Verse 7 Moses his Acts to the children of Israel For when Moses went up to the Mount Sinai and tarried there with God the space of fourtie dayes we may well thinke that God in that time revealed many secrets to him and particularly made knowne his wayes not onely his wayes in which he would have us to walke but his wayes in which hee walkes himselfe and the course he holds in the Oeconomie and government of worldly affaires why hee suffers the wicked to prosper and why the godly to be oppressed These wayes of his hee made knowne to Moses to the children of Israel onely his Acts Hee shewed them his Wonders upon Pharaoh and that was his Judgement and he shewed them his wonderfull favours to themselves in the Wildernesse and that was his righteousnesse but hee shewed them not his way and the course he held in them They saw onely the Events of things they saw not the reasons of them as Moses did no more doe we nor is it fit we should It is enough for us enough for our comfort that we know this of God in generall That hee is mercifull and gracious Verse 8 slow to anger and full of compassion Not that any slownesse is in God but his slownesse is his Patience and his Patience is out of compassion for alas if God were as ready to anger as we are ready to provoke him to anger we had long ere this been turned to dust and utterly consumed O my soule here are foure properties spoken of to be in God and are all so necessary that we could not misse one of them If hee were not mercifull we could hope for no pardon and if he were no more but mercifull we could hope for no more but pardon but when besides his being mercifull he is also gracious this gives us a further hope a hope of a Donative and then it will not be what we are worthy to receive but what it is fit for him to give If he were not slow to anger we could expect no patience and if he were but onely slow to anger we could expect no more but patience but when besides his slownesse to anger hee is also full of compassion This makes us expect he will be the good Samaritane and not onely bind up our wounds but take care also for our further curing What though he chide and be angry for a time It is but our being patient awhile with him as he a long time hath beene Verse 9 patient with us For he will not bee alwayes chiding neither will hee keepe his anger for ever No my soule consider the rule of Nature that Nullum violentum est diuturnum and you will find it true in the God of Nature Mercy and Compassion are kindly and naturall in God and therefore these will continue and never leave him but chiding and anger are things I may say violent and not naturall in him and therefore it cannot bee that these should last or continue long with him Certainly it is as unpleasing to God to chide as it is to us to be chidden and so little hee likes of Anger that he riddes his hands of it as fast as he can he is not so slow in comming to it but he is as quick in getting from it for chiding is a barre to Mercy and Anger an impediment to Compassion and nothing is so distastfull to God as that any block should lye in the way of his Mercy or that the libertie of his Compassion should have any cause of restraint and then we may be sure hee will not himselfe lay a block in the way with chiding nor be a cause to restraine his Compassion by keeping his Anger And we may the better be perswaded of this in that which is to come by taking notice of that which is past For Hee hath not dealt Verse 10 with us after our sinnes neither rewarded us according to our iniquities Though he have chidden yet hee hath not strucken or if hee have strucken yet his blowes have not beene great not so great to doe us any hurt for there is mercy in his very Anger and though we keep our selves within no bounds of sinning yet he keepes his Anger within the bounds of Mercy Alas O Lord if thou shouldst deale with me after my sinnes as I have used no measure in my sinning so thou shouldst use no measure in my punishing and what then could I expect to befall me but utterly to perish But why is it that God hath not dealt with us after our sinnes Is it not because hee hath dealt with another after our sinnes Another who tooke our sinnes upon him of whom it is said that God chastened him in his fierce wrath and why did he chasten him but for our sinnes O gracious God Thou art too just to take revenge twice for the same faults and therefore having turned thy fierce wrath upon him Thou wilt not turne it upon us too but having rewarded him according to our iniquities thou wilt now reward us according to his Merits O Deere Jesus let not thy painfull sufferings bee made frustrate by my sinfull doings but so mediate betweene God and my sinnes that hee may turne away his angry Countenance from me and looke upon me onely with the eye of his Mercy And O my soule how canst thou doubt of this when As high as the Verse 11 Heaven is above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that feare him and who would wish for a greater mercy to bee in God then this But yet the distance betweene Earth and Heaven though great and indeed very admirable great is but a limited distance and is there then a limitation and a boundary of Gods mercy May I not as truly say as low as Hell is beneath the Earth so great is my sinne in the sight of God and how then am I sure that Gods mercy is any greater then my sins and if not greater how can it pardon them O my soule though the heighth of Heaven be limited yet Gods mercy hath no limitation for his Mercy is above all his Workes and therefore above Heaven the worke of his hands Or if hee seeme to set a limitation to Gods mercy is it not perhaps because there is some sinne that is not capable of his Mercy for sinne against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come But O my soule though Gods mercy bee without limitation yet let it not make thee the bolder to sinne for though it be so great yet it is so great to none but to them that feare him for to them that feare him not it is not so great Alas it is not great at all Alas it will be none at all but if thou feare him and to feare him is to feare to sinne then thy sinne can never be so great but that Gods mercy which is as high as Heaven will bring thee to bee admitted into the
we talk of all this while worldly minds have no feare but of worldly enemies and from such perhaps worldly friends may free them but the spirituall man feares rather spiritual enemies and who can free them from such but onely thou O God that art the God of spirits O mercifull God let not spirituall enemies have the victory over mee and I make no great reckoning of other enemies triumphing Alas I know that worldly enemies can never triumph over me if spirituall enemies get not first the victory And now O my soule if God have done this for me have lifted me up above these enemies above these enemies of both kindes have I not a double cause to extoll him for it and to praise his Name And yet I may say I extoll him not more for doing it then for his readinesse of doing it For I cryed unto him and hee healed mee I no sooner cryed but hee heard me he no sooner heard me but he healed me My suite was no sooner made then granted My disease as soone cured as discovered hee kept me not languishing by drawing out his cure in length but he applyed a present remedy and prevented Hope with hast As therefore I extolled him before for his love in lifting me up above my enemies so I must extoll him now for his compassion in being moved to doe it for my onely crying to him I used no intercessour but my owne voyce and hee healed me and for God to be moved with the cry of a wretched sinner and so to be moved as presently to heale him Is it not a just cause to extoll him and say O the wonderfull bowels of compassion that are in God Verse 3 To be lifted up from any place is an act of Power but the lower the place is it is the greater act of Mercie and can there be a lower place then the Grave at least then the grave of the Soule and from this low place was David lifted up as yee may heare himselfe say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave Thou hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the pit But is not this a strange speech in David as though there were a grave of the Soule as there is of the Body for if there be not how then is it true that God hath brought up his soule from the Grave Is it perhaps that he calls it the Soule which is but the cementing of the Body and life together or that he calls it the Grave of the Soule when it is in the lowest estate of vivifying the Body What ever it be it shewes a great mercy in God and a great power of that mercy to raise him up that was brought so low and to keepe him from falling into the Pit that was fallen already to the pits brinke The truth is that as sinne is the death of the Soule so continuance in sinne is the grave of the Soule and in this Grave of continuance did Davids soule lye a long time Alas the shortest time in this case is long till God by his quickning Spirit restored him againe to the life of Grace that