of the One hundred forty and seventh Psalm O Thou great Lord of heaven and earth Ver. 5 thy power is great and thy understanding infinite thy goodnesse is incomprehensible and thy mercy above all thy works when I consider thy greatnesse I tremble when I look upon thy wisdom I admire but as often as I look back upon thy goodnesse and mercy I am animated to approach thy throne and to pay that debt of thankfulnesse unto thee for thy providence over the whole world and peculiarly thy care and love extended to thy poor Church When the thirsty earth gasps for rain thou coverest the heaven with clouds Ver. 8 and preparest to moisten it thou clothest the mountains with grass and blessest the valleys with plenty There 's not a beast to which thou givest not food Ver. 9 nor a bird of the aire nor a fowle of heaven no nor a young Raven that thou hearest not when they cry for want Ver. 15 Thy command is a Law and thy word runs very swiftly When thou sayest the word in winter the Snow descends like Wooll and the hoar-frost covers the earth like ashes the waters cake into ice and the rivers become stiff and run not But thou again no sooner sends forth thy word in the Spring but their hardnesse is dissolved thou causest thy wind to blow and the waters flow Who Ver. 1 Lord can consider these thy wayes without admiration and admiring Ver. 7 praise and in praising sing unto thée with thanksgiving O Lord make it our work for it is good make it our delight for it is pleasant make it our labour for it is comely that must néeds become us which becomes thy Angels and Saints in heaven whose joy it is day and night to sing prayses to thy holy name for thy wondrous works of providence wisdome goodnesse Ver. 11 and mercy toward the sons of men but especially for thy love and protection over that people that fear thée and hope in thy mercy Gracious God consider their afflictions and how that at this time a principal member groans under the Crosse thy Temples are cast down thy houses of prayer destroyed thy people scattered on the mountains as shéep that have no shepherd Ver. 2 O then build restore and confirme once more Jerusalem Ver. 3 and gather together unto her the outcasts of Israel Heal those that are broken in heart and binde up as a good Physitian the merciless wounds they have received Ver. 4 these are stars in the firmament of thy Church let them not wander up and down in shéeps skins and goats skins being destitute afflicted and tormented for ever their number thou knowest call them all then by their names and though now obscured yet let them shine again in thy Church Ver. 6 These are méek in heart and poor in spirit look to them O Lord and lift them up and execute thy just wrath against their oppressors and cast the wicked who with a proud hand insult over them down even to the ground Take pleasure Ver. 11 O Lord in them that fear thee and tremble at thy word bring back thy banished and build them a sure house provide for them a City to dwell in and strengthen the bars of the gates thereof Ver. 13 blesse her children within her Make peace in her borders and fill her with the finest of the wheat But above all shew thy word unto Jacob Ver. 19 and thy statutes and judgments unto Israel And where thou hast not dealt so with other Nations Ver. 20 to reveal unto them the secret Mysteries of thy Gospel open to us these glad-tydings and inflame our hearts with the love of them and give us grace to conform our lives unto them For so shall Jerusalem praise thee Ver. 12 and Zion magnifie thy Name for ever and ever Hallelujah Hallelujah Praise the Lord. PSAL. CXLVIII A Hymn Or Hallelujah THE Prophet in this Psalm calls upon the whole Creation to be instrumental in the praises of God By which he shews David calls upon all creatures to praise God 1. His ardent desire that God be praised in that as if Creatures endued with reason were too few to praise God he calls even to inanimate things that they would join with him and be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. 2. His intention what he would have done then what could be done 3. That what could be should be done that they by our mouths praise God That is we seeing in them God power wisdom goodness be ready to praise 4. That in their kinds they really do praise him because being made in a wonderful beauty and order which they transgress proclaim to the world and testifie of God even without a voice that he must needs be a wise intelligent understanding that so made them The Psalm is disposed by an excellent Distribution 1. He calls to the celestial creatures in General 2. In special 1. The Angels Praise ye the Lord. 1. 1 The Angels Praise ye the Lord from the heavens Ye Of the celestial Order Or ut caeles i. e. Ver. 1 de habitaculo vestro and this is no command 〈◊〉 exhortation as if the Angels were negligent in their duty but an invitation to continue in doing what they do already 2. Praise him in the heights i. e. the heavens above 3. And yet more plainly For the second verse is but an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or declaration of the first 1. Praise him all his Angels 2. Praise him all his hosts Which in St. Luke are Militia caeli Ver. 2 2. The Sun and Moon Stars Praise ye him Sun and Moon 2 Sun Moon stars Praise him all ye Stars of light Though not with voice which ye want yet praise him by your greatness motion beauty light efficacy Ver. 3 3. He comes to the body of the heaven the Orbs. 3 The Orbs. 1. Praise him ye heaven of heavens that is the Coelum Empyraum Ver. 4 2. And ye waters that be above the heavens that is all the Orbs above the aire which in the Scripture is called heaven as volucres coeli nubes coeli c. For he established them And in the two next verses he gives the reason why the heavens praise God 1. He commanded and they were created They are his creatures Ver. 5 therefore 2. He hath established them for ever Ver. 6 he hath made a decree which shall not pass They are incorruptible they must keep the Order he made 2. From heaven he descends to the earth and all sublunary bodies as the earth 4 All sublunary Bodies Air water and creatures that live in these or are in these Praise the Lord from the earth All that are from the earth Ver. 7 all made of an elementary substance As 1. Ye Dragons Ye Whales Muse Greater fishes Bellar. 2. All Deeps All kind of waters Lakes Ponds Rivers Seas 3. Fire and hail snow and vapours stormy wind fulfilling his word Meteors 4. Mountains and all hills
as some great King in his Throne providing for all the parts of his Empire examining all Causes and doing justice to every one 1. Vers. 13 The Lord looks from heaven and beholds all the sons of men 2. That he sees all From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth Vers. 14 3. And he is not â—â—iosus spectator neither Vers. 15 He sees and considers their hearts their works Considers in what men put their trust And he sees in what they put their confidence in their Armies in theiâ— strength in their Horse not in him But all in vain Vers. 16 For there is no King that can be saved by the multitude of an Hoast Evacuates their designs A mighty man is not delivered by much strength An horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any man by his great strength Multitude strength c. without God are useless 2. Hitherto he hath given a proof of Gods providence toward all men 2 But defends his Church but now he descends to a particular proof of it by his care over his Church which he wonderfully guides defends protects in all dangers and assaults And that notice be taken of it he begins with an Ecce Behold the eye of the Lord his tender'st care is over them that fear him Vers. 18 upon them that hope in his mercy To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine Upon this Gods people The third part The three last verses contain the Acclamation of Gods people who believe and place all their hope and trust in God For being excited as it were by the former Arguments They do three things Vers. 20 1. They express and profess their faith and dependance on God 1 Wait on him Our soul waiteth on God he is our help and our shield Vers. 21 2. They publish upon what hope they are held up and how comforted 2 Publish his name and rejoice in it For our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his Holy