and out of reach And no place so high as Sinus Altissimi the bosome of the Highest which is his Mercy The reason then why David shall not miscarry nay not so much as Nature shake as Ar. Mont. renders it why the scepter in his hand shall not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a shaken reed S. Matth. 11. And that is the word here in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Mercy of the Highest And when his feet are got upon this he shall not slide And Apollinaris cals the feet of the King while they rest upon Gods Mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bold and confident feet that dare venture and can stand firme any where And so no question they can that are upheld by Mercy And now to reach downe some of the Mercies of the Highest upon our selves For when I reade David at Rex sperat The King trusts in the Lord and heare him speaking in the third person as of another King me thinkes the prophecie is worth the bringing home to our most gracious Soveraigne For his constancie in Religion is knowen to the world And the freedome of his life argues his trust in the Lord And the assurance of his Hope shall not vanish For let him keep to the mercy of the Highest and there he shall not miscarry And give me leave to speake a little out of my Spes in Domino my trust in the Lord me thinkes I see Non commovebitur He shall not miscarry three wayes doubling upon him First for his Private I have two great inducements among many in another Kingdome to thinke that he is so firme in the mercies of God that he cannot miscary The one is as old as Novemb. 5. 1605. The powder was ready then but the Fire could not kindle The other is as young as January last the 9. The water was too ready then and he fell into it Neither of these Elements have any mercy but the mercy of the Highest was His Acquittance from both In the first he learned that when desperate men have sacramented themselves to destroy God can prevent and deliver Act. 24. In the second he learned that a Horse is but a vaine thing to save a man but God can take up take out and deliver And in the very Psalmes for that day Morning prayer thus I reade Psal 46. God is our help and strength a very present help in trouble And I know not what better use he can make of this than that which followes in the next verse I will not feare nor distrust God though the earth be moved Next me thinks I have a Non commovebitur he shall not miscarry for or in his publike affaires Prophet I am none but my Heart is full that the mercy of the Highest which hath preserved Him in great sicknesses and from great dangers hath more work for him yet to doe the peace of Christendome is yet to settle Will God honour this Island in him and by his wisdome to order the Peace and settle the distracted State of Christendome and edge the sword upon the common enemie of Christ Why should there not be trust in God that in the mercy of the Highest he shall not miscarry Thirdly For that which is greater than both these to him the eternall safety of his soule here is a Non cōmovebitur he shall not miscarry for this neither For so some reade and some expound the word of my Text Thou shalt give him everlasting felicity Therefore let him be strong and of a good courage for in the mercy of the most High there is no miscarrying Thus you have seene the Kings Blessing the Kings Joy the Kings Hope and the Kings Assurance In the first you have seen that the King is a Blessing to his people that a gracious King such as God hath given us is a blessing for ever That he is so Quia tu dedisti because God hath given and set him to be so From Blessing to Joy And there you have seene that the joy which followes a blessed Government is a great joy a true and a permanent joy a joy that is either first or chiefest in the King Now Blessing and Joy are both grounded upon Hope this Hope in the Lord this Hope includes Faith and Religion and so this Hope stands amidst the foundations of Kings The Successe assured unto him is Non commovebitur he shall not miscarry not so long as he rests on Mercy that Mercy of the Highest Non commovebitur drive wind and tide he shall not miscarry Shall not what is it absolute then for David or for any King No I say not so neither There is a double condition in the Text if David will not miscarry the one is ex parte Davidis on Davids side and that is at Sperat a religious heart to God that cannot but trust in him The other is ex parte Dei on Gods side and that is at Misericordia a mercifull providence over the King which knowes not how to forsake till it be forsaken if it doe then Let us call in the Prophet for witnesse Psal 94. When I said My foot hath slipped thy mercie O Lord held me up Now the foot of a man slips from the condition from the trust as Cassian observes Mobilitate Arbitrii by the changings of the will which is too free to sinne and breach of trust the Holder up in the slip is Mercie therefore it is safest relying upon the condition which is on Gods side that is Mercy for that holds firme when men break And mark my Text Hope goes before and Non commovebitur he shall not miscarry followes after but yet it followes not till the Mercy of the Highest be come in betweene And indeed to speak properly all those things which the Scripture attributes to the Faith and Hope of man are due onely Misericordiae Altissimi to the Mercy of the Highest which both gives and rewards them And yet for all