hee had just cause to say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave and hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the Pit Oh how many there are that have bodyes walking above ground when their soules are lying in the Grave that are lustie and strong in the naturall life when in the spirituall life they are dead and buryed yet so long as they lye not buried above foure dayes so long as they continue not in sin so long till it have brought the Soule into an absolute corruption there is example in Lazarus and where there is Example there is hope they may be raised againe to life and be kept from falling into the Pit of perdition And now O my soule though God have not lifted thee up to as high a place yet seeing he hath lifted thee up from as low a place as he did David hast thou not as just cause as he to say I will extoll thee O God for thou hast lifted mee up and hast not suffered my enemies sinne and death to triumph over mee And here I find my selfe so oppressed with joy that I am not able to expresse it without assistance and what assistance can I looke for but from the Saints of God O therefore sing unto the Lord all yee saints of his give thankes unto him at the remembrance of his Holinesse It is not enough to praise him if yee doe not sing his praises for it must be done with chearefulnesse and exultation and it is not enough to sing if yee doe not praise him for your joy must be in him and for him in his goodnesse and for his glory If it were to sing of another thing I should require the whole Quire of Gods creatures to joyne in the singing but now that it is to sing of Gods holinesse what should prophane voyces doe in the Consort None but Saints are fit to sing of holinesse and specially of Gods holinesse but most specially with songs of holinesse O therefore sing to the Lord all yee saints of his and let your songs be more of his praises then of your owne thankfulnesse and let your thankfulnesse not be so much for the benefits which you have received as for the holinesse with which they are bestowed for God gives not his benefits as the world useth to doe out of any corrupt affection or with any corrupt intention but there is a holinesse in his giving as well as in his gifts and seeing the Cherubins and Seraphins doe continually cry to God Holy Holy Holy You that are his Saints may well afford to sing to God at the remembrance of his holinesse But what holinesse can there be in Anger Verse 5 and is there not anger in God sometimes and will not this then bee a cause rather of weeping to thinke of his anger then of singing at the remembrance of his holinesse O my soule this need be no cause to breake off the singing for his anger endureth but a moment and even anger it selfe is in God a holinesse It is none of the things that are naturall and permanent in God It is but forced upon him by the violence of sinne and as forced as it is it stayes not with him it is but as a wind that passeth Dum oritur moritur It dyes in the birth Nothing lives and is permanent in God but onely his favour and his love and therefore Though weeping may endure for a night yet joy commeth in the morning And seeing our life is of this condition that heavinesse sometimes must as well be had as joy it is happy for us they are so disposed that heavinesse comes but in the Evening when wee may sleepe it out and when our senses are apt to be tyed up from feeling it but joy commeth in the Morning when all our
but forget some of his Benefits yet forget not all his Benefits if thou canst not remember all at least remember some Forget not It is hee that forgiveth Verse 3 all thy sinnes it is hee that healeth all thy infirmities Remember but these and they will alwayes minister matter enough to keepe thee in worke for blessing his Name For to forgive all my sinnes O my grievous my manifold sinnes that I know not whether they bee more or more grievous whether their Number or their Greatnesse be the greater is it not a benefit that may justly claime a prime place in my memorie If it were but onely to be favourable in punishing my sinnes it were a benefit worth remembring but to blot my sins cleane out and absolutely to forgive them and that freely without any desert of mine Alas without any possibilitie of deserving This is a Benefit that no Lethargie can forget indeed a benefit that deserves remembring in the highest degree And yet perhaps to forgive all my sinnes not a greater benefit then to heale all my infirmities This being the chiefe worke of his Grace as that of his Mercy for seeing my sinnes many of them and upon the matter all of them bee sinnes of infirmitie for even wilfulnesse and presumption are of infirmitie by healing my infirmities hee prevents me of sinning and is it not as great a benefit to keepe me from committing sinnes as to forgiue my sinnes when I have committed them But O my soule meddle not with this high point of Heraldrie to discusse which is the greater of Gods Mercy or his Grace They are both an Abyssus it is worke enough for thee and for all that is within me to Blesse him for both and for both indeed thou hast just cause to Blesse him seeing it is by the vertue of both that thou art able to Blesse him If it were not for his Mercy thou wouldst want the materiall cause of blessing him if it were not for his Grace the efficient but now that there is a concurrence of both together Now that both he forgiveth all thy sinnes in his Mercy and healeth all thy infirmities by his Grace Now O my soule what would it argue but extream ungratefulnesse farre exceeding a forgetfulnesse both in thee and all that is within me if thou shouldst not Blesse his Name For O my soule consider the multitude of infirmities to which thou art subject thou hast many suggestions of the flesh and thou art apt to consent and yeeld unto them and strivest not against them by earnest Prayer and holy Meditations This is an infirmitie In thy prayers to God thy thoughts are often wandring and thou thinkest of other matters farre unworthy of that great Majestie to whom thou prayest or if not so yet thou art quickly weary thy spirits are drowsie in it and thou hadst rather be doing of something else This is an infirmitie And indeed thou hast infirmities in all thy senses In thy seeing thou canst see a moate in thy brothers eye and canst not see a beame in thine owne eye In thy smelling thou thinkest Suavis odor lucri ex re qualibet that the savour of gaine is sweet from whence so ere it rise In thy Hearing Thou art gladder to heare prophane and idle discourses then such as be serious and holy These are infirmities and O my soule if I should cut thee up into as many parts as an Anatomist and examine the infirmities of every part should I not have cause just cause to cry out with Saint Paul O wretch that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sinne Who shall heale me of all these infirmities for whether we call them sinnes and then God forgives them or call them Infirmities and then he heales them they are to us all one benefit in God all one kindnesse that as either of them is well worth remembring so for both of them we have just cause to blesse him and to praise his Name But O my soule as thou remembrest these things that both he forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thy infirmities so remember also their consequences too for upon these there are great matters depending as worthy to bee remembred as the things themselves For alas my soule thou wert by sinne come to be Mortall and the sentence of Morte morieris was past upon thee but now by forgiving thy sinnes this sentence is reversed by healing thy infirmities thy life is Redeemed it is taken out of the hands of the Destroyer and put into the hands of a Redeemer and a Redeemer not onely from Captivitie but from destruction for Captivitie takes away but onely thy libertie but destruction would take away thy very Being and can it be thou shouldst not keepe that in memorie which is it selfe the cause that thou hast a Memorie for what memorie couldst thou have if thou hadst not a Being and what Being couldst thou have if thou wert destroyed and destroyed thou shouldst be if thou wert not Redeemed and Redeemed thou canst not be unlesse thy sinnes bee forgiven This no doubt is a consequence never to be forgotten and yet perhaps there is a consequence behind of greater consequence then this For this my soule gives thy life but onely a duration but there is a consequence a comming that will give it an exaltation For he crownes thee with loving kindnesse and with tender mercies To be madk a King is an eminent favour but to be made a King from being a Captive where not onely the Quo is so considerable but the Unde more this is indeed a supereminent favour and hardly capable of expressing And this is thy case for where before thou hadst fetters upon thy feet thou hast now a Crowne upon thy head and not a Crowne gotten by violence and worne with feare but He crownes thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies His kindnesse would have made a Crowne good enough for thy wearing but his loving kindnesse makes it a Crowne worthy of his giving And if there be doubt that his mercies alone may not bee ready enough to bestow this Crowne upon thee yet of the readinesse of his tender mercies there can be no doubt there can indeed be no doubt seeing his loving kindnesse and his tender mercies are the Crowne it selfe which he bestowes For O my soule when I speake of a Crowne thou must not fancie to thy selfe such a Crowne as Kings of the earth weare For Christ professed plainly that his Kingdome is not of this world and therefore neither must thine be but consider the extent of Gods loving kindnesse and of his tender mercies and thou wilt find a better Crowne laid up for thee then all the Kingdomes of the Earth put together can afford O gracious God grant me the Crowne of thy loving kindnesse and tender mercies and all other Crownes I willingly lay downe at the foot of thy Throne with the foure and twentie Elders This onely is the Crowne to which