Name Vers. 22 3. Upon this hope they commend themselves by prayer to God 3 Commend themselves to Gods mercy Let thy mercy O Lord be upon us according as we hope in thee The Prayer collected out of the thirty third Psalm O God thy goodness is so great thy faithfulness so constant thy power so wonderful thy providence so universal but thy care so Fatherly toward thy people that we were unworthy of the least of thy mercies should we not acknowledge them and return thee due honour and thanks For there is nothing in the whole world which doth not witness thée to be a bountiful God Vers. 4 and a most Merciful Father Thy Word O Lord thy Decrée for the Creation and Government of the World is right and equal and all thy works are done in true wisdom righteousness and judgement Vers. 5 For there is nothing that thou hast commanded which is not just Nothing that thou hast promised which thou wilt not make good and bring to pass Out of that love thou bearest to righteousness and judgement the earth is full of thy goodness there being in it nothing so minute and vile which one way or other doth not partake of thy bounty Vers. 6 and commend thy goodness and mercy to us By thy Word alone and sole Command were those incorruptible Orbs of the Heavens made and confirm'd and all the hoast of them that multitude of starres so orderly and beautifully disposed by the breath the word the Fiat of thy mouth Thou hast gather'd together those unruly waters of the Sea into one place and shut them up with bounds and limits that they return not again to cover the earth And thou hast hidden and laid up great streams of waters in the bowels of the earth as in a Treasure-house which at thy pleasure thou bring'st forth to water a thirsty Land He spake and all this was done he commanded and it stood fast For so great is thy power that without any labour without any delay without any help all this was done and that by thy Will and Word only and by thy Word and Will it is that it doth so now continue and remain without dissolution Therefore O ye righteous rejoice in the Lord Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner Vers. 2 praise therefore a righteous God with an upright heart Neither with your mouth only express his praise but set it forth with musical instruments Praise the Lord with the Harp sing unto him with the Psaltery and an instrument of ten strings And you who have so often sung of his honour now since he hath renew'd his mercies set forth your joy with a New Song play skilfully with a loud voice So set forth his praise his power his wisdom his mercy that all the earth may fear the Lord and the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him For what he hath ordained by his eternal counsel shall be fulfill'd and stand fast for ever and the thoughts of his heart to all generations Since then thou O Jehovah art most just most merciful most Mighty blessed is that Nation who have chosen and worshipped thee O Lord for their God and happy is the people whom thou hast chosen for thine inheritance O make us Lord alwayes of this people that we may be happy under thy protection Dwell in the midst of us and bless us But O Lord bring the counsels of wicked men against this thy people to nought and make the devices of the people of none effect Look down from heaven and behold all the sons of men from the place of thy habitation look upon the inhabitants of the earth Thou searchest the very hearts and reins and knowest all their plots and secret counsels they take against thy people thou séest their preparations and provisions O Lord make them know and so fashion their hearts that they may perceive that all hope and confidence is in vain which is not in thée Because there is no other can save besides thy self For there is no King that can be saved by the multitude of an hoast neither is a mighty man deliver'd by much strength An Horse whether in battle or flight is a vain-deceitful thing to save a man neither shall he deliver his rider by his great strength It is not in these vain helps we put our considence our hope is in thée alone on thée we relie to thée we trust from thée we look for help Let thy eye therefore O Lord be upon us that fear thee who relie not upon any merits and creatures but on thy méer mercy let thy everlasting mercy then follow us and deliver our souls from temporal and eternal death and suffain us with a sufficient livelihood in the time of famine Upon thee O Lord our soul doth wait be our shield to protect us our help to deliver us So shall our heart
and devotes them to Gods judgments he prayes in general for their ruine esteeming them no better than Lyons Saul the old Lyon and his counsel Lyons whelps 1. To God he turns his speech and he prayes against their means to hurt whether near at hand or afar off 2. And then against their persons O God break their teeth in their mouth breakout the great teeth of the Lyons O Lord remove their strength their nearest instruments to hurt to destroy O God when they purpose to harm us eminus afar off let it be in vain when he bends his Bowe to shoot his arrows let them be as cut in pieces Thus let it fall to their arms and offensive weapons but as for their persons 2 Their persons that they may be as waters a Snail an Abortive as a fire of chorns 1. Let them melt away as waters great Brooks that run with a violent force from the Mountains and over-run for a little while the Vallies but quickly are received in the Channels and run continually to the Sea and so swallowed 2. Let them be as a Snail that melts in her passage and leaves a slimy filth behind which yet quickly passeth away so let them or else like a Snail whose shell being taken off growes cold and dyes 3. Lâ—t them be as an Abortive like the untimely fruit of a woman that they may not see the Sun 4. Before your pots can feel the thorns ere they can do much mischief The benefits that thereby would redound to the Church he shall take them away as with a whirle-wind both living and in his wrath 3. The benefit that from this judgment upon the wicked should redound to the Church The third part 1. Joyfulness The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance 2. Amendment being warned by their harms he shall wash his foot-steps in their blood 3. Confirmation of their faith and giving glory to God So that a man shall say verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the Earth The Prayer collected out of the fifty eighth Psalm O Merciful Lord God who saidst to Moses I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their Task-masters for I know their sorrows and camest down to deliver them behold we beséech thée our sorrows and afflictions hear our cries and come down and deliver us for of a truth at this time both Pharoah and his Host are gathered against thy people to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel hath determined before to be done A Counsel under pretence of Religion and Piety they have established Ver. 1 a Court under the colour of justice they have erected whence they weigh to us the violence of their hands and turn judgment into gall and justice into wormwood they speak not righteousness they judge not uprightly in their heart they work wickedness and their hands deal with violence From the very womb they brought evil into the World with them and ever since they are gone astray and yet continue to speak lies Their nature is corrupt and full of poyson no Adder more venemous no Serpent more bent on revenge and though thou hast given thy Word to charm them and put it into the mouths of thy servants the Prophets to reclaim them yet They are like the deaf Adder that stops her ear they refuse to hear the voyce of thy Charmers charm they never so wisely O God to whom should we make our moan but to thée to whom should we appeal and flie except to thée either thou must deliver us or our condition is miserable thou must save us or we must perish for our soul is among Lyons Break thou the teeth of the old Lyon O Lord in his mouth break out the teeth of the Lyons whelps O Lord make all their instruments of danger to us of no strength and the means they trust in to harm us of no efficacy Let their Arrows they shoot against us be cut to pieces and their Bowe broken As for their persons let them be as a violent Torrent that suddenly