fortified him and made him strong to this worke for himselfe And thus haue wee seene how these words containe a prayer for the comming of Iesus Christ the great and true Redeemer of his Church Now this same description is also competent in the second roome to secondarie instruments appointed by God to serue vnder him for the comfort deliuerance and gouernment of his Church For a King called of God to rule his people and set ouer them not in wrath as the Kings of Israel Ieroboam and his successours were of whom spake the Lord by Hosea dedi illis regem in surore meo but a King set ouer a people in mercie as Dauid and Salomon because the Lord hath loued his people Such a King no doubt is a sonne of the Lords right hand and for three causes so called first blessed art thou ô land when thy King is the sonne of Nobles and what greater Nobility then to be the sonne of Gods right hand not onely in regard of his personall regeneration and adoption which way all Christians are the sonnes of God but also in regard of that speciall vnction proper to the royall calling whereby God separates him and sets him vp as his Deputy to rule others Secondly a good King is so called for that speciall and maruellous care the Lord hath of him to preserue and keepe him in most desperate dangers Many deliuerances giues the Lord to his annoynted and rescueth his seruant Dauid from the hurtfull sword As the Lord hath set him vp for himselfe so in speciall manner hee preserues him by himselfe And thirdly a good King is called a sonne of Gods right hand because his heart is rightly set to doe good in his calling like Dauid Ezechia and Iosia The other part of the description agrees also very well vnto him for the speciall and royall vnction of such a King as I haue spoken of makes him strong for the Lord and heere are two things first thou hast made him strong next thou hast made him strong for thy selfe All superexcellencie of strength and dignity is from the Lord the Lord brings low and exalts said Anna the mother of Samuel To come to preferment is neither from the East nor from the West but from the Lord. Yet sure it is all whom the Lord maketh strong are not made strong for himselfe There are many who abuse against the Lord the strength authority and honour which they haue receiued from the Lord. The Princes of Zoan are fooles and the Princes of Noph are deceiued such was Pharaoh of whom sayd the Lord I haue raised thee vp that I may shew my power vpon thee such were the Apostate Israelites of whom the Lord complaines My people say they are Lords they will not come neere mee And againe as they were filled their heart was exalted A vile ingratitude that man should become most rebellious against the Lord when the Lord hath beene most beneficiall to him Let men take heed how they vse the place whereunto God hath exalted them either by natiue or datiue nobility these Nazianzen calls Nobiles ex mandatis aut rescriptis principum for cursed are they who vse against the Lord that which they haue receiued from the Lord. Let them be assured if they will not doe his will out of louing and humble obedience God shall doe his will vpon them out of his iustice and power hee shall roll them from their station and turne their glory into shame Sic fiet ex comaedia tragedia The winde shall binde them vp in her wings A moneth shall deuoure them with their portions Their glory shall flie away like a bird They shall be as the morning cloud or morning dew that passes away as chaffe driuen with the whirle-winde out of the floore and as smoake that goes out of the chimney But there is the lamentable blindnesse of men though they see that this hath held true vpon others before them yet they fansie to themselues euery man a singular priuiledge that the like iudgement shall not come neere them But happy are they who cast downe their crownes at the feet of the Lord and returne vnto him all that they haue receiued from him vsing for the Lord that strength honour and authoritie which they haue gotten from the Lord these are the sonnes of his right hand labouring to honour him who hath honoured them and these the Lord keepeth as a signet on his hand vpon these shall be raine of blessings The eye of the Lord shall watch ouer them for good to protect and defend them in all their necessities As they are for the Lord so is the Lord for them to performe to them that which he promised to DAVID Mine hand shall bee established with him and mine arme shall strengthen him the enemie shall not oppresse him neither shall the wicked hurt him but I will destroy his foes before his face and plague them that hate him What heere is plainely promised hath beene particularly performed to your Maiesty compare the oracle with your owne experience and then the Lord his constant and louing kindnes felt in