prosperitie to the godly as when their enemies see the prosperitie they are in it being a kind of revenge that God takes upon their enemies in their behalfe so there is no such Tragedie to the wicked as to be made spectatours of the prosperitie of the godly it being the greatest affront that can be to their expectation to see them advanced whom they both hated and despised Could Haman have had a greater affliction then to see Mordecai advanced and himselfe forced to bee an instrument in his advancing Videbunt quem transfixerunt They shall see him whom they pierced shall be one of the miseries and perhaps one of the greatest in Hell it selfe And now is David a King and as a King hath Honour and Plentie Thou anoyntest my head with oyle This is his Honour My cuppe runneth over This is his Plentie that where he said before The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want hee may as justly say now The Lord is my rewarder I shall abound But is it not that in the Person of David here there is a Reference to Christ himselfe seeing it is all verefied in him that is spoken here Hee that hungred so long till Sathan thought he could have eaten stones hath now a Table prepared before him a Table where the godly shall sit and eat with him in his Kingdome Hee that had enemies insulting over him hath now all his enemies made his foot-stoole Sinne and Death Sathan and his members lye prostrate under him Hee that had his Head pricked with thornes hath now his Head anoynted with Oyle with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes Hee that thirsted and could get but Vinegar to drinke hath now such plenty that his cup runneth over All power is given him both in Heaven and Earth At least in the person of David there will be relation to all the godly Now Lazarus that could not get so much as crummes from Dives his Table shall have a Table himselfe prepared before him Now Dives that fared deliciously every day shall bee glad to stand waiting at Lazarus Table for a drop of water that the godly may well be content to be in penurie a-while seeing they shall have a Table ere long prepared before them They may well be content to let their Enemies bee masters awhile seeing they shall have them ere long to be wayters upon them They may well be content to hang downe their heads for awhile seeing their heads ere long shall bee anoynted with Oyle They may well be content to have hard measure for a time seeing the time will be shortly that their Cup shall runne over And now O my soule will not all this serve to comfort thee in this vale of miserie Art thou so besotted on things present as to have no consideration to make no valuation of things to come and to come so shortly so shortly all that they are put in the Present tense as if they were come already But if David cannot over-rule thee as a King let him at least perswade thee as a Prophet for now you shall have him a Prophet and a Votarie and this is his Prophecie Surely Mercy and goodnesse shall follow mee all the dayes of my life and this is his Vow I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever But is Davids Prophecie like to bee true will Mercie and Goodnesse follow him all the dayes of his life O my soule it was true in David it shall be true in all the godly for whom God loveth he loveth to the end and Mercie and Goodnesse shall follow them all the dayes of their life Mercy to commiserate and Goodnesse to relieve Mercie to beare with infirmities and Goodnesse to supply wants Mercie to be an assistant in Adversitie and Goodnesse to be a Governesse in Prosperitie Alas O Lord if thy Mercie should not follow me thy Justice would if thy Goodnesse should not follow mee thy Vengeance would and then one that were no Prophet might easily foretell the miserable estate I should be in as now that Mercie and Goodnesse follow me one that is no Prophet may easily tell the happy condition I shall be in Although this perhaps be not so much a Prophecie as a Faith in David at least a Prophecie which all the godly may make to themselves by Faith to be assured of the mercy and goodnesse of God and not to follow them for a time and then give over but to follow them all the dayes of their life But what no longer then all the dayes of their life and then leave them No my soule but all the dayes of that life that shall never leave them O the comfortable doctrine of Faith farre more comfortable then Heathen Philosophie ever knew for that went no further then Ante obitum nemo as though no man could be happy till his death where by this it appeares that men may bee happy while they live for if a man be then happy when the mercy and goodnesse of God follow him as certainly a greater happinesse there cannot be then seeing they surely follow the godly all the dayes of their life surely a godly man is happy while hee lives But then the surenesse is long of the mercy and not of the man for it seemes he would goe farre enough from it if Mercy did not follow him but now that hee is followed by Mercy and Goodnesse hee cannot goe so fast from them but they will overtake him and make him happy O mercifull God so frame my heart that I may not flye from thy Mercy and put it to follow mee at least let it so follow me that it may overtake me for then I shall have the happinesse to bee able to keepe my vow that I will dwell in thy house for ever but rather I shall have the favour as an effect of thy Mercy that I shall dwell in thy house for ever For if this be a Vow it is a strange one where all the benefit is to him that makes the Vow and none at all to whom it is made for what is it to God whither I dwell in his house or no such Vowers God may have enow O my soule to vow to dwell in Gods house is to vow to be his servant and to bee his servant is to serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life and though this service be no benefit to God as indeed no more is any thing I can doe for my goodnesse extendeth not to him yet the Vow to bee his servant being well performed will bee more acceptable to him then if I should vow as Jepthe did to sacrifice his onely Daughter But wee need not stand to justifie Davids Vow for it seemes not so much a Vow of David to God as a favour of God to David that when his mercy hath followed him all the dayes of his life he will take him afterwards to live with himselfe and though his body for a time be cast out
but onely Prayer O then make me able O God to pay thee this Rent and I shall never doubt of continuing thy tenant in this House to behold thy Beautie and to inquire in thy holy Temple But why should David make it a suite to God to dwell in his House seeing God leaves the doores open that every one may come and dwell in it that will O my soule it is not simply to dwell in it but so to dwell in it that he may see Gods beauty and this cannot bee seene without illumination and no illumination but of Gods donation For indeed this dwelling is a spirituall living a donative onely in Gods gift and justly therefore David makes it his suite to have his Induction but an Induction onely while wee live here no perfect possession till another life but hee that seekes not his induction here must never looke for possession hereafter As to behold the beauty of God is one great benefit of dwelling in Gods house so it is another no lesse to inquire in his holy Temple as that beholding gives a satisfaction to our eyes so this inquirie to our mindes When David saw the prosperitie of the wicked hee was so amazed that hee knew not what to make of it till he entred into Gods holy Temple and inquired and there he presently learned what Gods meaning is in it and why hee suffers it to be so What knowledge so necessary as the knowledge of sinne yet Saint Paul confesseth hee had not knowne what sinne is but for the Law and where is the Law to bee learned but enquiring in Gods holy Temple and indeed if there bee any scruple of conscience if any doubtfulnesse of mind if any difficulty of question concerning either God or our selves either the life present or the life to come by enquiring in