swells and falls even as water that runs apace and returns no more Pull them out of their houses and habitations and make their end like that of a Snail which being outed of his shell quickly shainks and dies or else let them and their endeavours be as the untimely fruit of a woman that never sees the Sun A noise they have kept and a blaze they have made like as the flash of thorns about a Pot but thou O Lord take them away as with a whirlewins while they séem most living and flaming extinguish them as in thy wrath When righteous men shall sée the vengeance thou takest on them they will rejâ—yce not so much at their overthrow as for that thou hast exalted thy justice and avenged thine own cause and pleaded for thy people And we also which are thy people and shéep of thy pasture shall learn by their example by our wicked wayes not to provoke thy indignation Good God give us the grace to wash our foot-steps in the blood of the ungodly and that we may be warned by their harms Ver. 1 not to work wickedness in our hearts nor to weigh out violence with our hands but rather to speak righteousness and to judge uprightly For verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that now judgeth the earth and will at the last day come to judge both the quick and the dead even so come Lord Jesus PSAL. LIX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE Argument of this Psalm is the same with some of those before but the occasion particular Saul's purpose to kill him in his house against whose treachery and cruelty he here complains and prayes The Contents of this Psalm are four 1. His prayer for deliverance ver 1 2. and against them ver 5. 2. He complains of and expresseth his enemies cruelty and improbity from ver 3. to 8. 3. He comforts himself being confident of his own preservation from ver 8. to 10. 1. And of their punishment for which he prayes from ver 11. to 14. 2. And of their vain endeavours for which he insults ver 14 15. 4. He concludes with thanks ver 16 17. 1. He begins with a Petition for deliverance defence salvation and perswades it from the qualities of his enemies The first part His Petition for defence 1. Deliver me defend me save me from 2. Ver. 1 Mine enemies 1. Them that rise up against me 2. From the workers of iniquity 3. From bloody men These considerations made him pray O my God deliver c. 2. He aggravates his enemies cruelty c. The second part And yet more particularly he expresseth their cruelty and treachery to aggravate which he pleads his own innocency in respect of them 1. Their cruelty was Lo they lie in wait for my soul
thou hast wrought in us Bring down our enemies till they submit every one and humbly bring pieces of silver untill Princes come out of Egypt and strangers stretch forth their hands and become Homagers to thee our God O how glorious will be thy praise how excellent thy Name Ver. 32 when all the Kingdoms of the earth with one heart and one voyce shall sing praises to thee Thou ridest upon the Heavens which were of old Thou speakest from thence in Thunder and sendest out a mighty voyce therefore will we ascribe strength unto our God which is the God of Israel O God Thou art wonderful and terrible out of thy holy place when thou communicatest thy presence to thy servants Thou art the God of Israel that gives strength and power unto thy people Blessed therefore be our God Amen PSAL. LXIX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IN this Psalm David shews to what extream straits he was brought by malicious enemies and yet he is but the Type for the bitter passion of our Saviour are by these not obscurely set out to us The parts are 1. Davids prayer and the Reasons he useth for help from ver 1. to 23. 2. An imprecation against his enemies from ver 23. to 31. 3. His profession of thanks from ver 30. to the end 1. The first part His prayer and the occasion and reason He petitions Save me O God ver 1. and then adjoyns his Reasons which are many 1. The present condition in which he was in expressed by divers Metaphors comparing his enemies to waters 1 His present danger deep waters deep mire great floods 1. Ver. 1 Save me for the waters are come in unto my soul 2. I sink in the deep mire where there is no standing 3. I am come into the deep waters where the floods overflow me no more hope for me to escape without thy help than for a man of life who is compassed with the waves of the Sea Yea and that which adds to my grief I call to thee and thou seemest not to hear 1. I am weary of my crying 2. My throat is dry 3. My eyes fail while I wait upon my God nothing is wanting on my part and yet I have no answer and yet I will wait still for thou art my God 2. 2 From his enemies Farther yet when I consider my enemies I have reason to cry Save me for they are malicious 2. Many 3. Mighty 4. Injurious 1. Malicious They hate me without a cause 2. Many They are more than the hairs of my head 3. Mighty and injurious They that would destroy me being my enemies wrongfully are mighty Then â—restored that I took not away 3. 3 From his innocence From his innocence touching which he appeals to God O God Thou knowest how guilty I am of that which they impute to me for foolishness viz. I am not guilty and yet my faults are not hid from thee Before thee I confess that I am a sinner but not guilty of any folly done to them for that which they call folly viz. thy Service is my greatest wisdom 4. 4 From the hurt may come by it Lest if he suffer thus and be not saved others then by it will be discouraged fall away and judge it a vain thing to depend and rely upon thee and therefore he prayes Let not them who wait upon thee O Lord God of Hosts be ashamed for my cause let not them who seek thee be confounded through me O God of Israel 5. 5 That he suffers for Gods sake And the fifth Reason he gives which may be most perswasive that God hear and save viz. that what we suffer is not for his own but for Gods sake Because for thy sake have I suffered reproach shame hath covered my face for this I am become a stranger to my Brethren An 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Alien to my mothers children And upon this cause he stayes usque ver 13. and shews how he was affected toward God that he might make it appear For it was for that for this cause it was he suffered 2. And then how for it they were affected to him 1. 1 His zeal He was zealous for his God The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up and for this he suffered The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen on me 2. 2 A penitent He was religious a Penitent fasted usque ad castigationem animae I wept and chastned my soul with fasting but when I did this that also was turned to my reproof 3. He humbled himself even to wear Sackloth I made Sackloth my garment but he could not so please neither I became a Proverb to them to them of all sorts 1. To the high and such as were in Authority Those that sit in the Gate speak against me 2. To the low common and ordinary people And I was the song of the Drunkards 2. This I suffer for thy sake and therefore he now renews again his Petition He renews his Petition and enforceth it near upon the same Arguments and first he prayes earnestly hoping that he hath chosen for this a fit season But as for me my prayer is unto thee in an acceptable time 1. Hear me ver 13. Deliver me let me not sink let me be delivered ver 14. Let not the water-flood overflow me neither let the deep swallow me c. And again Hear me O Lord turn unto me Hide not thy face from thy servant Hear me speedily Draw nigh to my soul and redeem it Deliver me 2. Thus earnest he was in his prayer and his Arguments to perswade Audience are 1. Gods goodness mercy truth In the multitude of thy mercy hear me in the truth of thy salvation Hear me O Lord for thy loving-kindness is good Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies 2. I am in very great troubles and dangers In the mire and like to sink in deep waters that overflow and are ready to swallow me in a pit whose mouth is ready to shut upon me I am in trouble therefore hear me speedily and deliver me 3. I am thy servant 't is for my service to thee I suffer therefore hide not thy face c. 4. Do it do it because of my enemies as if he had said Though I be not worthy for whom thou shouldst do this yet mine enemies are such that they deserve no favour they deserve not that I be left in their hands 1. They are scorners and that thou knowest Thou hast known my reproach my shame and my dishonour my Adversaries are all before thee in thy sight they do it 2. And this their base usage toucheth me near and puts me into an agony Reproach hath broken my heart I am full of heaviness 3. My friends stand afar off flie and forsake me And I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none 4. Lastly they
