather than in other works of God because these shine to all the world and therefore every man is unexcusable if by them they acknowledge not Gods wisdom 3. From the wonderful works of Gods Creation The third part 2. Of providence to Israel before he descends to speak of the works of his Providence in preservation of his Church and instanceth in his people Israel whom he delivered from Aegypt with a mighty hand as if he had been a man of War and this in respect of Israel was an act of mercy though on the Aegyptians an act of justice Ver. 10 Give thanks to him that smote Aegypt in their first-born for his mercy endureth for ever And brought out Israel from among them for his mercy endureth for ever With a strong hand and stretched-out arm for his mercy endureth for ever To him which divided the red Sea for his mercy c. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it for his mercy c. But overthrew Pharaoh and his Host in the red Sea for his mercy c. Give thanks to him which led his people through the Wilderness for his mercy c. To him which smote great Kings for his mercy c. And slew famous Kings for his mercy c. Sihon King of the Amorites for his mercy c. Ver. 20 And Og the King of Bashan for his mercy endureth for ever And gave their land for an heritage for his mercy c. Even an heritage to Israel his servant for his mercy c. He performed unto them all the Offices of a good Captain Guide Leader nay Father for he took care for food for them fed them with bread from Heaven brought for them waters out of the Rock cured their sick defended them and avenged them on their enemies c. But the whole History is so plain in Moses that it needs no explanation 4. All this was done for them before they entred the land of Canaan 2 After they entred Canaan the Prophet goes on to
merit but mercy 2. Of which he gives the Reason Thy mercy O Lord endureth 〈◊〉 â—ver Ver. 8 It is not for a moment it vanisheth not with one benefit For his mercy but 〈◊〉 is eternal so is it eternal and the resote I know that God will persâ—â— in me what he hath begun 3. And to that end he concludes with a prayer And for this he prayes Forsake not the work of thy own hands Thou which in mercy hast begun this work conserve increase perfect it because it is thine own work only and none of mine If we desire that God should perfect any work in us we must be sure that it is his work Absolons work had no blessing for it was none of Gods The Prayer out of the One hundred and thirty eighth Psalm O Lord I will praise thee with my whole heart neither will I do this privately and within the walls of my house but in publick and in the Assembly of thy Saints even before Angels and the greatest Princes who are Terrestrial gods Ver. 1 I will sing Psalms to the honour of thy Name I will bow my self and fall low and worship towards thy holy Temple and there praise thy Name for thy loving-kindness in making unto me many gracious promises and for thy Truth in performing what thou hast promised in both which Thou hast magnified thy Name Ver. 2 and thy Word above all things that are in heaven and earth Thou hast commanded me to call on thée in time of trouble and I in obedience to thy Word have call'd And in the day when I cryed Thou answer'dst me by which Thou hast magnified thy Word and in my weakest estate Ver. 3 Thou hast strengthned me with strength and consolation in my soul by which Thou hast magnified thy Name So many have béen thy mercies so wonderful thy Providence so strange thy protection toward me through my whole life so beyond expectation thy salvation sent unto me in my greatest dangers Ver. 4 That whosoever shall hear the words of thy mouth spoken of me and fulfilled in me will be ready to praise thee yea Ver. 5 they shall sing of the wayes of the Lord of thy wisdom thy power thy justice thy goodness and confess upon the consideration of thy works That great is the Majesty and Glory of our God For though thou art high most high in nature most high in power most high in command and empire Ver. 6 yet thou humblest thy self and hast respect to the lowly for whose sake thou humbledst thy self in thy Son didst vouchsafe to descend from Heaven and converse with them As for the proud Thou beholdest them afar off as no way approving their haughty thoughts O Lord remove far from me all pride of heart and create in me an humble spirit that thou may'st cast one good look toward me descend into my heart by grace and that I may from this low estate ascend unto thée Thou O Lord hast hitherto béen merciful unto me and deliver'd me from many troubles Ver. 7 but yet I carry about me a body of flesh and my sorrowes are not at an end I must look for afflictions and I expect them that which alone can arm me against these calamities is the experience of thy former mercies hitherto thou hast and I am assured that hereafter thou wilt deliver me Though then I walk in the midst of trouble I know thou wilt revive me Thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies quell their fury and allay their rage and thy right hand shall save me O Lord perfect thy work in me that thou hast begun It procéeds not from my merâ—â— but thy mercy Ver. 8 and this thy mercy is not for a moment but endures for ever 〈◊〉 vanisheth not with one benefit but is eternal as thou art eternal And all the works that flow from me whether within me or done upon me are thy works forsake not then but protect and cherish the works of thine own hands nor leave me who am thy workmanship created after thine own image Good God renew in me what is decay'd by the fraud and malice of the Devil or my own frailty let thy grace pursue me and thy right hand uphold me that I may attain to that perfection of thy Saints in glory through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXXXIX IN this Psalm David having aspersions laid upon him by his enemies appeals to God in justification of his innocency and he desires of God to be his Witness and Compurgator ver 23. Now that this his Appeal be not thought unreasonable he presents God in his two especial Attributes Omniscience and Omnipresonce Then he shewes how free he was like to be from the faults with which he was charg'd in that he loved goodness and good men and hated the wayes of wickedness and wicked men This is the Sum. The parts are 1. A Description of Gods Omniscience from ver 1. to 7. 2. The Description of his Omnipresence from ver 7. to 18. 3. Davids hatred of evil and wicked men from ver 19. to 23. 4. The Protestation of his own innocency which he offers to the Test and Tryal of God ver 23 24. 1. He begins with Gods Omniscience The first part Gods Omniscience He and takes upon him the person of mankind for what he saith of himself is as true of all men for we are all known to God Ver. 1 1. O Lord Thou hast searched me out proved examined Knowes tryed me by an exact search or scrutiny it needed not but he would have us know that God most accurately searcheth into all our wayes not the least thing we do is hid from him Thou searchest me out and knowest me Now what he said in general he opens in particulars Ver. 2 2. As first for our Actions he searches and knowes them 1 Our actions 1. Thou knowest my down-sitting and my uprising when where and for what cause I sit down or rise 2. For our thoughts he searches them also 2 Our thoughts Thou understandest my thoughts afar off from all eternity Thou knowest my counsels my cogitations even before I began to think them Ver. 3 3. The intents and purposes of our thoughts and actions 3 Our intents the ends we aim at Thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my wayes 4. Yea and our words too There is not a word in my tongue but Ver. 4 O Lord Thou knowest it altogether 4 Our words And of this he gives this Reason because God is our Maker Ver. 5 toti quanti quanti sumus we are his work Thou hast beset me behind and before The Reason is because he is our Maker and laid thy hand upâ—â— me The Vulgar reads this verse thus Ecce Domine tu cognovisti omnia novissima antiqua mea tu formasti me posuisti super me manum tuam where Bellarmine saith there be
2. He goes on For thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble And that upon mercy Freedom he desires but still upon mercy 8. His last Petition is for the destruction of Satans Kingdom 1. Of thy mercies cut off my enemies 9 He petitions for the destruction of Satans Kingdom His reason and destroy all them that afflict my soul 2. His reason For I am thy servant a Client a Follower one under thy Protection and Patronage one of thy Family honoured with the dignity of thy servant and well contented to do my Duty and serve thee honestly therefore defend me and destroy my enemies for these in being mine are thy enemies The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and forty third Psalm being penitential O God Thou God of mercy and compassion Ver. 1 hear the prayer of an afflicted penitent soul and give ear to my humble supplications answer me O Lord in thy faithfulness and remit my sin in thy righteousness many promises I find thou hast made to a grieved spirit and to blot out the transgression of a returning sinner to which now in anguish of my spirit I lay claim Ver. 2 I believe thy promises I rely upon thy equity in performance of them as thou art then both faithful and just remit my sin Merits good God before thée I have none to plead I could produce a Bill loaden with a Mass of corruptions and rebellions these make me unworthy to approach thy presence and appear in thy sight O my God pity me for thy Names sake 〈…〉 thy own goodness sake and enter not into a severe account and reckoning with thy servant be not my adversary contend not in judgment with me for if thou shouldst call me to the Bar Ver. 3 I have nothing to put in against the dreadful sentence nothing of my own that can appease thy anger or abate the fury of one stroak of thy severe arm My case is the same with other men with all men when thou shalt call us to an account of our stewards place silent we must be as having nothing to say for our selves because in thy sight shall no man living be justified That enemy of Mankind hath persecuted my soul pursued me he hath with a whole storm of tentations and by these he hath smitten and wounded me and made me vile and contemptible in thy sight He hath so far prevailed Ver. 4 that I have fastned my affections on earth and earthly things Walked I have in the vanity of my mind my understanding hath béen darkned I have béen alienated from the life of God by ignorance and blindness of heart I became past séeling and gave my self over unto all lasciviousness working uncleanness with greediness and this hath brought me to the sad condition in which I am Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me and my heart within me is desolate shame and sorrow is upon me for so offending so gracious a God a stonishment and amazement possess my soul because I am destitute of thy comfort I put my mouth in the dust and my face in darkness and hate my self because I have yielded to that sin which I am sure that thou hatest just cause I have but yet I will not despair methinks as in thy servants from the beginning of the World Thou hast set me a pattern of repentance so thou hast prescribed me a remedy against desperation I remember then the dayes of old that Adam transgressed Ver. 5 and that thou graciously madest a promise unto him for the womans Seed to break the Serpents head that Noah was dronken and incestuous Moses refractery and disobedient Aaron â—â—olatrous and perverted by the people to sin to all which with infinite others when they turned unto thée by hearty repentance Thou gavest a pardon upon these monuments of thy mercy I will meditate upon these examples of thy grace I will muse and when I sée thy works of goodness in them and upon them encouraged I am to stretch forth my hands unto thée as hoping to receive the like savour and as a thirsly Land doth gape for the latter rain Ver. 6 so doth my soul hunger and thirst after thy righteousness as knowing well that without it my soul can neither be beautiful in thy eye nor yet fruitful in the works of piety or charity Hear me then gracious God spéedily and without delay for till thy grace descend Ver. 7 my spirit faints and fails hide not thy loving countenance from me any longer lest my heart become as cold as a stone within me and I be wholly comfortless and like them that go down into the pit cause me to hear of thy loving kindness and let the morning of thy grace comfortably shine upon me who have too long sate in the darkness of sorrow Ver. 8 for in thée alone is my confidence in thée my trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk Ver. 10 and teach me to do thy Will and let thy good Spirit lead me into the Land of righteousness Ver. 11 quicken me O Lord for thy Names sake and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of this agony and trouble Thou art my God and I lift up my soul unto thee deliver me O Lord from my enemies for I flie unto thee to hide me and of thy mercies cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul For thou art my Lord my Patron and I am thy Client and servant The seven following Psalms are Eucharists or Thanksgivings Hymns properly they are PSALM CXLIV An ode of David THis Psalm is of a mixt kind for in it is contain'd a thanksgiving A prayer And doctrine Interpreters are not agreed upon the occasion and time of the writing of it For some think being moved thereto by the Title that it was composed by David upon his victory over Goliah Others upon his victories after over the Philistines Ammonites c. Some again in the beginning of his reign before he was fully setled But be it as it will The parts of the Psalm are 1. A thanksgiving from vers 1. to 5. 2. A petition from vers 5. to 12. 3. A discussion of happiness and wherein it consists from vers 12. to the end 1. The first part He gives thanks In the beginning the Prophet gives thanks and praiseth God 1. He gives him thanks Blessed be the Lord. And he expresseth his reason Ver. 1 Which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight In general 1 For the Art of War God taught him Who hath taught me the Art of War In particular That taught my hands to use the sling and my fingers to choose the stones and direct them to the forehead of Goliah For this was Artis opus non virtutis Skill not strength which he taught me 2. Ver. 2 He praiseth God and that for many Titles He is my strength my goodness 2 Because his strength his goodness c.
never suffer them to place their felicity in these temporal blessings Sanctifie these unto them and let these be used as arguments to draw them nearer unto thée For I know that they only are truly happy whose God is the Lord those whom he hath chosen and adopted to be hâ—â— people and they who have chosen him to be their God they who relie upon him to de their Protector and they who acknowledge and worship him that they may be protected For God alone is the chiefest good he alone can give good things not only those which are external but those which are internal and eternal even eternal life to those who are his Servants through Iesus Christ our Lord. PSAL. CXLV Hallelujah or an Hymn THis Hymn containeth excellent matter and is penned after an excellent manner The matter of it is Gods holy praise which is the Alpha and Omega of all our actions The manner of it that of the Hebrew Alphabet which is done to help our memory in recording those things which concerns our Makers praise Of which there be These three parts 1. A Proem or a protestation to praise God ver 1 2. 2. And a celebration of divine praises through the whole Psalm and to that end he produceth many arguments which are reduced to these heads 1. From the greatnesse of God ver 3. 2. From his works of wonder ver 4. which works he distinguishes into three kinds 1. Glorious and beautiful of Majesty and therefore wonderful ver 5. 2. Marvellous and full of terror ver 6. 3. Amiable and full of goodnesse ver 7 8 9. But all wonderful 3. From his Kingdom and government of it and in it from ver 10. to 21. 3. A conclusion ver 21. In which be performs his protestation praising God 1. Davids protestation to praise God The first part In the two first verses David proposeth what he will do through the whole Psalm acquaints us fully with his intention 1. I will extoll I will bless I will praise 2. Thee my God my King A King above me Ver. 1 in comparison of whom I am a servant a subject I will bless I will praise thy Name all vertues by which thou art known 3. Every day will I praise thee No day shall passe without a Hymn 4. For ever and ever will I do it It shall now begin and continue by a succession of men who shall sing this and the like Hymns made to thy honour to the consummation of all things 2. And so he sets upon the praise it self The second part He praiseth God for his greatness And the first thing he praiseth God for is for his Essense set forth under this word Great 1. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised This followes on the other for if great greatly to be praised 2. And his greatness is unsearchable Ver. 3 past our weak capacity it is to comprehend it search we may but we shall never find it Higher it is than the Heavens as being higher than the Highest deeper than Hell as passing the depth of our understandings Job 11.8 9. Broador than the Sea as measuring the waters thereof in his fist Isaiah 40.12 And longer than the earth as having no end there it no end of his greatness Or if Great here to be refer'd to him as a King Then a great King he is in respect of extension for all creatures from the highest Angel to the poorest worm are under him great for length for his Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom Great for depth for he rules even in the hearts of Kings of all men over-rules their thoughts affections nothing is hid from him And great again for height being a great King over other gods ruling by his own absolute Power and Authority whereas all other have their Sword from him and Rule by a delegated and Vicarious power 2. From the Essence of God David passeth to his works and effects Ver. 4 which set forth his praise which because no one man is able to do 2 For his works in generall therefore David saith One Generation shall praise thy works unto another and shall declare thy mighty Acts. Every several Age is an eye-witness of several acts of wonder and therefore as one succeedeth another in dayes so shall they succeed in duty The father shall declare them to the son and the son again to his son c. So that no Generation that considers thy mighty Acts but shall have just occasion to admire them and praise thee And so from the works in general all which are mighty he descends to the particulars which he ranks into three sorts In particular 1. His works of glory 1. The first are those which are marvellous and full of glory splendour and beauty such as are his works in Heaven For the Heavens declare his glory The Sun Moon Stars their variety multitude splendour Ver. 5 constant and perpetual motions their influences and effects are all wondrous works and they speak of the glorious honour of his Majesty Why else did the Heathen take and worship these for gods and these works David means in ver 5. 2. A second kind of works there are of God 2 His works of justice and terrour which are full of Terrour and Justice these are terrible Acts and they speak out his Might and Greatness such were the universal Deluge in Noahs dayes the fire of Sodom Pharaphs overthrow in the red Sea Ver. 6 the opening of the earth to swallow Corah Dathan Abiram c. And these he points at in ver 6. 3. Other works are marvellous as being full of his abundant kindness 3 His works of love and mercy love mercy And because he would have us take more special notice of these as those which bring to us more comfort and concern us more to know therefore he in more words insists upon these spending three whole verses in the explication of them of which pag. sequents 1. Ver. 7 They i. e. Thy great works shall abundantly utter Eructabun Vulgar The memory of thy great goodness All Generations fill'd with the abundance of thy bounty they shall be eloquent and without any intermission collect them in their memory and commit them to posterity to be remembred 2. And sing of thy righteousness in exhibiting thy promised blessings Of this kind are all temporal benefits night and day the seasons of the year fertility abundance of Fish Fowle Cattle Rivers Seas Orchards Gardens Groves c. But these are light if compared to the gifts of Grace The incarnation Death Passion Resurrection Ascention of Christ mission of the holy Ghost calling of the Gentiles Justification Sanctification eternal life All which being brought to memory by a pious meditation Eructubunt scaturient eloquentur canent men must abundantly utter Gods goodnesse And sing here with David in the next verse 2. Ver. 8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy of which
before Psal 103.8 3. Ver. 9 The Lord is good to all For he rains upon the just and unjust Slow to execute wrath upon the reprobates 2 Tim. 2.4.2 Pet. 3.9 Prov. 1.21 Hos 14.9 Ezek. 18.31 32. 4. His mercies are over all his works There is not any work of God but hath mercy in it Psal 1.36 For whenas in rigour of justice for their sins he might destroy the world out of mercy he gives time of repentance 3. The third part He praiseth God for a new mercy The Prophet hitherto hath sung of the marvellous works of God both of Glory Terror and Mercy And adds for the close All thy works shall praise thee O Lord. But now he begins to praise him for a New matter viz. for the erection of his peculiar Kingdom in his Church viz. The choice of his Church in which he is to have for his Subjects a peculiar people a holy nation a royal Priesthood which he in this place calls Saints Now be it that profane and impious men of the world should neglect to praise God and not admire his works of Glory Terrour and Mercy yet these will not neglect their Duty Ver. 10 And thy Saints shall blesse thee They shall blesse thee for thy marvellous works before mentioned In which he erects his Kingdom but they shall not stay there consider they shall thy Kingdom in thy Church and lay to heart the Quality of that Kingdom and especially praise thee for that Ver. 11 They shall speak of the glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power Ver. 12 To make known to the sons of men thy mighty acts and the glorious Majesty of thy Kingdom Ver. 13 Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy Dominion endureth throughout all generations Now the power and glory of Christs Kingdom 1 The amplitude of it from the Kingdoms of men may be known by this fourfold difference 1. That Kings on earth have but few subjects and small wealth and treasure being Commanders perhaps but of one or at most but of some few Provinces But God hath for his subjects Angels Men Devils and the wealth of the whole world is his 2 Independance 2. Earthly Kings so reign over their subjects that they must be servants to their people they depend upon them and are forced to yield to them yea though they abound in wealth yet they want and are forced to beg or exact Subsidies Contributions Tributes Taxes c. from them being often indebted great summes But God is so a Lord that he serves none he needs not their help so abounds that in a moment he can create of nothing much more than he hath 3. Earthly Kings glory indeed in their power 3 Security and rejoyce in their dignity and honour but their crown is but a crown of thornes for they are tormented with cares anxiety fear sorrows But God is glorious without fear or care he reigns in security tranquility peace and ease 4. Earthly Kings reign but for a time Christ for ever 4 Eternity All which differences are found in these verses 1. The first in the eleventh verse They shall speak of the glory of thy Kingdom c. They shall speak of the power and glory of it that in multitude of subjects in wealth and riches it exceeds all other Kingdoms 2. The second and third in the twelfth verse They shall make known c. that they Acts are far beyond theirs and thy magnificence no dependency no needy no thorny crown 3. The fourth in the thirteenth verse Thy Kingdom Everlasting so not theirs And so the Prophet having described the Kingdom of Christ The qualities of Christ the King begins to set down the excellent Qualities and Vertues of a good King which do most perfectly agree to Christ In this place after the thirteenth verse it is very probable that there is a verse omitted in the Hebrew Copies we now use which yet anciently were in it For the Septuagint the Arabique Copies and the Vulgar out of them retain it and so doth Kimhi It is supposed it came to pass incuria librariorum And Bellarmine Moller conceive it should be admitted because when the Psalm is disposed according to the order and number of the Hebrew Alphabet it will be imperfect without it For the verse will be wanting that begins with the letter Nun. Musculus receives it into the Text. In it are set down two excellent qualities of a good King 1. Veracity 1 Veracity and 2. Probity The verse is this 2 Holiness Faithful the Lord is in all his words and holy in all his works But I go on Ver. 14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all those that be down 3 Goodness 3. This is another quality of a good King which is Veri regia Pastoralis so to govern his Subjects that they fall not and to raise them if fallen This is Mercy Goodness And it is proper to Christ who by his Grace sustains and upholds his people that they fall not into sin or if fallen raiseth them up again by a new Grace when they are down This verified in David Peter the Prodigal c. He sustains raiseth them by his Gospel and Spirit Ver. 15 The eyes of all wait upon thee and thou givest them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing 4. This is Liberality and Bounty and is an excellent vertue in a King 4 Liberality and Bounty whose care for his Subjects ought to be that they want no necessaries Benefacere regjum est and most properly may be attributed to Christ who provides for his Church all manner of things that are good Temporal Spiritual 1. They are expectants Their eyes wait upon him 2. And he gives 'T is a gift not a debt 3. Their meat Variety to every one what is fit for him 4. In due season Then when fit for them to eat Wine oyle corn c. as the season fits He crowns the year Psal 65.11 He gives when fit to eat for sometimes 't is fit that the meat be taken away when men are wanton exceed and riot in it 5. Thou openest thy hand He gives not sparingly but bountifully 6. Thou satisfiest For a man may have and not be satisfied Avarui semper eget The content and satisfaction is from God 7. The desire of every living thing Giving to every living thing such meat as is sutable to his appetite all which is much more true in spiritual blessings Ver. 17 The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works 5. 5 Justice This is another vertue of a good King to be just which is most true of Christ for just he is in distribution of punishments and giving rewards Ver. 18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in Truth 6 Easie to
let us rest in those Mansions which thou hast prepared for us as in our beds and exercised with no other labour but in singing perpetual Allelujahs O let the high praises of thee our God be in our mouth let us sing the Song of Moses and the Lamb saying Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes Thou King of Saints Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name for thou only art holy We do not doubt Ver. 7 but thou art able to take revenge of the Nations and people who do blaspheme thée That thou canst bind their Kings in Chains and their Nobles with Links of Iron Therefore we pray thée that either by the two-edged Sword of thy Word thou wouldst convert them or else execute thy judgment written upon them Lord let thy Kingdom come Thy Kingdom of Grace by which thou dost reign in the hearts of all thy Elect Thy Kingdom of power by which thou wilt subdue all thy enemies and thy Kingdom of glory when thy Saints shall be called to sit upon their Thrones and with thée judge the World When vengeance shall be executed on the Heathen that have not known thy Name and an inheritance given to the Saints whom thou wilt honour for ever and ever PSAL. CL. A Hymn THIS Psalm is of the same Subject that the former In the 148. All creatures are invited to praise God In the 149. Men especially and those that are in the Church But in this that they praise him and that with all kind of Instruments The parts are 1. An Invitation to praise God which word is ingeminated thirteen times according to the number of the thirteen Attributes of God as the Rabbins reckon them 2. That this be done with all sorts of Instruments intending thereby that it be performed with all the zeal care alacrity ardency of affections that may be 1. The first part In the beginning and all along the Psalm he calls on men to praise God Ver. 1 1. He invites to praise God Praise praise praise praise 2. Praise God in his Sanctuary In his Temple or in your hearts which are the Temples of the Holy Ghost Or praise him that dwells in Sanctis that is in his holy Heaven 3. Praise him in the firmament of his power For his power magnificence which is firm Or who shewes his power in the Firmament when he sits as in his Throne or Palace Some understand the Church by it in which his Saints shine as Stats in the Firmament 4. Ver. 2 Praise him for his mighty Acts the works of power he doth 5. Praise him according to his excellent greatness That greatness whereby he excels all other things he being absolutely great they only comparatively 2. The second part He desires that no kind of way be omitted by which we may shew our zeal alacrity and ardency in praising him With zeal and all kind of Musick and to that end he makes mention of all sorts of Instruments which either make Musick being touch'd with the hand or forc'd to sound with wind 1. Praise him with the sound of Trumpet An Instrument then used in their solemn Feasts Tuba flatu sonitum reddet 2. Praise him with the Psaltery and Harp Pulsu chordarum resonant Ver. 3 And to these they sung so that the Musick was made by hand and voyce 3. Praise him with the Tymbrel and dance Tympano Choro Vulg. in the Quire where with the consent and harmony of many voyces 4. Praise him with stringed Instruments Lutes Viols c. and Organs Ver. 5 5. Praise him upon the loud Cymbals They are round and being shaken make a tinkling noise 6. Praise him upon the high sounding Cymbals An Instrument that yielded a great sound as Bells do amongst Christians Bellar. That he be praised by all His Conclusion is universal Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Allelujah 1. Every thing that breaths whatever hath strength or faculty to do it 2. Every thing that hath life whether spiritual as Angels or animal as Beasts or both as men Or Metaphorically all other things which though they be inanimate yet may be said to live to God because they obey his Order and Decree The Prophets intent may be that all things praise God because all things that have life or being have it from him A Thanksgiving occasioned by the last Psalm O Eternal God Lord and Creator Ver. 1 Governour and Disposer of all things both in the firmament of thy power and in the earth which is thy footstool who loadest us with blessings and only expects our Tribute of thanks we thy obliged creatures and servants in all humility appear before thée to pay that reverence and worship and devotion which is thy due and our duty Ver. 2 We praise thee for thy mighty Acts and we desire to praise thee according to thy excellent greatness Thy wisdom is infinite thy mercies are glorious and we are not worthy O Lord to appear before that presence at which the Angels cover their faces yet since thou O Lord art worthy to receive glory and honour and power Ver. 6 since thou art to be praised in thy Sanctuary because thou hast made preserved and redéemed us We unworthy wretches do in all humility and obedience offer thée all possible land and honour while we have breath we will praise the Lord. And that we do it with the greater alacrity and more attentive zeal Ver. 3 with more chearful hearts and warmer affections let us choose to our selves such apt and melodious instruments that may raise our souls in this Service and that the unity and melody of our devotions may be as swéet and pleasing in thy ears as the harmony is delightful to ours We cannot be too joyful in the presence of our God we cannot be too thankful to our Salvation and therefore we will sing Hallelujah after Hallelujah and call for Hymn after Hymn with Psalms and spiritual Songs voyces and instruments of Musick we will praise the Lord praise thy power praise thy wisdom praise thy goodness praise thy mercy thy bounty thy love to us for ever and ever And here I in particular thank thee for thy assistance in this work which I wholly attribute to thy Grace and dedicate to thy Honour And if I have done well and truly expressed the sense of the Spirit of God who inspired into the Prophet these Psalms and Hymns it is that I desired But if slenderly and meanly it is that which I could attain to Analyticam hanc Psalmorum explicationem per gratiam Dei absolvi devotiones inde collectas Anno. 1658. Octob. 22. Hallelujah FINIS
sake whom thou hast sent to bless us Iesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen PSALM IV. The occasion Trouble from enemies THERE be three parts of it 1. An entrance or petition for Audience vers 1. 2. An Apostrophe to his enemies which is Reprehensive 2 3. Admonitory 4 5 3. A Petition for himself and Gods people vers 6 7 8. The first part 1. He proposeth his request and suit for Audience Hear me when I call Vers. 1 Have mercy upon me or be graâ—ious unto me and hear my prayer He prayes for audience and mercy upon four grounds And he seeks to win attention from God by an insinuation implicitely containing four Arguments 1. Gods Covenant with man who hath promised to hear when we call 1 Gods promise Call upon me in trouble and I will hear thee I call Hear me therefore when I call 2. His own innocence He suffer'd without fault 2 His innnocence God is the Judge and Revenger of innocents Hear me therefore O God of my righteousness 3. He requests no more 3 Gods former goodness to him than what God had done for him at other times when he was in distress Thou hast enlarg'd me in trouble and why not now 4. It was mercy and favour to answer him then 4 And his mercy and it will be mercy and favour to do it again Have mercy upon me or be gracious to me 2. His Petition being thus headed and ended The second part he descends to the doctrinal part of the Psalm and turning himself to his enemies he 1. Sharply Reproves them 2. Then warns them and gives them good counsel 1. He turns his speech from God to men the chiefest but the worst of men 1 He reproves his enemies Filii Enosh O ye sons Virorum No Plebeians Vers. 2 but Nobles and chief men The charge he lays to them is 1. That they turn'd his glory into shame 1 That they fought against Gods decree They went about to dishonour him that God had call'd and anointed to the Kingdom 2. That they lov'd vanity A vain attempt they were in love with 2 That in vain 3. That they sought after leasing 3 That lyars They pursued that which would deceive them they would find at last that treachery and iniquity lyed unto it self for God had said he should reign and he must reign whatsoever they conceiv'd to the contrary was but a lye 4. That this his charge might have the more life 4 That obdurate in their rebellion he figures it with a stinging interrogation Vsque quo it is not Quare Why but Usque quo How long By which he doth aggravate their sins It had malice and pertinacy in it They did persist and continue in mischief And he asks How long they would do it But he would have them know that God had chosen and would hear him What never give over to prosecute him 2. And that they might if possible be drawn from their attempts he sends them a Noverint to read which hath two clauses 1. Let them know That God hath set apart him that is godly for himself Vers. 3 2. That God will hear when I or any good man calls upon him 2. 2 He gives them good counsel The Reproof both of Vanity and Malice of their attempts and ignorance being ended He gives them good counsel 1. Vers. 4 1 That they sin not by their anger That though they be angry yet that they let not the Sun go down upon their wrath That they stand in awe of God and sin not in their anger 2. 2 That they seclude their passions and interests That they commune with their own hearts their own conscience that they do it in their bed a fit time a fit place when retired from all Conspiratours that they be still then and seclude their passions and interests Then they should rightly judge whether they were not in an errour their anger causless and their prosecution vain and unjust 3. Vers. 5 3 That they serve God with an honest heart That they offer the sacrifice of righteousness That they serve and worship God with an honest sincere and contrite heart which is the best sacrifice 4. 4 That they trust in God That they put their trust in the Lord. They trust no more to their Lyes nor love their Vanities but relie upon Gods promises For then they would depose all their vain attempts 3. The third part Vers 6. The Question answer'd de Summo Bono The third part of the Psalm begins at the sixth verse with this Question of â—hose men that David reproves and counsels There be many that say Who will shew us any good And some Interpreters referre it 1. To their malice As if they had said Who will shew us the good that we so much desire and long for When shall we see David dead and confounded that which is so good in our eyes 2. Others make them words of insultation in great distress David now was and many said Who is there now that will stand by him and take his part and shew him and his any good any kindness favour or assistance 2. Which consists in the light of Gods countenance But Interpreters generally make it a serious question and a disquisition de summo bono Who will shew us that good which will make us happy To which David returns his answer in effect that it is not Bona animi nor bona fortunae nor bona corporis but the light of Gods countenance and therefore 3. His Petition or Prayer for it He preferres his Petition Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Gods countenance is his grace his favour his love and the light of his countenance the exhibition and expression of this grace favour The effects of it are love in which alone lies all the happiness of man Of which David expresseth two effects Gladness and Security 1. Vers. 7 1 Gladness Gladness and joy far beyond that which may be had from any temporal blessings Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and wine and oyle increased Gladness beyond the joy in harvest and this joy is from the light of Gods countenance For tu posuisti Thou putt'st Thou signally 2. Vers. 8 2 Security Security express'd under the Metaphor of sleep I will lay me down in peace and sleep Just as in a time of peace and sleeping as securely as if there were at this time nor trumpet nor drumme nor clashing of armour rattling in his ears 3. For this safety God assur'd him To which he adds the reason For thou Lord alone makest me dwell in safety The Prayer collected out of the fourth Psalm O Most merciful and loving Father merciful in promising and faithful in performing thy promises which hast commanded us to call upon thée in time of trouble