Gods holy Temple it is presently cleered and resolved for there are the Oracles kept which serve to instruct to teach to reprove that the man of God may be perfect in every good worke And amongst all the great mysteries which are learned by enquiring in Gods holy Temple this is one of speciall comfort to me that Verse 5 when I am in trouble if his house that I dwell in be not sufficient to defend me he will hide me in his owne Pavillion in the secret of his Tabernacle will hee hide mee hee will set mee upon a rock that one way or other he will bee sure and I may be sure he will set mee in safetie But how can God hide me in his Pavillion which lyes open to all men and where every man may enter and find me He will then rather then faile hide me in the secret of his Tabernacle which is shut against all men and where none enters but himselfe But yet his Tabernacle may be burnt with fire may bee blowne up with powder blowne downe with winde and what safetie then in the secret of his Tabernacle Hee will then if that faile set me upon a Rocke and a Rocke is subject to none of these that so at least neither fire nor sword nor tempest of wind may prevaile against me Or is it that being once admitted to dwell in Gods house I shall have not onely the protection of a servant for his Tegere is Protegere but the advancement also of a Favorite to be set upon a Rocke for this as it is a safetie is no lesse an honour Or is it that lest mine enemies should thinke it were done for feare of them that he hydes me he will set me upon a Rocke as it were in defyance and though some may be so bold to enter the secret of his Tabernacle yet none will bee so desperate to venture upon a Rock against which all they can doe is but to dash themselves in peeces and to hasten their owne ruine And now O my soule how canst thou doubt of thy being in safetie having the three great fortresses of God for thy defence his generall providence which is his Pavillion then his speciall Mercie which is the secret of his Tabernacle then the Mediation of Christ who is the Rocke upon which when thou art set neither the raging of the Sea nor the blustering of the wind need to affright thee for though they roare against thee yet they cannot hurt thee and of whom then of what now should I be afraid For being set upon this Rock My head shall Verse 6 bee lifted up above mine enemies round about mee Though my feet may be in the water yet my head shall be above water I shall be in no danger though perhaps in some trouble and in no trouble neither but such as while my head is lifted up I may freely laugh at and despise and the rather for that though my enemies be so many as to be round about me yet they are so meane as to be all below mee not meane in themselves but meane through him that hath lifted up my head above them If mine enemies were but low it were no great matter to be higher then they but to have my head lifted up above them who carry their heads so high as to thinke none their equalls this must needs be as well to me a cause of joy as in thee O God an effect of power In thy lifting up my head I regard not so much the honour as the relation to my enemies for whether it be lifted up little or much it is all one to mee so long as it bee above my enemies their pitch is my proportion for the marke of my ayme is not superiority but securitie not to shine in other mens eyes but not to have mine owne put out There may be many causes of joy to a man in trouble but none so great as this to have his head lifted up above his enemies for though to take revenge of an enemy bee the delight onely of a cruell nature yet to be able to take revenge is a joy to the mildest nature but yet a joy that must bee made a sacrifice not to grow insolent and proud upon it but as to receive the power with humilitie so to use it with mildnesse and most of all to ascribe the glory to whom it belongs There was a time O God when thou didst lift up mine enemies heads above me and even then I offered thee a sacrifice too but it was a sorrowfull sacrifice a sacrifice of sorrow but when thou shalt lift up my head above mine enemies I will then offer thee a joyfull sacrifice a sacrifice of joy and it shall not bee a silent joy as though I sought to smother it by which no glory would come unto thee but it shall be a singing joy and the song shall bee of thy praises as shewing me to joy more in thy lifting me up then in my being lift up more for thy glory then for my owne advancement but sing I shall for both I shall sing to expresse my joy and I shall sing to extoll thy
Praises But why is David so suddenly turned from singing to crying that hee should fall so presently to say Heare mee O Lord when I cry with my voyce Is it that hee findes God not well pleased with his singing and therefore meanes to try what hee can doe with crying Or is it that he thinkes himselfe better at expressing sorrow then joy and therefore hopes his crying may be heard though his singing bee not Or is it indeed that singing and crying both are little enough to make a sacrifice to God Alas they are both of them too little to make an acceptable sacrifice without Gods mercy and therefore David trusts not to them alone but is glad to joyne Gods mercy with them Have mercy also upon mee O God and answer mee It is a great mercy in God to heare us but a greater mercy to answer us and therefore to require his answer requires a more speciall invocation of his mercy and the rather in hope to have a mercifull answer for alas if he should answer and not in mercy such an answer would be worse then silence But how can I doubt of Gods answering me when I speake to him who have my selfe answered him when hee spake to mee For when thou saydst Seeke yee my face my heart Verse 8 said unto thee Thy face Lord I will seeke and for my heart to say it is more then for my voyce to cry it for no crying of the voyce makes so loude a sound in the eares of God as the saying of the heart that to use the termes properly I might rather say I cry it with my heart and but say it with my voyce But is this all the answer I shall have from God that I should seeke his face Alas O Lord thy great Favourite Moses could never obtaine more then to see thy Back-parts and how then can I hope to see thy face and if I cannot hope to see it why wouldst thou have me spend time to seeke it But is it not all one in the phrase of the Law to seeke Gods face as in the phrase of the Gospell to seeke Gods kingdome and therefore as God saith here seeke yee my face so Christ saith there seeke Gods kingdome at least if they be not both one they are both sought one way both sought by following Gods Commandements for his Commandements if wee follow them well will both bring us to his kingdome and to see his face Or is it not perhaps in a plaine literall sence that to seeke Gods face is in our Prayers and Meditations to settle and fixe the eyes of our mindes wholly upon God and as it were to looke him in the face wherein oh what infinite oddes there is betweene the Angels and us for magnifying of God for they behold his Face and can see it visibly where all that we can doe towards it is onely by the strength of imagination which God knowes is but weake very weake in us weake in it selfe and weaker for want of intention but if we could see his Face as the Angels doe O my soule we should see in it not onely infinite causes for magnifying his Name but infinite sweetnesse for pleasing our owne senses For if the beauty of a carnall face be so admirable so pleasing as that no earthly thing may bee compared to it what extasie of admiration what transcendencie of pleasure must needes be in the beautie of a spirituall Face and specially that face in which the fulnesse of all Beauty resideth bodily And have I not cause then to seeke this Face O mercifull God grant me so to seeke it that I may find it for though this be not the place for finding it yet this is the place for seeking it and hee that seekes it not here he that seekes it not now is never like to find it in another place never like to find it hereafter But why am I so hastie to promise God to seeke his Face as though it were in my owne power to seeke it at my pleasure Alas how can I choose but promise it when God requires it and how can I thinke when hee requires it but that hee will enable me at least not hinder me to performe it and yet I promise not performance but Will and Will I suppose I may safely promise seeing Will is present with me and can never be absent from mee But when I seeke thy face vouchsafe O Verse 9 God not to hide thy face from mee for to what purpose should I seek it if I cannot find it and what hope of finding it if thou be bent to hide it Alas O Lord to bid me seeke it and then goe presently and hide it from me what were this but to mock me as the Jewes mocked Christ blindfold him and strike him and then bid him tell who strooke him and indeed how should I seeke it if I have not light to seeke it by and what light to seeke it by and what light to seeke it by but the light of thy Countenance and what light of thy