this the Hope of the Beleever and the Mercy of God in whom he trusts are happily joyned in my Text because the Hope of Faith can obtaine nothing without the Mercie of the Highest And that Mercie and Goodnesse will not profit any man that doth not beleeve and trust in it And Hope and Mercie are not better fitted to secure David than Mercie and the Highest are to make him apprehensive of his assurance For Goodnesse Mercie are invalid without Power now that is supplyed by Altissimus the Highest And power is full of terrour when it stands apart from goodnesse and that is supplyed by mercy when both meet the Hope of man is full So David cannot but see all firme on Gods side and sure he is not to miscarry if he look to performance of his owne And though it be safest relying upon God yet it is never safe to disjoyne them whom God hath put together And therefore as he is mercifull so Man must be
Blessing to his People and a Common-wealth happy But the matter is not great with them whether it be a true or a false Religion so it be one But they are here in a miserable errour for since they suppose a Religion necessary as they must my Text will turne all the rest upon them that true Religion is most apt and most able to Blesse and Honour both King and People For first Truth is stronger than falsehood and will so prove it selfe wheresoever it is not prevented or abused and therfore it is more able Next true Religion breeds ever true Faith and true Hope in God which no false Religion can therefore it is more apt Then true Hope and Faith have here the promise of God for the Kings joy and the Peoples Blessings even Quia sperat because he trusts whereas the rest have only his permission Therefore it is both both more apt and more able to blesse King and Commonwealth than any false Religion or superstition is or can be It was but a scoffe of Lucian to describe Christians simple and easie to be abused or if any in his time were such the weakenesse of the men must not be charged upon their Religion for Christ himselfe the founder of Religion though he did un-sting the Serpent in all his charge to his Apostles yet he left his vertue uncheck'd nay he commanded that Be innocent but yet as wise as Serpents Mat. 10. 16. And this Wisedome and Prudence is the most absolute vertue for a Common-wealth So that till Christians forsake Christs rule Lucians scoffe takes no hold of them Thirdly Since Quia sperat the Faith and Religion of a King is that which brings God to give him as a Blessing It must not be forgotten that Trust in God is inter fundamenta Regum amidst the very foundations of Kings And spes is quasi pes Hope saith Isidore is the foote and the resting place Now no building can stand if the foundation be digg'd from under it The Buildings are the Blessings of a State A prime foundation of them is the Kings trust in God Take away the truth of this Hope Faith and Religion and I cannot promise the Blessings to stand for then there is never another Quia or cause in the Text to move God to give But if the cause stand as Theodor. and Euthym. here make it all is well And here it were sacrilege for me and no lesse to passe by his Majesty without thankes both to God and Him To Him for Quia sperat because he trusteth for no Prince hath ever kept more firme to Religion And it is sperans in the present in my Text hee continueth it and will continue it And to God for Quia dedit because in mercy hee hath given Him this Blessing so to Trust and by this trust in him to be this and many other Blessings to us And so I come to the last part of my Text which is the happy Successe which David shall have for trusting in the Lord. It is a Reward and Rewards come last And it is That in this trust he shall not slide he shall not miscary And here to make all parts even are three circumstances too The first of these is the Successe or Reward it selfe and it is a great one Non commovebitur He shall not be moved or at least not removed not miscarry And this is a great Successe To have to doe with the greatest moveables in the world the people and not miscarry So that trust in the Lord makes a King in the midst of a mighty people Petram in mari turbido A Rocke in a working Sea Ebbe and slow and swell yet insolent waves dash themselves in pieces of all sides the Rock and the King is at Non commovebitur He shall not be moved Secondly This great Successe doth not attend on Kings for either their wisdome or their power or any thing else that is simply theirs No we must fall back to spes in Domino their trust in the Lord yea and this trust too is not simply upon the Lord but upon his Mercy And indeed to speak properly Man hath no ground of his Hope but Mercy no stay upon the slippery but Mercy For if he looke upon God and consider him in justice If he looke upon himselfe and weigh his soule by merit it is impossible for a man to Hope or in Hope not to miscarry And therefore the Prophet here though he promise non cōmovebitur that the King shall not miscarry yet he dares promise it no where else than In misericordia in Mercy Thirdly I will not omit the Expression whose Mercy it is that gives successe to Princes and that is Altissimi the mercie of the most high which is one of Gods usuall Names in Scripture Now Sperat non commovebitur The Kings Hope and his Successe doe both meete in the Highest mercy It is true Hope stands below and out of sight For Hope that is seene is no hope Rom. 8. yet as low