His Prayer from ver 10. to 23. 1. Both the Complaint and Petition are first summarily comprized in the three first verses The first part His complaint aggravated by a gradation and afterward amplified through the whole Psalm The Exordium is full of passion for he expostulates with God about this calamity and aggravates it O God why hast thou cast us off c 1. From the Author of it it is thou Thou O God that dost it 2. Ver. 1 From the extremity of it Thou hast cast us off 3. From the time duration or continuance for ever 4. From the cause Anger smoking anger Thine anger smokes 5. From the object The sheep of thy pasture As if he had said when thou art a good and faithful God toward thine can'st thou so far forget thy Promise and Covenant to thy people as to cast them off for ever to cast them off and in anger in smoking anger thus to proceed against the sheep of thy pasture Why why Lord should it be thus Vis Deo grata est quae precibus adhibetur 2. And presently to his Complaint he subjoins his Petition Vers. 2 To this he joins his Petition Remember thy Congregation c. where every word is almost an Argument 1. Thy Congregation A chosen people 2. Whom thou hast purchased by a mighty hand from Pharaoh Argumenta ∣ tive 3. Of old thy people a long time since ever since thy Covenant with Abraham 4. The rod of thine inheritance dwelling in that Land which thou gavest them to inherit 5. Whom thou hast redeemed from their enemies the Canaanites c. 6. And honoured thee in Mount Zion in thy Temple where thou hast dwelt Remember thou O Lord this people and all these ingagements and cast us not off for ever And the qualities of the enemies 3. Or if these Arguments move thee not then look upon thine own dishonour Lift up thy fâ—et i. e. Set up thy self and march against thy enemies and the perpetual desolations which they have brought upon us Now that he might the better prevail with God he omits the vastations which were made no question through the whole Land and instanceth in their insolence to the house of God Lift up thy feet even to all that the enemy hath done wickedly in thy Sanctuary 1. As Lions and Beasts of prey They roare in the midst of the Congregations Their Sacriledge especially 2. As Conquerors They set up their Ensigns for signs of Victory 3. As prophane persons what our fore-fathers built with much cost art and piety that they break down rob and carry away Sacrilegiously A man was famous heretofore according as he had lifted up Axes upon the thick Trees hewed them out polished and dedicated them to the work of thy Temple But now these Sacrilegists break down all the carved work thereof with Axes and Hammers 4. And yet their fury stayes not here For after they have robb'd thy Temple and taken the dedicated Vessels not content with the spoyl They have cast fire into thy Sanctuary they have defiled it by casting down the dwelling-place of thy name to the ground 5. Nay their malice stay'd not here neither Their impiety was such that after they had destroy'd thy Temple they encouraged one another to do more mischief even to the depopulation of all the other Synagogues and Schools of Learning They said in their hearts Let us destroy them without exception all together They have burnt up all the Synagogues of God in the Land 4. And that which yet imbitters his Complaint he professeth Gods desertion of his people that it was not with them now as heretofore Thou Lord now dost seem to cast us off indeed in our calamities heretofore we could enquire of thee and thou didst answer us either by some sign and miracle or by Urim and Thummim or by some Prophet But now 1. We see not our signs i. e. Miraculous deliverances 2. Or signs of thy presence in thy Temple 2. There is no more any Prophe as Isaiah c. who might promise us deliverance 2 He prayes again that God would look on the enemies blasphemy 3. Neither is there among us any that knows how long as did Jeremy the seventy years Captivity 5. He proceeds in his Complaint and presseth God to hear it from the contumely and blasphemy that these wicked wretches used toward God to which they were the more encouraged by his long-suffering and forbearance O God how long shall the adversary reproach Shall the enemy blasphem And remember his mercy and what he had done for his people in special thy name for ever Why withdrawest thou thy hand even thy right-hand pluck it out of thy bosome 6. But that now he return and with favour and mercy look upon the present calamities of his people Vers. 12 he useth other Arguments 1. The special favour and good-will he had long ago shew'd them For God is my King of old working salvation in the midst of the earth Of which he gives instances 1. Their miraculous deliverance out of Egypt and destroying of Pharaoh Thou didst divide the Sea by thy strength thou brakest the heads of the Dragons i. e. the Princes and Nobles of Egypt in the waters of the red Sea Thou brakest the heads of Liviathan in pieces and gavest him to be meat for the people inhabiting the Wilderness Basil saith that the Ethiopians upon Pharaohs overthrow in the red Sea invaded and possessed Egypt so that he and his Land was given as it were for meat to the inhabitants of the desert 2. Their miraculous preservation by bringing out of the Rock water to quench their thirst Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood Numb 20.11 3. Their wonderful passage through Jordan dry-foot Thou dryedst up mighty waters And for all by his general providence 2. Gods general providence in his Mercy to all men The instances are 1. His Order for day and night The day is thine and the night also is thine 2. His Order for the two great Luminaries Thou hast prepared the light and the Sun 3. His Order for Sea and Land Thou hast set all the borders of the earth 4. His Order for the year Thou hast made Summer and Winter Both in thy special and general providence He renews his prayer and enforceth it The second part thy Mercy and Power are sufficiently declared and upon these the Prophets affections being heightned he falls to an evident Petition 1. That God would remember his own glory and take revenge of his reproachful enemies Vers. 18 Remember this that the enemy hath reproached O Lord and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy Name 2. That he would remember his children those Turtle Doves dear to him 1. O deliver not the soul of thy Turtle Dove unto the multitude of their enemies 2. Forget not the Congregation of the poor for ever 3. That he would remember his Covenant made with Abraham
that they should inherit the Land which now they could not do in quiet For all the earth was full of darkness i. e. impiety and cruel habitations Plunderers every where And he goes on in his Prayer and useth two Arguments more 1. That Gods people be not ashamed of their hope and expectation and dependance on God O let not the oppressed return ashamed 2. From their gratitude Let the poor and needy praise thy Name In the close of the Psalm he more openly expresseth the affection of his heart for God and presseth him for help because the cause is his the enemies his the blasphemy against him and redounds to the dishonour of his name and that it dayly increaseth 1. Arise O Lord plead thine own cause 2. Remember how the foolish people reproach thee dayly 3. Forget not the voice of thine enemies 4. The tumult of those that rise against thee increaseth continually The Prayer to be collected out of the seventy fourth Psalm is needless it being so powerful methodical and easie a Prayer of it self I shall only then Paraphrase upon it AND why O God doest thou carry thy self toward us at this time Vers. 1 as if thou didst seem to have cast us off rejected us from thy care and favour wholly and for ever O good God why doth the severity of thy indignation smoke against