Countenance if thou hide away thy face To bid me to seeke thy Face and then to hide thy Face from me were a kind of derision and I hope O God thou wilt not use me so unkindly set me about a worke scarce possible to bee done and then take from mee all possible meanes of doing it Alas O Lord all the encouragement I have to seeke it is the hope I have thou wilt not hide it O therefore Hide not thy face from mee O God for if thou hide thy Face from me what can I thinke but that thou art angry and if indeed thou be angry yet use me at least as a servant Put mee not away in thine anger for though I have committed many heynous faults against thee yet may I not repent and amend them all if thou but please not to bee so hastie with mee what though my sinnes have made thee angry wilt thou therefore presently turne me away will no lesse punishment serve to appease thy displeasure but to turne me presently out of service mayst thou not in so doing doe that in anger which thou wilt have cause perhaps to be sorry for afterwards wilt thou not leave thy selfe unprovided of servants to waite upon thee For where are any such servants to be found that some time or other will not give thee cause to bee angry If thou entertaine Starres to serve thee is there not impuritie in the Starres If entertaine Angels to serve thee Didst thou not find folly in the Angels Hast thou not promised to consider man that he is but dust and shall anger make thee to forget that Promise Hath not Mercie the highest seat in thine Arke and shall anger be able to put her from her seate Thou hast beene my helper heretofore and why didst thou helpe me but because I needed thy assistance and may I not with thy assistance now returne from my evill way if thou be
good things God never bestowes upon the wicked never with-holds from the godly and are all cast up in one summe where it is said Beati mundo corde quoniam ipsi videbunt Deum Blessed are the pure of Heart and such are onely they that walke uprightly for they shall see God But is walking uprightly such a matter with God that it should be so rewarded Is it not more pleasing to God to see us goe stooping then walking upright seeing stooping is the gate of Humilitie then which there is nothing to God more pleasing It is no doubt a hard matter to stoope and goe upright both at once yet both must be done and both indeed are done are done at once by every one that is godly but when I say they are done both at once I meane not of the body I know two such postures in the Body both at once are impossible but the Soule can doe it the Soule can stoope and goe upright both at once for then doth the Soule walke upright before God when it stoopes in humilitie before God and men And what remaines now for David to doe but to bring in the conclusion upon the Premisses seeing the Lord of Hosts though his Name be dreadfull yet his Nature is lovely seeing he is a Sunne to cherish and a Shield to Defend seeing he gives Grace and Glory and with-holds no good thing from them that walke uprightly Therefore blessed are all they that put their trust in him And what remaines now for us to doe but to receive this Conclusion of David as an absolute Demonstration and thereupon to walke uprightly and to put our whole trust and confidence in God through the merits of his Son Christ Jesus for then we are sure wee are in a sure way of attaining to Blessednesse to Eternall blessednesse that after this we may leave our wondring yet continue our Admiring How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord God of Hosts THE HVNDRED AND THIRD PSALME OF DAVID 1BLesse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me blesse his holy Name 2 Blesse the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy infirmities 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things and renueth thy youth like the Eagles 6 The Lord executeth Righteousnesse and Iudgement for all that are oppressed 7 Hee made knowne his wayes unto Moses his Acts to the children of Israel 8 The Lord is mercifull and gracious slow to anger and ful of compassion 9 Hee wil not alwayes chide neither wil hee keepe his anger for ever 10 Hee hath not dealt with us after our sinnes nor rewarded us according to our iniquities 11 For as high as the heaven is above the earth so great is his mercy toward them that feare him 12 As farre as the East is from the West so farre hath hee removed our transgressions from us 13 Like as a father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him 14 For he considereth whereof we are framed he remembers that we are but dust 15 As for man his dayes are as grasse as a flowre of the field so he flourisheth 16 For the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting toward them that feare him and his righteousnesse unto childrens children 18 To such as keepe his Covenant and remember his Commandements to doe them 19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in heaven and his kingdome ruleth over all 20 Blesse the Lord ye his Angels that excell in strength that doe his Commandements hearkening unto the voyce of his Word 21 Blesse the Lord all yee his Hosts Ye Ministers of his that doe his pleasure 22 Blesse the Lord all his workes in all places of his Dominion Blesse the Lord O my soule MEDITATIONS VPON THE CIII PSALME OF DAVID BLesse the Lord O my Verse 1 Soule O how well they are fitted for what worke so fit for my Soule as this Who so fit for this worke as my soule My body God knowes is grosse and heavie and very unfit for so sublime a worke No my soule it is Thou must doe it and indeed what hast thou else to doe it is the very worke for which thou wert made and O that thou wert as fit to doe the worke as the worke is fit for thee to to doe But alas I feare that by comming into this Body of earth thou art become in a manner earthy at least hast lost a great part of thy abilities and wilt never be able to goe thorow with this great worke thy selfe alone If to Blesse the Lord were no more but to say Lord Lord like to them that cryed The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord then my tongue alone would bee sufficient for it and I should not need to trouble any other about it but to Blesse the Lord is an eminent worke and requires not onely Many but very able Agents to performe it and therefore my Soule when thou goest about it goe not alone but Take with thee all that is within mee all the forces in my whole Magazine whether it be my Heart or my Spirits whether my Will or my Affections whether my Understanding or my Memory take them all with thee and Blesse the Lord. And of them all make use first of my Memorie Verse 2 Forget not all his Benefits for to remember his Benefits is indeed a principall part of Blessing him And the sooner thou goest about it the better thou art likely to performe it for forgetfulnesse is a thing that growes soone upon us and nothing sooner then forgetting of benefits our Memories are very apt to retaine Injuries but very unapt for retaining of Benefits For as long as we remember a Benefit we seeme to stand upon the rack of an Obligation to requite it and who is not willing to come off a Rack by any meanes he can and then rather by forgetting a Benefit then by requiting it and perhaps wee thinke it a kind of payment if we can but forget wee owe it But O my Soule consider that God expects no Retaliation of us he lookes for no requiting at our hands Alas He knowes we are not able He takes it in good part if but onely we remember his Benefits and should we not bee most ungratefull they being so great and so many as they are if we should not afford him so much as the remembring them But as to forget all his benefits were a wonderfull forgetfulnesse so to forget none at all were as wonderfull a Memorie for what memorie can be so vast not to forget some when they be so many Indeed so many that they cannot be numbred And what then O my Soule wilt thou doe in this case if thou canst not choose