Vers. 1 and promised to hear those that call we thy poor afflicted and distressed people straitned with miseries and beset with sorrows in obedience to thy commands are bold to present our supplications before thée O God of our righteousness hear us when we call enlarge us in distress have mercy upon us be gracious unto us and hear our praper How long shall the sons of men turn our glory into shame Vers. 2 how long shall the vanity they have lov'd and the lyes which with an obstinate and malicious heart they have sought for and forg'd and their mischâ—â—ous counsels Vers. 3 prevail against us O make them know that however they seek to oppress us yet thou whose power no man can resist hast chosen to thy self and wilt take into thy love those who are godly and that when they call and cry to thee thou wilt hear them The Ark is departed from Irsael and shame hath cover'd our faces and wilt thou also turn away thy face for ever Return O Shulamite return return that we may look upon thee Vers. 4 Then perhaps those who now despight and hate us may be reconcil'd unto us and turn their anger into love and their rage into sorrow that they persecuted them whom thou hast smitten Move all our hearts good God that we map stand in awe and sin no more that we may recollect our wayes and examine our own consciences upon our beds that so out of compunction and godly sorrow we may lament our furious thoughts toward our brethren and hereafter bear more peaceable and quiet minds one toward another And because no sacrifice can please thee Vers. 5 but that of a person to whom thou art reconcil'd bath our souls in thy blood purifie our hearts by faith that through thy Son and in thy Son we may present unto thee our thanks for thy favours bestow'd upon us and reserv'd for us and our bodies and souls a holy reasonable and living sacrifice upon the Altar of a broken and contrite heart In a word so adore thee in spirit and truth so love and practice piety and charity that we may alwayes find thée propitious unto us There is not any thing O Lord but desires its own good and happiness Vers. 6 The Sea tells us that it is not to be found in it and the earth that it is not to be found in it From thée our heart procéeded and restless it will be until again it rests in thée Lord then lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us shine upon us with thy favour beautifie us with thy grace Vers. 7 assist us with thy hand and help so shall we be both glad and secure The joy of harvest the content of new wine the plenty of oyle are but fading pleasures in comparison of thy love Never then so let us set our hearts upon them that we forget thée but from these gifts let us rise to love thée which art the giver and be better pleas'd with the light of thy countenance in which there is solid and eternal joy than when our corn and oyle and wine is inceased So let us love these that we live in thée In thée alone is rest in thée security in thée tranquility Vers. 8 grant therefore O dear Father that amidst all the storms and troubles of this life we may lie down in peace and sléep in peace Thou only O gratious God art able to make us dwell in safety to thée therefore we flie for protection to thée alone for safety and succour Frée us from our sins deliver us from our dangers protect us from our enemies but especially from our sins that we may live in thy love dye in thy favour rest and sléep in our graves in peace rise in thy power and remain with thée in glory for ever and ever Amen PSAL. V. By occasion of his enemies It consists of five parts 1. AN introduction in which he petitions to be heard and professeth his earnestness about it vers 1 2 3. and his confidence of audience 2. He delivers his Petition vers 8. and the reason of it His enemies ver 8. 3. These his enemies he describes to the life vers 9. 4. He prayes against them that God would destroy them vers 10. 5. He prayes for the Church that God would preserve it vers 11 12. 1. The first part He prayes for audience In the entrance he prayes very earnestly for audience And the very Congeries shews that he meant to be earnest and fervent in it He chooseth such a Copy and variety of words to express the same thing Vers. 1 which yet have an Auxesis in them Vers. 2 and riseth by degrees from words he comes to meditation from thar to a voice from a voice to a cry 2. Then he earnestly desires God 1. To give ear Very earnestly 2. Then to consider 3. To hearken to him He gives ear that would understand what the Supplicant means He considers that weighs the justice of the cause He attends and hearkens to that intends to satisfie the Petitioner This therefore David desires earnestly that his words be understood his cause suit and meditation consider'd and his voice and cry heard granted satisfied 2. Three reasons for it The reasons he useth here to beget audience are very considerable 1. Vers 2 The relation that was betwixt him and his God Thou art my King and my God Vers. 2 2. 1 His relation to God That he would sue to no other To thee will I pray Which he illustrates 1. 2 To him alone he would sue From the time A morning Petition which the epikeuxis makes Emphatick 2. From the composure of it it was a well composed and order'd prayer 3. Vers. 3 He would lift up his eyes with it My voice shalt thou hear in the morning O Lord in the morning will I direct dirigam disponam my prayer unto thee and will look up 3. 3 Who hears good men not sinners The third reason taken from the nature of God to wit whom he will and whom he will not hear Sinners God will not regard to good men he is ready to look Vers. 4 and on that ground he desires also audience The sinners which God would not hear Vers 5 he describes to the life 1. Men that delighted in wickedness evil Vers. 6 foolish men workers of iniquity lyars blood-thirsty and deceitful Now 't was not likely that God would hear such These he describes And shews his own conditions For thou art not a God who hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall any evil dwell with thee These should not stand in his sight These he hated These he would destroy These he did abhor 2. But he on the contrary was a faithful soul that relied on his God a fearful soul Vers. 7 that alwayes stood in awe a religious soul that was alwayes ready to come into his house Notwithstanding which he relies on Gods mercy In
the quantity and degrees of his calamity which he shews to be very great from the effects 1. In general he was in a languishing disease I am weak 2. In particular a sharp pain in his bones My bones are vexed 3. Vers. 2 Trouble in his soul My soul also is sore troubled 2. Vers. 3 From the continuance of it It was a long disease a lingring fickness and no ease he found Vers. 4 no not from his God The pain though great I could the better bear 2 From the continuance of it if I had any comfort from heaven But thou O Lord how long This makes me a man of sorrows that thou my Lord seems to have withdrawn thy countenance long long from thy servant Vers. 3 Lord how long 3. Vers. 3 3 From the consequence viz. Death From the consequence that was like to follow death and the event upon it 'T is my intention to celebrate thee and praise thy name This the living only can do therefore let me live For in death no man remembers thee and who will give thee thanks in the pit Vers. 5 4. And that to Deaths-door he was now brought he shews by three apparent symptomes 1. Sighs and groans which had almost broke his heart The symptoms of it being the companions of a perpetual grief with these he was oppressed even to weariness I am weary of my groaning Ver. 6 2. The abundance of tears which fell from him had even dried and washed his body these fell in such showres and so continual Ver. 6 That he made his bed to â—wim and watered his couch with his tears 3. His eyes also melted away and grew dim so that he seemed old before his time for grief preys upon the vital spirits and dries up the bones Ver. 7 Thus he complains My eye is consumed because of grief it waxeth old 5. And that which increased his grief and added to his sorrow was 4 From the joy his enemies took at it that he had many ill-willers who did laugh and boast and insult over him in this his extremity My eye is waxen old because of mine enemies Ver. 7 Secondly But at last receiving comfort and joy from his penitential tears The second part His insultation over his enemies These he rejects with scorns he begins to look up and from his complaint he turns upon his enemies who gaped after his death and over them he insults in the three last verses 1. He rejects these Reprobates from him with scorn and indignation you looked for my end and expected my ruine but all in vain and therefore now deluded of your hopes Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity 2. He assings the cause in effect Ver. 8 because God hath been moved by his prayer to reject them upon which ground he was so confirmed and pleased Because God had heard his prayer that he comes over it again and again thrice for failing 1. For the Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping Ver. 8 2. The Lord hath heard my supplication Ver. 8 3. The Lord will receive my prayer Ver. 9 3. Then in the close there follows his imprecation His imprecation that which is made up of these three ingredients which he prayes may light upon them 1. Shame and confusion Let them be confounded to see their hope frustrate 1 Shame 2. Vexation Let them be vexed that they suffer by the hand of justice Ver. 10 3. Eversion Let them return with shame enough 2 Vexation that their plots come to nothing 3 Eversion may befall them And these two last he aggravates by the weight and speed for he desires that their punishment might begreat and speedy 1 Grievously 1. That their vexation should be nor easie nor mild but very sore Ver. 10 let them be sorely vexed 2. That their shame and overthrow linger not but be present hasty 2 Suddenly and sudden Let them be turned back and put to shame in a moment or suddenly The Prayer collected out of the sixth Psalm O Omnipotent holy and just Lord to whose commands we owe obedience and whose will ought to be our Law I wretched sinner and disobedient Caitiff do confess that for my disobedience I have deserved thy just displeasure I have provoked thy wrath and done evil before thée O Lord I have sinned and multiplied my iniquities Now therefore I vow the knées of my heart and humbly beléech thée to forgive and not to destroy me with my iniquities O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger Ver. 1 neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure I tremble O dear Father and am even out of heart when I remember my great offences and féel thy severe justice My soul is sore vexed and the pains of Hell have overtaken me But thou Ver. 3 O Lord how long how long wilt thou turn away thy face from me and set me up as a mark to shoot at how long Lord wilt thou be absent for ever and shall thy jealousie burn like fire how long shall I take counsel in my soul and be thus vexed in my heart wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thy enemy wilt thou break a leaf driven too and fro with the wind and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble For thou writest bitter things against me and makest me possess the sins of my youth Ver. 6 I am weary and worn out with sighs and groans and every night when solitude and darkness brings to me the memory of my sins Ver. 7 I make my Bed to swim and water my Couch with my tears The eye of my mind is darkned at the sense of thy revenge and the eye of my body grown dim and consumed with grief Have mercy upon me Ver. 2 have mercy upon me O my God and for thine own sake remit my sin and heal the running ulcers of my soul with thy grace for I am weak and unable to any good heal me from this my infirmity and the wounds of my transgressions Ver. 4 for which my bones are now justly vered Return O Lord who art now justly turned away from me for my sin and be propitious to me deliver my soul from the fear of thy judgment and eternal death and save him who hath deserved to be cast away for thy mercy sake I said in the cutting off my dayes Ver. 5 I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years I said I shall not sée the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living I shall behold man no more with the Inhabitants of the world For in death no man remembreth thee and in the grave who shall give thee thanks Wilt thou shew wonders among the dead or shall the dead arise and praise thée shall thy wonders be known in the dark or thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten But unto thée have I cryed O Lord and in the morning
altogether Out of all which David concludes that it is both precious and sweet Ver. 10 1. The price of it beyond the best gold More to be desired it is than gold Precious Sweet yea than much fine gold obrizo the gold of Ophir 2. The sweetness thereof beyond honey than the honey-comb 3. Yea and besides all this Ver. 11 he shews upon his own experience the excellency of it Moreover by them is thy servant taught probatum est 4. Nay such is the fruit benefit use of it Beneficial to those that keep it That the observers of it are like to be well rewarded no man shall serve God for nought For in keeping of them there is Merces a reward 2. Ampla Merces a great reward 3. But these last words set David to his prayers What a reward The third part Yea but David kept it not a great reward only to those who keep Gods Law My conscience then tells me that the reward belongs not to me for I cannot plead this observance In many things we sin all and I among the many There were but these wayes to help him Confession Petition for Grace and Faith and these he makes use of 1. An offender he was known sins he had too many Ver. 12 and many more that he knew not and even for these he asked pardon This he confesseth desiring to be quit of them not only from the guilt but the filth Who can tell or understand his Errours 2 Asks pardon Cleanse thou me from secret faults 2. However so long as he carried about him this body of sin Ver. 13 he could not choose but erre upon ignorance infirmity c. 3 Begs grace against presumption yet he petitions for so much grace that he may not maliciously offend Keep back also thy servant from presumptuous sins 1. Because the effect would be lamentable sin would become a King For then sin wold domineer and reign in him and reign in his mortal body which is inconsistent with grace Keep back c. Ne lest they get the dominion the upper hand over me command rule and I obey and become a drudge a slave a vassal to sin 2. This is the great offence a sin not of a small size And make him guilty of the great offence therefore keep back thy servant from these sins and then however I be a sinner and guilty yet I shall be innocent from the great offence 3. Lastly that his prayer be heard he begs also he prayes for his prayer Ver. 14 and the meditations of his heart Let the words of my mouth 4 That God would accept his prayer and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight And that which put him in heart notwithstanding his many Errours to do it to pray to trust to confess was because the Lord was his Strength Who was his Strength and Redeemer his Redeemer 1. His Strength his Rock to keep him that he fell not 2. His Redeemer if he did fall In the words he coucheth two benefits 1. Conservation 2. Acceptance of his person through Christ and expresseth his faith The Prayer out of the nineteenth Psalm O God thou art a gracious God to the sons of men and because this is life Eternal to know thee to be the only God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ That man perish not in his ignorance Thou hast revealed thy self unto him in the Book of Nature and in the Scripture The Heavens declare the Glory the Wisdom the Goodness Ver. 1 the Power of thee their Creatour and that ample whéel of the Firmament bestudded with infinite variety of Stars of several Magnitudes doth manifest that they are the work of thy hands and not of any inferiour power They speak to us day after day Ver. 2 and night after night and plentifully teach the knowledge of thee The constant and perpetual succession of times and seasons caused by the uncessant motion of those great luminaries inform us that there is a wise and infinite power that over-rules them Neither do they speak thy glory in an unknown tongue or whisper thy power and wisdom in a low voyce or to some people only but they proclaim it in every Language and Idiom they roar it louder than the voyce of Thunder in all mens ears Ver. 3 there is nor speech nor language nor Nation nor people that may not hear their voyce and understand their language Their light Ver. 4 their constant and perpetual motion their efficacy and general influence is so admirable and well known that their direction is gone out through all the Earth and their words to the end of the World But among all those celestial bodies there is not any which doth so clearly set forth thy Majesty as that bright Globe of the Sun in which thou hast as it were Ver. 5 set up thy Throne and Tabernacle whose lustre and splendour being far more beautiful than that of a Bridegroom Ver. 6 when he comes out of his Chamber whose motion is so swift that in a few houres it cometh from one end of Heaven to another and runneth to the end of it again whose heat is so vigorous that there is nothing hid from the power and vertue of it proclaim and preach to the World that there is a wise and potent God who by his power made and by his wise providence disposeth rules and orders all things in Heaven and Earth Thou then O God hast not left thy self without witness for the invisible things of thée from the Creation of the World are clearly séen even thy eternal Power and Godhead being understood by the things that are made whence we confess that we are left without excuse For we ought to have béen perswaded by the authority and obedience of these thy Creatures to love to honour to fear thée and to adhere unto thée alone but wrethes as we are little regarding these good instructions and instructors we have followed the counsels of our own hearts and béen seduced by our own vain imaginations with the Fool we have said privately to our selves There is no God But such was thy goodness and care of us an ungrateful Generation that in mercy pitying this our carelessness and that which followed upon it our misery and deviation from thée thou hast set us over a better Tutour from whom we might not only learn to know thée but a way to live well here and a way to live for ever Ver. 7 Thou gavest us in mercy thy Law which is a perfect Master and able to convert the soul this is a sure Teacher and can make wise the simple These thy Commandments are pure Ver. 8 and admit no admixtion of false-doctrine false-worship Ver. 9 or iniquity These thy Commandments are right and rejoyce the heart setling a quiet conscience These teach us thy fear in sincerity and Truth and they teach it for ever They enlighten the eyes and keep
us from the darkness of sin and ignorance Good God so affect my heart with the love of thy Law that I may desire it more than gold Ver. 10 yea than much fine gold let it be sweeter to my mouth than the honey-comb Grant good Lord that I who desire to be thy servant may be taught by it Ver. 11 and from the kéeping of it let me expect my reward and have my reward in this present life security and peace of conscience and be refreshed by the comforts of thy holy Spirit and in the life to come live with thée in those Mansions which thou hast prepared for those who kéep thy Law for ever But thou O Lord knowest the frailty of my flesh how weak my endeavours are how imperfect my obedience If none but the observers of thy Law shall be rewarded I must néeds despair of a blessing either in this or another life in that the Errors of my life which I know are very many and those which I know not are numberless How often do I commit that wickedness which I ought to leave undone and omit those Duties which I ought to have done How often doth vice steal upon me in the cloaths of vertue and Error and Falshood in the shape of Truth Who can tell how oft he offendeth Ver. 12 Therefore O my good God I beséech thée of thy infinite mercy cleanse me and wash oft these secret spots of my soul with the rest of which in particular I have no knowledge yet my conscience in general tells me that of such I am guilty And however so long as I carry about me this body of flesh Ver. 13 I must also carry about with me this body of sin yet I beséech thée keep me from presumptuous sins never suffer my will to be so over-born that I sin against thée with a high hand though it dwell yet let it not reign though it remain yet let it not dominéer and tyrannize in my mortal body Thy servant Lord I desire to be and no vassal drudge and slave to sin never then suffer it to have the dominion over me This is that great offence which is inconsistent with grace that turneth thée to be our enemy that excludes from the Kingdom of Heaven never never O Lord suffer me to be guilty of it Thou that hearest prayers to thée shall all flesh come Ver. 14 now with a prostrate soul and a penitent heart I appear before thy Throne and humbly beg audience Let these words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be alwayes pleasing and acceptable to thee O Lord thou art my Rock my Strength hold me up that through weakness I fall not from thée Thou O sweet Jesus art my Redeemer and hast bought my soul with a dear price that of thy precious blood frée me from the power of sin the sorrows of death the power of Satan and pains of Hell and bring me by thy Merits and Passion to everlasting life that I may reign with thée for ever PSAL. XX. Is a Form of Prayer delivered by David to the People to be used by them for the King when he went out to Battle against his Enemies THERE be three parts of it 1. A Vote or Benediction of the People for their King from ver 1. to 5. 2. A Congratulation or Triumph of the People after the victory supposed to be obtained from ver 5. to 9. 3. A Petition ver 9. 1. The Vote and Congratulation is directed to Davids person The first part by form of Acclamation the particulars are that he may have Ver. 1 1. Audience in his necessity The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble The vote of the people for the King 2. Protection The Name of the God of Jacob defend thee 3. Help and Strength in the Battle Send thee help strengthen thee which is amplified by the place Out of the Sanctuary out of Zion either from the Sanctuary where prayers were made for him so that they desire their prayers may be heard for him or E Coelo 4. Acceptance of his person testified by the acceptance of his offerings and sacrifices as that of Abel Oderetur omnia munera tua holocaustum tuum in cinerem redigat 5. Answer concession and grant of his Petitions Grant thee according to thy own heart and fulfil all thy counsel which is plainly set down in the next verse The Lord fulfil all thy Petitions Which granted they vow thanks The Vote being ended they perswade that it may be granted because it will redound to Gods glory for then they would shew themselves thankful and honour him for the victory 1. We will rejoyce in thy salvation or as some read it Do this O Lord ut exultemus That we may rejoyce In tua salute referring it to God as the Authour or to the King as saved 2. And in the Name of our God will we set up our Banners Joyfully will we enter into the City with displayed Ensigns and erect them triumphantly as Trophies of the victory to the honour of our God 2. Now follows the Congratulation and Triumph of their faith The second part for they give thanks as for a victory already obtain'd for to their faith it was certain Before they pray'd for Audience and Protection Ver. 6 here they testifie they were certain and secure of both They comfort themselves by faith that God will grant what they ask of him Now know I. 1. Of Protection Now know I that the Lord will save his Anointed 2. Of Audience He will hear him from his holy Heaven 3. Of Help Helping him with the saving strength of his right hand And the certainty of their victory proceeded solely from their confidence in God to him they impute it wholly in the former verse such was their gratitude which that it might be the clearer they illustrate it by an Argument drawn à dissimili they were not as the common sort of Souldiers that trust more to their Arms than to their Prayers 1. Amd the rather because they trust not in their Ammunition As most men do Hi in curru in equis Some put their trust in Chariots and some in Horses as the Ammonites 2 Sam. 10.6 2. But we do not so We will remember the Name of the Lord our God The use of Arms is common and lawful to good and bad men but the difference lies in the confidence Here is an elegant Antithesis 2. And therefore the success was according their confidence in their Armour and Ammunition destroyed our trust in God hath saved us They are brought down and fallen The third part A short ejaculation but we are risen and stand upright The whole sum of the Psalm is repeated in this Epiphonema 1. Save Lord. 2. Let the King that is Christ bear us when we call The Prayer collected from the twentieth Psalm O Lord which art King of Kings Lord of Lords and yet hast commanded us
praise shall be of thee in the great Congregation and we will pay our vows before them that fear thee for ever and ever Amen PSAL. XXIII The Scope is to shew the Felicity of that man who hath God for his Protector and is under his Care and Tuition FOR this Protection David in this Psalm congratulates and expresseth his thoughts under two Allegories the one of a Shepherd the other of a Free-hearted man given to hospitality and bountifully entertaining his guests Two parts then there be of it The first sets forth Gods 1. Care of him in providing him with all necessaries in the four first verses 2. And then his Liberality in supplying him abundantly with more than he needed vers 5. The second is his confidence in Gods Grace Davids position or inference what God would do for him being his Shepherd and his profession of thankfulness vers 6. He begins the first part with this Position or Assertion God is my Shepherd and upon it infers Therefore I shall not want He will do for me what a good Shepherd will do for his sheep 1. He will feed me in green pastures vers 2. The first part 2. He will there provide for my safety He makes me there lie down Vers. 1 3. He will provide waters of comfort for me 2. Vers. 2 He will feed provide c. And these waters shall be gentle flowing streams still waters not turbulent and violent 4. He will have a care to preserve me in health if sick Vers. 2 he will restore me 5. He ducit he goes before and leads me that I mistake not my way He leads me in the path of righteousness Which is his love For 't is for his Name-sake 6. Nay Reducit which is my Security If I erre and go astray and walk through the valley of the shadow of death as 't is possible for a sheep is a stragling creature yet I will fear no evil for he hath a Rod of the Law to chastise me and a Staff of Evangelical promises to sustain me and in both Thou art with me thy rod and thy staff comfort me 2. Thus as a good Shepherd he supplies me of Necessaries 2 But as a bountiful Lord that I want nothing but over and above as a bountiful-minded Lord he hath furnish'd me copiously with varieties which may be for Ornament and my Honour 1. He hath prepared a Table before me He provides him abundance and that in the presence of my enemies 2. He hath anointed my head with oyle To refresh my spirits Vers. 5 and chear my countenance 3. And my cup runneth over with the choisest wine He glads my heart The last Verse The second part 1. Sets out Davids confidence that it shall be no worse with him For this David expresses Surely goodnâ—ss and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life 2. 1 His confidence Then expresseth his thankfulness And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever In thy house among the faithfull I will praise thee for ever 2 Thankfulness The Prayer collected out of the twenty third Psalm O Lord I am that lost shéep that stray'd into the Wilderness but thou in mercy-hast gone after me lay'd me on thy own shoulders and brought me back to the fold Vers. 1 Ever since thou hast been my Shepherd and not suffer'd me to want any thing that should be necessary for me Thou makest me lie down in green Pastures Vers. 2 among the Congregation of thy Saints féeding and cloathing my body but refreshing more my soul with the swéet and rich and wholesome Doctrine and promises made unto me in the Gospel Thou hast also led me from the turbulent streams of a troubled soul to the still waters of comfort confirming and raising my heart by the consolations of thy Holy Spirit Thou hast refreshed and restored my fainting soul thou hast recall'd me from my erroneous wayes and led me in the paths of righteousness those plain easie strait paths of thy Commandments not for any merit of mine but only for the glory of thy Holy Name I acknowledge mine own condition that in this valley of tears I am subject to many dangers many errours a cloud there is upon my understanding and a dark disorder upon the faculties of my soul though then I walk through the valley of the shadow of death uphold me that I fear no evil be thou with me in all my tentations chastise me when I go astray with the rod of thy Fatherly correction and when I am ready to fall sustain me with the staff of thy Gospel-promises let me be sensible of thy arm whipping me and thy hand embracing me that from both I may receive comfort Those that envy my happiness are many they murmur at my prosperity and emulate my plenty but let it be thy goodness to continue thy blessings to me prepare a Table for me anoint my head and let my Cup run over even in the presence of my enemies and let them eat their own hearts for envy to sée that with so liberal and plentiful a hand thou hast imparted thy outward blessings to me But these I weigh little in comparison of thy Spiritual favours O Lord I beséech thée ever supply me copiously with these Thy Holy Word is a well-furnish'd Table of all various dainties let that be alwayes prepared to my hand and by meditation and rumination alwayes ready provided that I may have whereon to féed my self and sufficient to nourish those that néed it There is the oyle of thy Holy Spirit those Graces that flow from thée the God of Grace O Lord anoint my head with this oyle of Grace and not my head alone but my heart also fortifie my understanding with truth infuse goodness into my will chear up my affections with charity that chearfully I may run the way of thy Commandments Thou hast also prepared a Cup for me the Cup of blessing fill'd with the blood of thy Son in which runs over a Sea of mercies to man-kind prepare me to receive this cup let me be a worthy guest at thy Table that so some of the overflowings of this cup may stream also to me and rejoice my fainting and dying soul This wine can alone make glad the heart of man ever ever let me drink it to my comfort To this day I have had experience of thy bounty and preventing Mercy and I begg of thée that thy goodness and favour may never leave nor forsake me let it accompany and kéep me all the dayes of my life through all-those dangerous wayes I am to pass till it bring me and set me safe in a place of rest and happiness In the mean time I shall think my self happy if I may dwell in thy House thy Church among the company of thy faithful people here and with them sing praises unto thée for that will put me in good hope when I shall pass from