as it stands it contemplates God qua Altissimus as he is at highest And this shewes the strength of this vertue of Hope For as Hope considered in nature is in men that are warme and spirited so is it also considered as a vertue And therefore give it but due footing which is upon Mercy and in the strength of that it will clime to God were it possible he should be Higher than he is The footing of Hope is low therefore it seekes Mercie and the Kings Hope keepes the foote of the hill Rex humili corde sperat So S. August And the best hope begins lowest not at merit but at mercy But then marke how it soars For the same hope that bears the soule of man company upon earth mounts till it comes ad Altissimum to the most High in heaven Now in this Mercy-seate it is observable three Grandies are met together Blessing Joy and Hope and yet there is no strife for precedencie For Blessing goes first Joy comes after for no man so joyfull as hee that is Blessed and then Hope to supply the defects of both because nor Blessings nor Joy can be perfect in this life And they have chosen to themselves an excellent and safe place in the Mercy of the most High An excellent place and all receive vertue from it For that David is able to be a Blessing to the people that he can joy in the Blessing that his Hope can support him through the cares in ordering the blessing ere he can come to the joy all is frō Mercy And a safe place it is For there are in all times and in all States Conatus impiorum endeavours of wicked men and the labour of these is to turne Blessing it selfe into a curse To overcloud joy with sorrow at least if not Desolation To crush Hope or rather Decollare to behead it No place safe from these attempts but that which is high
faithfull He must trust And now to end at home David is gone long since to his Hope the Mercy of the Highest But a King a gracious King is living over us in Peace and Happinesse as our eyes see this day I know He remembers why God set Him over this great and numerous people that is in benedictione even to blesse them And that he hath been a Blessing unto them Malice it selfe cannot deny And I make no question but he will go on with the Text and be Blessings to them for ever For ever through his whole time and for ever in his generous Posterity Tu dedisti Gods gift is through all this and I will ever pray that it may never faile He hath given this people all His time the Blessing of Peace And the sweet Peace of the people is Praeconium Regnantium the Glory of Kings And Gods gift is in this too For though it be the King that Blesses yet it is God that gives Blessing to Blessing it selfe And suppose Peace end in Warre Tu dedisti Gods gift reaches thither too For the Battell is the Lords 1 Reg. 17. The Battell yes and the Victory For sayth S. Basil Dextera victrix Whosoever be the Enemy the right hand that conquers him is the Lords Now for his Blessing it is fit he should receive Joy But if he will have that true and permanent and no other is worth the having he must looke it in vultu Dei in Gods countenance If he looke it any where else especially where the joy of his countenance shines not there will be but false representations of joy that is not This day the Anniversary of his Crowne is to all his loving Subjects Dies Gaudii and Dies Spei A day of Joy and a day of Hope A day of joy For what can be greater than to see a Just and a gracious King multiplying his yeares And a day of Hope And what can be fitter than to put him in minde even this day that a Kings strength is at sperat in Domino His trust in the Lord the preserver of men Job 7. That as God upon this day did settle His Hope and His Right to this Kingdome upon Him So upon this day which in this yeers revolution proves His day too Dies Domini the Lords day as well as His hee would continue the setling of his Hope on him by whom all the Kings of the Earth beare rule Prov. 8. I say Settle upon Him and his Mercy that is the last The very feet of Kings stand High and in high places slips are dangerous Nothing so fit so able to stand by them as Misericordia Altissimi the Mercy of the Highest In the goodnesse and the power of this Mercy he hath stood a King now almost five and fifty yeares nay a King He was before he could stand Through many dangers the Mercy of the Highest hath brought Him safe Let Him not goe from under it and it followes my Text verse 8. His right hand shall finde out all that hate Him And for himselfe Non commovebitur He shall not be moved not miscarry And so we offer up our Evening sacrifice unto God for Him and for our selves that God will ever give and he may ever be a Blessing to is People That His yeeres may multiply and yet not outlive His joy That this day may come about often and yet never returne but In Gaudio vultus Dei in the joy of Gods countenance upon the King and In Gaudio vultus Regis in the Ioy of the Kings countenance upon the People That the mercy of the most High may give Him hope in the Lord and strengthen it That His Hope may rest upon the Mercy that gave it That in all His businesses as great as His place His Successe may be Non commâ—veri not to miscarry That He may goe on a straight course from Blessing others in this life to be Blessed Himselfe in Heaven And that all of us may enjoy Temporall Blessings under Him and Eternall with Him for evermore And this CHRIST JESUS for his infinite merit and mercy sake grant unto us To whom with the