kingdome of Heaven But if you thinke this distance of height from Earth to Heaven not sufficiently to expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take the distance of length from East to West For as farre as the East is from the West so farre Verse 12 hath he removed our sinnes from us that if the East and the West can never come to meet together no more shall our sinnes bee ever able to come against us in the sight of God But alas this gives not so good satisfaction as the other for though the distance from East to West bee vast indeed to us as to which our sight cannot reach though wee should use all the Perspective glasses of the world yet what is this to God who can as easily see from East to West as if they were hard by and close together But is it not that all Gods mercy to us is onely in Christ and may wee not then conceive that these Distances are represented by the manner of Christs hanging upon the Crosse where his Feet and his Head seeme to point from Earth to Heaven and the stretching out his hands seemes to point from East to West But though Relation to Christ be not the ground of these expressions yet it cannot be doubted but that they sufficiently expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy seeing they are the greatest distances that humane apprehension is capable to conceive But if you bee not satisfied with these expressings from Distances of place then take an expressing from the affection of Nature Verse 13 For as a Father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him And now let any that is a Father examine his owne Bowells how much he pitties his children and then say If Gods pitty to them that feare him be not in a very high degree Certainly if any Name could expresse a greater pitty then the name of a Father Christ would never have taught us to use this Name in making our prayers And who could be so fit to make this comparison as David who gave a testimonie of it in himselfe by making his moane O my sonne Absolom my sonne my sonne Absolom would God I had dyed for thee O Absolom my sonne my sonne that now it seemes Gods pitty is matcht and this example reacheth home to expresse the greatnesse of Gods pitty to the full No my soule it is too short yet for though the pitty of a Father may reach to be willing to dye for his Child yet Gods pitty reacheth further not onely to be willing to dye but to dye indeed and not onely for a Child but for his Enemies for when wee were enemies even then did Christ very God dye for us that Gods pitty holds the supremacie still and cannot indeed be matcht alas it cannot be exprest by any thing that is in man But though there may be comparison in the tendernesse of their pitties yet in the abilitie there can bee none for a Father pitties often-times a child when he cannot helpe him but Gods pitty is alwayes active and powerfull and never without releeving that though it be commonly said It is better to be envied then pittied yet here it is not so but it is a farre happier thing to be pittied of God then to be envied of men But whom is it that God pitties onely them that feare him and indeed Feare is a thing that deserves to be pittied for it makes the joynts to tremble and puts the spirits in amazement But O my soule it is not such a Feare that is here meant but this Feare is all one I may say with love and differs but in the Object for looking upon Gods Justice wee feare him and looking upon his Mercy wee love him although wee love him for his Justice too and wee feare him for his Mercie too for as there is Mercie with him that hee may be feared so there is Justice with him that he may be loved But why is it that God pitties them that feare him Indeed hee hath cause enough to Verse 14 pittie them For hee considers of what wee are framed Hee remembers that we are but dust and alas what is there in dust to helpe it selfe if God in mercy take not pitty upon it When God lookes downe upon us and sees how foule we are growne whom hee Created cleane hath he not cause to fall a chiding and to be angrie yet when he considers of what we are framed and that wee are but dust this is some cause againe to make him leave his chiding and not to keepe his anger for ever that we may truly say Our miseries are our happinesse for if it be our miserie that we are framed of so meane a matter as Dust It is our happinesse that wee have the meannesse of our matter for God to take into his consideration and perhaps this was it at least one circumstance that made so ill for the Angels that fell that God could find no excuse of their sinne in their matter the more hee considered of what they were framed the more he found he had cause to bee angrie and therefore no marvell if his anger to them continue for ever But this is every ones case to bee framed of Dust and why then should God pitty some more then others seeing they bee equally of Dust All Is it not that hee is the lesse angrie indeed for that they are but Dust but yet he pitties them not for being Dust but for being Dust and fearing him for if they feare him not he never pitties them but lets them goe on in their Pride at least in their securitie and make what they can of their Dust for they reckon upon great matters from their Dust and thinke they can improve it to a great heigth but alas what can they make of it but to come to be grasse at most to get up to be a flowre a poore fading thing that whether Verse 15 you gather it or let it grow whether the Sunne shine upon it or the Wind blow upon it it quickly withers and once withered becomes a pittifull sight to be seene a loath some thing to be smelt that where all the grace of it consisted in the two Senses of sight and smelling it is now offensive to both and is no longer carried in the hand or worne in the bosome Alas it is scarce thought worthy to have a place upon the dunghill And indeed what could more be lookt for of Dust being so light a thing as it is that if the wind but passe over it if you but blow upon it it is presently scattered and gone and the place where it was will know it no more And such is Man his flourishing is but as a Flowre as quickly withered as a Flowre and as soone cropt off from his stalke as a Flowre and alas what good is in a flourishing that ends in a withering What happinesse in pleasures that have no continuance O my soule if thou wert thy selfe
as the Grave which is low indeed yet there thou maiest rest in hope for even there the Lord will not leave to helpe thee Or is it that he was brought low was humbled in spirit to seeme vile in his owne eyes and then God helped him For God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble Verse 7 Now therefore O my soule returne to thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now my soule let it be no longer said Why art thou so heavie and why art thou disquieted within me For the Lord hath exceeded the bounds of mercifulnesse with his bountifulnesse Not onely in mercy hee hath forgiven my sinnes but as if my sinnes had been Merits he hath made me also to taste of his bountie Hee hath dealt indeed most bountifully with thee for where thou didst make suite but for one thing hee hath granted thee three Thou didst aske but to have my soule delivered and he hath delivered mine eyes and my feet besides and with a deliverance in each of them the greatest that could be for what greater deliverance to my soule then to bee delivered from Death What greater deliverance to mine eyes then to be delivered from teares What to my feet then to bee delivered from falling that if now O my soule thou returne not to thy rest thou wilt shew thy selfe to bee most insatiable seeing thou hast not onely more then thou didst aske but as much indeed as was possible to be ask'd But can my soule dye and if not what bountie is it then to deliver my soule from that to which it is not subject The soule indeed though immortall hath yet her wayes of dying It is one kind of death to the soule to bee parted from the body but the truest kind is to bee parted from God and from both these kindes of death hee hath delivered my soule From the first by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse that threatned a dissolution of my soule and body from the other by delivering me from the guilt of sinne that threatned a separation from the favour of God and are not these bounties to give my soule just cause of returning to her rest It is true it is the imperfection of life that it is subject to sicknesse and sicknesse drawes mortalitie after it but this imperfection is not here for hee hath delivered my soule from death and what is this but to have perfect health yet it is the imperfection of health that it is subject to crosses and crosses are a cause of teares but neither hath this imperfection any place here for he hath delivered mine eyes from teares and what is this but to have perfect Joy yet it is the imperfection of joy that it useth not to continue as it is said of the prosperitie of the wicked They are set in slipperie places and are apt to fall but neither is this imperfection found here for hee hath delivered my feet from falling and what is this but to be assured of continuance If then thou hast such health such joy such stabilitie Health not subject to sicknesse Joy not capable of sorrow Stabilitie not obnoxious to falling How canst thou O my soule how canst thou choose but pacifie thy unquietnesse and returne to thy rest But alas the rest thou canst returne to now is but a type of that true Rest when thou shalt rest from thy labours and when thy workes that now goe with thee shall then follow thee Thou hast now but one day of Rest for sixe dayes of labour but then thou shalt have an eternall Sabbath without any dayes of labour to disquiet it But though this rest cannot now bee had whilst thou dwellest in a restlesse body and thy body in a restlesse world yet there is a Rest that is worth the having and may onely my soule be called Thy Rest the rest which consists in the peace of conscience and to this rest thou maist well returne seeing not onely thou art at peace with God as being justified by his Grace but thou art in his favour also as having dealt so bountifully with thee