being this I will be thy God and the God of thy seed upon which follows Walk before me and be thou perfect 4. Upon the confidence of which Promise and Covenant David repeats his prayer Upon which he repeats his prayer For thy Name sake O Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great Multa magna And yet David proceeds in the consideration of Gods Nature his Goodness his Truth and Mercy to those that keep his Covenant And admires the happiness of him that trusts in God and by way of admiration asks Quis i. e. Quantus qualis O how happy how blessed is the man that fears the Lord worships God loves his Word and casts not away his hope and faith in the day of trouble and tentation Ver. 12 which happiness he sets forth by the fruits that follow his piety 1. The first fruit and benefit that he shall reap is instruction and direction in his Vocation and private life For God shall direct him Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose 2. Ver. 13 The second is that his happiness shall not be momentary but firm and lasting 2 He shall dwell at ease not molested but quiet His soul shall dwell at ease 3. 3 Happy in his seed A third is that he shall be happy in his children and posterity His seed shall inherit the land 4. The fourth is that Redemption of Mankind by the blood of Christ and all the effects of it Remission Reconciliation c. which is a secret unknown to flesh and blood shall be revealed and applied to him Ver. 14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him 4 Gods Covenant applied to him and he will shew them his Covenant Being confirmed with these promises and cheered with these fruits he The fourth part 1. Testifies his acquiescence and faith in God for deliverance My eye◠are ever towards the Lord he shall pluck my feet out of the Net In this he acquiesceth 2. And then returns to his Prayer again being in effect the very self-same that he began with which he offereth in several Clauses 1. Turn thee unto me He renews his former prayer 2. Have mercy upon me 3. O bring thou me out of my distresses 4. Look upon my affliction and trouble and forgive me all my sins 5. Consider mine enemies 6. O keep my soul and deliver me 7. Let me not be ashamed 8. Let integrity and uprightness wait upon me Petitioners and men in misery think that they can never say enough this makes him so earnest and so often repeat the same thing in which longing there is yet an incrementum The sum is That God would hear and grant him defence and deliverance in his dangers remission of sins which caused them and protect direct and govern him in his troubles Now that he might prevail in his Suit as an excellent Orator And useth many Arguments that God be propitious to him he useth many Arguments to induce God to be propitious to him 1. His faith and trust in his promises Min◠eyes are ever towards the Lord. 2. The danger he was now in His feet were in the Net Ver. 15 3. He was oppressed and alone had none to help him I am desolate and afflicted Ver. 16 4. His inward afflictions and pain was grievous Ver. 17. 18. The troubles of my heart are enlarged by which he was distressed in pain in sorrow 5. And without his enemies powerful many merciless cruel Ver. 19 My enemies are many and they hate me with cruel hatred Ver. 21 6. And yet I am an Innocent and desire to be so thy servant Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait upon thee And thus David having through the whole Psalm pray'd for himself He prayes for the Church The fifth part at last in the close he offers up a short but earnest Petition for all the People and for the whole Church which proceeded from that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 22 which ought to be among the Saints Redeem Israel O God out of all their troubles The Prayer collected out of the twenty fifth Psalm UNTO thée O Lord I do lift up not only my eyes and hands Ver. 1 but my very soul and heart early in the Morning will I direct my prayer unto thée and will look up O Lord I am not ignorant how uncapable I have made my self of thy favour by my transgressions multiplied against thée but O Lord Ver. 6 declare thy self mindful of thy pity and mercy which thou hast shewed to Mankind from the beginning of the World and according to the multitude of thy mercies deal with me My sin is very great more in number than the sand heavier in weight than the greatest burden O pardon my iniquity for thy Name sake The offences of my younger years are over-many Ver. 11 into which the boyling of concupiscence inconsideration and my youthful heat and imprudence hath cast me head-long but O good God I beséech thée Remember not the sins of my youth nor the transgressions of my unruly and unbrideled Age but according to thy mercy think thou upon me blot out of thy remembrance my abominations and remit my crying exorbitances for thy goodness sake O Lord. O Lord Ver. 8 Thou art good and upright all thy paths are Mercy and Truth Thy Goodness and Mercy is shewed in admitting sinners to Repentance and thy Vprightness and Truth in pardoning them and making good thy Promises admit me then among the number of thy Penitents and seal my pardon as thou hast promised to penitent and believing sinners Thou art the God of my salvation Ver. 5 on thee do I wait all my life long from thy Mercy I look for my Instruction Ver. 4 from thée my Direction Shew me thy wayes and reach me thy paths and lead me in thy Truth I am a man of a broken and contrite spirit guide me in the day of Iudgment and suffer me not to be tempted above my strength and whatever way I choose be thou my Teacher and Monitor that I slip not and fall not in it I desire O Lord to kéep thy Covenant and Testimonies let therefore that great secret of Mans Redemption by the blood of thy dear Son be made known to me and the mercies of thy Covenant assur'd to my soul by which alone my heart shall dwell at ease and my Conscience be quieted from the guilt of sinne and sense of thy wrath These my sins have procured me many enemies and thou hast justly raised up these Rebels to revenge my Rebellions against thée with these I am so compassed that I know not what to do But mine eyes are toward thee O Lord and except thou pluck my séet out of the Net I must néeds perish in the snares that they have privily laid for me Turn thee then unto me and have mercy upon me for I am destitute of all humane help left
what to do that I may please thee and lead me in a plain path that I may escape the ambushes and snares of my enemies deliver me not over to their will for they seek my ruine Ver. 11 1. Who are They are perjured men false witnesses are rise up against me 2. Ver. 12 They are mischievously bent They breath out cruelty 5. 1 Perjured men And their cruelty and falshood is so great that I had fainted were it not for my hope in thee 2 Cruel men I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Ver. 13 At last he concludes with an Exhortation The fourth part He takes heart and perswades others to it that all others would take out his example and in their greatest extremities be couragious and put trust in God as he did Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart Wait I say on the Lord Be an expectant for he that shall come will come in his good time The Prayer collected out of the twenty seventh Psalm O Heavenly Father whatsoever the World plots the Devil endeavours and wicked men conspire against us that we are fully perswaded shall come to nought Ver. 1 and be utterly frustrate For thou O Lord art our delight to direct and comfort us our salvation to deliver us the strength of our life to support us whom then should we fear of whom then should we be afraid when we have so powerful a Saviour to defend us Though an Host of armed men should encamp against us our heart should not fear though War should rise against us Ver. 5 in this we would be confident that in the time of trouble he will hide us in the secret of his Tabernacle he shall set us upon a Rock to which the malicious hand of our enemies shall never be able to reach How often have our enemies Ver. 3 no otherwise than ravening Dogs set upon us to fear and eat up our flesh and how often have they béen defeated and frustrated of their purposes and fallen before us This O Lord is thy doing this the work of thy hand Ver. 6 Thou only hast lift up our heads above our enemies round about us For which great mercy One thing I have desired of thee this One before all other things Ver. 4 and this I will ever seek deny me not that in peace and quietness I may dwell all the rest of my life in that place where the House of my God is that I may have experience of the beauty of holiness and taste of that delight with which thou dost affect thy servants by the manifestation of thy presence that I may there inquire and learn my Duty and make a progress in the knowledge of spiritual things Ver. 6 that I may there compass thy Altar and offer the Sacrifices of Joy and sing Psalms of Praise and Hymns of Thanks to thee my God O my God hear my voyce for I have long cried and called unto thee deliver me from mine enemies that pursue me Ver. 7 and bring me back and give me a quiet Mansion in the place thine Honour dwelleth being moved by my unjust persecution have mercy upon me and return me a favourable answer My careful heart hath alwayes thought upon thée and béen revived with thy command Seek ye my face call upon me in the day of trouble and therefore with elevated eyes and hands and with an intent heart I have sought thy face thy presence thy favour thy protection and I will never cease to séek it till I shall sée thée face to face And since from my heart I séek it O do not turn and hide thy face from me and deny me not thy favour Conceive not so great anger and displeasure against thy servant who yet have deserved it for his sins as to cast me away and deny me that help which thou hast hitherto graciously afforded me My father my mother my friends my acquaintance my neighbours have all stood afar and forsaken me in my trouble and wilt thou also leave me at this time This hath not béen thy custom for when I have béen destituâ—e Thou hast been my help when I have béen exposed Thou hast taken me up Forsake me not then now O God of my salvation be my Helper who without thée am nothing be my Saviour who except thou save am like to perish Teach me thy Law and set me in the way in which I am to walk make it plain to me that I mistake it not lest by the errour in thy way and transgression of thy Law being forsaken of thée I fall into those snares and ambushes which my enemies have set for me O never deliver me over to their will Consider O Lord their injustice who have suborned false witness against me and such as breath out cruel words to take away my life So great is their malice That I had utterly fainted but that I believe verily to receive that happiness which thou hast promised in this life and after to enjoy those good things which thou hast engaged to give in Heaven which is truly the Land of the living For these thy word is past and therefore I will wait on thee this shall make me of good courage and strengthen my heart I will wait I say on the Lord with patience and though he defer me I will not faint but I will be instant with him in prayer and beg his aid being assured that at the last he will hear me for the merits of Iesus Christ my Saviour Amen PSAL. XXVIII A Prayer for Help and a Thanksgiving THREE parts there are of this Psalm 1. A Prayer from ver 1. to 6. 2. A Thanksgiving from ver 6. to 9. 3. A Prayer for the Church ver 9. The first part is a Prayer to God and he first prayes for Audience ver 2. The first part He prayes for Audience Hear me And his prayer is so described that it sets forth most of the conditions requisite in one that prayes 1. The object God Unto thee O Lord I cry Ver. 2 2. His faith To thee I cry who art my Rock Ver. 1 The conditions required in a supplicant 3. His fervour it was an ardent and vehement prayer I cry 4. Humility it was a supplication Hear the voyce of my supplication 5. His outward gesture I life up my hands Ver. 2 6. According to Gods order Towards thy holy Temple His Argument to perswade Audience The Argument he useth to perswade Audience is drawn ab incommodo Lest if thou make as though thou hearest not Ver. 1 I become like them that go down into the Pit have no hope of life in me no comfort no heart at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he prayes for is that he might not partake with hypocrites 2. Then he expresses what he prayes for which is that either First He might not be
what they can yet I know He comforts himself in God except thou permit them they are not able to do it Thou art my God in thee I trust For my time is in thy hand not in theirs i. e. My life And then he falls to prayer again which consists of three parts 1. A Deprecation 2. A Supplication 3. And an Imprecation He prayes yet againn 1. A Deprecation for he prayes that he come not into their power 1 He deprecates Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from them that persecute me 2. A Supplication Make thy face to shine upon thy servant save me for thy mercies sake Let me not be asham'd for I have call'd upon thee 2 Supplicate◠O Lord. 3. An Imprecation Let the wicked be ashamed and be silent in the grave as we usually say silent leges inter arma when they are of no force 3 Imprecates against the wicked So let the wicked dye be silent and have no power 2. Let the lying lips be put to silence which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous In which there be so many Arguments to quicken the grant of his Imprecation 1. The quality of their persons They are wicked impious men Whose qualities he sets forth 2. There is no truth in them they have lying lips Their words are false 3. And their actions worse they speak grievous things and that against the righteous 4. Then their intention is worst of all for they do it proudly contemptuously disdainfully despitefully It proceeds ex malo habitu In the fifth part he sets out the abundant goodness of the Lord to his people The fifth part and He admires Gods goodness to his people as it were a little carried beyond himself by a divine rapture or extasie in a holy admiration he exclaims O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up Vers. 19 which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men This goodness of God is often laid up and hid as it was to the Israelites in Egypt not seen for many years but after a long time it was brought forth and wrought even before the sons of men But then observe this goodness is laid up for none nor wrought for none but such as fear him 2. Put their trust in him expect and believe his promises Vers. 20 And the Acts and Works of his goodness are here specified 1. The specialties of it Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man 2. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a Pavilion from the strife of tongues Upon which consideration in gratitude he breaks out into a Benedictus 1. Blessed be the Lord for he hath shew'd me his marvellous kindness c. 2. For which he blesseth God And corrects his errour and former mistake I said in my haste tashly imprudently I am cut off from before thine eyes Such was his rash judgement But he confesseth and amends this his folly And corrects his errour Nevertheless thou heardst the voice of my supplication when I cryed unto thee 6. The sixth part He exhorts the Saints to And so he falls upon the last part which is an Exhortation to the Saints 1. That they love God 2. That they be of good courage for it was the same God still and he would be as good to others as he was to him 1. That they love for two reasons 1. For that the Lord preserveth the faithful 1 Love God 2. That he plentifully rewardeth the proud doer That was his Mercy this his Justice 2. 2 That they be couragious That they be of good courage For then he shall strengthen your heart all ye that hope in the Lord. They despair not but keep their heart fix'd and firm to the profession of truth which would be a seal of their hope The Prayer collected out of the 31. Psalm O Merciful Father who art wont to take pity on those who are distressed have mercy on me a poor wretch Vers. 9 who am in trouble and great misery So many and so great are the sorrows of my heart that my eye is grown dim and consumed with grief my soul pines away and the activest parts of my whole body are dryed up and become unserviceable The best part of my life is spent in heaviness Vers. 10 and my years are unpleasant for mourning my iniquity and transgression against thée is so great that when I sadly think thereupon my vital spirits and strength fails me and the solidity and firmness of my bones is wasted with a consumption Yea though my affliction be so great and urgent yet among men I found not any to comfort me To my enemies I am become a proverb of reproach and to the many a scorn and derision they load me so thick with slanderous reports that fear is on every side they take counsel together to take away my life But these were enemies and I expected no other from them that which most déeply pierceth my heart is that all my friends should become miserable comforters these even these when they saw me destitute of thy help have forsaken me conveyed themselves away and fled from me there 's not a Neighbour that doth not scorn me not any of my acquaintance who is not afraid to own me I am forgotten as a dead man of whom being laid in the grave there is no remembrance I am of no more accompt than a broken vessel of which there is no estéem because of no use but is cast to the Dunghill Yet though I am brought to this pitiful condition I do not despair in thee O Lord I do put my trust I have said Thou art my God Suffer me not to be ashamed of my hope and expectation Vers. 2 Bow down thine ear to my complaint and deliver me for thy righteousness sake save me speedily from the hands of my enemies and from them that persecute me Make thy gracious countenance to shine upon thy servant and save me for thy meer Mercy It is only to thy hands to thy power and care I commend my spirit and life which they go about to take from me This at other times Vers. 5 thou hast redeem'd from their fury be then a good God now unto me and trus in thy promises and deliver me now They have laid a net and snare to take me at unawares but do thou pull me out of it Be my house and defence to save me my strength to confirm me my Rock to uphold me my light to lead and guide me They lie in wait for my blood but my time is in thy hand who art the Lord of life and death thou givest thou takest away O then shut me not up in the hand of the enemy set my feet in a large room and let me enjoy my liberty O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them
and derision to them that are round about us and this he amplifies Ver. 14 1. From the circumstances 1. That they were a Proverb of reproach The Aggravation by an excellent incrementum or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou makest us a by-word among the Heathen 2. That in scorn any one that would used a scornful gesture toward them We are become a shaking of the head among the people 3. That this insultation is continual My confusion is daily before me Ver. 15 4. It is superlative shame so great that he had not what to say to it The shame of my face hath covered me Ver. 16 5. It is publick their words and gestures are not concealed they speak out what they please Asham'd I am for the voyce of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth for the enemy and avenger Thirdly And yet he useth a third Argument The third Argument from the constancy of the Church under the Cross that the Petition may be the more grateful and more easily granted drawn it is from the constancy and perseverance of Gods people in the profession of the Truth notwithstanding this heavy cross persecution and affliction All this is come upon us Thus we are oppressed devoured banished sold Ver. 17 derided Yet we continue to be thy servants still we retain our faith hope service 1. We have not forgotten thee not forgotten that thou art our God 2. We have not dealt falsly in thy Covenant we have not bogled and jugled in thy Service daubing with any side for our advantage renouncing our integrity Ver. 18 3. Our heart is not turned back our heart is upright not turned back to the Idols our Fathers worshipped 4. Our steps are not gone out of thy way Slip we may but not revolt no not though great calamities are come upon us 1. Broken 2. Ver. 19 Broken in the place of Dragons i. e. enemies fierce as Dragons 3. Their appeal Though covered with the shadow of death Now that all this is true we call thee our God to witness Ver. 20 who knowest the very secrets of the heart and art able to revenge it If we have forgotten the Name of our God or stretched out our hands to c. Ver. 21 Shall not God search it out for he knows the very secret of the heart Fourthly But the last Argument is more pressing than the other three The fourth Argument from their profession of truth it is not for any wrong we have done those who thus oppress us that we are thus persecuted by them it is for thee it is because we profess thy Name and rise up in defence of thy Truth Yea for thy sake are we killed all the day long Ver. 22 for thy sake are we counted as sheep for the slaughter The sum then is since thou hast been a good God to our Fathers since we suffer so great things under bitter Tyrants since notwithstanding all our sufferings we are constant to thy Truth since these our sufferings are for thee for thy sake His Petition thy truth therefore awake arise help us for upon these grounds he commenceth his Petition The second part This is the second part of the Psalm which begins ver 23. and continues to the end in which Petition there be these degrees 1. That God Ver. 23 who to flesh and blood in the calamities of his Church seems to sleep would awake and set a stop to their trouble Awake why sleepest thou O Lord ver 23. 2. That he would arise and judge their cause and not seem to neglect them as abjects Arise cast us not off for ever ver 23. 3. That he would shew them some favour Ver. 24 and not seem to forget their miseries Wherefore hidest thou thy face and forgettest our affliction and oppression 4. Lastly That he would be their Helper and actually deliver them Arise for our help Ver. 26 and redeem us for thy mercies sake Which Petition that it might be the sooner and easier granted he briefly repeats the second Argument Ver. 25 ver 25. For our soul is bowed down to the dust our belly cleaveth to the Earth brought we are as low as low may be even to the dust to death to the grave The Prayer collected out of the forty fourth Psalm O God the Father of mercy Ver. 1 Thou hast called those thy people which were not a people and chosen them to be thy children who were aliens and strangers to thy Covenant Ver. 2 We have heard with our ears and our Fathers have declared unto us That thou hast gathered thy Church out of all Nations that thou hast driven out thine own people the Jewes and planted us Gentiles in their room Thou hast called us by thy Gospel redéemed us by thy Blood purified us by thy Spirit and that not for any merit that was in us or goodness or power Ver. 3 to which we could lay claim For we got not a possession in thy Church by our own Sword neither was it out own arm that could save us but it was thy right hand and thy arm and the light and favour of thy countenance no other reason can be given of this wonderful kindness but because thou hadst a favour and borest a good will unto us But now O Lord Thou hast cast us off and put us to shame Thou hast not gone forth with our Armies Ver. 9 Thou hast made us turn our backs upon our enemies and they that hate us spoile us our habitations our goods and thy Temples at their pleasure deslined we are like simple and harmless shéep to be slaughtered and devoured by these gréedy woldes scattered and dispersed whether they please and forced out of our Countrey to dwell among another people As slaves they have made merchandize of us and sold us at so base a rate as if we were of no value as if the most contemptible thing were price good enough for us To our neighbours we are become a reproach to those round about us a scorn a derision a proverb our misery is their mirth and at the sight of us in a scoff they shake their heads every day we méet with what doth amaze and confound us and for shame in every place we come we hide and cover our faces for our enemies lift up their voyces and revile us petulant they are and take their revenge by reproaches and blasphemies Thou Lord knowest the secret of the heart Thou Lord knowest that 't is for thy sake we are killed all day long and accounted no better than sheep appointed to be slain Ver. 21 All this is come upon us for thee these scorns and calamities we suffer for the profession of thy Truth and yet we are patient under the Cross Yet we have not forgotten thee thy Worship thy Service nor dealt falsly and hypocritically in thy Covenant our heart is yet sincere and upright we have not turned our backs upon thee Ver. 17 neither have our steps gone out of
transgressions of them with a pen of Iron and point of a Diamond with whom thou mindest to enter into judgment let not me O Lord be of that number let not my debt stand registred in that Book but of thy mercy and not my merit put it away and blot it out for if my sin stand upon thy account I am but a dead man Lord quicken me Lord forgive me my trespass and put away the hand-writing of thy Ordinance that is against me O Lord if thou wash me not I shall have no part with thée spots I have Ver. 2 that are not the spots of a son pollutions that are of a scarlet dye wash me then by thy vower from iniquity and cleanse me by thy Spirit from my sin or else as an Aethiop I shall never change my spots O Lord lest my uncleanness banish me from my fellowship with thée wash I beséech thée not my féet only but my hands and my head also Wash my féet that is my unclean affections wash my hands that is my unclean actions and wash my head that is my unclean imaginations cleanse me in all that the pollution of any do not cast me from thy presence O Lord I do not hide and conceal the iniquity of my bosom Ver. 3 I séek not to cover it as hitherto I have done but behold now I know it I acknowledge it I confess it to thée against my self therefore shew Lord some pity and compassion upon a miserable sinner and forgive it my sin is ever before me do thou therefore cast it behind thy back My sin is so secret to the eye of the World that no eye beholds it Ver. 4 to them I séem to be what I am not from them I find no trouble but thou O Lord art he to whom all creatures must render an account against thee then against thee I confess that I have grievously offended and done evil in thy sight and therefore it is not O Lord without cause that I suffer these heavy things from thy hands I have deserved them all and given thée just Reason to procéed against me as thou hast done and now I here acknowledge it before the world that thou mayest be justified and have the praise of righteousness even in those things which by the hands of men thou hast brought upon me Righteous art thou O Lord and just in thy judgments I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwells no good thing it is not one Fact only in which I am culpable Behold I was born in iniquity and in sin hath my mother conceived me A Transgressor I have béen from the womb for that bitter root of sin ingraffed in my nature hath gathered strength and shot forth new branches my understanding is darkned my will perverted and my affections bent to evil so that I am truly abominable in thy sight and ashamed of my self especially being conscious to those foul and enormous actual sins that grow from this polluted féed Behold Thou lovest Truth in the inward affections but wo is me I am a man of a double heart Thou hast often instructed my conscience by many secret motions of thy holy Spirit and taught me the way of wisdom but I foolishly have given a check to those inspirations and strayed like a lost shéep in the wayes of folly the light of my conscience I have put out and against my own knowledge I have transgressed Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin I thank God through Iesus Christ my Lord he hath shed his blood for me he alone is my Iesus Purge me then O Lord not with hyssop but with his blood nor Sope nor Niter nor Fullers Sope can make me clean but that stream which issued out of his wounds and side Purge me then with this blood and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow though my sins were as scarlet yet I shall be whiter than wool though they be red like crimson yet 〈◊〉 shall be white as the driven snow O Lord I hear within me the accusing voyce of a disquiet conscience which pursues accuseth and terrifies me O Lord let me hear the voyce of joy and gladness send down from above the Comforter who alone can speak peace to my soul and then my body which pineth away under this anguish and my bones which séem to be broken through my disconsolate condition shall again recover their wonted strength and my flesh upon me shall rejoyce If then Lord mark what is amiss who can abide it even thy dear Son when he endured the looks of thy angry face fell into agony his soul was heavy his flesh in such pain that he sweat thick clotts of blood how miserable then am I so long as thou shalt look upon me with an angry brow Hide O hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my misdeeds Turn thy angry look from me and look upon the face of thy Anointed that so thy anger when it reacheth me may as the Sun-beams passing through some thick cloud be refracted and mitigated O Lord by my sin I have grieved thy holy Spirit and forced thée who art properly my heart and life of my heart to forsake me come again Lord and restore life unto me without thée I am dead in trespasses and sins I have lost my life Ver. 10 and like a man wanting his quickning spirit when thou wentest away my life went away Return O Lord and come again and create a new heart within me Of my self I have fallen by thy assistance I must rise lend me then the helping hand of thy grace that may lift me up And being fallen my heart is foul Ver. 11 polluted and unclean and who is able to bring a clean thing out of an unclean This is a work much like the producing the first World out of the Tohu and Bohu set O Lord Almighty thy power to work again and create in me a clean heart Fallen I am into the old age of sin begin with me again and make me young and lusty as an Eagle Ver. 12 Cast me not away and forsake me not in my old age of iniquity as a dead man out of mind but let thy presence yet be with me and restore me to the joy of thy salvation O take not from me the graces and assistances of thy Spirit thy right Spirit thy holy Spirit thy frée Spirit A perverse spirit I find in my self thy Spirit will rectifie it and teach me to go the right way an unclean spirit I am possessed with thy Spirit will sanctifie it and purge it from pollution 't is the spirit of bondage to which I am subject thy Spirit can set it at liberty and make it frée impart therefore some nay a liberal portion of this thy Spirit that may teach me the right way that may set me in a holy course that may kéep preserve uphold and confirm me in it that
I never more fall from thée but with a frée willing loving and an ingenuous soul I may constantly kéep the strait paths of thy Commandments all the dayes of my life this this will be an assurance unto me That I am restored to the joy of thy salvation And being restored my self I shall first labour to confirm my Brethren and then also I shall praise thée I will teach sinners in the way as my example hath seduced them so shall my exemplary Repentance again reduce them I will shew them my tears by which I have recovered thy grace my sorrow my confession by which I have pacified thy wrath what they are to do if they will recover thy favour and how ready thou art to forgive and be reconciled if they do it by which many a poor sinner shall be converted to thee And then they with me and I with them shall sing aloud of thy righteousness That thou art a righteous God that punishest the wicked and impenitent a righteous God that hast promised and performest thy Word in pardoning the believing penitent O Gd of my salvation open my lips which my sin hath shut up and closed and my tongue shall sing of thy mercies all the day long which being offered upon the Altar of a broken tender melting and contrite heart thou hast promised to accept Wouldst thou be pleased with the first-born of my body for the sin of my soul I would not detain it Hadst thou any delight in the fat of Rams or sed Beasts I would bind these sacrifices with cords even to the horns of the Altar but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings but he that offereth thée thanks and praise he honoureth thée but he that brings a heart broken for his sin he pleaseth thée and to him that presents a soul truly contrite that he hath offended so kind a Father thou wilt look this broken heart I bring to thée this contrite spirit I bere sacrifice before thée O Lord accept of this offering of me thy thankful but weak and miserable except thou be merciful servant And in the last place being perswaded that I am reconciled unto thée Ver. 18 I pray not for my self alone but for thy whole Church Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion and build thou the walls of Jerusalem When thy servants think upon her stones it pitieth them to sée her in the dust my sins as well as others have brought upon her this ruine but Lord turn from thy fierce wrath and once more repair her breaches let this City flourish once again let peace be within her Walls and plenteousness within her Palaces but especially a happy progress in true Religion and fear of thy Name Then shalt thou be pleased not with burnt-offerings and oblations Ver. 19 but with the calves of our lips and Hymns and Psalms which they who confess thy Name shall sing melodiously in their hearts to thée O my God I will sing of thy Name and exalt thy power and mercy for ever Amen PSAL. LII THIS Psalm was composed by occasion of Doegs cruelty in falling upon and slaying the Priests of God 1 Sam. 21 22. and the Subject is Doegs malice and Gods goodness Three parts there are in this Psalm 1. An Invective against Doeg and his fall from ver 1. to 6. 2. The comfort that Gods people should take in it ver 6. 3. The security and flourishing estate of those who trust in God and Davids thanks for it ver 9. 1. David begins with an abrupt Apostrophe to Doeg The first part and figures it by an Erotesis Why boastest thou thy self in mischief thou Mighty man and answers Ver. 1 that this boasting was but vain The goodness of God endures continually An invective against Doeg 1. His Character which was enough to quiet any soul that was affrighted with his brags and threats And so having put this black character upon him that he was a malicious bloody man and arrived to that height of impudence that he boasted in mischief he descends to particulars and sets him out in his colours especially by the ill use of that part by which he did most mischief his tongue 1. Thy tongue worketh mischief like a Rasor working deceitfully 1. Which is an instrument to cut the Beard but it comes too near the Throat 2. When this is done a deceit there is in it for the man who came under the edge of the Rasor expected no such usage 2. Thou lovest evil more than good His wickedness was habitual he bore a love to it 3. Thou lovest lying rather than to speak righteousness An enemy he was to the truth and by lyes and flatteries ready to destroy good men 4. Which David in the next verse more plainly expresseth Thou lovest all devouring words O thou false tongue he was as it were all tongue and wholly false and deceitful This is his Character now David foretels his ruine and total destruction which he amplifies from the Author by a Congeries of words 2 His ruine God shall likewise destroy thee for ever he shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the Land of the living The Rooters up of Gods Priests shall be unrooted 2. The second part The comfort Gods people take in it Then follows how Gods people should be affected upon Doegs fall 1. They The Righteous shall set it and fear fear and reverence God more than before as taking a just revenge on a wicked man 2. And they shall laugh at him using this bitter Sarcasm Lo this is the man that made not God his strength but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthned himself in his wickedness This ruine is justly hapned to him he trusted in his gold more than God and by adding one wickedness to another thought to strengthen himself But such a fearful end shall not fall upon David The third part The flourishing estate of the good not any good man when a wicked man shall be unrooted he shall flourish as an Olive that is never destitute of leaves nor fruit a good and bad man are here opposed and their successes 1. As for me I am like a green Olive Tree fruitful and green 2. An Olive Tree planted in the House of God without which the fruits are but sowre and the leaves bare leaves only 3. His faith is the cause of it An Olive lasts long two hundred years and long liv'd a good man shall be for ever and ever to a good life longaevity is promised here hereafter eternity 4. And the Reason of all this the good mans faith I trust in the mercy of God Upon which his Conclusion being full of confidence Which is accompanied with praise and hope and expectancy follows 1. I will praise thee for ever because thou hast done it 2. And I will wait on thy Name for this is good before thy Saints this alone is the foundation of