Father and the holy Spirit three persons and one God be ascribed all might Majesty and Dominion this day and for ever AMEN SERM. III. Preached on Monday the 6. of Feb. 1625. at Westminster at the opening of the PARLIAMENT PSAL. 122. ver 3 4 5. Jerusalem is builded as a Citie that is at unity in it selfe or compacted together For thither the Tribes goe up even the Tribes of the Lord to the Testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord. For there are the Seats or the Thrones of Judgement even the Thrones of the house of David SOme are of opinion this Psalme was made by David and delivered to the Church to be sung when the Ark of God was carryed up to Jerusalem when Jerusalem was setled by David to be the speciall seate both of Religion and the Kingdome The people were bound thrice a yeere at Easter Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles to come up and worship at Jerusalem Deu. 16. And some think this Psalme was prophetically made to sing by the way to sing wheÌ„ they went up by the steps to the Temple And 't was fit for they came up with joy And joy is apt to set men a singing And at joy the Psalme begins I was glad when they said unto me We will goe into the house of the Lord. But whatsoever the use of this Psalme was in any speciall Service certaine it is that Jerusalem stands here in the letter for the City and in type and figure for the State and the Church of Christ My Text looks upon both and upon the duty which the Jewes did then and which we now doe owe to both The Temple the Type of the Church that 's for God's service No Temple but for that The City the Type of the State that 's for the peoples peace No happy State but in that Both the Temple and the State God's house and the Kings both are built upon Pillars And it is not long since I told you out of Psal 75. that there are many times of exigence in which if God doe not beare up the Pillars no strength which the Pillars have in and of themselves can support the weight that lies upon them Be they Pillars of the Temple or Pillars of the State Therefore here to ease the Pillars God hath built up Buttresses if men doe not pull them downe to stay the maine walls of both buildings The Buttresse and support of the Temple is Religion God will not blesse the house if men doe not honour and serve him in it The Buttresse and stay of the Kingdome is Justice God will not blesse the State if Kings and Magistrates doe not execute judgement If the widdow and the fatherlesse have cause to cry out against the Thrones of Justice So
Kingdome And 't is not Juda onely but all Kingdomes of the Earth are subject to melting The many changes of the world have Preach'd this over and over That whatsoever hath Earth to the foundation is subject to dissolution And the Sermon is still made upon this Text Terra liquefacta est The Earth is dissolved Now usually before melting there goes a Heate And so it was Hos 8. A fire first and then the melting of Israel There neither is nor can be any Kingdome but it hath many Heates These are most felt by them that are at the working of the State But these are all quite above me save to pray for their temper and I will not further meddle with them Heates then there are but all Heates are not by and by a Furnace nor are all Furnaces able to melt and dissolve States No God forbid Not all but yet some there are that can melt any Kingdome especially two The one of these Heates is Sinne great and multiplied sinne For saith S. Augustine delinquere est de liquido fluere To sinne is to melt and drop away from all steddinesse in vertue from all foundation of Justice And here a State melts inward there 's little seen yet The other is Gods punishment for these sinnes For that makes empty cities and a desolate Land And there a State melts outwardly and in view And by this we have found what and who it is that melts great and glorious Kingdomes In the Text there 's no more than liquefacta est the earth is disolved not a word by whom or for what But it is expressed ver 7. that it is by God And it is too well knowne that it is for sinne and for great sinne too For as there goes sin before God heates so there goe great and multiplied sins before God makes his fire so hot as to melt or dissolve a Kingdome The sinnes of the Amorite not yet full therefore not yet cast into the melting pot But so soone as their sinnes were full their State melted The fruit of it from above and the root of it from beneath all destroyed And this was not the Amorites case onely for all Stories are full of it That when States have melted into wanton and lustfull sinnes they have not long after dissolved into desolation For as S. Hierom observes that course God holds with impious and impenitent Kingdomes as well as men absque discretione personaruus without any difference of persons or places Well when 't is Terra liquefacta when a Kingdome dissolves and melts what then What why then no man is in safety till it settle againe not a man For the Text goes on The earth is dissolved and all that dwell therein All men then to seeke what to doe the wisest to seeke and the strongest to seeke All. And it must needs be so For so long as a State is Terra like solide ground men know where to set their footing and it is not every Earth quake that swallowes the place But when it is once Terra liquefacta molten and dissolved there is no footing no foundation then I sticke fast in the myre where no ground