by-gone times shal animate incourage your Highnes still to walk before the Lord in the vprightnes of your heart for with the vpright man the Lord wil shew himself vpright I need to speak no more of this point to a Prince of such vnderstanding I am sure out of these places God hath spoken to your hart your royall hart hath answered him Of all this we see that the Church of olde when they prayed for themselues they prayed also for their Kings and Gouernours yea in praying for such as are ouer vs wee pray for our selues the benefit redounds to vs I will that prayers bee made for all men for Kings and all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life and for this same cause the Israelites of olde were commanded to pray for the King of Babel who captiued them It is true which Augustine saith that albeit euill Kings be more hurtfull to themselues then to their subiects yet bonorum regnum non tam ipsis quam illis vtile est quibus prâ—positi sunt yet good Kings are more profitable to their subiects then to themselues The vnity and felicity of a people stands in the good disposition of him who rules ouer them Caput est imago Principis in Republica the head in the body is an image of a Prince in the Common-wealth As an head without a body is inglorious for the glorie of a King stands in the multitude of his subiects sayd Salomon so a body without a head is much more ignominious for either else it hath no life at all or if it haue any euery member beateth and dasheth vpon another none of them can rightly doe their office In these daies there was no King
with them got this answer from their most miserable master that He was The man of God Yet being loth to discouer his owne weakenesse spake it in such a language as for the present they vnderstood not Let therefore Romish Rabsache raile as he hath done against the Lords Anointed whom he hath set ouer vs let his Emissaries spue out their venemous and blasphemous boastings Leo â—aruis non terretur the Lyon is not terrified with Bugs Because the King trusteth in the mercie of the most High therefore he shall not fall His enemies are forced to lament in secret that none of their attempts haue prospered The Tulipantic Frogs haue plotted in powder and laid subtill subterranean snares to accomplish the malice of their heart but all in vaine blessed be the Lord for it for he hath preserued and will preserue the comming and the going of his owne Anointed But seeing this same promise of preseruation was made before for from the third verse to the end of the Psalme six sundry times is this word of keeping or preseruing repeated why is it now made ouer againe not without cause for this doubling and redoubling serues first for a remedy of our ignorance Men if they be in any good estate are ready to sacrifice to their owne net or to cause their mouth to kisse their owne hand as if their owne hand had helped them this is to impute their deliuerance to their Calfe and therefore often is this resounded The Lord the Lord. Is thy estate aduanced â—he Lord hath done it Hast thou beene preserued from desperate dangers Looke vp to the Lord thy helpe is from on high and to him let the praise bee returned Secondly it is for a remedy of our naturall diffidence the Word of the Lord in it selfe is as sure when it is spoken as when it is sworne as sure spoken once as when it is oftner repeated yet is not the Lord content to speake onely but to sweare also nor to speake once but often one and the selfesame thing The reason is shewed vs by the Apostle that hereby he may declare to the heires of promise this stability of his counsell As Ioseph spake of Pharao his vision It was doubled because the thing is established by God and God hasteth to performe it so is it with euery Word of the Lord when it is repeated it is because it is established and GOD hastens to performe it The fourth and last circumstance sheweth to vs the qualities of this preseruation and they are two first it is totall not in one but in all thy wayes shall the Lord preserue thee in thy comming in and thy going out from all euill shall the Lord preserue thee Next it is perpetuall from henceforth and for euer Hilarius and Arnobius expound this too strictly Arnobius takes it this way Custodit introitum tuum ad poenitentiam exitum tuum de corpore Hee preserues thy comming into repentance and thy going out of the body Hilarius againe Non est huins saeculi custodia haec this preseruation saies he pertaines not to this life but is to be vnderstood of our going out of this life and of our entrie to the life to come he seemes to haue forgotten that place of the Apostle Godlinesse hath the promise both of this life and of the life to come Basile Chrysostome and Euthymius take it better vp by comming and going out they vnderstand the whole course of the