their malice For every day they wrest and put what sense they please upon our words all their thoughts are against us for evil They conspire assemble lie in wait for us Every word we speak every action we do they observe and mark that they may take away our lives In these extremities we have no security Vers. 1 but in thy mercy arise O Lord and maintain thine own cause be merciful unto us defend thy Truth and thy people that suffer for thy Truth Thou hast made to us many precious promises upon which give us grace so to rely that whatsoever sadness hardship calamity fall upon us that we may trust in thy Word and praise our God for that gracious Word of protection that hath procéeded out of thy mouth Why should we be afraid what man can do unto us when thou hast past thy word to be our Guardian It is not as the profane of the World imagine That thou hidest away thy face and wilt not see For if we are in banishment and pursued Thou tellest every step we take if our eyes drop down tears they are not lost for thou puttest them into thy bottle our sighs and groans are noted in thy Book When therefore now we are Exiles for thy sake and wander among a strange people Bottle up our tears hear our groans register our sighs before us and turn back our enemies Shall they escape by their iniquity in thine anger cast down the people O Lord. So shall we have just reason to praise our God for his Word bound we are by duty bound we have our selves by vow to do it For thy vows are upon us and therefore we will render praises unto thee O Lord deliver our souls from death and keep our feet from falling and we will walk in sincerity of heart before our God in the light of the living in this light the light of thy countenance give us grace to walk that we may live with thée for evermore through Iesus Christ our Lord. PSAL. LVII Ne Perdas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aut Deprecatoriùs THIS Psalm was composed by David when he hid himself from Saul in the Cave 1 Sam. 24. The contents of it are His Petition ver 1. The Reasons that perswaded him to it from v. 1. to 6. His profession of thanks ver 5 7 8 c. 1. His Petition is ardent the Epizeuxis shews it The first part His Petition for mercy and it is for grace and protection Be merciful unto me O God be merciful unto me 2. And he presently subjoins his Reasons to perswade God to be merciful 1. From his faith and confidence he had in God alone The Reasons The second part 1. His affiance in God For my soul trusteth in thee and under the shadow of thy wings as the Chicken doth under the wing of the Hen shall be my refuge untill this Tyranny be over-past 2. From the sufficiency and efficiency of God I will call upon God 1. The most High sufficient then he is and able to deliver me 2. That performeth all things for me and will therefore effect it 2 Gods sufficiency and efficiency And upon this Argument he insists in the following verse He shall send from Heaven some miraculous way he shall do it send from Heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up Selah God shall send forth his Mercy and Truth perform his word and mercifully save me 3. The third Reason of his Petition was 3 His great danger the extream danger he was then in by a cruel and merciless enemy 1. My soul is among Lyons a ravenous bloody creature Ver. 4 2. I lie even among those that are set on fire their anger and hatred to me is implacable 3. Even among the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp Sword They calumniate me and wound deeper than these weapons A Spear wounds near an Arrow afar off a Sword at hand near or far off they spare not to disgrace me fortiter accusant 4. And now he draws an Argument more strong than all the rest for he puts God in mind of that which he will not part with 4 Gods honour his Glory A glory it would be to him to be merciful to save and deliver and therefore he prayes Be thou exalted O God above the Heavens and let thy Glory be above all the earth that is shew thy Power and assert thy Glory let not the wicked thus exult which if thou shalt do thy Glory will be conspicuous above in Heaven and below over all the earth And then he falls again upon his complaint describing the practises of his enemies 1. He reiterates his danger But foretels the event They have prepared a Net for my steps insidiantur as Fowlers 2. So that my soul is bowed down my life is in great danger 3. They have digged a Pit before me intending to take me as some wild Beast but praised be God I foresee the event They are fallen into the Pit themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neque enim lex justior ulla est quam necis artificem arte perire suâ Upon the confidence of which David gives thanks The third part For it gives thanks which consists of which also may be a fourth Argument for no such way to procure a new favour as to be thankful and by his example we may learn how to give thanks two especial points our thanksgiving must consist of and we meet with both of them here the first is Commemoration the second Annunciation 1. He that will be thankful must treasure up in his heart and memory the courtesie that is done him 1 A Commemoration so had David done and therefore he mentions his heart and to make it more emphatical he names it again My heart 2. 2 An Affection After he remembers it he must be affected with it and resolve upon it so doth David My heart is ready or else My heart is fixed confirmed I am in it to be thankful and I cannot be altered 3. 3 An Annunciation 'T is not enough that a man carry about with him a thankful heart he must anunciare tell it abroad and make it known publickly what God hath done for him 1 With joy yea and do it joyfully too I will saith David sing and give praise 4. He must use all means he can to make it known Tongue Psaltery and Harp 2 By all means possible are all little enough whence by an Apostrophe David turns to these Awake my Glory i.e. Tongue awake Lute and Harp I my self will awake 5. 3 With fervency He must not do it in a sleepy manner but with contention and earnestness of spirit Awake awake I will awake 6. 4 Opportunely He must take the first opportunity to do it and not hang off and delay it I will awake early 7. 5 Publickly He must
do it in such a place and such an Assembly as may most redound to Gods honour I will praise thee O God among the people I will sing of thee among the Nations Now that all this be done The Reason David ver 10. gives a sufficient Reason that which may move any man to do it Gods Mercy and Truth his Mercies his infinite Mercies in promising his Truth in performing For thy Mercy is great to the Heavens and thy Truth to the Clouds And then as is usual in Poesie he repeats the verse before in which we meet with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be thou exalted Lord above the Heavens and thy Glory above the Earth The Prayer collected out of the fifty seventh Psalm O Lord our enemies are many and mighty they roar against us like Lyons they are set on fire to devoure us their teeth are as spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword to wound us in our good name crafty they are for they have digged a Pit and cunning they are for they have spread a Net to ensnare to take us O Lord be merciful O God be merciful unto us send down we beséech thée help from Heaven and save us from the reproach of them that would eat us up Declare thy power O Lord and come amongst us and send forth thy Mercy and Truth for our deliverance thy Mercy is infinite thy Word is past and in that my soul trusteth and in the shadow of thy wings in thy protection only shall be my Refuge till these calamities be over-past Continually and with an ardent soul I will call upon that God which is the most High most potent that God that hath so often done me good and I doubt not but be will perform his word and make perfect his salvation Do thou O Lord declare thy power and shew that thou art the Lord of the whole Earth get thy self a Name by the punishment of these wicked men that all things both in Heaven and Earth may exalt thy justice and give thée the glory To do this O Lord my heart is ready my heart is fixed for thy benefits shall never slip out of my memory nor thy goodness recede from my heart neither will I remember them alone but they shall be my song in the house of my pilgrimage I will compose Hymns to the honour of thy Name and in my song praise thée I will say to my heart and tongue which art my glory awake out of thy bed of forgetfulness shake off this dulness in which thou hast slept so long and readily and chearfully sing Hymns to the honour of thy Saviour and that the praise may be the fuller call for thy Harp and Psaltery and all other instruments of Musick which in these troublesome times have béen broken and cast by call for these I say and make a melodious sound in the ears of the God of Jacob. Come along with me and we will enter together into the house of our God then before the morning Sun that we may praise him early with joyful lips There will we praise thee O Lord in the Assembly of many people there will we chant Hymns to thy honour before many Nations For thy mercy is so great That it reacheth to the very Heavens and thy faithfulness in keeping thy promises such That it extends above the Clouds for both these mount up to the Heavens above and pass through the Earth beneath both these are so high and wonderful that they can never be comprehended by us Therefore I pray and I pray again that thou wouldst shew thy self Lord of the Heaven and that thou wouldst shew thy Glory in the whole Earth which though thou dost eminently when thou dost frée the innocent from the hand of the Oppressor yet then thou shalt perfectly bring it to pass when the goodness and mercy and glory of thy justice being divulged through the World by the preaching of thy Gospel all false-worship being destroyâ—â— thou shalt drow all men unto thy self Arise therefore O good Father Be thou exalted and make thy glory illustrious convert all Nations to the Truth break the Nets fill up the pits make the craft and subtilty of Antichrist and his Followers of none effect which they use to eclipse the light of thy Gospel so shall our hearts be every day more and more confirmed to confess praise and celebrate thy Name and to exalt it above all things through Iesus Christ thy only Son and out only Saviour Amen PSAL. LVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID deprecates the danger that hung over his head from Saul and his counsel The parts of the Psalm are three A sharp Invective or Reprehension of his Adversaries ver 1. An Imprecation or Denunciation of Gods judgments upon them from ver 6. to 9. The Benefits that the reby would redound to the righteous ver 10 11. 1. The first part He reprehends his Adversaries David begins with an Apostrophe and figures it with an Erotesis which makes his reproof the sharper 1. Ver. 1 O Congregation O ye counsel of Saul By which he intimates that indeed they did neither 2. Do you indeed speak righteously By which he intimates that indeed they did neither 3. Do you judge uprightly O ye sons of men By which he intimates that indeed they did neither 2. Ver. 2 Which in the next verse in plain terms he affirms and layes home to their charge Yea in heart you work wickedness 2. You weigh the violence of your hands in the earth heart and hand are bent to do evil which the words well considered do exaggerate 1. They were iniquities a plurality of them 2. It was their work 3. Their hearty work 4. Their handy work 5. Weighed out by their scale of justice 6. Which indeed under the colour of justice was but violence 7. And it was in this earth in Israel where no such thing was to be done 3. He aggravates their crime This their wickedness he amplifies both from the Original and the Progress of it 1. Ver. 3 The root of it was very old into the World they brought it with them 1. 1 From their birth The wicked are estranged from the womb Alienati from God and all goodness 2. They go astray even from their Cradle they take the wrong way 3. 2 From their malice and obstinacy Assoon as they be born speaking lyes enclined from the very Birth to falshood 2. And in this their falshood they are malicious and obstinate 1. Ver. 4 Malicious The poyson of their tongue is like the poyson of a Serpent innate adanct deadly 2. Obstinate for they will not be reclaimed by any counsel or admonition They are like the deaf Adder that stops her ear which refuseth to hear the voyce of the Charmer charm he never so wisely 2. The second part He prayes against 1. their wayes and plots Their wickedness malice and obstinacy being so great now he prayes against
we might have heard the same once by thy Word and again privately by thy Spirit that power belongs to thee that also unto thee belongs mercy power and therefore thou canst mercy and therefore thou wilt relieve us Be it then Ver. 1 that our soul is like to be drowned with a whole flood of evils and the sorrows of death compass us round yet we will submit our selves only unto thée our soul shall wait upon our God being fully assured that thou art able and perswaded that thou art willing and therefore from thy power and mercy shall come our salvation that thou in thy good time will be to us a Rock to secure us a defence to keep us and therefore we will not be greatly moved Our enemies are many and mighty and they make many assaults to our ruine and utter overthrow But how long O ye sons of men will ye imagine mischief against the innocent Ver. 3 how long will ye take counsel to cast him down from his excellency How long will you invent lyes and speak unto me smooth and fair words with your mouths when you curse me in your hearts Know you not That in God is my salvation and my glory that he is the Rock of my strength and that I hope and expect that he will be my Refuge And therefore I am fully perswaded that all your endeavours are in vain ye shall be slain all the sort of you you shall be as a bowing wall that suddenly falls to ruine and as a tottering hedge which a small blast throws down for thou O God art just and renderest to every man according to his works O Lord then so strengthen our faith that we may trust only in thée found we have by experience That the man of low degree is but vanity and the man of high degree is a lye when we have had occasion to make trial of them and weigh them in the balance they have béen found too light nay lighter than vanity it self As for riches they in the day of trouble have taken themselves wings and flown away as they have increased so also we must confess that our love hath béen increased to them and our hearts hath béen too much set upon them but even our experience hath taught us this also that these are but miserable comforters Wherefore men and money and all other worldly helps being set by at all times in prosperity and adversity in life and in death we will trust to thée to thée will we make our prayer before thée will we poure forth our sorrows our thoughts the destres of our hearts for thou only art the defence and refuge of all that hope in thée for ever and ever Amen PSAL. LXIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID at this time being forced to flie into the Wilderness complains of his condition that he was compelled to be absent from the Assembly of Gods servants and expresseth his vehement desire to be again joyned unto them The Contents are 1. His ardent affection to be present in the Assembly of Saints ver 1. and the Reasons that moved him to it 2 3 4 5. 2. That being where he was yet he forgot not his God ver 6 7 8. 3. A double Prophecy what should befall his enemies ver 9. 10. and what to himself ver 11. 1. O God thou art my God He premiseth this phrase The first part Premising his confidence in God as the foundation of his desires contemplations meditation invocation consolation 2. Then he by a Congeries expresseth his ardent desire and fervent affection 1. Early will my soul seek thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thee not other things Ver. 1 2. My soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth after thee in a barren dry He expresseth his ardent desire to be present where the Ark was and thirsty Land where no water is No question in this barren and dry Land he must want many things but of that he complains 't is only that he wanted the presence of God in his Sanctuary 2. And so he expresseth himself in the following verse Athirst his soul was Ver. 2 to see the power and glory of God viz. The Ark of the Covenant which was a Type of Gods power and glory as he had formerly done so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary And the Reason of this he interserts by a Parenthesis because thy loving-kindness is better than life A life indeed I live but it is not vita vitalis Ver. 3 The Reason I have not so much comfort in it as long as I am absent from thy Sanctuary then I should see thy goodness in the use of thy Ordinances The consequences three and that I account far beyond my life could I be so happy to be admitted again thither then these effects would follow 1. Praise 2. Invocation 3. And Content Ver. 4 1. Praise For my lips shall praise thee thus will I bless thee c. 2. Invocation and prayer I will lift up my hands unto thee Ver. 5 3. Content great content and joy arising from these My mouth shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness when my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips 2. The second part But yet in the case he was he forgets not his duty Yea but doth David now being in the Wilderness forget his duty did he not praise and pray to his God yes verily and that he next signifies that no man doubt of it but it was not with such content as in the company of Gods people 1. Ver. 6 Even here When I remember thee upon my Bed and meditate on thee in the night-watches 2. Because thou hast been my help therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoyce 3. My soul followeth hard after thee thy right hand hath upholden me 'T is evident then that David here wanted not his comfort for 1. He meditates and remembers what God had done for him 2. He remembers that he had been his help and therefore he rejoyceth in it 3. He still adheres to him and follows hard after him for help still 3. The third part He foretels what should fall And now being secure of Gods protection he foretels what would happen to his enemies 2. and what to himself 1. To his enemies ruine But those that seek after my soul to destroy it they shall go some of them into the lower parts of the Earth or the Grave or Hell 1 To his enemies 2. They shall fall by the Sword as did Saul and be a portion for Foxes be unburged and be devoured by wild Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. To himself honour and a Crown But the King i. e. David shall rejoyce in God the Reason is 1. Every one that swears by him that is by God viz. that worships and fears him an Oath being by a Synecedoche for the whole worship of God 2. But on the contrary the mouth of those that speak lyes utter blasphemies
invitation to praise God The first part He invites all men to praise God and to do it affectionately and heartily 1. Ver. 1 Make a joyful song unto God all ye Lands 2. Ver. 2 Sing forth the honour of his Name 3. Make his praise glorious 4. Say unto God where he prescribes a Form to be used in Thanksgiving How terrible art thou in thy works viz. in redeeming and delivering thy people with a strong and powerful hand 2 To consider his works The effect Of which consideration he shews a double effect one upon Gods enemies 2. The other upon his people 1. 1 On enemies a feigned obedience Upon his enemies a feigned obedience a service done indeed perforce as the conquered do the Conquerors done with lying lips and an unwilling mind Through the greatness of thy power shall thy enemies submit themselves 2 On his people willing service or yield feigned obedience unto thee 2. Upon his people who willingly should magnifie him for his terrible works All the earth shall worship thee and shall sing unto thee they shall sing to thy Name Selah 2. He calls again to consider them especially in At the fifth verse begins the other part of his Invitation in which he exhorts men to consider Gods wayes as if the cause of their ingratitude were as it is indeed their inconsideration this idle carelesness he would have shaken off Come and see the Works of God not ite but venite Come and consider with me Ver. 5 2. delivering his people Then not his works at large but his terrible Works his Wonders his strange doings in the deliverance of his people of which he gives two instances 1. 1 At the red Sea The division of the red Sea when Pharoah pursued the Israelites he turned the Sea into dry land 2. The other the division of Jordan Josh 3. that Israel might pass through They went through the flood on foot 2 At Jordan Which he closeth with this Acclamation There did we rejoyce in him those miracles done for our Fathers concerned us their children we even we are the better for them and therefore in their loyns we did and we will ever rejoyce for it But being not satisfied with these instances as being particular 3 The 〈◊〉 instance of his providence more general In which appears and concerning one people only he calls us to come and see and consider Gods Power Providence Justice over the world His Power in ruling his Providence in beholding the Nations his Justice in punishing the rebellious 1. He rules by his power for ever The Kingdom is his and for ever his and he will administer it to the comfort of his people Vers. 7 to the confusion of his enemies 1 His power 2. His eyes behold the Nations 'T is true 2 His inspection that by a peculiar care he beholds the Jews but yet so that he neglects not other Nations for by his providence their Cities stand their policies are upheld they are provided of necessary food and rayment 3. Let not the Rebellious exalt themselves 3 His justice They shall not prosper as they desire Nor their endeavours succeed to their minds His justice will overtake them 2. And now again he renews his Invitation to praise God O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard vers 8. The second part He again invites to praise God He exact no obscure secret or vulgar praise but publick manifest such as when the Noble deeds of some excellent man is set forth in Verse And that he move them to this the more willingly he makes mention of a peculiar mercy then well known to them though now hid to us Of which Vers. 8 that he might make them the more sensible And that for some special Mercy Till which came their condition lamentable he recounts in what condition they then were and the reason of it That it was for their trial and probation yet very sharp 1. To deaths door they were brought but unexpectedly saved and gifted with life Thou uphold'st our soul in life 2. At the dangers we were like to fall away Vers. 9 But thou sufferedst not our feet to slip We murmur'd not but were patient under thy â—and But God in thiâ— 3. For we knew that our afflictions came from thee Thou didst it 4. And we knew also for what end we suffer'd it was for our probation 1 Upheld them 2. Was the Author not destruction For thou O God hast proved us thou hast tryed us Vers. 10 5. Although that the trial was very sharp 3 The end to try and prove them which he illustrates by five Similitudes 1. From silver Tryed us as silver is tryed which is purged and refined in the fire 4 Which tryal was sharp 2. From a Net Inclosed we were imprisoned Vers. 11 without any hope of escape 3. From a burden In prison we were loaden with fetters Trouble upon our loines 4. From bondage and slavery Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads That is men did contumeliously and cruelly insult over us and set their feet upon our necks 5. From fire and water Merciless elements all kind of calamities we have undergone The fiery trial 5 But the issue was good and the waters have come to our soul But thou O God with the temptation hast given the issue Thou hast brought us out into a wealthy place 1. Thou hast proved and thou hast brought 2. Thou laidst the trouble and thou tookest it off yea and hast made us an ample recompence for thou hast brought us to a moyst pleasant a mene fertile rich place a happy condition a flourishing condition of things so that thou hast made us to forget all our trouble And for this Mercy it is especially that David exhorts the people to praise God Which if they should be so wretched as not to do yet he would not and so he descends to his own particular and sets them a fair example to follow 3. Where he proposeth an evidence of a grateful heart acknowledging the favour he had receiv'd for which before-hand he had vow'd thanks The third part For this he gives thanks and here he payes it 1. Vers. 13 I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings Empty he would not appear before his God but with his gift in his hand as was commanded in the Law 2. I will pay thee my vows His offerings were not so much a gift as a debt due upon vow Vow'd with his lips and spoken by his mouth when he was in trouble 3. This his vow should be paid of the best and the fattest liberally and freely I will offer unto thee burnt Sacrifices of marrow or fatlings with the incense of Rammes I will offer Bullocks with Goats 4. The fourth part And also because God had been good to him And that he do it there
were inhumane They gave me Gall to eat and in my thirst they gave me Vinegar to drink Nothing more true than these four degrees in Christs Passion such enemies he found such Jewes 2. His prayer being ended The second part An imprecation he fitly subjoins a heavy imprecation by way of a Prophecy 1. And first he prayes That as they gave him Gall and Vinegar in his thirst that they might find the like at their Table Let their Table be made a snare to them and that for their welfare a Trap A heavy judgment The degrees are eight when that which God ordains for our necessity delight content health prosperity should be our hurt discontent sickness death 2. That they be struck blind and he means not so much in body as in mind a grievous judgment when a man can neither see imminent dangers nor future evils Let their eyes be darkned that they see not 3. That they be infeebled in their bodies and counsels Make their loyns continually to shake i. e. let them be unfit for War and action or as Saint Paul renders it Ever bow down their backs let them be in perpetual slavery and carry burdens 4. That they suffer speedily greatly and continually 1. Greatly for he prays effunde poure out and that is commonly out of a full Vessel and plentifully 2. Speedily Poure out thy indignation on them for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil 3. Perpetually Let thy wrathful anger take hold of them for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5. That their Countrey be wasted and their posterity thrust from their inheritance and houses Let their habitation be desolate and none dwell in their Tents And here the Prophet interserts a Reason which was their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or which is worse their adding affliction to affliction so far from commiseration that they help to increase the grief of those whom God hath wounded For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten and they talk to grieve those whom thou hast wounded 6. That they may fill up the measure of their iniquity and so be ripe for Gods Sickle Add iniquity to iniquity withdraw thy grace that they sin freely 7. That they dye in the state of impenitency Let them not come into thy righteousness 8. That they finally perish Let them be blotted out of the Book of the living and not be written with the righteous 3. The third part He sings praise Hitherto we have heard Davids complaints and prayers but now out of the sense of divine protection he breaks out into praises 1. Ver. 29 He confesses his own condition As for me I am poor and sorrowful and then acknowledgeth Gods help Let thy salvation set me on high And assures himself of Gods acceptance The effects shall be 2. Then with full voyce he sings praise I will praise the Name of God with a Song and will magnifie it with Thanksgiving 3. And of this praise he promiseth himself acceptance This also shall please the Lord better than an Oxe or Bullock that hath Horns and Hoofs And the effect of this his praise for his deliverance 1 Joy to the afflicted will be double First upon the godly poor afflicted people and secondly upon the whole World 1. The effect upon the poor will be joy The humble and meek shall see this and be glad and your heart shall live that seek God their sad heart shall revive 2. The Reason is For the Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his Prisoners David and Christ he heard and this gives assurance that he will hear suos vincta those that suffer for him Then secondly 2 Thanksgiving in all men the effect it shall have upon the whole World is a general Thanksgiving 1. Let the Heaven and the Earth praise him the Seas and every thing that moveth therein 2. And the Reason he gives for it is worth noting which is his goodness to his Church and people 1. For Gods goodness to his Church In saving them from their enemies He will save Zion 2. In confirming his Kingdom among them He will build the Cities of Judah 3. In giving them security and peace That men may dwell there and have it in possession 4. In conserving it perpetually that the Cates of Hell shall not prevail against it The seed also of his servants shall inherit it and they that love his Name shall dwell therein Not Hypocrites but they who love him sincerely and worship him in Spirit and Truth The Prayer collected out of the sixty ninth Psalm O Blessed Lord God who art more ready to grant than we to ask let this be the time when my prayer shall be accepted by thée O God Ver. 13 in the multitude of thy mercy hear me Hear me O Lord for thy loving-kindness is good Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies and hide not thy face from thy servant for I am in trouble Hear me speedily Ver. 1 and save me O my God The waters are come even unto my soul Ver. 1 O let not the water-flood overflow me neither let the deep swallow me up and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me I sink in deep mire where there is no standing deliver me out of the mire Ver. 2 and let me not sink Now in the midst of these extremities I am weary with crying unto thee my throat is dry and hoarse through my daily complaining yea and my eyes are grown weak and dim in looking upward Ver. 18 and in waiting for help from my God Draw nigh then unto my soul and redeem it and let me have an experience of the truth of thy salvation My enemies O Lord are many and mighty and malicious Ver. 4 Those that hate me are more in number than the hairs of my head Mighty they are also Ver. 5 and most injurious for they call me to an account for that I never took and punish me for that I never deserved O Lord Thou knowest my foolishness Ver. 4 and my faults are not hid from thee against thee only I have sinned but to them I have done no harm and yet such is their malice that they séek to destroy me wrongfully and without any cause of mine séek to take away my life To thée O Lord all things are manifest Thou hast known my reproach my shame and my dishonour and my Adversaries are alwayes before thee and this reproach is so great that it hath even broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and which is yet more grievous in this my distress I looked for some to take pity on me but I found none and for comsorters but I found none for not only my enemies afflicted me but even my friends ran from me Ver. 8 and forsook me I am become as it were a stranger unto my Friends and Brethren and an Alien to those who are of my own blood my mothers children and most familiar friends stand staring upon my trouble
deny me and afford me no comfort And all this is done unto me without any fault or offence of mine Ver. 7 it is for thy sake I have born this reproach For thy sake shame hath covered my face for the zeal of thy House hath eaten me up I have béen very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts they have thrown down thine Altars and slain thy Prophets with the edge of the Sword very studious I have béen and fervent to maintain thy Religion in its purity which others have cast down and in it so much as lies in them have reproached thée but the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Because thy Name was dishonoured I wept I chastned even my soul with fasting and whereas I ought for this to have béen more dear unto them I became a scorn even my humiliation and acts of repentance were turned to my reproach I testified also my sadness by my Sackloth and for this I became a Proverb of reproach The Iudges the chief of the City they which sit in the Gates speak against me condemning me and detracting from me and as for the common ordinary sort of people the Drunkards they made songs of me In a word They gave me Gall to eat and Vinegar to drink so inhumane they were that whereas in my greatest sufferings and extremities they ought to have refreshed and relieved me they increased my sorrows and under a colour of refreshment added affliction to the afflicted Now in the midst of these grievances that which most grieves my heart is the scandal of the Cross afraid I am lest that any of thy people looking upon those things which I suffer should estéem me stricken smitten of God and afflicted and thereby take an occasion to renounce the Truth of Religion and fall from thée I beséech thée therefore O Lord God of Hosts Let not them that wait on thee be ashamed for my sake let not them that seek thee be confounded for my sake O Lord God of Israel O Lord to remove this scandal there is no readier way than to bring them down to humble them and to poure the vials of thy wrath upon them Let then their Table be made a snare unto them and what should have been a welfare let it become a trap Gall and bitterness they have offered to me let their dainties be bitterness in their mouths and gall to their palates A snare they have laid for my féet and let that in which they hope to be prosperous and happy be an occasion of falling the very eating of the Paschal Lamb their ruine and thy Word the food of their souls an occasion of errour In hearing let them hear and not understand and in séeing let them sée and not perceive make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they sée with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Inféeble them O Lord and make their loins to tremble and shake bow down their backs with slavery and hard bondage and press them continually with such burdens of miseries that they may groan and sigh under the heavy hand of their Oppressors Plentifully and speedily poure forth thy indignation upon them and let thy fiercest anger and vengeance continually pursue them let their houses be desolate not a stone left upon a stone and their land without an inhabitant let them procéed from one wickedness to another and add sin to sin till their iniquity come to the full neither ever let them repent them of their wicked wayes that thou might'st pardon and forgive their heinous transgressions or justifie them at thy great Tribunal with mercy thou wilt indulge to all true penitents And although hitherto they have béen reckoned among thy people of whom they are born and with whom thou hast established thy Covenant yet O Lord let them be blotted out of the Book of the living and not be written among the righteous And it is but just that all this happen unto them because when common humanity and thy Word also requires That we weep with him that weeps and lament with him that laments they have helped on the affliction for they persecute Him whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded O Lord I am wounded I suffer justly under thy hand but to them I have done no harm at this time I am poor and sorrowful destitute of all humane help and affected with extream heaviness Arise then for me and let thy salvation set me up on High Deliver me O Lord from these troubles and so shall I praise thy Name with a Song Ver. 30 Save me from my enemies and I shall magnifie thee with Thanksgiving which sacrifice Ver. 31 I know will better please thee than the fat of fed Beasts or the incense of Rams Besides all those that are of a dejected spirit humbled and brought low at the sight of my afflictions will consider this sée they will That God heareth the poor and despiseth not those who are in captivity and imprisoned for his sake and they will be glad and rejoyce at it and the heart of all those that seek thâ—â— which was even dead before will then revive and live O Lord save Sion and build the Cities of Judah let men dwell there and have it in possession let the seed of thy servants inherit it and all those that love thy Name dwell therein so shall the Heaven and Earth praise thee and every thing that moveth therein Amen Amen PSAL. LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalme is the same with the five last verses of the fortieth Psalm The Contents of this Psalm are 1. The Prayer of David for himself that he may be freed from his enemies ver 1. which he repeats ver 5. 2. For the speedy destruction of the wicked ver 2 3. 3. For the prosperity of the godly ver 4. 4. The Arguments he urgeth to move God to grant his prayer 1. His miserable condition I am poor and needy 2. Gods office Thou art my Helper and Redeemer therefore make no long tarrying O my God The Psalm needs no farther Analysis because it is fully Analysed before in the end of the fortieth Psalm The Prayer out of the seventieth Psalm O Lord we therefore daily implore thy mercy because we are daily beset with danger Enemies we have without within us from whose malice and cruelty we can find no safety Ver. 5 except in thy favour and mercy Thou alone art our Help and Deliverer make then no long tarrying O my God rather make haste to deliver us Ver. 1 make haste to help us Many there are that seek after my soul let them be ashamed and confounded Ver. 2 many there are that desire my hurt let them be turned backward and put to confusion suddenly let them be turned back and put to flight Ver. 3 that rejoyce at