those whom thou hast chosen to feed care for Vers. 2 and govern as if they had been thine own sheep thy selected flock O thou which hast seem'd for a long time to be unmindful of us remember we beseech thee thy Congregation which thou hast purchased with thy blood whom thou hast bought to be thy inheritance not yesterday nor to day but before the beginning of the world Remember Mount Zion that is now destroy'd by the enemy and that place wherein thou hast dwelt Therefore that thy mercy may be answerable to thy former love Vers. 3 with-hold not any longer the hand of thy Omnipotence and Iustice but make bare thy arm and lift up thy feet to the perpetual desolation and eternal destruction of every enemy that hath done wickedly in the Sanctuary Thy adversaries being become conquerors have cryed with a loud voice Vers. 4 and proudly boasted and roared as Lions in the midst of the Congregations they have prophaned thy Solemn Feasts they have thrown down thy Altars and slain thy Priests with the edge of the sword and they have set up their banners in thy Temples as manifest signs of their victories without any reverence had to thy holy place without any acknowledgement or honour exhibited to thy name by whose permission for our prophaneness they thus triumph over us and these confecrated places When they enter'd into these holy Oratories they shew'd no more reverence than if they had fet footing into some thick wood Those beams of Cedar which our fore-fathers out of piety and dedotion had polished and dedicated to the ornament and deanty of thy house these those rude and barbarous hands have broken down with Ares and Hammers Yea they have cast fire into thy Sanctuary they have prophaned the Tabernacle consecrated to thy name drawing it down to the ground despoyling it of all glory and the sincere worship of thy name being taken away instead thereof they have set up and worship'd their own indentions Nay their malice stay'd not here Not a Synagogue of the Land but hath felt their fury no School of the Prophets but hath groaned under their oppression They encourage each other in mischief Come say they let us destroy them all together Thus have they made all thy Solemn Festivals to cease and thy whole worship to be annihilated As for thy Prophets they are few left and those that are disgraced eiected imprisoned oppressed accounted the off-scouring of the world and made a spectacle to men and Angels thy Word in their mouths is estéemed a lye and the defence of thy truth held for superstition and the Traditions of men and with them thy holy Ordinances are all cast aside as â—â—ecessary Ceremonies O Lord how long wilt thou suffer the adversary to reproach Wilt thou be of that long-suffering and patience that the prophane shall blaspheme thy holy Name and by his blasphemies provoke thée to anger for ever Why as a lazy man is wont toda doest thou kéep thy right-hand in thy bosome why doest than not pluck it from thence and make these profane persons féel the blow and thy people the mercy It cannot be ascribed to thy want of power that thou art thus patient For thou art the same God now as of old Thou art the great King which hast wrought salvation for our fathers in the midst of the earth even in the sight of all people Marvellous and terrible were thy works Vers. 13 which thou didst for thy people of Israel Thou didst divide the Sea by thy strength and made the waters to stand on a heap till thy people were past through it Thou brakest the heads of that Dragon Pharaoh and all his hoast in the red Sea Thou didst cleave the Rock and turn'dst the flint-stone into a springing Well that thence the thirst of thy people might be satisfied as from a fountain And on the contrary thou hast dryed up the swiftest current and mest violent stream that thy people might pass dry-foot through it Neither is thy power declared only in these extraordinary miracles but also in all creatures The night and day were created by thee Thou hast prepared the light and the Sun Thou hast set the bounds of the Sea and all the borders of the earth Thou hast made Summer and Winter The vicissitudes of all things is a manifest of thy power and the change of all times and seasons is thy Ordinance wisely disposed for the commodity of man When then O Lord thy power is so great shew thy might and come amongst us remember this that the enemy hath reproached in effect imputed weakness and impotence to thée said in his heart What God shall deliver them out of my hand O Lord remember that the foolish people in prophaning thy Temples and trampling thy Prophets have blasphemed thy name being regardless of thy Omnipotence and secure upon thy patience We beséech thée suffer no longer the souls of those innocent mournful Turtle Doves who desire to worship and praise thée to be delivered to the multitude and rabble of the wicked neither leave destitute of thy favour and help for ever the Congregation of the afflicted people whose considence is thy care and security thy sole protection Have respect O Lord to the Covenant thou hast made with our fathers Never let the gates of Hell as thou hast promised prevail against thy Church which at this time can find no rest for the sole of her foot since the places of the earth are full of darkness and cruel habitations for bloody and deceitful men having their heart darkned are spread over the Land and by violence and
brings them into the case that David here was 2. To which he adds a Doxology Who is so great a God as our God which he confirms in the following verse Thou art the God that dost wonders Thou hast declared thy strength among the people thy power thy wisdom thy protection of thy Church even to all people the Heathens themselves and strangers to Israel may see it and acknowledge it if not blind 2. 2 To Israel in particular But in particular Thou hast declared thy strength in defence of Israel Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people the sons of Jacob and Joseph And he amplifies this story of their deliverance from Aegypt by several instances of Gods power in it 1. In the red Sea The waters saw thee O God the waters saw thee not only the Aegyptians but the sensless Element felt thy power they were afraid the depths also were troubled Exod. 14. 2. In the Heaven The clouds poured out water the skies sent out a sound thine arrows also went abroad the voyce of thy Thunder was in the Heavens thy lightnings lightned the World Exod. 14.24 25. 3. In the earth The earth trembled and shook and all this was done that Israel might have a passage through it Thy way is in the Sea and thy passage in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known And the final cause of this miracle was The final cause of it that he might shew his severity toward his enemies and his goodness toward his people for whose deliverance he sent Moses and Aaron ordained a King and a Priest by them Thou leddest thy people like sheep by the hands of Moses and Aaron The Prayer collected out of the seventy seventh Psalm VVITH all ardency of spirit earnestness of soul and contention of voyce Ver. 1 have I cryed unto thée O Lord constantly and fervently have I cryed unto thée O hear the voyce of my prayer and let my cry come unto thée when I was in trouble I expected I called for no humane help but I fled to thée to thée I called for aid and comfort with stretched-out hands and eyes bent to Heaven I stood before my God O let me not be disappointed of my hope In the night-season Ver. 2 when others devoid of care take their rest and sléep my sore ran and ceased not I found no rest in my bones by reason of my sin yea so great was the grief of my soul That I refused comfort I remembred my God whom I had so often and so foully offended and I was troubled at it my sin my grievous sin lies heavy upon my soul it makes me to complain and the conscience of it so far depresseth my spirit That I am even overwhelmed with fear and sorrow By the dread I have of thy anger my eyes are held waking and I pass the long night in which others are refreshed with sléep without any rest and I am so troubled in my self that I have no mind to speak I revolved in my mind the times that were past and the years of former Generations in which thou hadst dealt mercifully with afflicted souls And in the night-season a season most