life of man And so in holy Scripture our life is called in two respects first in respect of the naturall and vniuersall course thereof so patient Iob makes a short abridgement of his life Naked came I and naked shall I returne The like after him hath Saint Paul We brought nothing into the World and it is certaine nothing we can carry out The whole life of our Lord is comprised by Saint Luke in these two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The like short description hath Salomon of our life Man commeth into vanity and goeth into darkenesse In them all yee see there is a comming and a going no standing nor abiding There is no continuing City yea which is not obserued to make vs wise as we should euen in our comming we begin to goe away Ex quo nascimur incipimus mori so soone as we are borne we begin to die for our life is rapidissimus cursus à tumulo ad tumulum a most speedy course from one graue to another from the belly of our mother to the bosome of our great Mother Vita haec crescendo decrâ—scit this life in growing weareth away as the turning of a wheele drawes a thred from the wooll till all be gone so euery reuolution of the Sunne in the Firmament twineth from vs a day till at length all bee consumed quotidie pars aliqua vitae demitur euery day some part of our life is taken from vs. Next our life is called a comming in and a going out in respect of the personall actions of men in their life so is it comprised in the Law Blessed shâ—lt thou be when thou commest in and blessed when thou goest out that is in all thy actions and in all thy wayes thou shalt be blessed Our life is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a turning about from one thing to another and from that backe againe to the former What now wee craue for a recreation incontinent becomes a wearinesse for the most desired pleasures in the world if they were perpetuall should become painfull and what now we reiect for wearinesse in a short time we returne to it for recreation from resting we rise to walke from walking againe wee sit downe to rest and so forth of all the actions of our life Sola vicissitudine releuamur we are onely eased by an interchange of them So Herodot brings in Croesus speaking to Cyrus Humanarum rerum circulus semper eodem rotatus fortunatos esse homines non sinit The circle of humane things tumbled and turned about continually vnto the same le ts not men be happy in this life The like hath Nazianzen Inmorem rotae volubili vertigine voluuntur sur sum deor sum omnia After the forme of a Wheele by a most speedie motion are all things turned vpside downe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now these flourishing now these fading and falling away vt auris potiùs sit fidere aut scriptis in aqua lâ—teris quà m hominum foelicitati So that it is better to trust vnto the windes which change continually or to letters drawne in the water whereof no mark or similitude remaines then to trust vnto the felicitie of man vpon earth Let all men learn to be sober in that estate wherein they stand perswading themselues or it be long they must be changed into another But to come neerer beside both these which are common vnto all men here is a
conceiued of the seede of man he is Gnamith Iehoua the companion of Iehoua hee is also as Iob calleth him our Goel or our kinsman Iacob called him Shiloh because he was sent into the world wrapped in the like tunicle which others of the sons of men bring with them when they are borne He is that incomparable Vnio or Margarita a precious pearle as Nazianzen calleth him and why Nicetas and Elias do tel vs quippe qui non nisi summo cum labore at que à perpaucis inueniatur because he is not found but with great labour and few are they who finde him Tum etiam vt ait ille quia vt margarita ex concha aqua conflatur ita Christus diuinitate humanitate constat O what a matter of vnspeakable ioy is heere but I must contract my selfe Man for his transgression receiued this checke from the Lord Ecce Adam factus est quasi vnus ex nobis but now since the reconciliation by Iesus God manifested in the flesh man may reioice and say Ecce Deus factus est quasi vnus ex nobis Doubtlesse this is a strong bulwarke of our faith for since we see that the sonne of God is become the sonne of man clothed with all the infirmities of our nature except sinne since wee see the God of glorie humbled to the ignominie of the crosse why shall we doubt that the sonnes of men shall also be made the sonnes of God and that these vile bodies of ours shall bee changed and fashioned like vnto the glorious body of Christ especially since for no other end became he the sonne of man but to make vs the sonnes of God The last part of the description is heere whom thou hasâ— made strong for thy selfe this as I haue said