his coming injustice and iniquity prevailed in the world there were as many Religions as Nations for men walked in their own wayes Vers. 7 in his dayes it shall be otherwise O Lord therefore raise up thy power and come amongst us that all iniustice being put to flight righteousness may flourish and iniquity chased away holiness may take place and war and contention and strife and hatred being banish'd from among men there may be abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth It is the honour of thy Kingdom that it is established in equity and peace Oh that it might be increased and inlarged Vers. 8 It would be the very joy of our hearts to see thy dominion extended from Sea to Sea and from the river to the end of the earth that as all power is given unto thee in heaven and earth so all knees might bow unto thy name and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father Let the people that dwell in the Wilderness bow before thee and those Vers. 9 who were formerly thy enemies and inhabit the farther parts of the earth Vers. 10 become homagers unto thee and in sign of obedience and subjection to thy power bow themselves at thy feet Vers. 11 and kiss the very ground on which thou treadest Let the Kings of Tarshish and those that remain in the Islands bring thee presents and let the deceiv'd Princes of Arabia and Saba in a reverent and humble manner offer thee honourable gifts O let all Kings fall down before thee and all Nations become thy voluntary Servants Neither shall it ever repent any man of this his profession and reverent submission to thy Scepter since as it is thy office so also thou wilt deliver the needy when he cryeth thou wilt spare the poor thou wilt save and redeem their souls from deceit and violence O Lord we are thy people poor and needy destitute of all true goodness weak and oppressed by the cruel power and impetuous tyranny of the enemy of man-kind the devil Vers. 13 among men there is none to help us among Angels there is not one who can deliver us Vers. 14 and save us an object we are fit for thy power and mercy out of meer compassion arise for us to thee we cry upon thes we call deliver these poor and needy souls of ours from slavery and bondage from the heavy and bitter yoke of this Oppressor Be not severe and harsh to us that are thy Subjects but out of thy clemency spare us pardon the errors of those who are of an humble spirit and pass by the transgressions of those who do acknowledge their own weaknesses and disabilities look unto thy people that are of a broken heart and save their souls from sin from death from the curse of the Law from all evil O thou Saviour of the world which didst purchase that name with the price of thy own precious blood redeem thy people from deceit and violence The deceits and baits of sin are many with which we are too often taken the allurements of the world more with which we are bewitch'd the violences and assaults of the Prince that rules in the air most powerful to whom we too too often yield our selves captive O thou Redéemer of man-kind redéem our souls we beséech thée from this tyranny and base slavery Let not sin reign in our mortal bodies that we obey it in the lusts thereof But as thou hast shed thy blood to redéem us from this vassalage so let us be no longer flaves to sin and Satan but deliver us from this bondage frée us from this tyranny and as we have fornierly serded our lusts so hereafter let us serve thée in righteousness and holiness all the dayes of our life Then shall we hope for prosperity in our wayes Vers. 16 and thy blessing upon our labours the handfulls of corn we sow upon the tops of the hills shall yield us a plentiful increase and the ears shall be sat thick and full like the plenty of Lebanon our Cities shall be full of people and our people flourish as the grass which clothes and covers the ground with a pleasing gréenness O blessed Saviour live for ever and of thy Kingdom let there be no end To thée and to the advancement of thy service and honour let men bring of the gold of Arabia never let them think any thing too rich too good for thée Let thy Temples be had in honour and thou alone honour'd in thy Temples There let men bow with reverence There let prayer and intercessions be made continually to thée And there let men offer the Sacrifice of praise and thanks And thou O King of Saints who sits at the right-hand of thy Father receive the hymns which are presented in thy name hear and hearken to and hearken to and grant those petitions which thy people shall offer for the prosperity of thy Kingdom and the good successes of thy Gospel O let thy name be praised and the praise thereof endure for ever and let thy Fathers name be honour'd in thée as long as the Sun shall rejoice as a Gyant to run his course And according to thy promise made unto Abraham in thée let all the Nations of the earth be blessed with spiritual and everlasting blessings Him O everlasting Father thou hast blessed and glorified and in him and for him bless and glorifie us Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel for he alone by his own power hath done these wonderful things for us He is our King and he saves and he delivers and he redéems and he spares his people pardoning our offences and passing by our iniquities right precious in his sight is the blood of his Saints Let his name be praised and had in perpetual remembrance and let the Majesty of his power the greatness of his mercy and the mercy of his righteousness be glorious for ever and ever and let the whole earth be fill'd with his Glory Amen Amen The end of the second book of the Psalms according to the Hebrews PSAL. LXXIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE Prophet shews the grief that good men sustain at the prosperity of the wicked and at the pressures of the godly and how bitter a tentation this is but at last consulting the Will of God he finds and acknowledgeth that the felicity of wicked men ends in infelicity and the crosses of the godly are the way to happiness with which consideration he quiets his troubled soul Let then the Question be Who is the happy man whether the godly or ungodly he that serves God with a pure heart or he that serves his belly and lusts And the parts of the Psalm will be in general Are these 1. The Arguments produced for the happiness of the wicked from ver 1. to 10. 2. The impression these Arguments make too often in a carnal mind ver 2 3 10 11 12 13 14. 3. The Rejection of
brings them into the case that David here was 2. To which he adds a Doxology Who is so great a God as our God which he confirms in the following verse Thou art the God that dost wonders Thou hast declared thy strength among the people thy power thy wisdom thy protection of thy Church even to all people the Heathens themselves and strangers to Israel may see it and acknowledge it if not blind 2. 2 To Israel in particular But in particular Thou hast declared thy strength in defence of Israel Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people the sons of Jacob and Joseph And he amplifies this story of their deliverance from Aegypt by several instances of Gods power in it 1. In the red Sea The waters saw thee O God the waters saw thee not only the Aegyptians but the sensless Element felt thy power they were afraid the depths also were troubled Exod. 14. 2. In the Heaven The clouds poured out water the skies sent out a sound thine arrows also went abroad the voyce of thy Thunder was in the Heavens thy lightnings lightned the World Exod. 14.24 25. 3. In the earth The earth trembled and shook and all this was done that Israel might have a passage through it Thy way is in the Sea and thy passage in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known And the final cause of this miracle was The final cause of it that he might shew his severity toward his enemies and his goodness toward his people for whose deliverance he sent Moses and Aaron ordained a King and a Priest by them Thou leddest thy people like sheep by the hands of Moses and Aaron The Prayer collected out of the seventy seventh Psalm VVITH all ardency of spirit earnestness of soul and contention of voyce Ver. 1 have I cryed unto thée O Lord constantly and fervently have I cryed unto thée O hear the voyce of my prayer and let my cry come unto thée when I was in trouble I expected I called for no humane help but I fled to thée to thée I called for aid and comfort with stretched-out hands and eyes bent to Heaven I stood before my God O let me not be disappointed of my hope In the night-season Ver. 2 when others devoid of care take their rest and sléep my sore ran and ceased not I found no rest in my bones by reason of my sin yea so great was the grief of my soul That I refused comfort I remembred my God whom I had so often and so foully offended and I was troubled at it my sin my grievous sin lies heavy upon my soul it makes me to complain and the conscience of it so far depresseth my spirit That I am even overwhelmed with fear and sorrow By the dread I have of thy anger my eyes are held waking and I pass the long night in which others are refreshed with sléep without any rest and I am so troubled in my self that I have no mind to speak I revolved in my mind the times that were past and the years of former Generations in which thou hadst dealt mercifully with afflicted souls And in the night-season a season most fit for meditation I called to remembrance my song my song in which with a joyful heart I was wont to praise thée and yet so I received not comfort I communed with my own heart I searched out as with a Lanthorn my soul I called to mind thy clemency to thy children thy Truth in thy Word thy Iustice in thy Promises the causes of all calamities and these my sorrows and yet so I could not be comforted Ah merciful Lord and loving Father Wilt thou cast me off for ever and wilt thou no more be favourable to me Thou art patient and long-suffering Thou art the Father of mercies thy property is to have pity thy promise to forgive and spare thy people and is thy mercy now gone for ever and doth thy promise fail for evermore What hâ—st thou forgotten to be gracious and wilt thou in anger shut up thy tender bowels of mercies that I shall never more have any sense or féeling of them Of a truth Lord for my wicked life I have deserved the fiercest of thy wrath and all the judgments which thou hast threatned against rebellious sinners but O Lord Thou art able of a Saul to make a Paul of a Publican a Disciple of Zachaeus a Penitent of Mary Magdalen a Convert these changes are in the hand of the most High Turn then me O Lord and so I shall be turned and turn unto me and so I shall be refreshed pardon my sin and change my heart and so I shall be assured that thy mercy is not clean gone For after this long debate betwixt me and my own soul upon the serious thoughts of thy mercy I came to this resolve that my diffidence proceeded from my own pusillanimity for I said all this trouble is from my own infirmity I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High I will remember how gracious he hath béen to other sinners how strangely he hath converted them how mercifully he hath forgiven them and this change hath put me in good hope of an old man to become a new man of a vessel of wrath a vessel of mercy and that though in anger for a time he hath séemed to desert me yet out of méer compassion he will return and be gracious to me I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old time I will meditate also of all thy works and talk of thy doings I will call to mind That thou dost not call thy people to partake of the pleasures of this World but to desperate conflicts with sin death Satan and Hell that there is not any of thy servants of old but have born this burden and heat of the day and shall I then look to escape shall I hope to be exempted Thy way O God is in the Sanctuary A secret there is why thou dealest thus with thy servants and known it cannot be till we go into thy Sanctuary there we may learn That thou chastnest every child that thou receivest there we shall find That the reason of all thy procéedings are full of equity and holiness and that there is nothing we can justly reprehend or complain of Which of the gods of the Nations is in power to be compared unto thée which in mercy is like thée Thou art the God that dost wonders Thou hast declared thy strength in our weakness thy power in our infirmity O shew therefore thy self to be the self-same God and in this my weakness and infirmity support me It is not for nothing that thy favour to thy people Israel is left upon Record the Redemption of the sons of Jacob and Joseph are expressions of thy power and mercy Then O Lord the waters of the red Sea law thee then the waters felt thy presence and as if
of that Tribe who set up the Calves in Dan and Bethel 3. And they forgot his works in Aegypt he means and the wonders that he had shewed them A larger Narration By which occasion the Prophet enlargeth his discourse and shews 1. Gods goodness 2. Israels obstinacy 3. Their punishment 1. 1 Of Gods goodness Gods goodness appeared in those wonders he did for them in their eduction from Aegypt Marvellous did he in the sight of their Fathers in the land of Aegypt in the field of Zoan The story is extant in Exodus from chap. In many particulars 7. to 12. 2. It appeared upon their departure from thence when in the red Sea he wrought a double miracle 1. He divided the red Sea and caused them to pass through Exod. 14. 2. He made the waters to stand on an heap contrary to the nature of water which is fluid 3. After he shewed his care in guiding them two wayes 1. In the day-time also he led them with a cloud by which they were shadowed from the scorching Sun 2. And all the night by a light of fire that they should be terrified and wander in the dark 4. Farther his love in providing water miraculously to quench their thirst 1. He clave the Rocks in the Wilderness for it was done in Rephidim Exod. 17. and in the desert of Zin Numb 20. 2. That the water flowed in such plenty He gave them drink out of the great depths 3. That this last as is conceived followed them as a River all along the way they went He brought streams also out of the Rock and caused waters to run down like Rivers 2. 2 Israels contumacy This is Davids evidence of Gods goodness care love provision for Israel but now the Prophet begins to relate their untowardness ingratitude infidelity impatience 1. They were not so thankful as they ought to have been for they sinned and that which 1. Amplifies their sin is First That it was yet more more and more pertinaciously against him 2. That they left not off sinning till they exasperated and provoked the most High in the Wilderness 2. Incredulous they were and they shew'd it two wayes 1. By tempting God that is by correcting his Ordinance for whereas he had provided Manna for their daily food they in their heart asked meat for their lusts 2. By calling in question his power impudently and with open voyce Yea they spake against God they said Vers. 19 Can God furnish a Table in the Wilderness 3. And they were foolishly impatient as if God must work miracles as often as they were pleased or else they would be discontented This appears both wayes 1. Their folly by their Concession Behold he smote the Rock and the waters gushed out and the streams flowed withal 2. Their impatience by their non-sense question But can he give bread also can he prâ—â—â—de flesh for his people Sots that confess he can do one and not the other 3. And upon the heels of their sin the punishment treads 3 The punishment Ab ira Dei pracedit 1. Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth 2. So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came against Israel Numb 11. 3. And the cause was their incredulity Because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation Would be provided for their own way and not trust to that way he provided for them and meant to sustain them He provided Manna And of this the Prophet gives in for instance the Manna That being the food which God provided them Which the Prophet commends divers wayes 1. From the place it came He commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven 2. From the abundance of it He rain'd down Manna for them for to â—â—t 3. From the excellency of it He gave them of the corn of heaven Man did eat Angels food 4. From the sweet taste it had and the satisfaction it might give For he fed them to the full All which amplifies their incredulity for this food was sent them from heaven and in this abundance able to give content yet they believed not 4. Gods indulgence in giving Quails And now the Prophet proceeds to give another instance of Gods indulgence unto them of his indulgence I say for it cannot be well call'd a mercy because it came à Deo irato non propitio Weary they were of their Manna and they longed for flesh Numb 11. To this their desire God yielded and sent them Quails but it was in wrath which the Prophet intimates in this place from the 26. verse to the 31. In which is set down implicitely their sin viz. Lusting for Flesh and that also when they had it and eat till it came out of their nostrils they were not satisfied with it 2. Gods justice and their punishment This indulgence of God the Prophet amplifies in divers respects His indulgence amplified 1. From the Author that it was God that brought them Vers. 26 they came not by chance 2. That he brought them by a wind that brings no Quails The North wind does that nor the East nor South He caused an East wind to blow in the heaven and by his power he brought in the South wind 3. From the plenty of them He rained flesh upon them as thick as dust and feathered fowls as the sand of the Sea 4. From the facility of this food and easiness to be had they need not go far to fetch it For he let it fall in the midst of the Camp even round about their habitation 5. From the content they took in it So they did eat and were well filled for he gave them their own desire But now follows Gods justice in their punishment 2 Gods justice in their punishment which hath its degrees also 1. They were not estranged from their lust Though they had flesh enough yet they lusted still their appetite was still sharp set they laboured 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which is a heavy judgement with plenty not to be satisfied But as in a dropsie Quo plus sunt potae plus sitiuntur aquae 2. The suddenness of the revenge It was while the meat was yet in their mouths 3. That it came from an angry God The wrath of God ascendit or came upon them 4. It slew them The wrath ascended to that height Vsque ad occisionem 5. And it fell upon the best the chiefest the choicest the most Warlike men He slew the fattest of them those that were fatted with the Quails and smote down the chosen men in Israel 5. Their sin notwithstanding A man would have thought that such an exemplary punishment should have affrighted them and easily have brought them to their duty But it had a quite contrary effect For they first persisted to be contumaciously wicked 2. And added dissimulation to their contumacy 1. 1 Contumacy Contumacious stubborn and incurably wicked they
shew thy power severity and mercy All which should breed in us fear and reverence But like those rebellious Israelites we have not kept thy Covenant nor walkt in thy Law we have forgot thy works and thy wonders then done we have turned back we have tempted thee our God these ten times we have provoked and grieved the holy One of Israel We have not remembred thy hand nor the day when thou deliverest us from the hand of the enemy Of a truth Lord when thy hand hath been heavy upon us by the pestilence famine or sword when thou by any of thy severe judgements didst stay us and bring us to the jaws of death then we sought thee then we returned and enquired early after God then we remembred that God was our Rock and the high God our Redeemer Novertheless we did but flatter thee with our mouths and lyed unto thee with our tongues for thy heavy hand was no sooner removed but our obedience was at an end We have again rempted and provoked the most High God we have not kept thy Testimonies but turned back and dealt unfaithfully with our fathers Thine own people were not more contumacious Israel not more stubborn forgetful wilful than we have been If they dissembled with thee we have done the like if they provoked grieved tempted thee we have done the like Our great deliverances have not wrought upon us thy apparent judgements have not bettered us thy returns of mercy have stiffned our hard hearts Wo be to us for our infidelity and disobedience whither shall we fly to whom shall we go Were it not that we consider that thou art the Father of mercies our hearts would faint Those words upon record are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb to our dying souls Israel was not right with him nor stedfast in his Covenant But he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroy'd them not yea many a time he turn'd his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath For he remembred that they were but flesh a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Remember O Lord the mould of which we are made consider that we are but weak and vain flesh strive not alwayes with us remember that the breath in our nostrils is but a wind that passeth away and cometh not again then turn away thine anger and stir not up all thy wrath Out of thy meer compassion pardon and forgive our iniquity and destroy not the work of thine own hands Raise us by the power of thy Spirit and confirm us in thy truth that there never may be in us hereafter a heart of unbelief Never let us depart from the living God or harden our hearts from thy fear The natural branches are broken off and we who were slips of the wild Olive are graffed in of which we have not so much reason to boast as to tremble lest that thou who hast refused the Tribe of Joseph and cast aside the Tribe of Ephraim for their ingratitude rebellion impiety and disobedience shouldst upon the same ground reject us also We will not boast against the natural branches but come before thee with fear and hope with fear lest what hapned to them may befall us and yet with hope that the same mercy which followed them may yet follow us In the hottest of thy anger thou yet madest choice of the Tribe of Judah and sett'st thy love upon Mount Zion there thou built'st thy Sanctuary on high and sett'st it like the earth which never should move at any time David thou madest choice of to be their Prince and brought'st him to feed Jacob thy people and Israel thine inheritance Let this thy love notwithstanding our wickedness continue unto thy Church let the Tribe of Judah be dear in thy eyes take pleasure and do good to Zion build thy Sanctuary on high and make it conspicuous and beautiful in the eyes of her very enemies never let the gates of hell prevail against it Call thy servant David from his low condition to guide thy people and rule thy inheritance And let the power of thy Spirit be so effectual in him that he may feed thy people according to the integrity of his heart and guide them prudently with all his might So shall we who are the sheep of thy pasture give thee thanks for ever and ever PSAL. LXXIX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm was composed when the Church was oppressed as some conceive by Antiochus certain it is it was in a very distressed condition And it hath These parts Viz. 1. A Complaint for the desolation of Jerusalem from vers 1. to 5. 2. A Deprecation of Gods anger vers 5. 3. A twofold Petition 1. Against the enemies of the Church vers 6 7 10 11 12. 2. For the Church vers 8 9. 4. A Doxology vers 13. 1. The Complaint is very bitter and riseth by many degrees The first part The Complaint bitter and amplified by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance The Antithesis is elegant The heathen those Wolves impure beasts are come into thy Land thy peculiar 2. Thy Holy Temple have they defiled Vers. 1 Prophaned the place consecrated to thy service 3. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps Funditus deleverunt Vers. 2 4. Their cruelty they have exercised upon the Dead The dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat to the fowls of the aire the flesh of thy Saints to the beasts of the Land Vers. 3 5. A second part of their cruelty was that they made no more reckoning to let out the life-blood of a man than of so much water Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem 6. They wanted a grave And there was none to bury them 7. Vers. 4 And to make up the full measure of their calamities their enemies looked on and scoffed at it We are become a reproach to our Neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about us 2. The second part The misery being fully decipher'd in this pathetical Complaint next the Psalmist acknowledgeth the cause of their calamity and expostulates with God The cause Gods anger 1. The cause was Gods anger and jealousie 2. Vers. 5 He expostulates with God about it and deprecates it How long O Lord About which he expostulates with God wilt thou be angry for ever shall thy jealousie burn like fire i.e. Cessairasci 3. The third part And prayes And now he begins his Prayer which is two-fold First Against the enemy 1. Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee and upon the Kingdoms that have not call'd on thy name 1 For vengeance to fall on the enemy for their cruelty Not upon us but on them 2. And he adds the reason and 't is a reason of weight in which he respects not himself but Gods people For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste
hypocritically and falsly as all flatterers do But to that pass they should have been brought that they should be glad to dissemble with and flatter Gods people 2. 2 Their peace long and lasting The second benefit is That their time should have continued for ever i.e. Their peace their tranquility their health their quiet habitation should have been very long and not interrupted with War Sedition Tumults 3. The third benefit is The abundance of all things Expressed by wheat 3 Abundance of all things to satisfaction and honey 1. I should have fed them also not with bran mixt with flowre as poor folks use and is usual in time of famine with the finest of the wheat 2. And with honey out of the Rock in which in Judaea Bees commonly liv'd would I have satisfied thee 'T is a blessing to say I have enough The Prayer collected out of the eighty first Psalm INsinite Vers. 1 O Lord are the causes that we have with the greatest alacrity to praise thée Thou art our strength thou art the God of Jacob we will therefore sing aloud and make a joyful noyse unto thee and because our breath is too short and low to resound thy praises we will call in the assistance of musical instruments the Nary the Lute and Psaltery and when those Feasts and Solemn Festivals shall come which are set forth for to celebrate thy mercies to man-kind we will blow abroad thy honour with shrill sounding Trumpets In which we yet shall but do our duty for this was made a Statute for Israel and a Law of the God of Jacob. Thou wert merciful to thy people Israel when in trouble they called upon thee thou deliveredst them thou broughtst them to Mount Sinai and proclaimed thy Law in their eares with the sound of a Trumpet when they heard a voice never heard before Thou easest his shoulder from the burden of carrying earth tiles bricks and straw and his hands were delivered from making the pots Thou hast been to us no less merciful than to them when in our afflictions and troubles we have called upon thee thou hast come down and delivered us thou hast freed us from our Aegyptian darkness of ignorance thou hast loused us from the slavery of the devil and from the drudgery and service of sin which laid a heavy burden upon our consciences and instead of thy Law proclaimed with so much terrour in Mount Sinai thou hast spoken to us from heaven by thy only begotten Son and sounded in our ears the glad-tidings of the Gospel And now Lord what doest thou require at our hands for all these favours even the self-same that thou requiredst of Israel For thus thou then spakest to them and thus thou speakest to us Hear O my people Vers. 8 and I will testifie unto thee O Israel if thou wilt hearken unto me there shall be no strange god in thee neither shalt thou worship any other god I am the Lord thy God that brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt But my people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me And wo be so us miserable wretches our ears have béen dull of hearing and we have not hearkned to thy command though we have not set up strange gods yet we have worshipped our own imaginations and adored our own inventions We have forgotten that thou brought'st us out of our more than Aegyptian darkness of ignorance and sin and fill'd our mouths with all good things In a word we have not hearkned to thy voice we have set thée by for the vanities of our own hearts and would none of thée In justice therefore thou hast given us up to our hearts lusts and we have walked in our own counsels and because we would not receive the love of the truth that we might be saved for this cause hath God sent us a strong delusion that we should be lieve a lye and take pleasure in unrighteousness But O Lord though Israel hath transgressed yet let not Judah sin in Sodom thou hadst a Lot in Ur of the Chaldees an Abraham in the Land of Uz a Job though the four hundred Prophets have followed Baal yet there is one Micajah left nay seven thousand vnées that have not vowed to the Idol these will hearken unto thee these will walk in thy wayes Lord here their prayers hearken unto their groans for the remnant that are left And thou who wouldst have spared that sinful City at the request of Abraham could ten righteous men have been found in it return in mercy to the thousands of Israel which day and night cry unto thee to spare thy people O Lord for their fakes rather for thine own sake spéedily subdue and bring under our enemies and turn thy hand against our adversaries let all those who by their works and practical Atheism séem to hate thee bow like lerbants before thy people and at least shew and sein a voluntary subjection not daring to carry themselves proudly and stubbornly before thy servants nor to manifest their secret rancour But let the time of those who in sincerity of heart in truth and in spirit worship thée endure for ever let their peace be secure their tranquility long their prosperity perpetual their habitation quiet and their health confirm'd When they shall open their mouths wide in prayer fulfil their requests whatsoever they shall ask in thy name according to thy promise give it Because they first seek the glory and prosperity of thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof let all other things be added unto them Supply them with the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth when other Prodigals féed upon husks then feed them with the finest of the wheat Let the Rocks yield them honey the Mountains Brass and Iron let their pastures de clothed with flocks Vers. 1 and their valleys to codered over with corn that they shout for ioy and sing that they take a Psalm and bring forth the Tabret the merry Harp with the Lute and on thy great and appointed Solemnities sing aloud to the God of their strength and make a cheerful noyse to the God of Jacob. Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christs sake our only Lord and Saviour Amen PSAL. LXXXII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THAT the Prophet might admonish and check the Judges of the earth about their duty he sets God in the midst of them commanding that they do justice and â—hreatning revenge for their injustice assuring them that he will rise one day and judge them Three parts of the Psalm 1. The Prophets Proclamation vers 1 2. Gods contestation with the Judges of the earth from vers 2. to 8. 3. The Prophets prayer that God would rise to judge v. 8. 1. The first part Gods preâ—ence proclaimed in the Court. The Prophet as a Cryer in a Court proclaims first a very profitable Doctrine and layes a solid foundation for all justice viz. That all Judges remember that as at
the next verse sadly complains Who knows the power of thy anger Thy anger is great for sin the power of it fearful and terrible Thou canst and wilt bring man to judgment Thou canst and wilt cast sinners into Hell-fire but who regards it Thy threats to men seem to be aniles fabulae 2. Even according to thy fear so is thy wrath But be it that this stupidity possess men yet this is certain that thy wrath is great and it shall be executed according to thy fear And therefore in such proportion as men have stood in fear of thee they that have in a reverential fear stood in awe of thee shall escape it they that have contemned and slighted thy wrath shall feel it to the uttermost The fourth part He prayes that God would move our hearts to consider it 4. Upon all the former considerations Moses converts his words to a prayer in which he implores Gods mercy that he would turn the stupidity of men into wisdom 2. Our calamity into felicity 3. His wrath into compassion and 4. Our sorrow into joy for the first he begins thus 1. So teach us to number our dayes to cast up the labour the sorrow the brevity the fugacity thy anger our sin that caused it 2. That we may apply our hearts to wisdom be no more stupid and secure but wise wise to avoid thy anger wise to set a true estimate on this life and wise in time to provide for another 3. So teach us for God must teach it or it will not be learned this wisdom comes from above Secondly He deprecates Gods anger Return O Lord how long and let it repent thee concerning thy servants Then he deprecates Gods anger And Thirdly He begs restitution to Gods favour and what will follow upon it peace of conscience 1. Begs restitution to Gods favour for himself and Gods people O satisfie us with thy mercy we hunger for it as men do for meat 2. Early let it be done quickly before our sorrows grow too high and overwhelm us 3. With thy mercy not with wealth delights c. 4. And with a perpetual joy of heart That we may be glad and rejoyce all our dayes 5. And let our joy bear proportion to our sorrows Make us glad according to the dayes thou hast afflicted us and the years we have seen evil 6. This is the work he calls Gods work for as to punish is his strange work Isa 28. so to have pity and mercy is his own proper work and this he desires that it should be made manifest Let thy work appear to thy servants and thy glory to their children Fourthly He begs for success in all their work and labours 1. 2 And success in their labours Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us for no action of our's is beautiful except the beauty of God be stamped upon it done by his Direction his Rule his Word and to his Glory 2. And therefore he prayes and ingeminates his prayer Establish thou the work of our hands upon us How many things required to make our labours successful yea the work of our hands establish thou it There must be opus our work for God blesseth not the idle 2. And opus manuum a laborious work 3. Gods direction his Word the Rule 4. A good end in it for that is his beauty upon it 5. So it will be established confirmed ratified 6. And lastly know that there is no blessing to be expected without prayer and therefore he prayes Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us c. The Prayer out of the ninety Psalm O Lord Ver. 1 whose being is eternal and beginning without beginning who alone art what thou art and wilt be the same for ever we mutable creatures of a short life and full of miseries adore thy eternity and humbly béséech thy Majesty that thou wouldst be to us who acknowledge thée to be God alone and flie unto thée alone for help that thou wouldst be unto us what thou hast béen to thy people in all Generations our Sanctuary our dwelling place our refuge in this néedful time of trouble Man of all thy creatures here below is most glorious but his glory thou turnest to shame Thou madest him little lower than the Angels to crown him with glory and worship but before he can attain that Crown that honour Thou turnest him to destruction Thou hast said it and by the power of this Decrée from dust he was taken and to dust must he return Say his dayes were a thousand years to which yet no man hath attained yet were they as nothing compared with eternity they were in thy sight but as yesterday a time that is past and comes not again but what speak I of a day it is far shorter it is but as a watch in the night a time of thrée houres continuance involved in darkness clouded with ignorance discomfortable with miseries in his youth in his strength in his old age Thou carriest us away as with a flood a violent torrent whose streams quickly arise and quickly fall all our happiness is but as a sléep or as a dream in sléep we dream our selves to be happy men but when we awake we find nothing In the morning of our age we are like grass by thy light and heat of thy favour is it were the Saâ—â—â—dme we come up and grow and increase to a perfect stature but when the evening of our life whether hastned by diseases or brought on by time doth approach cut down we are by thy hand and instantly we wither This is our condition this our misery a consumption we have brought upon our selves and it procéeds from thine anger in it we are consumed and by thy wrath we are troubled for we have provoked thée by our iniquitieâ— which though unknown to us yet are known to thée these Thou hast let before thinâ— eyes yea and the most secret of our sins past or present in the light of thy countenance Hence it is That our dayes are passed away in thy wrath and we spend our years as a Tale that is told which being brought to an end vanisheth and no more words made of it Many of our fore-fathers indéed were of a long life but our dayes are contracted thréescore and ten with us is a long time and if any among us be so vigorous that he attain to fourscore yet his strength then is accompanied with labour and attended with much sorrow and at the end of that length soon cut off and we flie away This effect and experience we daily have of thy wrath and displeasure and yet what man is there amongst us that regards it nor the labour nor sorrow nor brevity nor fugacity of our lives is sufficient to make us wise Some few there be that lay it to heart and by it escape the wrath to come but the greatest part of men pass their dayes without a due