And when thou returnest to this rest to the end thou maist have some exercise to thy rest that thy resting make thee not restiffe I will walke Verse 9 before the Lord in the land of the living For now that my feet are delivered from falling how can I better imploy them then in walking were they delivered from falling to the end they should stand still and bee idle No my soule but to encourage me to walke and where is so good walking as in the land of the living Alas what walking is it in the Winter when all things seeme dead when the very grasse lyes buried under ground and scarce any thing that hath life in it to be seene but then is the pleasant walking when Nature spreads her greene Carpet to walke upon and then it is a Land of the living when the Trees shew they live by bringing forth if not fruits at least leaves when the Valleys shew they live by bringing forth if not sweet flowers to delight the smell at least fresh grasse to please the eyes But is this the walking in the Land of the living that David meanes O my soule to walke in the Land of the living is to walke in the pathes of Righteousnesse for there is no such death to the soule as sinne no such cause of teares to the eyes as guiltinesse of Conscience No such falling of the feet as to fall from God and therefore to say the truth the Soule can never returne to its rest if we walke not withall in the paths of righteousnesse and we cannot well say whether this Rest bee a cause of the walke or the walking be a cause of the resting but this wee may say they are certainly companions one to the other which is in effect but this that Justification can never be without Sanctification Peace of conscience and godlinesse of life can never be one without the other Or is it perhaps that David meanes that Land of the living where Enoch and Elias are living with the living God but if he meane so how can he speake so confidently Verse 10 and say I will walke in the Land of the living as though hee could come to walke there by his owne strength or at his owne pleasure Hee therefore gives his reason I beleeved and therefore I spake for the voyce of Faith is strong and speakes with confidence and because in Faith he beleeved that hee shall come to walke in the Land of the living therefore with confidence he speakes it I will walke in the land of the living and perhaps to signifie that hee shall not walke there against his will but that he endeavours and useth the best meanes he can that hee may walke there For indeed if we endeavour not to walke here with Enoch and Elias in the paths of righteousnesse we shall never come to walke with God
his sight that was none of his workes but is a destroyer of his workes Is it possible that a thing which destroyes his creatures should have a Title of more value in his sight then his creatures themselves O my soule this is one of the Myracles of his Saints and perhaps one of those which Christ meant when he said to his Apostles that greater Myracles then he did they should doe themselves for what greater Myracle than this that Death which of it selfe is a thing most vile in the sight of God yet once embraced by his Saints as it were by their touch onely becomes pretious in his sight and to alter a thing from being vile to be precious is it not a greater Myracle then to turne Water into Wine Indeed so it is Death doth not damnifie his Saints but his Saints doe dignifie Death Death takes nothing away from his Saints happinesse but his Saints adde lustre to Deaths vilenesse and it is happy for Death that ever it met with any of Gods Saints for there was no way for it else in the world to be ever had in any account But why say I in the world for it is of no account in the world for all this It is but onely in the sight of God but indeed this onely is All in All for to be pretious in Gods sight is more to be prized then the world it selfe For when the World shall passe away and all the glory of it be laid in the dust then shall Trophyes be erected for the death of his Saints and when all Monuments of the world shall bee utterly defaced and all Records quite rased out yet the death of his Saints shall stand Registred still in faire Red letters in the Kalendar of Heaven for if there be glory laid up for them that dye in the Lord much more shall they bee glorified that dye for the Lord. I have wondered often-times why God will suffer his Saints to dye I meane not the death naturall for I know Statutum est omnibus semel mori but the Death that is by violence and with torture for who could endure to see them he loves so cruelly handled but now I see the reason of it For Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and what marvell then if he suffer his Saints to dye when by dying they are wrought and made fit Jewels to be set in his Cavinet for as God hath a Bottle which he fills up with the teares of his Saints so I may say he hath a Cabinet which he decks up with the deaths of his Saints and O my soule if thou couldst but comprehend what a glory it is to serve for a Jewell in the decking up of Gods Cabinet thou wouldst never wonder why he suffers his Saints to bee put to death though with never so great torments for it is but the same which Saint Paul saith The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall bee revealed But if you will have a Glasse to view the Extent of this pretiousnesse and plainly to see how pretious in the sight of God the death of his Saints is then look upon the revenge that is taken for it for there is nothing that God takes so much to heart and of which hee takes so sharpe revenge as the death of his Saints to touch them is to touch the Apple of his eye and if the punishment of Cain bee not thought sufficient to make it appeare at least the complaint of Christ against Hierusalem will be sufficient O Hierusalem Hierusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and it is thought by some that the destruction of Hierusalem was the rather hastened to revenge the death of James who was called the Just but how soever this wee know it was therefore executed to revenge the death of Jesus who was truly the Just and may we not well take notice that the death was exceeding pretious when the revenge that was taken was so exceeding furious But why speake I of Death when I may yet doe God good service in life and if the death of his Saints be pretious in his sight certainly the life of his servants is not unregarded For whether we dye wee dye to the Lord or whether wee live wee live to the Lord and though in this life we cannot expect the reward of Saints yet in this life wee may claime the respect of servants and in this I claime an interest my selfe Verse 16 for truly O Lord I am thy servant and oh that I could serve thee so truly that I might heare thee say Euge bone serve For we are all very ready to professe our selves thy servants but very unready to doe the service of our profession and specially in these times when Servant is growne to be a word of complyment rather than of truth that to say I am thy servant is all one as to say I am an Hypocrite But O Lord let it not be found so in me not be thought so of me for I am thy servant by a double right and oh that I could doe thee double service as thou art the Lord of life and as I am the sonne of thy Handmaid Not of Hagar but of Sarah not of the Bond-woman but of the Free and therefore I serve thee not in Feare but in Love or therefore in feare because in love and then is service best done when it is done in love and in love indeed I am bound to serve thee For thou hast loosed my bonds the Bonds of death which compassed me about by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse and restoring me to health or in a higher kind Thou hast loosed my Bonds by freeing me from being a Captive to bee a Servant and which is more from being a servant to be a sonne and more then this yet from being a sonne of thy Hand-maid to be a sonne of thy selfe and therefore indeed a sonne of thy selfe because a sonne of thy Handmaid for what is thy Handmaid but thy Church and he that is not borne of this Handmaid though he may have the generall benefit of a servant sustenance and protection yet hee can never have the speciall benefits of a sonne freedome and inheritance Or thou hast loosed my bonds Thou hast freed me from the heavy yoak of the Ceremonies of the Law and hast Enfranchised mee with the glorious liberty of the Gospell that where before thou didst require the sacrifice of Servants which was the bloud of Beasts now thou acceptest the sacrifice of sonnes which is Verse 17 Prayer and Thanks-giving I will therefore offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and call upon thy Name For Prayer and Thanks-giving make both but one Sacrifice and seeing all sacrifice is due onely to thee therefore to thee onely I will offer both my Thanks-giving and my Prayer I could not make Thankes-giving a Sacrifice if Prayer did not begin it I could not make Prayer a Sacrifice if Thanks-giving did not finish it If there should bee Thankes-giving and no Prayer the Sacrifice