respecteth his threefold office and his vnction to them all A commentarie for this place is that of Esay I will put my Spirit in him that hee may bring foorth iudgement to the Gentiâ—es And againe The spirit of the Lord is vpon me and he hath annoynted mee hee hath sent mee to preach good tydings vnto the poore and to binde vp the broken-hearted c. what the Psalmist heere calls strengthning the Prophet heere calls it annoynting aud St. Iohn calls it sealing for him hath God the father sealed and what is meant by all these he expounds himselfe yet more cleerely The word was made flesh and dwelt among vs full of grace and truth and a little after God gaue him not the spirit by measure that of his fulnesse wee might all receiue grace for grace Of all these it is plaine how the father is sayd to haue made his sonne strong for himselfe that is hee annoynted him he sealed him he put his spirit into him not in a measure but communicate the fulnes of grace to him that he might be â—rengthened to do vnto vs the office of a King to deliuer vs from our enemies of a Prophet to teach vs the whole counsell of God and of a Preist to offer himselfe in a propitiatory sacrifice for vs. In all these appeared his wonderfull strength passius est vt infirmus operatus vt fortis when hee suffered like a weake man then he wrought like a valiant man then he darkned the sunne then he rent the vaile then hee raised the dead in his death vide infirmitatem filij hominis see the infirmity of the soâ—â—e of man in his victorie vide fortitudinem 〈◊〉 Dei see the mighty strength and power of the â—oâ—ne of God granum sinapis dum patitur in his â—uffâ—ring he is like a graine of mustard seede dum resurgit â—â—bor est sub qua aues coeli nidificant in his resurrection he is like a tree vnder which the birds of heauen doe build their neasts Euerie way the mighty strength of our strong Redeemer is to be admired but specially his conquest by suffering there did appeare the weaknesse of God stronger then man yea then all these Principalities powers and spirituall wickednesse that were opposite to him It was indeed an exceeding great worke which committed to our Mediatour The man lesus and therefore required a speciall vnction to make him strong vnto it All the Angels of heauen all the men on earth were not able to haue wrought that worke Such a Law was neuer imponed to man nor Angell as was imponed to lesus by his his Fathers ordination willingly accepted by himselfe This was the Law of a Redeemer wherewith Christ was charged and none but hee more many manner of wayes then the Law morall whereunto all are subiect The morall Law had two tables the first commanding the perfit loue of God the next commanding to loue our neighbour as our selues The Redeemers Law hath also two parts both of them commanding much more then is commanded by the morall the first part of the Redeemers law lookes vp to his Father the second lookes downe to his brethren In the first this commandement was giuen him Thou must vindicate the glory of thy fathers mercy and iustice If man bee not punished what shall become of the glorie of my iustice and if all men perish vnder that wrath which is due to their transgression what shall become of the glory of my mercie The Lord Iesus hath in wonderfull manner preserued them both for in him the inuiolable strictnesse of his Fathers iustice hath beene manifested in that he spared not his own sonne bearing the burden of our transgression many fearefull examples of diuine iustice hath been seene since the beginning of the world but neuer one like vnto this And many great mercies in all ages hath hee shewed to his seruants Noah in the arke Lot in Zoar Israel beyond the red sea may stand for examples but neuer a mercy like this was manifested in the world that the Lord gaue his onely begotten to the death that such as beleeue in him might haue eternall life There was the riches of the glory of his mercy wonderfully declared Thus did the Lord fulfill the commandement of the law of a Redeemer and preserue the glory both of his fathers iustice and mercy The other part of the law respected his brethren concerning whom this commandement was giuen him thou must loue thy brethren not as thy selfe onely but more then thy selfe thou shalt purchase them life by thine owne death thou shalt saue them who haue lost themselues thou shalt redeeme their inheritance which they haue solde without a price and as their neerest kinsman and first-borne of thy fathers familie according as thou art bound thou shalt pursue the murtherer that slue him to wit the Diuell he is without all citie of refuge reuenge thou their bloud vpoÌ„ him like another Abraham thou must bring home againe Lot out of the hands of that Tyrant Chedarlaomer all this the Lord Iesus powerfully performed for the father