is Psal 69. and myre is but terra liquefacta molten and dissolved earth All foule then and no foundation And when a Kingdome melts indeed that is both wayes In sinne and under punishment there 's great reason the inhabitants should melt with it into feare into danger into ruine For God never puts his fire to the melting of a State but for sin and sinne that is never committed by the dead State but by the living For when a fruitfull land is made barren it is for the wickednesse of them that dwell therein And therefore there is great reason when the earth dissolves that the inhabitants should all sweat and melt too When David came to the Crown 't was thus How is it now Why if you take the earth at large for the Kingdomes about you out of question there hath been liquefactio a melting in the earth and many Kingdomes have sweat blood But if you take the earth for the State at home then 't is high time to magnifie God First for the Renowned Religious and peaceable Reigne of our late dread Soveraigne of blessed Memory who for so many yeeers together kept this Kingdome in peace and from melting And secondly that now in the change of Princes which is not the least occasion for a State to melt we live to see a miracle Change without Alteration Another King but the same life-expression of all the Royall and Religious Vertues of his Father and no sinewes shrinking or dissolving in the State If you aske me the cause of this happinesse I can direct you to no other but God and God in mercy For as for the Kingdome that is made of the same Earth with others and is consequently subject to the same dissolution And as for us that dwell therein I doubt our sins have beene as clamorous upon God to heate his fire and make it fall on melting as the sinnes of them that inhabit other Countreys And though I doubt not but God hath the sure mercies of David in store for the King and will never faile him yet if Habitatores in eâ they that dwell in this good and happy soile will burden it and themselves with sinne great sinne multiplied sinne unrepented sinne it will not be in the power or wisdome or courage or piety of a King to keepe the State from melting For David was all these and yet liquefacta est terra the Earth was as good as dissolved for all that And therefore that this Kingdome is not a melting too I can give no firme reason but God and his Mercy For he is content to give longer day for repentance and repentance is able to doe all things with God And the time calls apace for repentance The Heavens they melt into unseasonable weather and the Earth melts and dissolves her Inhabitants into infectious humours and there 's no way to stay these meltings but by melting our selves in and by true repentance Would you then have a setled and a flourishing State Would you have no melting no dissolution in the Church I know you would it is the honourable and religious designe of you all Why but if you would indeed The King must trust and indeere his people The people must honour obey and support their King Both King and Peeres and People must religiously serve and honour God Shut out all Superstition on Gods Name the farther the better but let in no prophanenesse therewhile If this be not done take what care you can God is above all humane wisdome and in some degree or other there will be Liquefactio terrae a melting or a waste both in Church and State And this falls in upon the second generall part of the Text which is The Remedy as it was then with the Jewes the
for the honour and safety of a kingdom And beginning that service with Gods For God forbid this Honourable Councell of State should sit downe and beginne any where else than at God Now the great Congregation among the Jewes was the Sanedrim And the going up of the Tribes to Jerusalem was first to give thankes unto the Lord and then to sit downe on the seate of judgement Psal 122. And Jerusalem at that time was the seat both of Religion and the State Differences I know there are many betweene us and them our government theirs but not in this That the Tribes are assembled and come up to one place Nor in this That they come up first to give thanks to God before they possesse the seate of judgement Nor in this much that there is a Session a Convocation for Religion as well as Parliament for State But to leave them and come to our owne This great Councell of the kingdome this Congregation is never received to meeting but about the Pillars of the State the Lawes and the Government That by the Lawes there might be Judgement according to right and by the Government the Pillars may both beare and be borne I say beare and be borne For though in the text it be I beare up the Pillars That is I at all times and I in some cases where none can but I and I when all forsake save I yet that is not so to be taken as if the people were not bound to beare up the Pillars as well as the Pillars them No for there 's no question but they are bound and strictly bound too Rom. 13. And certaine it is no State can flourish if there be not mutuall support betweene the Earth and the Pillars if it faile of either side there 's some melting or other presently For the strength of a King is in the multitude of his people Prov. 14. His supply and his defence is there And the strength of a People is in the honour and renowne of their King His very name is their shield among the Nations and they must make accompt to beare if they will be borne And