feet to dance at it he calls to them to join with him in the mirth Let the Sea roar Vers. 7 and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein Let the floods clap their hands Vers. 8 let the hills rejoice together It is a Prosopopeia frequently used in Scripture as afore Psal 96.11 12. 5. And let it be heartily and sincerely done For it is before the Lord in his eye For he cometh to judge in his sight in his presence who can judge with what affection any thing is done And for this he gives a reason Vers. 9 with which he concludes For he cometh to judge the earth which may be referred to his first or second coming 1. 1 Either in humility as at his first If to the first then the sense is Let all creatures rejoice because he comes to judge that is to govern and order with just and excellent Laws the whole Orb of the world not only by the invisible Majesty of his Divinity but being made into the similitude of man and in form now found a true man 2. If to the last his second coming then let all creatures rejoice 2 Or in Glory as at his second coming because he shall root out sinners from the earth and make new heavens and a new earth The whole creature shall be delivered from corruption under which it greans and travails in pain together until now and shall be restored into the glorious liberty of the children of God Rom. 8.21 22. 3. Now both these shall be done with that rectitude of judgement that there be nothing crooked nothing oblique nothing savouring of iniquity in it With righteousness shall he judge the world and the people with his Truth A Thanksgiving and Meditation upon the Redemption of Man-kind taken out of the ninty eighth Psalm I Will sing unto thee O gracious God and merciful Lord a new Song Vers. 1 as it becomes me for a new savour an ordinary hymn might be in my mouth for ordinary blessings but this was extraordinary and therefore requires thanks more than ordinary That thou didst create me after thy image was a great mercy that thou hast governed me by thy Word preserved me by thy Power provided for me by thy Fatherly goodness ever since I was born are all acts of mercy but that thou hast set thy love upon me from all eternity and in the fulness of time didst send thy beloved Son to be born to live to dye for me and redéem my poor soul from thy just wrath and the consequents of it is a favour more than I could expect more than I could deserve and therefore I sing with the blessed Virgin My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people This is a favour so beyond all favours and so neerly concerns all the world that I wish all men had hearts and all creatures tongues to sound it forth O come and make a joyful noyse unto the Lord all the earth make a loud noyse and rejoice and sing praise Your voices are not swéet enough take then the Harp and join to the Harp the voice of a Psalm Your voices are not loud enough call then for Trumpets to sound it out and blow it abroad with the wind of a Cornet Let the praise vs illustrious and the noyse joyful for it is before the Lord the King And O that the inanimate creatures who shall be by this one day freed from the bondage of corruption had tongues also to join with you However in their kind let them do what they can let the Sea roare forth the praises of God and the fulness thereof resound the fulness of his mercy and let the world and they that dwell therein as in a clap of thunder say Amen Amen to it Let the floods join with the Sea and clap their hands let the hills be joyful together and eccho forth the praise of the Lord our Redeemer For he hath done marvellous things Things which we may admire Vers. 1 but shall never be able to comprehend shall and must search into but shall never fully fathom For without controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifested in the flesh justified in the Spirit séen of Angels preach'd unto the Gentiles believ'd on in the world receiv'd up into glory Marvellous O swéet Saviour was thy conception marvellous thy incarnation marvellous thy life marvellous thy death We cannot choose but wonder that the Lord of life should dye that the Lord of heaven and earth should be buried in the earth And that which increaseth the wonder is that he should rise from thence to justifie us that he should ascend in our nature to heaven to prepare a place for us that he should sit on the right-hand of God to be our Advocate to plead for us to be our Intercessor to step between and make our peace when our God is offended with us And that we yet marvel the more all this was done for us when we were without strength and could not help our selves without grace and could not deserve his when we were ungodly and thought not of him sinners that did provoke him enemies that did cebell against him In this then God commended his love that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us O sweet Jesus thy love to us was wonderful passing the love of women This was a work that passed the power of men and Angels Angels were too weak and man too sinful to undertake in it Yet so great was thy love to lost man that rather than he should perish for ever thou who wert without sin Vers. 1 wouldst be made sin for him thou who wert the arm and power of God wouldst appear clothed with our infirmities Yet so powerful thou wert in this weakness so mighty in our infirm flesh that by thy right-hand and thy holy arm thou hast gotten to thy self the victory conquer and triumph thou didst over Sin Death and Hell and over all the power of the Prince of darkness It was thine own right-hand without any other power that did it thine own arm without any assistant that led Captivity Captive and received gifts for men yea even for thine enemies that the Lord God might dwell among them We the heathens Vers. 2 were the greatest part of these enemies yet to us thou sentest thy Apostles to preach these glad-tidings and ever since by thy Ministers hast made known thy salvation Thy righteousness which is now our righteousness blessed be thy name for it by which our pardon is sealed and we are justified is not as a Candle hid under a bushel but is openly shew'd in the sight of the heathen It is not in Judaea only that God is known but all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God all Nations now sée and know that thou wert a merciful
joyful noyse 1 Universally that it be done in gladness and singing 3. 2 Heartily That it be not partial and restrain'd but complete the Copia verborum in which the Exhortation is offer'd 3 Completely shews it Jubilate colite scitote Vers. 2 venite laudate benedicite 4. 4 Sincerely That it be sincere and not feined done as in his eye and presence Vers. 3 5. 5 Knowingly That it ought to be well grounded arise from knowledge Know ye that Vers. 4 6. 6 Thankfully But thanksgiving be a part of it 7. 7 Publickly That it be as oft as occasion is offer'd Publick Enter into his Courts with Thanksgiving 2. The second part The Duty being set down reasons the Prophet sets down also to perswade to it The reasons for it drawn from the Nature of God 2. The benefits he bestows on us 1. First from his Essence Know ye if you know not so much already that the Lord he is God Vers. 3 Other gods there be talk'd on but none True but he 1 He is God Which shewed by his works of And therefore none to be serv'd but he 2. And this he shews himself to be by his work of Nature and Grace upon you 1. 1 Nature or Creation By his work of Nature for he is your Maker It is he that hath made us and not we our selves Parents are said to get chilcren but that ability is from God He makes the barren to bear and to be a joyful Mother of children Thou hast fashioned me in my mothers womb What saith Elkanah Am I in the place of God when his Wife was displeased she had no child 2. 2 Of Grace By his work of Grace For we were out of the fold but he call'd us into it and ever since accounted of us as his people of his pasture He governs us feeds us And that we be yet the more cheerful and ready to perform this duty in the last verse he puts us in mind of three Attributes of God His Mercy his Goodness his Truth for which he is worthy to be praised by us because we the better for them for be cause he is good he hath mercy upon us and because he is merciful 2 He is he promiseth us aid and assistance and because he is faithful and true he will perform it 1. Vers. 5 For the Lord is good O how good to those that are true of heart He is reconcil'd to us 1 A good God pardons our sin justifies us adopts us for his children and that freely without any merit of ours 2. His Mercy is everlasting He is the Father of Mercies 2 Merciful and begets Mercies as oft as we bring forth sins It is the Mercy of the Lord that we are not consumed 3. And his Truth endureth to all generations 3 Faithful For he never made promise but either he hath or will perform it God is not as man that he should lye The Prayer collected out of the one hundred Psalm O Omnipotent and holy God Vers. 1 the excellency and transcendency of thy Nature and those infinite benefits by thy favour conferr'd upon us exact at our hands that we appear in thy presence to celebrate thy name with joy and gladness and enter into thy Gates with thanksgiving and into thy Courts with praise But being conscious to our own unworthiness which ariseth from the thoughts of our manifold transgressions afraid we are that we dust and ashes sinful dust and ashes should take upon us to speak unto our Lord we tremble at thy presence and are ready to sink under thy displeasure If thou Lord should'st be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Remember yet we are thy creatures and the work of thy own hands Vers. 3 for thou hast made us and not we our selves Remember that when we were not a people worthy of love thou calledst us and madest us thy people when we were clean without the pale that wentest after us and broughtest us home to thy fold and madest us the sheep of thy pasture Give us grace then O thou great Shepherd of our souls that we may lament our unthankfulness and forgetfulness of these favours and the heinousness of our rebellions being removed be reconciled unto us and inable us that instead of a corrupt and impure life we may serve thée in righteousness and holiness all our dayes Of this we have yet some hope because thou art good Vers. 5 thy mercy is everlasting and thy truth endureth from generation to generation from thy goodness procéeds thy mercy and because thou art merciful thou hast made promises to penitent believing sinners and we are assured thou wilt perform them because thou art faithful and true O seal these promises to our disconsolate hearts by the graces of thy Holy Spirit Vers. 2 then we shall be bold to come into thy presence then will we enter into thy Gates with thanksgiving then we will be thankful unto thée and bless thy holy Name We will serve the Lord with gladness and make a joyful noyse to our Lord the God of Jacob for ever Amen Here ends the Third Book of the Psalms according to the Hebrews PSAL. CI. A Psalm of David Didascalicus DAVID being Anointed by Samuel to be King or as most conceive newly made King promiseth and vows to God to reign in Righteousness and Holiness In a word he would so govern Himself his Palace the Church the State that all wicked doers being taken away and all good men countenanc'd by him God should be honour'd and justice peace temperance piety flourish Two parts of the Psalm 1. The Syllabus or brief of the Psalm with the Dedication of it vers 1. 2. The full Explication of what he means by Mercy and Judgement and how practised 1. Toward himself For he shews what his life shall be from vers 2. to 5. 2. Toward ungodly men vers 4 5 7 8. and the end of it vers 8. 3. Toward all good men vers 6. These should be his Counsellors and Servants 1. The sum of the Psalm The first part He Summarily sets down what he will treat of in this Psalm viz. Mercy and Judgement the two great vertues of a King I will sing of mercy and judgement Ver. 1 1. Mercy Judgement which he really vowes Mercy in countenancing giving audience judging for and rewarding the good 2. Judgement in discountenancing punishing and being a terror to evil works and workers And that he would do this really not talk and seem to profess a great love to Mercy and Judgement as Princes use to do when they mean no such matter He makes a Solemn Vow to God to perform it Unto thee O Lord will I sing From thee proceed these gifts to thy honour they shall be referr'd and by me as in thy sight impartially executed This I Vow and Promise to thee 2. The
5 Reproach From the reproach of them who had been his friends but were now his enemies for a wicked man thinks himself reproached by a good mans honest conversation Wisd 5. Mine enemies reproach me all the day long and they are mad against me are sworn against me have conspited by an Oath to undo me 6. And that which made them so mad and sweâ—r was my repentance which I testified by ashes on my head 6 Sadness and tears in my eyes I have caten ashes like bread my dayly food and mingled my drink with weeping I drank tears with my wine that is I was fed with bitterness and sustain'd with tears which they derided And now behold the reason why every true penitent is thus humbled All these increased by the sense of Gods anger it is not for want nor yet for want of wit but it is out of a true sense of Gods anger which he hopes to pacifie by his sorrow and humiliation 1. Ver. 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath for my former sin 2. Which I collect thus Thou hast formerly lifted me up then sure I was in thy fovour but hast now cast me down whence I may well conclude that I am in disfavour with thee 3. And the effect plainly shews it For my dayes are as a shadow that declines and am withered like grace Become mortal flying fading from thy wrath raised by my own default 2. The second part He yet comforts himself in Gods promises Hitherto the Prophet hath petition'd and complain'd His case was lamentable yet he is notswallow'd up of sorrow Heart he begins to take and comfort he promiseth himself in the Eternity and Immutability of God and his love to his Church Hence he conceives hope of reconciliation and being moved by the Spirit of God foretells the restauration of Zion and Jerusalem and typically the state of Christs Church 1. To his Church on which he will have mercy and had when he restored them True I wither away as grass and so shall all Individual men But 1. Thou O Lord shalt endure for ever and therefore thy Church and promises to thy Church 2. And thy Remembrance from generation to generation The Covenant which thou hast made shall be remembred from father to son Ver. 13 till the worlds end 2. Thou seemest now to sleep But thou shalt arise 1. Thou shalt have mercy on Zion and save thy people 2. For the time to favour her yea the set time is come Literally the seventy years of the Captivity were neer expired Typically by the Spirit the Prophet foresaw and conceiv'd the Redemption of the Church in the future as a thing present And both he calls a time of favour for from the favour and mercy of God both proceeded 3. And this Consideration wrought a double effect This wrought a double effect 1. One upon Gods people for the present viz. an earnest desire to have it so Ver. 14 Earnest they were that Jerusalem should again be built the Church set up For thy servants take pleasure in her stones 1 A desire to have it so and favour the dust thereof Ver. 15 2. The other upon the Heathen 2 Another on the Heathen viz. Compassion Conversion So the Heathen shall fear thy name which began when Darius and Cyrus saw and acknowledged the Prophesies and obeyed them 2. And all the Kings of the earth thy glory which was truly fulfill'd in the conversion of Constantine c. to the Faith And he adds the cause why Kings and Nations should be so strangely converted because he had beyond all belief and expectation of man Ver. 16 so strangely delivered his people from Captivity and so miraculously set up his Kingdom in his Church This shall be done When or because the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in glory Before he cast his people into the grave as it were without any hope of life or restitution but when he shall bring them from thence he shall make his glory and honour manifest And that which moved him to it was the prayers of his people Ver. 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer Which effects followed on their prayer Of this mercy a Record to be kept Now lest the Jews should conceive that what was done for them did concern them only and not their Children or to speak more properly the whole people of God in all ages to come God would have a Record kept of it 1. This shall be written for the generation to come 2. And the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord Ver. 18 Cum viderint impleta quae praedicta And of this he assigns two reasons even the self-same set down at the 16. and 17. Verses 1. For be hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary Ver. 19 from the heaven did the Lord behold the earth 2. To hear the groans of the prisoners Ver. 20 to loose those that are appointed to death That the glory be returned to God Now this Mercy from God calls upon us for our Duty for the proper end of it was and the effect that it should work upon us is that we should be thankful Therefore he looked down therefore he heard the groans of the prisoners c. That being freed 1. They should declare the name of the Lord in Zion Ver. 21 and his praise in Jerusalem 2. And this praise should be compleated Ver. 22 When the people are gathered simul or in unum united together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. The Gentiles join with the Jews in it And here methinks I hear the Prophet breaking off his comfort The Prophet laments he shal not live to see it and breaking out in the midst of his prophecy with Balaam As if he had said I am assured all this shall come to pass and be done for Gods people but alas who shall live when God doth this Whosoever shall I shall not certainly For he weakned my strength in the way and hath shortned my dayes Ver. 23 Yet my desire is it might be otherwise Yet he desires he might and in this my desire is but the same with many Kings and Prophets that have gone before me all which long and desired to see the flourishing estate of the Church under the Messiah and therefore Ver. 24 I said O my God take me not away in the midst of my age But suffer me to draw out my life to see that that all good men have aspired to see to wit that I may behold Christ promised in the flesh and be a partaker of the glory of his Kingdom Which Petition And presseth that he might Perswading God to it upon 24. The consideration of Gods eternity and immutability that it might be the easier granted he presseth it by a Collation of Gods Eternity and Immutability with his own life As if he should say Spare me
return daily to God for his good things he freely bestowes on us and how many good things he returns to us daily notwithstanding the evil we return him and we shall easily understand how great is the goodness of God That retributes good for evil and makes his Sun to shine on the just and unjust Luke 6. And Beneficia they are to us for we are the better for them The second part Which now he beginâ— by an 〈◊〉 to number the Benefits 1. Done to himself 2. At the third verse the Prophet begins his Declaration and by an Induction of particulars reckons up the benefits and that in this order 1. Those done to himself in which yet he excludes not others as if they might not share with him 2. Done to the whole Church But of the first he had a true sense and experience what others felt he could not say Now these benefits to himself were either spiritual or temporal 1. Ver. 3 The first spiritual Benefit was Justification or Remission of sin by which of an unjust man Spiritual as 1. Justification he made him just of an enemy a friend of a slave a son Bless God who forgiveth all thine iniquities freely forgives thy Debt or unjust Actions although many All everyone Original and Actual 2. 2 Regeneration The second Benefit is Regeneration by which the Power of Concupiscence that dwells in us is daily weakned and subdued though not wholly abolished The full cure must be expected in the life to come but such a cure is done upon us in this life That it shall not reign in our mortal bodies and we obey it in the lusts thereof And of this cure in himself David was sensible and therefore he saith Who heals all thy diseases or infirmities is daily cutting away and snubbing these roots of sin 3. Ver. 4 The third Benefit is Redemption Who redeemeth thy life from destruction 3 Redemption from the Pit from the Grave from Death and that which followeth it eternal Destruction 4. 4 Glorification all out of mercy The fourth Benefit Glorification Who Crowneth thee gives a Crown of Glory and the cause of this and the other Benefits be conceals not it is with or out of loving-kindness and tender mercies ex visceribus miserecordiae Neither is he behind with thee for temporal Benefits for however Bellarmine refers these and the following words to the felicity of the Soul 2 Temporal and immortality of the Body in the life to come which I dislike not in the Anagogical sense yet I conceive the Literal sense of the words may properly be referred to this present life in which God feeds and nourisheth our Bodies and supplies what is necessary for Food and Rayment and also conserves us in this life and gives us health and strength Ver. 5 both which the Prophet teacheth us in the following words 1. 1 Abundance Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things He gives not sparingly and with a Niggards hand but gives abundantly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6. He satisfieth and good things they are till we abuse them 2. 2 Long life and health So that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles An Eagle is a youthful and lusty Bird in her old age and of long life and this often God grants to many of his that they be long-liv'd healthful and lively active and vigorous old men as to Moses Joshua Job which if it happen it is a Gift of God 2. 2 Benefits to the whole Church As man is to pray so also is he bound to bless God for the good that befalls his Neighbour which course David here takes for he blesseth God not only for the Benefits of God bestowed upon himself but such as were common and did belong to the whole Church and in two he gives his instance The first is the defence of his people and deliverance of all that are oppressed The second is the Manifestation of his Will by his Servants the Pen-men of Scripture to them 1. 1 Deliverance Most just God is to his and good in punishing their Adversaries The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed with wrong Ver. 6 which is a new Benefit Two Alms he distributes 1. A righteous portion to his servants 2. Judgment and a just revenge to his enemies to all that are oppressed with wrong The Israelites were preserved in Aegypt but Pharaoh plagued 2. 2 Manifestation of his Will Most kind in making known his Will which had he not declared to his servants Ver. 7 we had never known it It must then be acknowledg'd for another favour That he made known his Wayes to Moses his Acts unto the children of Israel And here the Prophet interserts four Epithers or Attributes of God Both the Benefits bestowed because God is which declares unto us the true cause of all the former and following favours The Lord is Merciful and Gracious flow to anger and plenteous in mercy 1. Ver. 8 Merciful Rachum because he bears a pateâ—nal Affection to pious men 2. Gracious Channum the Giver of Grace and Benefits For he that loves with a fatherly Affection will give 3. Slow to anger Not easily drawn to strike he will bear long and much as a Father before he punish 4. Plenteous in mercies When he does us good being moved by no merit of our's Of all which Attributes the Prophet shewes the effects and applies them singula singulis in the following verses 1. He is merciful bears a paternal Affection to his Children 1 Merciful He will not alwayes chide neither keep his anger for ever Ver. 9 Angry he will be with his Children when they are untoward yea and chastise them too For every father chastises the son that he loves But his anger shall not last long for in his heart there remains the love of a Father from whence the stripes proceed 2. He is gracious Ver. 10 and therefore out of meer Grace he will give us a Pardon For if he should deal with us according to our deserts 2 Gracious who could abide it Psal 130. For what doth a sinner deserve but death Rom. 6. Whereas he forgives us and gives us Life Grace Glory and therefore we may truly say with David here He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Ver. 11 This Grace and Favour the Prophet amplifies by two Comparisons 1. The first is the distance of the Heaven from Earth which from the Center to the highest Orb is of an immense Altitude Yet look As high as the Heaven is above the Earth so great is his mercy toward them that fear him 2. The second is the distance of the East from the West which is of an immense Longitude and yet look Ver. 12 As far as the East is from the West so far hath he set our sins from us Let the sin be of what extent it will it is
which they judge of all their Actions and so keep faith and a good conscience 3. They do righteousness at all times Alwayes they approve and do what is right true and just condemn hate and punish what is unjust these then are fit to praise God with their tongues because they praise him in their lives 2. After the Prophet had invited to the praise of God The second part and shewed who were fit to do it he falls upon his Petition which he proposeth in his own person for the whole Church in the two following verses He prayes for himself 1. Remember me Vulg. Nostri Me but not me alone rather thy whole Church By what we suffer Ver. 4 Thou hast seemed to forget thy Covenant and Promise but now call it to mind again 2. Which I expect not yet for any desert of mine but meerly out of thy good-will Remember me with the favour thou bearest to thy people 3. O visit me but yet not in wrath for such a visitation there is but in mercy and grace 4. With thy Salvation Save me at this time from my sins and from my present calamities And to this end I desire thy Favour thy gracious Visitation thy Salvation With the Church who are 1. That I may see the good of thy Chosen Be a partaker of and in their happiness 2. Ver. 5 That I may rejoyce in the gladness of the Nation Partake in the joy of the Nation which is the consequent of happiness 3. That I may glory with thine inheritance Glorifie thee with them and glory in thy Salvation But observe here the three eminent Titles given to Gods Church by which is set forth their happy condition 1. 1 Gods chosen First They are Electi a chosen people which is a glorious and a gracious Title and intimates being coupled to Beneplacitum Favour in the former verse that it proceeded not out of merit or fore-seen works but out of free-grace and meer love He chose whom he pleased and this foundation remains sure God knowes who are his 2. 2 His Nation They are his Nation his peculiar people chosen out of all other people brought to be of his Houshold and Family that they might be partakers of his Salvation for which they were to worship and praise him 3. 3 His heritage They are his inheritance Fallen to him and given to his son as the reward of his Passion In these two fore-going verses we find the happy condition of Gods people their Predestination in his favour good-will and election their Justification in his Salvation their Glorification in the Vision of Gods face where they are to rejoyce in the gladness of his people and glory with his inheritance 3. The third part To move God to mercy In the following part of the Psalm from ver 7. to 46. he makes use of a new Argument to move God to mercy He presents not the present condition the people of God were in not their captivity miseries afflictions but ingenuously confesseth how they had offended God and how justly they suffered for which being penitent he hopes for pardon He knew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. and therefore he begins with that 1. We have sinn'd with our fathers trode in their steps and fill'd up the measure of their sins He confesseth their sins and aggravates them 2. We have committed iniquity not only upon infirmity but upon malice and choice 3. We have done wickedly the intent and purpose in it was evil And by these three steps he exaggerates the sin the act the frequency the intent As every true Confessionist to God ought never to extenuate but to aggravate the offence against himself And because he had mentioned their fathers at large Enumerates their rebellions now he instanceth in their Rebellions they began betime not yet gone out of Aegypt but they murmured and rebelled Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Aegypt Ver. 7 That is laid not to heart 1. At the red Sea They remembred not the multitude of thy mercies but provoked him at the Sea even at the red Sea When they saw Pharaohs Army on one side and the Sea on the other they grew heartless diffident and murmured as is apparent Exod. 14.10 11 12. 2. This was their sin at that time But not Obstante God was then merciful to them Ver. 8 Nevertheless he saved them of which he assigns two causes When yet in mercy God saved them for his glory 1. For his Names sake To advance his glory his honour It was not for any worth or desert that was in them but that he might make it known that he was a God true in his Promises 2. That he might make his mighty power to be known Pharaoh and the Egyptians might have taken notice of it by the plagues he had already upon them but it seems they contemned and laugh'd at it Now therefore they should know his power to their utter ruine And in the following verses by a distribution he shewes the manner of their deliverance 1. By Gods rebuke and drying up of the Sea He rebuked the red Sea also Ver. 9 and it was dryed up 2. By the unheard of way he led them so he led them through the depths as through the Wilderness no more water there to offend them than in the sands of Arabia 3. By the Consequent of it And he saved them from the hand of him i. e. Pharaoh that hated them and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy 4. And the waters covered their enemies there was not one of them left The effect was that for the present The effects on them for the present 1. It extorted will they nill they from them a confession that God was true in his promises Then believed they his words 2. It incited them to praise him They sang his praise 1 Faith and the Song is extant Exod. 15. 2 Praise 2. This was their first Rebellion which begot in them belief and thanks 2 But they rebelled again which the Prophet interserted not to commend their piety or to extenuate their sin and ingratitude but rather to aggravate both For these very men that were forced to confess his power and sing his praise for the overthrow of Pharaoh in the red Sea were scarce departed from those Banks but they for want of a little bread and water grew as impatient and distrustful as they were before and this was their second Rebellion Exod. 15.22 c. 1. Festinaverunt obliti sunt They made haste to forget Or They soon forgot which aggravates their sin Ver. 13 2. They forgat his Omnipotence his Providence And forgat him quickly as if they had not had but now a sufficient proof of both 3. They waited not for his Counsel Murmured with patience they expected not the end why God in his Wisdom and Counsel suffer'd them now to want which was to prove their