fit for meditation I called to remembrance my song my song in which with a joyful heart I was wont to praise thée and yet so I received not comfort I communed with my own heart I searched out as with a Lanthorn my soul I called to mind thy clemency to thy children thy Truth in thy Word thy Iustice in thy Promises the causes of all calamities and these my sorrows and yet so I could not be comforted Ah merciful Lord and loving Father Wilt thou cast me off for ever and wilt thou no more be favourable to me Thou art patient and long-suffering Thou art the Father of mercies thy property is to have pity thy promise to forgive and spare thy people and is thy mercy now gone for ever and doth thy promise fail for evermore What hâ—st thou forgotten to be gracious and wilt thou in anger shut up thy tender bowels of mercies that I shall never more have any sense or féeling of them Of a truth Lord for my wicked life I have deserved the fiercest of thy wrath and all the judgments which thou hast threatned against rebellious sinners but O Lord Thou art able of a Saul to make a Paul of a Publican a Disciple of Zachaeus a Penitent of Mary Magdalen a Convert these changes are in the hand of the most High Turn then me O Lord and so I shall be turned and turn unto me and so I shall be refreshed pardon my sin and change my heart and so I shall be assured that thy mercy is not clean gone For after this long debate betwixt me and my own soul upon the serious thoughts of thy mercy I came to this resolve that my diffidence proceeded from my own pusillanimity for I said all this trouble is from my own infirmity I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High I will remember how gracious he hath béen to other sinners how strangely he hath converted them how mercifully he hath forgiven them and this change hath put me in good hope of an old man to become a new man of a vessel of wrath a vessel of mercy and that though in anger for a time he hath séemed to desert me yet out of méer compassion he will return and be gracious to me I will remember the works of the Lord surely I will remember thy wonders of old time I will meditate also of all thy works and talk of thy doings I will call to mind That thou dost not call thy people to partake of the pleasures of this World but to desperate conflicts with sin death Satan and Hell that there is not any of thy servants of old but have born this burden and heat of the day and shall I then look to escape shall I hope to be exempted Thy way O God is in the Sanctuary A secret there is why thou dealest thus with thy servants and known it cannot be till we go into thy Sanctuary there we may learn That thou chastnest every child that thou receivest there we shall find That the reason of all thy procéedings are full of equity and holiness and that there is nothing we can justly reprehend or complain of Which of the gods of the Nations is in power to be compared unto thée which in mercy is like thée Thou art the God that dost wonders Thou hast declared thy strength in our weakness thy power in our infirmity O shew therefore thy self to be the self-same God and in this my weakness and infirmity support me It is not for nothing that thy favour to thy people Israel is left upon Record the Redemption of the sons of Jacob and Joseph are expressions of thy power and mercy Then O Lord the waters of the red Sea law thee then the waters felt thy presence and as if
they had béen strucken with fear by thy hand they fled and the depths of the Ocean being troubled forgetting to flow on the right and left hand stood up in heaps as if they had béen congealed to Mountains of ice but after thy people were passed through at thy command they relented and with an hasty and hideons reflux overwhelmed Pharoah and his Chariots by their violence Then the clouds poured out water from above there came a fearful noise which astonished his warlike Horses thy hail in manner of arrows were shot from Heaven Thou roaredst from the sky in the voyce of Thunder and thy lightning flashed in their faces from which their fear was so great that they thought the immovable Orb of the earth did shake and tremble under their féet Thy way was then in the Sea and thy path in the waters and after the parted streams came together again thy footsteps are not known no evidence there was thou hadst béen there Moses thy Prince and Aaron thy Priest were then thy Ministers who led thy people as a Shepherd his flock through the depths of the red Sea This thy miraculous redemption is written for our instruction I do remember O Lord what thou hast done fréed a distressed people delivered a broken hearted Nation saved from death those who did despair of life Lord I am distressed send from Heaven and relieve me I am broken-hearted O Lord come and heal me I am even at the point to dye save and quicken me As thou hast set me up for a mark of thy justice so make me also a monument of thy compassion let me obtain mercy that in me first Christ Iesus might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life Despair I will not for I serve a good Lord hope for pardon I will for I trust in a merciful God This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners of these I am the chief the chiefest object then O Lord for thy mercy thy goodness can be no where so conspicuous as in saving me Lord then have mercy upon me Christ have mercy upon me Lord have mercy upon me hear my voyce give ear to my cry in the day of my trouble I have sought to thee let me find thée so shall my heart rejoyce my flesh rest in hope and my tongue be encouraged to sing Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen PSAL. LXXVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE Prophet considering that it is Gods Command that his works be not forgotten but that the Fathers deliver his former doings to posterity that they might be to them for comfort and instruction deter them from obstinacy in sin and perswade them to the fear of God he doth in this Psalm give in a prolix Catalogue of Gods dealing with his people even from their coming out of Aegypt to the dayes of David The parts of the Psalm are these 1. A Preface in which he exhorts to learn and declare the way of God from ver 1. to 9. 2. A continued Narrative of Gods administration among his people and their stubbornness disobedience and contumacy together with the revenge that God took upon them from ver 9. to 67. 3. His mercy yet that he did not wholly cast them off but after the rejection of Ephraim made choice of Judah Zion David from ver 67. to 72. 1. In the Exordium he labours to gain attention Give ear O my people The Exordium in which he labours for attention to my Law encline your ears to the words of my mouth and in this and the following verses useth many arguments to gain attention as 1. It is Gods Law which he is to deliver his Doctrine The first part the words of his mouth taught delivered from Heaven Ver. 1 and deposited only with the Prophet To Gods Law from the 1. Excellency of it 2. It is worth hearing for it is a Parable a dark but wise saying and it of old I will open my mouth in a Parable I will utter dark sayings of old it hath dignity wisdom antiquity to commend it Ver. 2 3. Yea and certainty of Tradition also Which we have heard and known and such as our Fathers have told us And now he acquaints them with the end 2 The end to be shewn not hid which is another Argument for attention 1. It was not to hide them or conceal them from their children Ver. 4 2. But to shew them to the Generations to come of vvhich That God might be 1. Praised and the ultimatus finis vvas 1. That God be praised for his benefits 1 Praised and shewing the praises of the Lord. 2. That his povver be celebrated in his miracles And his strength 2 His power magnified and wonderful works that he hath done But the intermedius finis was the good of his people for it was 3 His people edified that they might 1. Know God 2. Hope in God 3. And obey God not being rebellious For he that is God established a Testimony in Jacob and appointed a Law in Israel It was not a Law which our Fathers invented but taught from above Now the Duty of the Fathers was to communicate this Law to their posterity Which he commanded our Fathers that they should make known to their children And the Duties of the children follow which are the three ends before 1. That they know God and his Law and Works 1 In knowledge That the Generation to come might know them and the children that were yet unborn and their Duty is again To declare them to their children 2 Faith 2. That they might trust and set their hope in God and not forget the works of God 3. 