this is read in the very Dictates of Nature for government For no man ever saw building of State but the Pillars which beare up it are borne by the Earth Now God and the King doe both receive this Congregation and in fitnesse of time and yet with a difference too For the King receives the Congregation to consult and advise with it but God receives it to direct and to blesse it And God with his blessing is never wanting to us at these and the like times if we be not wanting to Him and our selves And thus you have seene in what state the kingdome of Israel was in Davids time and how easie it is for any kingdom to be in the like in a melting and a dissolving estate You have likewise seene what Remedy was then and what Prevention is now to be thought of against this melting This both Remedy and Prevention consists especially in impartiall distribution of Justice to the people and in Gods gracious and powerfull supporting of the pillars of the State The time for this never so fit as when the Congregation is received by the King to consultation and by God to blessing It is not much which I have more to say The Congregation is now ready to be received The very Receiving it joynes it with the fitnesse of opportunity For it is the Kings opportunity to blesse his people with Iustice and Iudgement and it is Gods opportunity to beare up both King and Peeres both greater and lesser Pillars of the State My text delivers a promise of both For 't is Davids speech for himselfe and for God I 'le doe both saith God and I saith the King Now you may not distrust this promise on either side neither on God nor Davids Not on Gods side For that is infidelity Nor the Kings For what hath he done that can cause misbeliefe or what hath he not done and that above his yeares that may not merit and challenge beliefe of all And for the comfort of this Kingdome and all that dwell therein the service of the day which was first designed for this businesse seems to me to prophesie that another Hezekiah a wise and a religious King hath begun his Reigne For the first Lesson appointed in the Church for Evening Prayer that day is 4 Reg. 18. which begins the story of Hezekiah Hezekiah was twenty five yeares old when he began to reigne There 's his age What did he when he came first into the Throne Why one of his first works was He gathered the Princes of the Citie there was the receiving of the Congregation and so went up to the house of the Lord. After this what was the course of his life It follows He clave to the Lord and departed not from him And I hope I may make a prophecie of that which follows So that there was none like him among the kings of Judah neither were there any such before him And thus is our Hezekiah come this day to receive this great Congregation in the Name of the Lord. Let us therefore end with Prayer unto God That he would blesse both the King and the State That this Kingdome may never be Terra liquefacta like molten and dissolved Earth That if at any time for our sins it begin to melt and wash away the remedy may be forthwith applyed That Iustice and Iudgement may be given according to right That the pillars of the Earth may be borne up the inferiour and subordinate pillars by the King and both the King as the Master-pillar and they by God That all this may be done in fit and convenient time That God would make fit the time and then give the King and the State and this great Councel all wisedome to lay hold of it That this great Congregation may be in the fitnesse of time That God would be pleased to receive and blesse it That the King will be pleased to receive grace it That it will be pleased to receive the King according to his desert and their duty with love honour and necessary supplie that so he may beare up this Kingdome and the honour of it with comfort and be a strong and a lasting pillar to support both it and us in the true worship of God and all inferiour blessings That he may dwell before God for ever that God would prepare his loving mercy and faithfulnesse that they may preserve him That all the blessings of Grace may attend him and this Congregation in this life and all the blessings of Glory crowne both Him and us in the life to come And this Christ for his infinite mercy grant unto us To whom c. SERM. V. Preached before His Majesty at White-Hall on Wednesday the 5. of July 1626. at the solemne Fast then held PSAL. 74. 22. Arise O
for the sentence or execution accordingly But here Rufinus and Austin and other Divines tell me that judgement and righteousnesse in this place stand for that justice and judgement that the King is indifferently equally to administer to his people and so for one vertue Here is the vertue and the power both from the King and both from God The benefit of both are the peoples but from God by the King Therefore David prayes here not for one vertue for himselfe and another for his son but for one and the same vertue for both For the Sonne had as much need for this vertue as the Father the one being a King and the other to be one they both needed this great comprising Kingly vertue without which there can be no religious peaceable government over a people So justice and judgement in this place as usually when they attend the King containe the vertue it selfe and the power that brings this vertue to act The execution is as justice and the power to give sentence moderation and equity to smooth over the rigour of justice and