Psalm with an Epiphonema in which he perswades all good men to consider the former Premises and lay it to heart To observe the whole course of Gods Providence that they impute not the Changes of the World to Chance and Fortune nor be overmuch dejected at them but rather bless God for all as Job did 1. The righteous shall see it Consider and seriously meditate upon it 2. And rejoyce when they are assured that God is their Guardian and that therefore the Crosses which he layes upon them are trials for their good not for their ruine 3. And all iniquity shall stop her mouth By observation of the event at last evil doers shall not have occasion to laugh and blaspheme and find fault with Gods wayes but confess That all was by God justly done and wisely disposed But this is a Consideration not for every brain 't is for wise men that look afar off and think on it 1. Who is so wise will observe these things That is vicissitudes and changes of this World 2. And they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord It shall appear unto them at last how ineffable his mercy is toward them which truly fear him and call upon his Name but our life is hid with Christ in God The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and seventh Psalm O Omnipotent God when we look upon the strange vicissitudes and alterations of the things of this World our faith would waver and our hearts would faint were we not assured that all things are guided by thy hand and over-ruled by thy Providence and secret Will and Counsel Ver. 1 Who art good and whose mercy endures for ever Be it then that we are brought to wander in the Wilderness in a solitary way that we be pilgrims and strangers and have no City to dwell in that we are oppress'd with hunger and dryed up with thirst so that our soul is ready to faint within us yet will we not despair In our trouble to thée will we cry to thée will we make our moan nothing doubting but that if it shall be for thy glory and our good Thou wilt deal by us as thou hast done formerly with thy servants them thou hast deliver'd from their distresses those thou hast led forth by the right way and brought to dwell in their own Cities and Habitations Thou hast satisfied their longing souls and filled their hungry souls with good things which since thou art good and thy mercy endureth for ever we are in good hope Thou wilt do for us Redéem O Lord thy banished and bring them home So shall we praise thee for thy goodness and declare thy wonderful works which thou dost for the Children of men Long it is O merciful God That we have sate in darkness Ver. 10 and in the shadow of death our back is bowed down with many iron hands that we cannot lift up our head our heart is brought low through affliction and we find none to help and all this is justly come upon us because we have rebelled against the words of our God and contemned the Counsel of the most High We have not done thy Will nor kept thy Commandments but have set up abominations and have multiplied offences But now O Lord in our trouble we cry unto thée we how the knées of our hearts beséeching thée of grace forgive forgive O Lord and destroy us not with our iniquities Save us Lord from our distresses bring us out of this darkness and shadow of death and break our Bands asunder break these gates of Brass and cut asunder these Bands of Iron so shall we thy redeemed praise thee O Lord for thy goodness all the dayes of our lives and declare the wonderful works which thou dost for the children of men O Lord I confess against mine own soul that I have béen seduced and pielded to many foolish lusts of the flesh Ver. 17 and because of this my iniquity and transgression I am justly afflicted and séel no whole part in my body that thou shouldst lengthen out my dayes any farther I sée no hope my disease is so grievous That my soul abhorreth all manner of meat and my vital spirits so far spent That I am drawing to the gates of death To whom O Lord should I flie but to thée To whom should I cry in this my trouble but to thée O God be merciful to thy servant and press me not beyond my strength save me out of my distress send out thy Word and heal me and deliver me from destructions O let not thy fierce anger go beyond a fatherly correction and in judgment remember thy mercy that endures for ever So shall I whom Thou hast redeemed from the jawes of death praise thee my God for thy goodness and for thy wonderful works to the children of men I will sacrifice the Sacrifices of Thanksgiving and declare thy works with rejoycing O Lord our Vocation calls upon us to go down to the Sea in Ships and to negotiate Ver. 23 and do our business in great waters where we see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep At thy Command the stormy wind ariseth and the waves of the Sea are lifted up Tossed we are and mount up to Heaven and by and by we go down to the bottom of the Sea so that there we dwell in the shadow of death and our soul is melted and faints because of the present trouble we reel too and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at our wits end for our wisdom and our skill then fails us our sole refuge is in our prayers In this instant of our trouble as thou hast commanded We cry unto thee look down upon thy servants who in the abyss of the Seas and the abyss of our trouble invocate the abyss of thy mercies bring us out of these distresses Thou which didst command the winds and rebuke the Seas and they obeyed thée Make the storm a calm Rebuke the furious winds and waves and still them by thy power make us glad by rescuing us from the present danger and quietly bring us to the desired Haven So will we praise thee O Lord for thy goodness and for thy wonderful works to the children of men And when we come to land We will exalt thy Name in the Congregation of thy people and praise thee in the Assembly of the Elders O Lord we set our minds too much upon earthly things and attribute too much to Nature and second Causes whereas all the power that is in the Creature is from thée and that restraint that is upon the Creature procéeds from thée Remove from our hearts this heavy and gross ignorance and impiety and make us know and acknowledge that it is thy hand That turns Rivers into a Wilderness and a land water'd with pleasant Springs into a dry ground by which a fruitful land becomes barren But in this change thy Iustice O Lord is exalted by this thou shewest
And he backs his Petition with a strong Reason drawn from the final cause Help me save me that they may know that this is thy hand that thou Lord hast done it That all men especially the Jewes may know by my rising again in despite of their watch and seal that it was not their malice nor power that brought me to this ignominious death but the whole matter my Passion suffering and death proceeded from thy hand Acts 2.23 cap. 3.18 And by his Resurrection he was declared to be the Son of God Rom. 1.4 And in the close of his prayer His vote he sings as it were a Triumph over all his enemies the Devil Judas the Jewes those great enemies to him and his Church over them he insults in a bitter Epitrope 1. Let them curse speak evil of me call me a deceiver blaspheme me as the Jewes do in a solemn manner to this day 1 That God bless him let them esteem my followers as the off-scouring and out-casts of the World 2. 2 That the Jewes be confounded But bless thou So thou return me good for their cursing 2 Sam. 16.12 And not only to me in glorifying me and setting me on his right hand but for my sake bless all Nations that by faith in Baptism shall give up their names to me 3. When they arise For 1. Arise they will plot endeavour and oppose all they can both by force and fraud the establishment of my Kingdom 2. But let them be ashamed confounded and astonished that all their attempts are frustrate 4. 3 That he rejoyce But let thy servant for Christ took upon him the name and condition of a servant rejoyce not only that they are saved and their enemies confounded but because thy Name is thereby glorified And he continues his Imprecation But his adversaries cloathed with shame and comes over it again by way of Expolition Let my Adversaries be cloathed with shame and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a Mantle Confounded at the last day for their ingratitude foolishness and malice before men and Angels and wrapp'd about with it as veste talari as with a Robe or a lined Mantle that comes about and covers every part of the body 4. And at last he closeth all with thanks which he opposeth to the confusion of the wicked The fourth part For which he would praise God publickly they for amazement and astonishment of heart shall be struck dumb as the man without the wedding garment but 1. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth with great affection with a â—great Jubilee 2. Ver. 30 And that not closely among private Walls but in open Theater of the whole World yea I will praise him among the multitude Of which praise he renders this reason 1. He shall stand at the right hand of the poor i. e. such poor who are poor in spirit God will defend and save his people meek and humble and being conscious of their own wants and lack of strength are alwayes begging and beating at the door of God who is rich in mercy at the right hand of such a poor man he will stand as a Sword and Buckler to keep off every blow aimed at him for so it followes 2. I will stand at the right hand of the poor to save him from those that condemn his soul from the Devil and all his instruments Christ is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to his Church and he hath blotted out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us and nail'd it to the Cross Col. 2.14 So that cùm à mundo damnamur à Christo absolvimur Tertull. The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and ninth Psalm O Almighty Merciful and Gracious Father Ver. 1 Thou art the God of whom we make our boast all the day long and desire to magnifie and praise all our life long who art alone the Witness of the honesty and integrity of our hearts hold not thy peace in this néedful time of trouble but be our Advocate and plead our cause against the wicked and deceitful men the enemies of thy Church and Oppressors of thy Truth and people It is not Lord Ver. 2 unknown to thée That the mouths of these wicked and false-hearted hypocrites are opened against thée our Religion and Profession It is not unknown unto thée That they not only load us with lies and blasphemies but that forgetful of all humanity and piety They have compassed us about with words of hatred Ver. 3 They hate and malice us and what foul aspersions their malice could invent those they have cast upon us But with this their malice was not satisfied for from words they came to blowes our blood have they shed like water by the fury of War and defiled their hands with the slaughter of innocents our Mothers Children have risen and sought against us without a cause For what cause have we given them except it were that in charity we would have taught and informed them in the Truth and continued them in the bosom of thy Church What cause except it were that we prayed for them Father forgive them for they know not what they do Ver. 4 but such is their ingratitude That for our love they are become our Adversaries they have rewarded us evil for good and hatred for our love And for our good-will Ver. 5 repay us with oppression and make use of their power and lay hold of the time put into their hands to destroy waste and root out thy inheritance As for us we have no means to resist their fury no power to oppose against their rage but our prayers and tears and therefore we will give our selves to prayer and first pray for them Lord lay not this sin to their charge Or if they shall persist and go on in their wickedness against them as thou hast taught us in this Psalm O Lord the Curses are bitter the Execrations are fearful and we know of what spirit we are we shall then leave it to thy Iustice to execute them as on whom and when thou shalt think fit not looking so much what these men of a reprobate mind have deserved as what is our Duty taught and enjoyned by thée To love our enemies to bless them that curse us to do good to them that hate us to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us Afraid we are lest we indulge too much to our humane affections of self-love anger hatred and impatience even in using this Form that thou hast taught and therefore we will forbear to curse them and sollicite for our selves Conscious we are to our selves that we have not lived a life worthy of thy Truth and Gospel revealed unto us which is the just cause that at this time Ver. 21 in thy worship there remains almost nothing which is not corrupted with Novelty and polluted with falshood But O merciful God give us true contrition
delivered over our souls to death this encourageth us yet to rely upon thée Ver. 8 and to trust to thée and we know It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in man It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in Princes Ver. 14 For some would but cannot some can but will not help but thou art a God of power and if thou wilt Thou canst become our salvation and we believe thou wilt because thou hast spared us hitherto and hast not given us over to death Save now we beseech thee O Lord O Lord we beseech thee send us now prosperity Be our strength that we may resist and be our salvation that in thy Name we may destroy them that compass us about Let the voyce of rejoycing and salvation be once more in the Tabernacles of the righteous and let this be their song The right hand of the Lord doth valiantly The right hand of the Lord is exalted The right hand of the Lord doth valiantly We have béen froward and stubborn children and for this the doors of thy house have béen shut against us in mercy O Lord open unto us once more the gates of righteousness Ver. 19 that we may go into them and praise the Lord That hath befallen to us Ver. 22 which befel our Head thy dear Son our Lord and Saviour He was the Head-stone of the corner and yet the chief builders refused him and cast him aside but thou didst not forsake him in this contempt and low condition Thou call'ost for him again and gavest him a Name above every name This was the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes Look down now O Lord from thy Mercy-seat behold how the living stones in thy building are refused and cast aside call for them again and set them in their places and do it in such a way that the whole World may say This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name give the praise In the day of thy power thy people shall offer thée free-will offerings they shall appear in the beauty of holiness and sing This is the day that the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it God is the Lord that hath shewed us light The Priests then shall bless thy people as they ought out of thy house Ver. 1 and every one of thy people shall sing with a loud voyce and with his whole â—eart Thou art my God and I will praise thee Thou art my God and I will exalt thee How joyful will be the melody of the whole Assembly as the Seraphims crying one to another O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good because his mercy endureth for ever Let Israel now say that his mercy endureth for ever Let the house of Aaron now say that his mercy endureth for ever Let them all now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth for ever It is his mercy that we were not consumed and his méer mercy that hath brought us together again into his house to offer unto him this Sacrifice of Thanksgiving in the Name of Iesus Christ our Lord Amen PSAL. CXIX Est mixti generis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 AS this Psalm is the longest of all the rest so it is of most use because it teacheth us in what true happiness doth consist and by what means it may be obtained to wit in the keeping of Gods Commandments 1. To these David shewes a singular affection because there is not any one verse except the 122. in which he makes not mention of Gods Word under some of these names Law Statutes Precepts Testimonies Commandments Promises Wayes Word Judgments Name Righteousness Trâ—th 2. What he writes of them he desires no doubt to be committed to memory and to help us in that he hath divided the whole into twenty two Sections and comprized every Section in eight verses and every verse in the Hebrew of each Section begins with that letter with whith the Section is intituled as if it begins with Aleph then Aleph begins every verse if with Beth with Beth and so in all the rest for which this Psalm may be called the A. B. C. of godliness 3. Any other method of this Psalm cannot well be laid only we may say that every verse in it either contains 1. A Commendation of Gods Word from some excellent quality in it 2. Promises to those that keep it 3. Threatnings against them that keep it not 4. A prayer of David for grace to confirm him in the observation of it 5. Protestations of his unfeigned affection toward it The meaning of those Synonyma'es used in this Psalm under which the Commandments of God are signified which are ten 1. The Law because it is the Rule of our actions Torah Gods Doctrine 2. Statutes because in them is set down what God would have us do 3. Precepts because God as the great Law-giver prescribes the Rule for us 4. Commandments because God layes his Commands upon us for their observation 5. Testimonies because they witness his Will to us and his Good-will if observed by us 6. Judgments because they pronounce Gods judgment of our words works thoughts 7. His Word because they proceeded from his mouth 8. The wayes of God because they shew the way that God would have us walk 9. His Righteousness because they contain an exact righteousness and justice in them 10. Promises because they have the promises of life if kept PSAL. CXIX ALEPH. IN this first Octonary The Contents the Prophet commends to us the Law of God and perswades to the practice of it by two Arguments The first is happiness ver 1 2. The second is the excellency of the Law-giver ver 4. 2. He shewes his affection to this Law desiring grace to keep it ver 5. upon which he knew there would follow a double effect 1. Peace in Conscience He should not be ashamed and confounded ver 6. David perswades to obedience 2. Thankfulness to God for his teaching ver 7. 3. He acquaints us with his Resolution if God should assist him ver 8. Blessed are they who are undefiled in the way Ver. 1 who walk in the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his Testimonies Ver. 2 and seek him with their whole heart They also do no iniquity they walk in his wayes 1. The first argument Blessedness The first Argument the Prophet useth to perswade men to obedience is Blessedness which is so true that godliness hath the promise of this life and that which is to come eternal and temporal felicity depend upon it He then that would be happy must be obedient and his obedience if true may be thus discerned 1. Ver. 1 He must be undefiled in the way Via is vita and he must keep himself as much as may be from the dirt and filth of sin To
to God to remove them 1. Ver. 1 The first impediment was a dead soul and a dull heart and therefore he prayes for restitution of grace 1 A dead heart of which he had lost the sense by his sin Ver. 2 Deal bounntifully with thy servant that I may live again the life of grace and keep thy Word 2. 2 Blindness of understanding The second impediment was the blindness of his understanding and the vail upon his heart the perturbations and passions of his soul love fear desire anger with which being disquieted he could not judge aright and therefore he prayes Open my eyes that I may see the wonders the wonderful equity wisdom and profit of thy Law 3. The third impediment was his present condition he was but yet Viator Ver. 3 a Traveller in his way to Heaven and knew not well the way he might mistake it 3 Our imperfect state and therefore he prayes I am a stranger upon earth I am regenerate but in part and know the way but in part therefore hide not thou tâ—y Commandments from me It must be conceived that David was not such a stranger in Israel that he knew not the two Tables that then he craves is That God by the power of his Spirit would teach him the use the necessity the profit the obedience of these Commandments Ver. 4 4. The fourth impediment was his infirmity and imperfections 4 And will or affections He found his desires to be too often cool'd he would and he would not he desired and he did not desire not so heartily as he should which made his obedience imperfect and the effect not to follow and therefore he manifests here a stronger desire against that imperfection My soul breaks for the longing it hath to thy judgments at all times As if he had said help me that I may perfectly and ardently desire and that my desire may be brought to act for my soul breaks is contrite and vexed that it is not so 5. A fifth impediment is pride of heart Ver. 5 that suffers not men to submit their necks to the yoke of Gods Law 5 Pride of heart which impediment David doth not acknowledge in himself but yet useth it for an Argument that he be obedient because God hates and curseth them who out of pride and contempt violate his Law Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed which do erre from thy Commandments None with a high hand breaks them that escapes unpunished not Lucifer nor Adam 6. A sixth impediment was 6 Scoffs and scorns from the profane the mocks and scorns that were put upon him by Saul and his Courtiers which he expresseth in the seventh verse which because they might be a great disheartning to him Ver. 6 therefore he first prayes Against all these he prayes 1. Remove from me reproach and contempt which is a grievous temptation to a generous spirit and therefore he desires of God to clear his innocency adding this Reason For I have kept thy Testimonies I cannot be then that seditious rebellious person that troubler of Israel I am presented to be 2. And yet Princes did sit and speak against me Saul Abner Ver. 7 Achitophel Doeg sate in their Councels at their Feasts and laid to my charge things that I knew not It is a hard tentation when the godly are troubled by any wicked man but much harder when troubled by men in honour and authority But yet David so assaulted by their tongues And shews his constancy in his obedience and delight in Gods Word keeps still close with God But thy servant did meditate in thy statutes He renders not reproach for reproach nor contempt for contempt this impediment hinder'd him not to obey God 3. About which he explains himself farther Ver. 8 shewing the fruit he reaps by it 1. Thy Testimonies also are my delight In Adversity a Consolation 2. And my Counsellors In my doubts very faithful friends Saul hath his Councel and I have mine he his Nobles but I no other of my Councel but the Commandments of God from which I receive pleasure to refresh me and Councel to govern me and all my Affairs and Business The Prayer O Lord many are the impediments that are cast in our way Ver. 1 that hinder us from doing our duty to thée our souls are dull and heavy O quicken them our understandings are dark and blind O enlighten them we are strangers on earth and know not the way to Heaven O direct us and hide not thy Commandments from us Desires we have to do thy Will but they are cold and imperfect this we lament and grieve for it breaks our heart that they are not more fervent fix and heighten these that we may have a longing desire to thy judgments at all times These discouragements we find within but we are not without hindrances from without accursed proud men that do erre from thy Commandments are become our enemies and Princes also did sit and speak against us because we have kept thy testimonies O remove from us that shame and contempt they go about to cast upon us for thy sake However we will resolve to be thy servants we will keep thy testimonies and meditate in thy statutes Thy Testimonies shall be our delight and refreshment in all our adversities and thy statutes our Counsellors in all our doubts To thée alone we will repair for comfort and counsel in all our perplexities and ask it in the Name of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen 4. DALETH DAVID in this Octonary The Contents first sets down the state of an imperfect man secondly confesseth it thirdly asks grace and mercy fourthly which being granted professeth what he would do 1. David complains of his imperfection David confesseth his imperfection and petitions for grace 1. He complains My soul cleaveth to the dust Whereas he should have set his affections on things above Ver. 1 he was over-much press'd with earthly cogitations 2. And prayes for grace to quicken him Then prayes Quicken thou me according to thy Word Give me a life according to thy Law by cleaving to the earth I am earthly by cleaving to the flesh I am carnal but if I shall live according to thy Law which is spiritual I shall cleave unto God and become one Spirit with him Now the godly esteem of life not according to that they have in body but in soul when they want a heavenly disposition to spiritual things they lament over it as a dead soul and therefore pray quicken me 2. 2 Again he confesseth them David goes on in confession of his imperfections and petitions for grace 1. Ver. 2 I have declared my wayes heretofore shewed unto thee my wandrings wants doubts griefs I have not been ashamed to open them all and declare them I have hid nothing 2. And thou heardst me sparedst me and forgavest me out of meer mercy And prayes again for grace 3. Do
the like now and being reconciled to me Teach me thy statutes give me light and grace to direct my wayes These two ought to be sought together mercy and grace mercy for remission and grace for renovation 3. In which prayer he proceeds David desires to proceed in the wayes of God and therefore he continues his prayer for farther grace and illumination 1. Ver. 3 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts Where the mind is darkned the heart can never be rightly ordered therefore he prayes more instantly and diligently for the light of his mind Teach me then how I shall walk in thy Law 2. He that asks good things of God should ask them for a good end so doth David Make me to understand so shall I talk of thy wondrous works Taught in thy School I shall talk how wonderful are thy Lawes Diliges Deum proximum c. Or that thy works of Creation Providence Redemption c. are marvellous 4. And again he returns to speak of his imperfection and infirmity Ver. 4 and asks mercy Shewes his weakness 1. My soul melts for heaviness as a thing melts and consumes by distillation till nothing be left so the life and strength of his soul was decaying by grief and tediousness of his spiritual Combate within the flesh lusting against the Spirit 2. Therefore he prayes for strength Desires strength Strengthen thou me according to thy Word Add the heat of grace as thou hast promised and confirm me in this agony and keep me from falling which he more clearly begs in the next verse 3. Remove from me the way of lying Ver. 5 1. Bring to pass by thy grace And power to avoid sin that I may far depart from every evil way to which in my heaviness I leaned too much 2. And grant me thy Law graciously Which granted the effects would be Not so much the Book of the Law as the matter of it printed in my heart that may abolish the Law of corruption vanity and sin which I shall account a gift graciously bestowed on me 5. Thus by prayer having obtained grace and mercy he tells us what the effects of it were in him which were three Election of Adhesion to and continuance in the way of truth 1. I have chosen the way of truth and thy judgments have I laid before me In my infirmity I was apt to go the way of lying but now raised by grace 1 Election of I have chosen the way of truth i. e. the way of thy Commandments 2. I have cleaved to thy Testimonies In my imperfect state my â—oul cleaved to the dust but now having obtained mercy 2 Adhesion to I have stuck unto thy Testimonies 3. Before my soul melted away for heaviness but now I will run the way of thy Commandments expeditely chearfully with delight 2. 3 Continuance in the way of truth When or since thou hast enlarged my heart and set it free to run by thy Spirit of grace which hath made my yoke easie and my burden light The Prayer O Lord with shame of face I must néeds confess Ver. 1 that my soul hath cleaved too much to the dust my affections being set on things on the earth and not on things above my wandrings are many my failings innumerable my soul even dead to spiritual things O quicken me by thy grace and revive me by thy mercy according to thy Word and reach me thy statutes Englighten my mind and make me to understand the way of thy precepts and strengthen me in thy Word that I slip and fall no more nor no more adhere to the World and my carnal desires Enrich and beautifie my soul with thy grace and so for the way of lying I shall cleave to the way of truth as my soul hath cleaved to the dust so shall it stick to thy Testimonies and as in the Combate betwixt the flesh and the Spirit I yielded to the flesh so now I will chearfully and readily run the way of thy Commandments and so shew my self thankful for thy grace that hath set my heart at liberty for the merits of Iesus Christ my Lord. Amen 5. H E. THIS Octostich is wholly precatory The Contents 1. In which he prayes first for illumination in Gods Law and desires it may be practical 2. That God would remove the impediments which may hinder him in doing his duty He prayes for illumination and desires it be practical 1. His first Petition is Teach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes and I shall keep it to the end 2. Ver. 1 Give me understanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall keep it with my whole heart In these two verses the Prophet asks 1. Institution and illumination in the Word Teach me give me understanding 2. Shewes us to what end he asks it That he may keep the Law he desires that his knowledge may be not only speculative but practical 3. Promiseth perseverance sincerity And for it he promiseth perseverance and sincerity he would be not Temporizer nor Hypocrite 1. No Temporizer For I shall keep it to the end 2. No Hypocrite For I shall keep it with my whole heart He would avoid those two Vices which are the bane of all true obedience Hypocrisie and Inconstancy 2. 2 He prayes for a good will As before he craves light to his mind so in this verse he craves grace for his heart it is Gods Spirit that works the will and the deed And therefore he desires the governance and direction of his Spirit without which he should be nor sincere nor constant for he would ever and anon be too apt redere ad ingenium and therefore he begs 1. Ver. 3 Make me to go lead me direct me Naturally man is ignorant of the way to eternal life and if he have any light of knowledge he is too apt to be msicarried and wander from it whence David prayes that God would be his Guide and that he be not left to himself for it was a narrow strait way a path he was to go in 2. That he may go in Gods way which is a path or strait way Make me to go in the path of thy Commandments 1. A path is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vita trita the old way and not any new track he would go in that way the servants of God walked before him 2. A path is a way out of the common Road nor Beasts nor Horse nor Cart go in it 't is a way for men he would then go the way of reasonable men not the bestial way of the world and flesh 3. A path is narrow short right clean way the High-way is a broad longer crooked foul way this way he declines because it leads to Hell and desires to go that one clean strait short way of Gods Commandments 3. His affection to it Which Petition that it may be the easilier granted he shewes his
3. For they are accursed and cut off from ver 4. to 8. 1. The first part God puts into the mouth of his people what they may comfortably say to their enemies The indefatigable malice of the enemies of the Church even in their greatest extremities when their malice is at the highest 1. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth may Israel now say Ver. 1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth In which observe Ver. 2 1. Her afflictions many c. That afflictions do attend Israel and must be expected by all that will live righteously in Christ Jesus 2. That these afflictions are many for sape Many a time have they afflicted me 3. That this affliction began with the Church even from the righteous Abel and hath continued ever since the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs felt it It is from my youth 4. This affliction was a fore affliction which the Prophet by an elegant Metaphor illustrates Ver. 3 of a Plow and Plowers and Furrows drawn out at length The Ploâ—â—â—s plowed upon my back and made long Furrowes They dealt unmercifully with me as the Husbandman doth with his ground tears it up with his share and spares not the green gundon till be hath turn'd it all up 2. The second part But all this their malice all their fighting is to no purpose oppugnâ—runt non expugnaruâ—â— 1. They prevail not Yet they have not prevailed against us they have not prevailed to extinguish the Church Ver. 2 prevailed they have to reduce hâ—r to a low and sad condition but they have not destroyed her nor never shall for the gates of hell shall not prevail against her â—â—â—rabit ut palma 2. The Reason is The Lord is righteous A righteous a good a just Lord and out of his Justice he protects all those that he hath under his Tuition and punisheth their Adversaries Ver. 4 3. For God delivers her For this righteous Lord hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked hath cut asunder their Tacklings Chains Repes with which they plowed and made their Furrowes He hath delivered Israel from their oppressors 3. The third part In the following verses to the end the Prophet either by way of inâ—â—â—â—â—ion or prediction And takes revenge on her enemies sets down the vengeance that God would bring upon the enâ—mies of his Church for their malice which hath three degrees 1. Ver. 5 The first of which is That they fail of their hopes and their attempts frustrated Let them all be confounded ashamed and turn'd back that hate Zion that are Osores Persecutors 2. The next is That their persons prove useless and quickly perish Let thou be as grass growing on the house-tops grass in a Medow is good for somewhat on house-tops for no use It withereth before it groweth up Mowed it is never Wherewith the Mower fills not his hand nor he that binds up the sheaves that rakes it together fills his bosom 3. The last is a want of a blessing from God or man No man saith so much as God speed as is usual to do to Workmen in Harvest Neither do they which go by say Bendithy châ—y The blessing of the Lord be upon you we bless you in the Name of the Lord. They were about an ill work Who durst say God bless or prosper you in it The Prayer out of the one hundred and twenty ninth Psalm O Omnipâ—tent and merciful God it is not unknown to thée how that people whom thou hast chosen unto thée for thy heritage hath béen in all Ages afflicted and vered by cruel Tyrants Ver. 1 even from that time that thou madest a Covenant with our fathers to this very day They have fet their Plowes to work upon our backs wounded us with afflictions and â—nrrowed us with sorrowes The escape out of one danger hath but béen the entrance into another and of these there hath béen a continuance as in a plow'd land in which furrow is added to furrow and ridge to ridge till the whole be turned up But thou whom we serve hast shewed thy self unto us a good Master a righteous and a just God Thou hast cut asunder all the cords of the wicked in which they trusted the snare is broken and we are delivered their hopes and expectation is eluded their endeavours brought to naught Though they had plotted our vestruction Ver. 2 Yet they have not prevailed against us This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes especially when we call to mind our ingratitude toward thée and our unexcusable disobedience But now we humbly beséech thée look not upon our merits but upon the glory of thy Name for we deserve not only these but far greater punishments Ver. 5 But of thine infinite mercy pour not upon us the hottest of thine indignation but let it rest upon those that are enemies to thy Truth let them all be confounded and turned back that date and séek to extirpate Zion let them quickly wither away as the grass that grass that growes upon the house-top as an unprositable and an unuseful thing let them perish and never be harvested or brought into thy Barn make it appear That the séed of their frauds and deceits cannot fill the hand much less the bosom and heart of any one that hoped to carry in heavy sheaves from them O Lord preserve thy people in their integrity and kéep them from joining their counsels with them let none of thine that go by and sée what is done say The blessing of the Lord be upon you we bless you in the Name of the Lord But let thy blessing rest upon thy people and upon thine inheritance whom thou hast chosen kéep them from all evil increase them in all goodness for the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXXX Being one of the Penitentials IN this Psalm the Spirit of God proposeth to us the case of a person oppressed with the wrath of God against sin yet flies to God for mercy and trusts to receive from him comfort remission and pardon The Contents are these 1. Acknowledging his miserable condition he prayes to be beard ver 1 2. 2. He desires remission of sin ver 2 4. 3. He makes mention of his hope and confidence ver 5 6. 4. He exhorts Gods people to trust in him ver 7 8. 1. The first part David begging with an ardent affection and desire pathetically he prayes that he may be heard Davids cry to be heard he likens himself to a man in the bottom of a Pit or that must cry aloud to be heard 1. Ver. 1 Out of the depths have I cryed to thee O Lord. De profundis non de profundo Because a true penitent cryes out of two depths the depth of his misery and the depth of his heart sensible of that misery 2. Ver. 2 Lord hear my voyce Although I be in these depths and thou dwellest on high