3 Obedience and That they might be an obedient people and keep his Commandments which they could not be if they were like their fore-fathers for they were a stubborn and rebellious Generation a Generation that set not their heart aright Not rebellious as their fathers of which he gives divers instances The second part and whose spirit cleaved not stedfastly to God 2. And now the Prophet begins his Narration and proves by examples that they were a stubborn and rebellious Generation of which his 1. First example is of the Tribe of Ephraim who being armed and carrying Bowes turned back in the day of Battel which Moller refers to the children of Ephraim invading the land of Canaan before Moses time 1 In Ephraim and were overthrown 1 Chron. 17.21 and were slain because they did it without command Ephraim by a Synecdoche is put for all Israel who were disobedient and cowardly as Souldiers in War that turn their back on the enemy Bellarmine 2. These Ephraimites kept not the Covenant of God and refused to walk in his Law Jeroboam being
help when they look to receive whence we usually say Lend me thy hand 3. 3 His expostulation with God The third effect was an expostulation with his God in which he presseth God to spare his life from the inconvenience that might thereby happen viz. that thereby he should be disenabled to praise God and celebrate his name as he was bound and did desire to do among the living An Argument used before Psal 6. 30. This Argument though it savours too much of humane frailty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet he thought thereby to move God who above all things is jealous of his own glory which he conceiv'd in his death would suffer loss and therefore he asks 1. Wilt thou shew wonders among the dead That is My desire is that which ought to be of every pious man to set forth thy honour which cannot be done if I now go to the grave except by some miracle I should be raised from thence 2. For Shall the dead arise again and praise thee 'T is the living the living that shall set forth thy power thy goodness thy fidelity in keeping thy promises to the sons of men The dead as dead cannot do this and the dead return not from the grave to do it except by miracle 3. For farther yet Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave or thy faithfulness in destruction Shall thy wonders be known in the dark and thy righteousness in the Land of forgetfulness Such is the grave a place of Oblivion for Abraham is ignorant of us The goodness and faithfulness of God which he makes known to his Church in this life are not known nor can be declared by the dead the living see them the living have experience of them and therefore he desires his life may be spared for that end lest if he dye now that faculty ability should be taken from him He should be able no longer to resound the praise of God which is the true end that any man ought to desire life 4. The fourth part And so he returns to his Complaint and repeats again what he had said before and almost in the same words And gives three instances 1. He repeats his complaint He gives an instance in his prayer But unto thee have I cryed O Lord and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee He prayed he cryed 1 That God seemed not to hear him earnestly early not drowsily not sleepily for he did prevent God He prayed and would continue in prayer and yet all was in vain 2. For God seems to be inexorable which he complains of next and asks why it should be so 2 He asks why it should be so Lord why castest thou off my soul why hidest thou thy face from me Even the best of Gods Servants have been brought to that strait that they have not had a sense of Gods favour But conceiv'd themselves neglected deserted by him and discountenanc'd 3. His second instance is his present affliction mention'd before vers 4 3 That he is afflicted which he aggravates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5 6 7. I am afflicted and ready to dye Which he doth here exaggerate 1. From the time and continuance of it It was a very long grief for he had borne it even from his youth up 2. From the cause It proceeded not from some outward and humane cause that might have been borne and helped But it was an affliction sent by God Thy terrors have I suffered It came from a sense of Gods wrath 3. From an uncomfortable effect It wrought in his soul amazement unrest a perpetual trouble astonishment Thy terrors have I suffered with a troubled mind I am distracted with them And he amplifies this wrath by the former Similees 2 And amplifies by the former Simile of Waves vers 7. Of Waves and water 1. Thy fierce wrath goes over me as waves over a mans head at Sea Thy terrors have cut me off cut off my life as a Weavers Thrum 2. They came round about me like water 2. Dayly like water 3. They compassed me about Simul together as if they conspired my ruine there were many of them All thy waves vers 7. 4. His third instance which is the same vers 8. 3 And by the perfidiousness of his friends The perfidiousness and desertion of his friends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A loving friend is some comfort in distress but this he found not Lover and friend hast thou put far from me And mine acquaintance into darkness They appear no more to me to give me any counsel help or comfort than if they were hid in perpetual darkness Tempora cum fiunt nubila solus ero◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Prayer collected out of the eighty eighth Psalm O Merciful God the sole Author of my salvation Vers. 1 for thou alone canst save me day and night have I cryed before thee Vers. 9 without any intermission I have stretch'd out my hands unto thee Vers. 13 and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee O let then my humble supplication come before thee and encline thine ear unto my cry For my soul is so filled and overwhelmed with troubles that I am weary of them and my life draweth nigh to the grave I am accounted in all mens judgement for a dead man my strength is so little or none at all that I am like those that descend into the pit where taking up my rest among the dead I shall be fréed from those cares and necessary dutyes of this life I am become like those who have received the wound of death whom thou hast cut off by thy hand and laid in the Land where all things are forgotten O Lord let it be thy pleasure to deliver me make haste to help me O Lord O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more séen For wilt thou shew wonders to the dead and shall any raise the dead that they should sound forth thy praises among the living shall any dead man declare thy power and loving-kindness to the living and thy faithfulness in performance of thy promises when he is destroyed shall thy wonderous works be made known in the Cells of darkness and thy righteousness published by them who have utterly forgotten and are totally ignorant of those things that are done in the earth Preserve me therefore O thou that breathedst into my nostrils the breath of life and continue me longer in thy Church that I may there declare thy goodness thy truth and thy wonders to the sons of men Experience I have that all my acquaintance are but miserable comforters nor lover nor friend doth come to pity me to them I am become an abomination they stand all afar off and their faces are as it were wrapt up in darkness and wilt thou also O my God hide thy face from me wilt thou also cast off my soul I am afflicted and ready