all other vertues as far as they serve to strengthen or direct and keepe even the hands of justice prudence especially Then it is a wondrous necessary prayer here for if justice should not be in the Kings will which God forbid it must needs grow apt to turne to sourenesse And if judgement and execution follow not upon the sentence of justice the Kings hand must needs shake into remisnesse And one of these sourenesse will make judgement it selfe or the pretext of it a scourage for the people And the other remisness will make the people a worse scourge to themselves for want of discipline to keep them in order For of all scourges there is none answerable to the unrulinesse of the people Now this vertue as large as it is when it fills the heart of the King it is called another heart it puts on other dismensions for it furnisheth the Kings brest with all rectitude and prudence and rectitude is the being and prudence the moderation and guide of all justice for so without respect of persons it belongs to the wise and prudent Prov. 25. Nay further though this vertne be so large yet the heart of the King is so capacious that justice and judgement cannot fill it if it stand single therefore David prayeth not for judgement single but in the plurall number Give thy judgements And there is great reason that he should pray so for justice continuing one and the same vertue gives many times different judgements and it must needs be so and the King must needs be an instrument in them all And in the various occasions that himselfe and his people have use of This David found in his owne heart therefore he prayes for all And this pray we alway for the King for all judgement for the King So give Lord. And here it is fit for you a little to take a view of your owne happinesse and to blesse God for it for you live under a King that keeps his Laws in his life A King that lives so as if he were a Law himselfe and so needed none A King that plants his Judges so as they may equally distribute his judgement and justice to his people A King so blessed by God for your good that whether it be for his owne prayers or yours or both or neither but that God is pleased to shew his mercy and glory upon him to you certaine it is that God hath given him a very large heart and filled it to the brim with justice and judgement Take heed I heartily beg it of you I say it againe take heed I heartily beg it of you that no sinne of unthankfulnesse no base detracting murmuring sin possesse your soules or whet your tongues or sowre your brests against the Lord and against his Anoynted but remember in that these two things First remember that it is as easie for God to take away any blessing even the great blessing of a good King as to give it remember that And secondly remember that unthankfulnesse to God for so gracious a King is the very ready way to doe it remember that too therefore looke to these things in time I but what then hath a King enough when God hath given him justice and judgement May his prayers then cease for himselfe as your prayers for him hath he no more need of God when God hath once given him judgement O God forbid surely he hath and it is to be presumed that the King daily prayeth I am sure his duty it is to pray that God would ever please to continue and increase the righteousnesse and judgement he hath given to him Nor can I think but that David was very oft at this prayer too for he saith Psal 99. The Kings power loveth judgement And it is more then probable that that he loved he would pray for he prayed to have it and to increase it And he that prayes so oft Psal 119. I say so oft that God would keepe him in the way of his commandements and cause him to make much of his Law he must of necessity be presumed to pray for justice and judgement which is the vigour of all Lawes divine and humane And Kings have great need oft to pray for this grace and for the continuance and increase of it too For Kings stand high that is true but the higher they stand the more they are exposed to tempests wind-shakings that passe lover the lower vallies with the lesse noyse danger And Kings are great That is true too but the greater they are the stiffer are the blasts of all temptations on them to batter at least to would be wise For certainly there can be no kingdome rightly constituted further than God himselfe comes in in laying the foundation of it in true impartiall judgement When the foundation of a kingdome is perfectly laid which is a blessing seldome perfect in al things in any kingdome whatsoever yet no kingdom can continue upon such a foundation longer than it stands upright upon it If it sway on either side if it fall not presently it growes weaker still the more it leanes away from justice and judgement which is Gods And as it is with kingdomes in their foundation and superstructure so it is with Kings too that are to manage and dispose them for if any King thinke himselfe sufficient by his owne vertue against the difficulties of a kingdome by his owne justice and wisedome and integrity he will find by his losse a Nebuchadnezar in his greatest greatnesse Dan. 4. that he all his vertue cannot long keep up no not a setled King Therefore David was wise as well as religious that he went to God for his judgements without which he nor his Son after him he knew was able to hold up the kingdome Give the King thy judgements O God And what did David with them when he had them What