it rase it even to the foundations And thou O Babylon which hast done the work as I doubt not but as my God hath begun and will in his good time take a condign punishment upon the Edomites so also he will bring thée down Thou art miserable and thou shalt be miserable Happy shall that King and people be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones O merciful God whatever wrath and indignation is due unto us for the breach of thy Commandments and dishonouring thée in thy Service remove it O Lord from thy people and transfer it upon them that with an implacable malice pursue thy people and séek by all means to corrupt and waste thine inheritance which was purchased by the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ PSAL. CXXXVIII DAVID delivered from his enemies and troubles and advanced to the Kingdom gives thanks to God acknowledgeth Gods goodnesse in hearing his prayers foretels the conversion of Kings shews that God regards the humble rejects the proud puts his trust in God for the future and prayes that God would continue and enlarge his mercy to him More briefly 1. In the three first verses he promiseth a grateful heart and to sing forth the praises of God because God heard his cryes and prayers and in tribulations sent him comfort 2. In the three next he shews what after Kings would do when the works and truth of God should be made known to them 3. In the two last verses he professeth his confidence in God shews what he hopes for from him and in assurance that God will perfect his work prayes him not to desert and forsake him David shews his thankfulness 1. First David shews his thankfulness which he illustrates and amplifies 1. The first part And illustrates it that From the manner of the doing of it done it should be cordially sincerely ardently totally I will praise thee with my whole heart 2. From the witnesses before whom it should be done Before the Gods will I sing praise Ver. 1 Coram Elohim Not only privately but publickly before the Potentates 1 He would do it heartily 2 Before all men whether Angels or Kings of the earth Psal 111.1 Psal 107.32 3. From the place the Temple then the Tabernacle a symbol of Gods presence with his people Ver. 2 It was as it were Gods Palace and there he ruled as a King 3 In the Temple and therefore he would fall low bow worship I will worship toward thy Holy Temple Which the Jews did when absent from Jerusalem Dan. 6. 4. 4 The causes inducing him to it From the causes inwardly inducing him to it I will praise thy Name for thy loving kindnesse and for thy truth 1. 1 Gods calling him to be King For thy loving kindnesse in calling me from the sheepfold to the Kingdom 2. 2 Performing his word And for thy Truth in performing thy promise In performing which 5. Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name This clause is diversly read Thou hast magnified thy Name in thy Word that is in performing thy Word above all things Or Thou hast-magnified thy Name and thy Word above all things Or Magnificas cum toâ—o nomine tuo sermonem tuum Jun. All these have the same sense But the vulgar reads it thus Quoniam magnificasti super omne nomen sanctum tuum And Bellarmine by Sanctum tuum understands Christ who Luc. 1. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom he gave a Name above every Name I suppose our English Translation should be pointed thus Thus hast thou magnified thy Word above all thy Name or and above all thy Name For Musculus by and joyns the Substantives 3 For hearing and granting his petitions Magnificasti super omnia nomen tuum eloquium 6. From Gods facility in hearing and granting his petitions which he presented to his God in the time of his banishment and affliction Ver. 3 In the day when I cryed thou answeredst me and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul Infirme creatures we are and in temptations and afflictions must faint except God strengthen us Out of all these motives David would praise God 2. David having set down what God had done for him The second part in mercy call'd him from following the Ewes great with young ones anointed him to be a King heard his prayers strengthned him in his affliction and in truth performed his promises conceives it impossible but that either the Neighbour or future Kings should take this when they heard of it into their consideration and â—cknowledge the miracle and praise God for it This certainly is the literal sense This mercy to David was like to move other Kings to magnifie God though it may have an eye to the conversion of Kings in future to the faith 1. All the Kings of the earth Hiram Toe c. or the future Kings of Israel Judah shall praise thee when they hear the words of thy mouth what thou hast said of me David and of my seed Ver. 5 2. Yea They shall sing in the wayes of the Lord that is of the wayes of the Lord Muscul of his mercy truth clemency For great is the glory of the Lord he is very glorious in all his wayes his works his proceedings 3. Of which this is one Though the Lord be high yet hath he respect to the lowly of which I David may be an instanÌ„ce But the proud he beholds afar off He removes far from him he will not have to do with them they are in remotis agendis of which Saul may be an example and the Devil 3. Because God who is high looks upon the lowly The third part With it so mov'd he was that he puts his affiance in God therefore David being conscious to himself of his own humility promiseth himself help from God in all his tribulation even for the time to come 1. If I walk in the midst of trouble that is on all sides exposed to trouble Ver. 7 2. Thou wilt revive me make me live and preserve me safe and untouch't 3. Thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies Thou by thy power shalt restrain their fury that would devour me and hinder their endeavours and enterprises 4. And thy right hand shall save me Thy power thy virtue thy Christ who in Isa 53. is call'd the arm of the Lord shall do it The last verse depends on the former because he knew And that that God who had would yet deliver him that as yet many troubles and afflictions remained to be undergone therefore he was confident that the same God who had hitherto delivered him would be a good God to him for the future and deliver him in time to come and so make his work perfect 1. The Lord will perfect that which concernt me not for any
Set a watch O Lord Ver. 3 before my mouth and keep the door of my lips The Vulgar read it Pone ostium circumstantiae labiis meis Circumstances vâ—ry things much and therefore men ought to desire of God to know when where how to speak as well as what to speak Note here again That the Metaphor is borrowed from the Watch and Gate of a City which if it be safely kept necessary it is that it have both a Watch and a Gate that those be suffered to go our who ought and those be not suffered to go out that ought not The Gate will not suffice to do this without the Watch for it will be alwayes shut or alwayes open And the Watch without the Gate shall not easily do it both together will keep all in safety and therefore David desires both a watch to his gate his mouth that might diligently observe what worde went out and with his words what thoughts of his heart levt he be taken by them Now this Watch-man is Prudence and also a constant strong and continual gate for his watch that might be shut and opened at pleasure or as occasion required which gate is Charity Farther yet this watch and gate may signifie the two faculties of the Soul the Understanding and Will The understanding to be as the warch that a man may know when and how and what to speak and also to be silent The Will the gate that a man open and be bold to speak what he ought and fear to speak what he ought not 3. His third Petition is for his heart because it is deceitful above all things Ver. 4 and man is weak and falls often therefore he prayes for grace and assistance from God 3 For his heart 1. Incline not my heart that is suffer not my heart to be inclined bent set to any evil thing or as the Vulgar In verba malitiae to malicious wickedness 2. Let it not come however to practice Incline not my heart to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity being invited by their example familiarity and custom The Vulgar reads it Ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis to excuse defend or frame pretences to sin 3. And let me not eat of their dainties Let me not partake with them in their Feasts their Doctrines their feigned Sanctity their Hypocrisie or Power Dignities Riches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vulgar Non communicabo cum electis corum with those things which they make choice of as they would of dainties 4. The third part He prayes that he may meet with a true friend to reprove him His fourth Petition is That if occasion of Reproof and brotherly Admonition be given that he may meet with a true friend that may reprehend him out of love and in a charitable manner not with flatterers that may sooth him up in his wicked way and deceive him 1. Let the Righteous smite me smite with a Reproof able to heal my sin Ver. 5 2. It shall be a kindness I shall reckon it is an act of mercy and charity from him I know he will not do it in the gall of bitterness to disgorge his spleen or revenge an injury but to save a soul Neither will I verifie the Proverb Obsequium amicos veritas odium parit for I will love him for it It shall be a kindness to me He verified it in Nathan 3. And let him reprove me it shall be an excellent oyle An excellent oyle to heal my wounds of sin and the blow of Reproof he gave me which shall not break my head but being broken cures it Ver. 5 5. The Preface to the next Petition His fifth Petition is set down in the next verse to which he premits this Preface Yet my prayer shall be in their calamities and both the Petition and Preface to it are very difficult it is diversly read Vulgar Quoniam adhuc oratio mea in beneplacitis corum And the sense this I am so far from communicating with them that my prayer shall be to God in beneplacitis corum i. e. against those vices and wickednesse in which they please themselves And Moller to the same purpose reads it Quia adhuc oratio mea contra malitiam corum Hierom. Pro malitiis eorum Faelix Inter mala corum Pagnin Ut eruat me à malis corum Musculus Nam adhuc oratio mea adversum eorum mala dirigitur Junius Quo amplius fecerit eo amplius ratio mea erit in malis eorum And he expounds his meaning thus What evil soever they shall do me it shall not imbitter my mind but they shall rather cause me that I commend them to God by grateful prayers The Petition Ver. 6 if it be a Petition is set down in ver 6. But it is read so many wayes He prayes against their Magistrates that I know not well what to say of it Musculus reads it thus Praecipites dentur velut de rupe judices corum Audissent verba mea si dulcia fuissent And so 't is a plain Petition Let their Nobles great men Magistrates be cast down head-long and perish as Malefactors thrown off a Rock for they would have heard my words and counsels I gave them had they been pleasing flattering smoothed them in their wayes and sweet to them but because they displeased they would not hear therefore let them perish as they deserve Moller reads Dejecti or precipita sunt ad manus pene The Vulgar 2 Another sense of this verse Absorpti sunt juncti pene judices corum audient sermones meos quia suaves sunt The Vulgar Andient verba quoniam potuerunt But it is probable the Latine Translator reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Our English Version When their Judges are overthrown in stony places they shall hear my words for they are sweet All these Translations will carry this sense i.e. When their Judges that is those to whom the chief Judicature is committed shall be cast from their Seats Authority Dignity and punish'd and split and swallow'd up as men are by the Sea when the Ship is dash'd against a Rock They saith Moller that is the people who seduced by them took part against David being terrified by their punishment shall hereafter hearken to my words leave Saul and his party and cleave to me in their hearts for my words are sweet or potuerunt powerful efficacious to convert their hearts and pleasant and delightful to the minds of them over whom they prevail Junius reads the verse 3 And yet a third At dimovent se per latera petrarum judiâ—â—s islorum quamvis intelligant sermones meos amoenos esse And makes this sense of it Although that their own conscience doth sufficiently check these my persecutors and teach them the equity of my cause yet they wait and beset all the sides of the Mountains or Rocks in which I am forced to pitch my Tents that
they may lie in Ambush for me and that not only the Vulgar the Ziphits Mahanites with others but also the chiefest of Sauls Followers and Captains yea although they know that my words have been mild to them Which the words following justifie and I have not offended them in the least matter And this sense the verse following will justifie Our bones are scattered at the Graves mouth as when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth That is Ver. 7 They beset me and my company with such violence that we despair of life and must lay our bones unburied in the Wilderness to be scattered here and there The last part as Chips except thou O Lord shalt succour us and send us present help and therefore he goes on and presents Ver. 8 6. A sixth Petition which hath two parts 6 The last petition for his own safety 1. But my eyes are unto thee O God the Lord in thee is my trust 2. Leave not my soul destitute 1. For his own safety and deliverance Leave not my soul destitute suffer me not to fall into then hands to the loss of my life 2. Which is grounded upon his hope and confidence in God My eyes are unto thee I depend on thee I look for help from thee O God the Lord in thee is my trust The other part of his Petition is 3. Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me Ver. 9 and the gins of the workers of iniquity Keep me from their Frauds Deceits Ambushes which as Fowlers and Hunters they set for me 4. And lastly He imprecates confusion to fall upon his enemies heads and reiterates his Petition for his own safety 1. Let the wicked fall into their own Nets Neque n. Ver. 10 lex justior ulla And imprecates vengeance on the wicked 2. But let me ever escape them pass by or through them unhurt A Prayer collected out of the One hundred and forty one Psalm O LORD Ver. 1 being beset with many sorrows and dangers I cry unto thée make haste to help me O my God and send me some speedy deliverance lest if thou make as if thou hearest not I become like them that go down into the pit Give eare therefore now unto my voice when my soul being heavie unto the death with fervor and affectionate sighs I cry unto thée O let my prayer which I present to thée on the Altar of a sincere heart by the intercession of Iesus Christ my Lord Ver. 2 he a swéet perfume in thy nostrils accepted and set before thée as was that Incense which as offered unto thée upon the golden Altar by the High Priest in the Holy of Holiests and let this lifting up my hands be as grateful and pleasing to thée as was the evening sacrifice And first of all Ver. 3 O Lord because I am prone to offend in my tongue I beséech thée set a watch before my mouth that I may observe what words are fit to go forth and what fit to be kept in and keep the door of my lips that it may not open or shut but by prudence and charity Suffer me not to speak but what I ought and as I ought and when I ought and where I ought Let my words be ever gracious Ver. 4 and seasoned with salt And because the errors of the tongue procéeds from the vanity and corruption of the heart suffer not my heart to be enclined to any malicious wickednesse or if such a conception be formed within let it never come into act and practise O let me never be so destitute of thy grace to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity and so far be seduced by their example familiarity and society as to eate of their dainties and communicate with them in their hypocrisie their fained sanctity their specious doctrines their ill acquired riches and power or with them seek for excuses to defend what to satisfie andplease their own lusts they have gréedily made choice of If at any time being overcome by the weaknesse and frailty of my flesh Ver. 5 I shall indulge overmuch to my desires and be overtaken in an offence send some spiritual guide who may smite me friendly and restore me in the spirit of méeknesse This I shall reckon as a mercy to my soul Let such a man reprove me and it shall be as an excellent oyl to cure my ulcerous soul But never permit the smooth balm and oyly words of the wicked to fall on my head nor their flatteries and sothing applauses so please my heart that thereby I be cherished and nuzzled up in my grossest sins For so far I am from séeking the favor of the wicked that I shall alway pray against their malice and wickednesse At this time they set and besiege the rocky hills Ver. 6 and stoy the passages to take away my life They hunt for my soul as a Partridge upon the mountains O Lord let their chief conductors and leaders be overthrown and dashed to pieces as a ship against the rocks So shall it come to passe that the people who have followed them in simplicity of heart and whom these Princes have seduced shall hereafter give better héed to my words which I sounded in their eares of piety and iustice and mine own innocence For these were and are in themselves able to work in them a penitent and obedient heart and to the penitent and obedient they will be very â—â—éet and delightful Ver. 7 For till this be effected and their conversion wrought I and all my followers and adherents are in very great danger that our lives shall be taken away in these mountanous places and our dead bodies ly unburied in this wildernesse and consequently our bones scattered at the graves mouth as when one cuts and cleaves wood upon the earth But O thou my Lord God because my eyes are alway intent on thée and all my hope and trust is placed in thée Ver. 8 leave not my soul destitute suffer me not to fall into their hands who séek to take away my life Ver. 9 Kéep me that I be not taken in their snares which they have laid for me and those gins which these workers of iniquity have twisted and cunningly disposed for my ruine But let the wicked fall into their nets Ver. 10 and be taken in the crafty wilinesse which they have imagined but let me and the people which serve thée in sincerity and truth for ever escape them by the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXLII The Title a Maschil of David A Prayer when he was in the Cave THE Cave was that of Engaddi or more probably that of Odullam when he was more destitute The occasion the persecution of Saul and his danger by Achish king of Gath. The matter of it an earnest Prayer to God in which he begs deliverance from danger The parts are 1. An Exordium in which he 1. First shews what he did in his trouble
therefore O Lord I cry and profess before the whole World Thou art my refuge my stay my hope Ver. 6 my strong Tower of defence Thou alone while I remain in this land of the living art my portion and heritage I have chosen thée for my shield and buckler my affections are to thée and I will rely only on thée Therefore good God attend unto my cry for I am brought very low weakned and humbled and depressed and brought to a forlorn condition Ver. 7 Deliver me from those that persecute me and thirst after my blood for they are grown far too strong for me Bring my soul out of this affliction with which I am straitned as in a Prison and I will praise and magnifie thy Name Nay the righteous and sincere-hearted Israelites that expect the performance of thy promises and long for it upon this mercy extended to me shall then compass me about adhere unto me and congratulate my deliverance and restitution Sing they will in the house of the Lord that thou hast dealt bountifully with me Get thy self honour then upon Pharaoh and all his Army deliver out of this Aegyptian bondage thy poor afflicted Israel bring them into the promised Land expel the Canaanites before them and exalt the Kingdom of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord To whom with thée and the Holy Ghost be all Glory Dominion and Power now and for ever Amen PSAL. CXLIII Being the last of the Penitentials DAVID being driven from Jerusalem by his son Absolon wisely calls to mind his sin as being the cause of it which in this Psalm he deplores and desires grace and mercy of God The parts of this Psalm are 1. A Prayer to God for remission of sin grounded upon Gods promise and goodness ver 1. not upon his own worthiness ver 2. 2. A Narration of the sad state of his Affairs ver 3 4. 3. The Comfort he received in his sad condition and whence ver 5 6. 4. His Petition containing divers particulars to which are annexed particular Reasons from ver 7. to the last 1. The first part In the beginning he petitions for Audience Hear my prayer O Lord give car to my supplication Ver. 1 but expresses not the matter he pray'd for which yet out of the following words may well be collected to be remission of sin David begs on for which he was thus punished and this he begs of God to grant both in regard of his promise and mercy 1. 1 Gods promise In faithfulness answer me Thou art a faithful God that hast promised pardon to penitents a penitent I am make then thy Word good to me and pardon me 2. 2 And mercy a pardon And in thy righteousness which here signifies mercy and loving-kindness In thy mercy then answer me and seal my pardon justifie me because I confess my iniquities Isa 43.26 Men call for confession from the guilty to condemn God to pardon And that this is the sense appears more clearly by the next verse 1. Ver. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant Call me not to a strict and rigorous account at thy Bar of Justice And not for his merit This he deprecates so that justitia in the former verse could not be taken for that justice which punisheth sin and rewards righteous deeds for that he pleads not here but declines it yea and assigns the Reason 2. For in thy sight shall no man living be justified Not I nor any man that ever did doth or shall live Let me then have my pardon upon thy promise and mercy and not for my merits It is not then the most commendable work that can justifie any man at the Bar of God but his mercy in Christ which he hath promised to accept Taught he hath us daily to pray Remitte debita 2. The second part And now he enters upon the Narration of his sad condition which he urgeth as another Reason to perswade God to remit his offence Ver. 3 and it is taken from the grievousness of tentation His sad condition to which the enemy brought him and the consequent of it 1. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul I look not so much upon my son Absolon that seeks my life as upon the enemy of Mankind Satan who entic'd me to Adultery and tempted me to Homicide 2. He hath smitten my life down to the ground He hath humbled me made me vile and contemptible in thy sight made me a lover of the earth and earthly pleasures who before had my Conversation in Heaven 3. He hath made me dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead For after that he had intangled my soul with earthly pleasures he made me dwell in spiritual darkness that I saw not the way to life but was indeed dead in trespasses and sins I knew no more of what belonged to the life of the Spirit than those that have been long dead Eph. 4.18 19. 2.5 And the effect that it wrought upon me For which he was ready to faint and despair was fear consternation and horrour of mind out of the sense of thy wrath against my sin 1. Ver. 4 Therefore my spirit was overwhelmed within me I suffered a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my soul I was ready to faint when I consider'd thy holiness and my impurity thy severe justice and my inability to satisfie it 2. And my heart within me is desolate far from all comfort Troubled I was not lightly not superficially but seriously and inwardly my soul was heavy to the death 3. The third part But recovers In this sadness I cast about what to do Though I felt thy hand heavy upon me yet despair I durst not even from this miserable state I began to fetch my remedy I found it was thy grace to bring me to this astonishment for my sin that my heart was not hardned in sin but astonished for sin mollified when it was thus troubled and à dolore parturivi salutem That then which came into my head were thy wayes that thou hadst taken with penitent sinners before me 1. I remember the dayes of old The dayes of Adam Noah Abraham Moses c. who all being thy servants yet sinning grievously Upon the remembrance of Gods mercies to others and repenting Thou admit'st to mercy whose examples I applied and they kept me from despair read Psal 77.5 6 7 c. for all these were Testimonies of thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of thy love to man And meditation of them 2. I meditate on all thy works I muse upon the works of thy hands I did not slightly run them over but I meditate I muse upon them for in this combate betwixt hope and despair comfort is not obtained but by a long and serious meditation of Gods works his works in making a second Covenant with us and purchasing and applying Redemption The profit admirable 3. And the profit that came
and my fortress my high tower and my deliverer my shield and he in whom I trust in which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is an Incrementum and a Gradation As it is before Psalm 18.1 2. To which Psalm this is very like so that it is thought to be made on the same occasion 1. He is my Strength or my Rock The strength I have is from him 2. My Goodness benignity or mercy That is original of all my good In mercy he call'd me from the sheepfold And in mercy he hath hitherto prevented and sustained me 3. He is my Fortress to him I fly as to a strong hold 3 Subdued the people under him or an high Tower of defence 4. And when I fly to him he deserts me not he is my deliverer from danger and captivity and he is my shield to protect me and cover my head in the day of battel Therefore I will Trust in him and relie upon him 3. He praiseth God that he had done more for him than he could wish or expect for he had not only freed him from the hand of Goliah but had subdued the people unto him He admires that God so great should do so much for man so vile Put it unto their hearts to yield obedience to him as their General after his victory over Goliah 1 Sam. 18.5 or when they made a league with him in Hebron 2 Sam. 5. It is a favour of God when the people are subdued and yield quiet obedience to their King Now out of the consideration of so many benefits David breaks forth into an admiration He wonders that when God is so great and man so vain vile and base that he should look upon him esteem him at so high a rate to love him to advance him Of which he was an example above other men Which acknowledgement tends very much to the praise of God 1. As amaz'd therefore and astonished he asks Lord what is man Ver. 3 what am I and my fathers house 2 Sam. 7.18 What is man that thou takest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou makest account of him 2. To which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he returns this answer which tends to the exaltation of God and debasement of man 1. Man is like to vanity Capable indeed of great things Ver. 4 if God fill him but till he be fill'd by God like a vain and empty vessel that hath nothing but aire in it 2. His dayes are as a shadow that passeth away God is alway the same he changeth not but man is but for a moment like a shadow that is alwayes moving and shifts the place till the night coming on it vanisheth In comparison of God this is the condition of man who otherwise is the glory of Gods creatures 2. David though he had the people subdued unto him The second part He prayes for Gods assistance to perfect his victories yet was not as yet freed from enemies the Philistins Ammonites c. did molest him and therefore he prayes to God to assist him in the conquest of these and shew some evident tokens from heaven that he did assist him in their Conquest He speaks after the manner of men as before Psal 18. from vers 7. to 16. Ver. 5 Incline the heavens and come down touch the Mountains and they shall smoke Cast forth lightnings and scatter them shoot out arrows and consume them Send thine hand from above Since the pride of man is such that it will not acknowledge thee nor fear thee for thy mercies shew thy presence by dark clouds by fire sent from heaven by thunder and lightniog c. that they may be terrified and forced to acknowledge thee 2 And makes his address for himselfe This is the first part of his Petition against his enemies 2. And now he commenceth a second and makes his Address to God for himself 1. Rid me and deliver me out of great waters i. e. from dangers of men 2. From the hands of strange Children Moabites Ammonites Ver. 7 Philistins c. Upon whom he sets these two Characters 1. Their mouth speaks vanity Lyes no truth flatteries no sincere words 2. And their right-hand is a right-hand of falshood Ver. 8 Their power they use to oppress to deceive to rapine homicide c. Interserting an Hymn But before he proceeds and ends his Petition Intercerting an Hymn he breaks out as it were in an extasie and falls back to that he began with the praise of God interserting this short Hymn 1. Ver. 9 I will sing a new song unto thee O God upon a Psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises to thee Psal 33.3 And this I will do because Thou givest victory unto Kings To Saul by my hand and service but especially because Thou hast delivered me David thy servant from the hurtful sword From that sharp and deadly sword of the great Goliah And then he returns Repeats his petition repeats and concludes his Petition in the same words he began Rid me and deliver me from the hand of strange children Ver. 11 2. Whose mouth speaks vanity 3. And their right-hand is a right-hand of falshood 3. The third part Who is a happy man His Benedictus and Petition being ended he falls upon a discourse of the Happy man and shews that happiness is of two kinds one in the eye of the world and that it ariseth from Temporal felicities The other in the sight of God and it ariseth from Piety and Religion where both these are conjoined the Man is happy but the first without the last will never make a happy man The first are the things that the greatest part of the world aim at That their sons may be as plants c. vers 12 13 14. And David denies not but the people are happy that are in such a case vers 14. But alwayes with this condition and limitation that God be not left out and forgotten For Happy is that people whose God is the Lord vers 14. The addition of Temporal blessings will be a great comfort to our lives and God promiseth them to the obedient Deut. 28. But there is another thing Necessary the fear of God which will make a Man happy Without which men talk in vain when they speak of felicity and therefore the old Translatour reads the words thus Quorum filij Ver. 12 Whose sons may be as plants c. vers 12. And then the Antecedent to Quorum must be An acute sense of these words They whose mouth speaks vanity And then the sense will be It is the desires of vain men that their sons may be as plants their daughters beautiful that their sheep multiply their Oxen strong no decay of any thing Upon which they are apt to sing to themselves Happy are the people that are in such estate But David checks this vanity this false opinion What they happy No no. They are happy who
the head of the corner that was rejected that it was Gods doing alone and a marvellous work that the day in which this was done was a Festival and the people to rejoyce in it that then they pray'd to God to save them by his hand and blessed their King adorned their Temple and offer'd Sacrifices with many thanks to God for his mercies Thus no question these verses may literally be understood of David But it must be confessed that in all this David was but a Type of Christ and that these words properly belong unto him we have a clear testimony first from his own mouth attested by three Evangelists Matth. 21.42 Mark 12.10 Luke 20.17 and by his Apostles St. Peter Acts 4.11 and St. Paul Rom. 9.33 These words to be applied to Christ out of Isa 28.16 Of Christ then I shall rather interpret them than of David without doubt the Prophet being wonderfully illuminated by the Holy Ghost wrote concerning Christ as followeth 1. The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner Ver. 22 1. The Church is oftentimes in Scripture likened to a building of which the Saints are living stones of which Christ is the chief stone the head and corner stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that joins and keeps together the two walls Jewes and Gentiles 2. But the Jewes the Priests especially to whom did pertain the office of building the Church refused this stone and cast him aside We will not have this man to reign over us we have no King but Caesar They crucified him and in his Grave call'd him a Deceiver St. Peter layes it to their charge Acts 4.11 3. But God call'd for him again and he is become the head of the corner Ephes 2.20 That is he is made head of the whole Church and such a head that whosoever is not built upon him cannot be saved 2. This saith the Prophet was the Lords doing both his rejection and raising again was from him it was done by his Election and Divine Power not from any counsel or hand of man Acts 2.23 24. 3. And it is marvellous in our eyes For who can do less than wonder that a crucified man dead and butied should by his own power rise again after three dayes be immortal and have all power given to him and be made Head and Prince of all men and Angels For this mercy a day set apart and that by him there should be a way made to mortal men to the Kingdom of Heaven to the society of Angels and an immortal life For so great a work fit it is that a day be set apart and such there is saith David 1. This is the day that the Lord hath made which questionless was the day of his Resurrection and God is said to have made this day more than other as honouring it above other making it memorable to posterity in which the Son of righteousness arose from the Grave and making it an high and holy day from which every other Sunday had his Original This is the Lords day 2. And the end why this day was made for joy and gladness The duty of the day The day wherein Adam fell was a doleful day but this day wherein Christ rose from the dead is a joyful day The Redemption by Christ is a year of Jubilee the Resurrection of Christ is the chief day in the year We will therefore rejoyce for it and be glad in it 3. Yea and in the midst of our rejoycing we will pray and sound forth Osanuah to the son of David which is being interpreted Save now we beseech thee O Lord O Lord we beseech thee send now prosperity Blessed be he that comes in the Name of the Lord Which was the gratulatoâ—â— and precatory words that the people used to our Saviour when he rode in Triumph into Jerusalem Mat. 21. That we may be assured that the Form of Acclamation belongs nor so much to David as to Christ and it was the opinion of the Jewes That when their Messiah came these words should be sung before him that being the cause that the people used them then The whole Prophesie of Christs coming riding into Jerusalem in Triumph The Priests duty then to bless Rejection Passion Resurrection Benediction being thus explained the Prophet turns his speech to the people putting into the mouth of the Priests these words in which they were to do their Duty Numb 6. and to bless 1. We have blessed you as we ought to do all happiness be to you under this King 2. And all happiness be to you out of the house of the Lord from the Church and to the Church alone the blessing belongs Ye are the blessed of the Lord. 3. God is the Lord which hath shewed us light Revealed unto his Son the light of the World and removed from us the darkness of errour sin hell c. 4. Therefore be thankful unto him bind the Sacrifice with cords even to the horns of the Altar make a solemn day for it and meet in the Church to praise him 5. The fifth part Being a Doxology The Prophet concludes with a Doxology fit to be used by the people met and assembled in which he sets forth his faith and gratitude 1. Thou art my God 2. And I will praise thee which he ingeminates Thou art my God and I will exalt thee which ingemination shewes his ardent desire to be thankful 3. And so concludes with the same Exhortation that he began the Psalm and in the same words O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and eighteenth Psalm O Blessed and Holy Iesus King of the World and Head of the Church who hast bought us by thy blood and espoused us in mercy and loving-kindness Ver. 13 it is not unknown unto thée how the enemies of thy Truth dally oppose us and with what storms and tempests of persecutions we are daily assaulted The Devil daily thrusts sore at us that we might fall and Antichrist with his complices compass us about they compass us about they compass us about in anger and rage they swarm about us as thick as Bées to sting us even to death might they have their will upon us In these our dangers we have none to fly to but thée we have none to call upon in our distress but on thée Who art the Lord our God answer us O Lord and set our feet in a large place Be on our side and then we will not fear what man can do unto us take our part with them that help us and so shall we see our desire upon them that hate us We confess O Lord we confess before men and Angels that our sins with which we have provoked thy justice Ver. 18 have deserved far greater punishments and that for these Thou hast sorely chastned and corrected us yet in mercy Thou hast not