would want a foot if Prayer and no Thanks-giving it would want a Head for as the Basis is Prayer so the Coronis is thanks-giving Although perhaps Thanks-giving bee but the Act and Thankfulnesse the Habit and it is the Habit that makes the Sacrifice because it must bee Juge sacrificium A continuall Sacrifice which the Act cannot be And if there had beene a word to expresse the Habit of praying as Thankfulnesse doth of Thanks-giving perhaps Saint Paul would have used it where he saith Pray continually for who can doubt but hee meanes the Habit of praying and not the Act and where he saith In all things give thankes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It intends perhaps but this In all things be thankfull And what then shall the Thankfulnesse or the Thanks-giving be that I will offer to God for a sacrifice O my soule it shall bee an acknowledging of his benefits and of his onely benefits it shall be a proclaiming him to bee my Patron and my onely Patron It shall bee an extolling him for his Mercy in forgiving my sinnes for his graciousnesse in healing all my infirmities for his compassion in Redeeming my soule from destruction and for his bountie in crowning me with loving kindnesse and tender mercies it shall bee indeed a Vowing to him the whole service of all the faculties of my soule and body And not to be done in a corner as though I were not willing it should be knowne nor before some few people onely as though I were loath too many should see it but I will pay my vowes to him in Verse 18 the presence of all his people that young and old rich and poore high and low may all bee witnesses of my thankfulnesse This for the persons before whom it shall be done and then for the place in which it shall be done it shall be done in the courts of the Lords house if any Verse 19 place be more conspicuous more publick then other it shall be done there it shall be done in the midst of thee O Hierusalem that the Fame of it may be spread that the sound of it may equally goe forth into all parts of the world that as all thy people shall be beholders of my thankfulnesse so all the world shall bee admirers of thy goodnesse and as there is in Heaven an Allelujah of thy Saints so there shall be in Earth an Allelujah of thy Servants of which Number of both which numbers my hope is to be one and that I may be sure to be one O my soule praise thou the Lord and because my owne praising will be but a very small service therefore mend it my soule by calling upon others and saying Praise yee the Lord. FINIS
my soule aspires for onely this Crowne makes sinne and Death to be my subjects Rebellious sinne that can never be brought into subjection but onely by this Crowne O God of thy loving kindnesse and tender mercies These indeed are Consequences most worthy to be remembred but yet perhaps not apt to be remembred for are they not of too high a straine and what the understanding doth not well apprehend the memorie doth not easily retaine He will therefore descend to Benefits of a lower Verse 5 ranke He satisfieth thy mouth with good things and renues thy youth like the Eagles This no doubt is apt to be remembred because it falls within the compasse of sense for who is not sensible of good things and specially when they bee good things for the mouth for all the labour of man is for the mouth All that the hands worke for and all that the feet toyle about is all but for the mouth so long as we may have greene Pastures and still Waters so long as we may have meat and drinkes not onely to satisfie hunger but to please the palate wee care not greatly for any thing else But O my soule these are not the good things that are here meant and yet even this perhaps were worth the caring for if it might continue but alas the dayes will come when I shall say I have no pleasure in them the time will come when my mouth will lose its taste and what good then will these good things of the mouth doe me No my soule no feare here of old age no feare of defect by reason of yeares For thy youth shall bee renewed like the Eagles There shall be no loosening here of the silver Cord no breaking of the golden Bowle but as the Eagle by mewing her feathers renues her youth So thou my soule by mewing thy feathers which is by casting off this fraile Tabernacle of thy flesh shalt perpetually be kept by the powerfull hand of God in a state of vigour Indeed the life we live now is the greatest part no life for Child-hood is scarce come to it and Old age is almost past it no time properly remaining to life but onely the short time of youth but the life that God hath in store for them that feare him not onely shall be alwayes but shall be alwayes Youth and no defect of Age shall be able to take hold upon it But may we not now begin anew and conceive rather that when David calls upon his soule to blesse the Lord and not to forget all his benefits Hee meanes he would have it to remember all his benefits and therefore he presently falls to reckon them all up himselfe not singula generum but genera singulorum Not all in particular but the generall Heads under which all the Particulars are comprehended And he begins with forgiving of sinnes because this is the Foundation this is that which reconciles us to God and which makes us capable of all his other benefits But alas what good will his forgiving my sinnes doe me if he stay there and goe no further for shall I not be committing of new sinnes continually and so God shall bee alwayes forgiving and never the neere Never the neere unlesse hee be alwayes forgiving To helpe this therefore his next benefit is the healing all my infirmities for this takes away that aptnesse to sinne to which wee are all of us by nature so prone and subject But alas what good will both these benefits doe me if hee yet stay here and goe no further seeing I am now a captive and already condemned to dye the death for should not my case bee like to theirs who upon the scaffold aske the King forgivenesse and when he forgives them yet they are put to death neverthelesse His next Verse 4 benefit therefore is a remedie for this For hee Redeemeth thy life from destruction Hee not onely frees thee from captivitie but preserves thee from perishing But alas what good yet will all these doe me if he should yet stay here and goe no further for when my sinnes be forgiven when my infirmities healed when my life redeemed yet what am I more by all this then as it were an Abrasa tabula at most what have I more to take joy in then every other ordinary creature Hee will now therefore Coronidem imponere give a benefit that shall perfect all For Hee crownes thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies Whatsoever is within the compasse of his loving kindnesse whatsoever within the extent of his tender Mercies he will not onely make thee capable of it but will freely bestow it all upon thee And who can deny but this now is a perfect Inventorie of all the benefits for which the soule hath cause to blesse the Lord to blesse him in respect of it selfe though there are other benefits indeed to the body for which the soule must blesse him too for alas the body is not able not able of it selfe without the soule and they are soone reckoned for they may be reduced to these two Sustentation and Renovation For hee satisfieth thy mouth with good things and thy youth is renewed like the Eagles as much as to say Thou shalt have the happinesse of the Epicure and of the Stoick both at once at least there shall bee no feare of hunger and thirst No drooping with Age nor ruines of Time And now O my soule let not my being in trouble and oppressed with sorrowes make thee doubt of the truth of these things for besides Verse 6 these benefits The Lord executeth Righteousnesse and Judgement for all that are oppressed Righteousnesse to them and Judgement for them For as it is righteous with God that his servants who are here oppressed should hereafter be comforted and be made partakers of all these benefits so it is his Judgement to the wicked who are their oppressours that they should feele hereafter the full measure of Gods wratth as it were in their revenge And this Righteousnesse and this Judgement he not onely deliberateth and determineth hee not onely promiseth to the godly and threatens to the wicked and then leaves them undone but he is perfect in all his wayes hee is truly Reall and puts them most assuredly in execution at least he executes them Per se or Per alium either by himselfe or by his Angels For indeed this part of his Judgement which is inflicting of punishment is not properly in God Opus suum and therefore no marvell if hee leave it to be done by Angels as he did at Sodome but though the Ministrie be theirs yet the Execution is His all the power is onely from him And although the executing his Righteousnesse and his Judgement be inter Arcana sua things hidden from us at which we may stand amazed but can never understand them yet he hath often-times revealed them to his servants the Prophets and specially to his servant Moses For he made knowne his wayes unto