the misery of it from ver 2. to 7. 3. The causes mans rebellion and Gods anger for it from ver 7. to 12. 4. A Petition which is double 1. That God would instruct man to know his fragility 2. That he would return and restore him to his favour from ver 12. to 17. 1. The first part An acknowledgment of Gods protection to his people In the beginning Moses the man of God freely acknowledgeth what God had alwayes been unto his people 2. What he is in himself and his own nature 1. To his people he had been alwayes a refuge as it were a dwelling place though they had been Pilgrims and Sojourners in a strange land for many years Ver. 1 yet he had been nay dwelt among them and no question he alludes to the Tabernacle of God that was pitched among them as an evidence of presence and protection Lord Thou hast been our dwelling place a secure place to rest in in all Generations Deutr. 33. from 1. to 6. 2. 2 And in himself from everlasting But in himself he was from everlasting other creatures had a beginning and their Creation and Ornaments from him he the eternal being Before the Mountains were brought forth Ver. 2 or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world Not like man even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God Not like man then whose mutability fragility mortality brevity he next describes 2. The second part Who is from dust and to dust must return Thou turnest man to destruction though framed according to thy own image yet he is but an earthen vessel rid gis mortalem eo usque ut sit contritus to that pass thou bringest him till he be broken to pieces broken as a potters vessel To him thou sayest Return ye children of men of Adam return for dust thou art Ver. 3 and to dust shalt thou return The mortality of man may not be then attributed to diseases Man is then mortal and his life short as a day chance fortune c. but to Gods Decree pronounced to man upon his disobedience First then let the sons of Adam remember that they are mortal next that their life is but very short suppose a man should live the longest life and somewhat longer than the oldest Patriarch a thousand years yet let it be compared with eternity Ver. 4 it is as nothing A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past Like a But as of a day which is short of a day that is past and forgotten which the Prophet farther illustrates by elegant similitudes 1. 1 Watch. And as a watch in the night A time of three houres continuance which is but the eighth part of a natural day and so far less than he said before the flower of our youth our constant age and our old age may well be the three houres of this watch and wise they are that observe their stations in either of them 2. 2 A flood Thou carriest them away as with a flood as a sudden inundation of waters our life passeth Ver. 5 we swell and fall or as all waters come from the Sea and return thither so from the earth we came and thither return or we are as water spilt on the earth that cannot be gathered up again 3. 3 A sleep or dream They are as a sleep or rather a dream all our happiness a dream of felicity in our dreams many pleasant many fearful things are presented so in life or we pass half our time in sleep drowsily 't is certain there be some men that are filthy dreamers our life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pindar 4. 4 Grass Or we are like grass Quasi herba solstitialis paulisper fui repentè exortus sum repentè occidi In the morning they are like grass that groweth up in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth The herb hath its morning and evening The causes of it and its midday and so hath our life naturally it fades or violently it is cut off 3. After he had spoken of and explained our mortality the brevity The third part 1. Gods anger the misery of our life he next descends to examine the causes of it which are two 1. Gods anger 2. And that which brought it upon us our own iniquities Ver. 7 1. Gods anger We consume away by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled The cause then of death and diseases is not the decay of the radical moysture or defect of natural heat but that which brought these defects upon us Gods wrath 2. Our own sin For this anger of God was not raised without a just cause 2 Our sin that caused it a just Judge he is and he proceeds not to punishment but upon due examination and trial and to that end he takes an account not only of our open sins but even of our secret faults such as are not known to our selves or such as we labour to conceal from others 1. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee 2. And our secret sins in the light of thy countenance No hypocrisie He repeats again the effects no contempt can escape thy eye all to thee is revealed and clear as the light 3. And then he repeats the effect together with the cause Therefore all our dayes viz. the forty years in the Wilderness are passed away in thy wrath 2. We spend our dayes as a tale that is told Et fabusa fies the tale ended vanisheth and is no more thought of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. And as for our age it is of no great length The dayes of our years are threescore years and ten To that time some men may be said to live because the faculties of their souls are tolerably vigorous and their bodies proportionably able to execute the offices of life 2. Our life encumbred with But say now it so happen which happens not to many That by reason of strength some excellent natural constitution a man arrive to fourscore years yet our life is incumbred with these three inconveniences labour sorrow brevity 1. 'T is laborious nay labour it self one is desirous to be rich 1 Labour another wise this man potent that man prudent or at least to seem so and this will not be without labour all is affliction of spirit 2. Sorrow for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Sorrow 3. Short For it is soon cut off and we flie away Avolat umbra 3 Brevity Thus much by experience there is no man but knows to be true every man feels that his life is laborious sorrowful short and upon the wing but such is the security of man that this is not well thought nor the nature of our life nor the cause viz. Gods anger for sin is not laid to heart This yet not considered and of this the Prophet in
sing praises to thy Name O thou most High Enable me by the power of thy Spirit that with heart and tongue that upon an instrument of ten strings Vers. 2 and upon the Psaltery that upon the Harp with a solemn sound I may shew forth thy loving-kindness in the morning Vers. 4 and thy faithfulness in keeping thy promises in the night season Make me glad O Lord and give me delight in the consideration in thy work and beauty of the whole Vniverse Vers. 5 and let me triumph and rejoice in the serious meditation of thy immense power wisdom and goodness declared in the works of thy hands Vers. 6 So great and wonderful they are that no man can sufficiently admire them so déep and secret are thy thoughts in them that no understanding of man is able to search them The bruitish man who is destitute of thy Spirit séeks no farther into them than to satisfie his pleasure or profit and therefore he knows not the depth of thy counsels the natural man who is the true fool séeks only in these to satisfie his curiosity and therefore in his understanding he is darkned and erres Oh therefore send down thy Spirit of wisdom into my heart that she may labour with me in the search of thy wayes and works that so all ignorance being removed and all bruitishness being expell'd I may attain to the true knowledge of them and thée and be moved to set forth thy loving-kindness and extol thy wisdom and faithfulness first in Creating and then in wisely governing the whole world Sinners Vers. 7 when they spring up suddenly as the grass and the workers of iniquity so long as they flourish think themselves the sole happy men Put into their hearts O Lord to consider their latter end and give me grace to consider their fall and punishment Their prosperity is not lasting their state is not immutable that is a property that belongs only to thée for thou Lord art the most High for evermore Their raising is for their ruine and their end to be destroyed for ever For lo thine enemies O Lord lo thine enemies shall perish and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered But Lord I fear thy name and tremble at thy judgements I admire thy power and adore thy wisdom be gracious then to thy Servant and let me partake of that blessing which thou hast promised to thy Catholique Church Vers. 10 O Lord exalt her horn as the horn of an Vnicorn she is depressed raise her she is weak strengthen her she is in sadness and her ointment putrified anoint her O Lord with fresh oyle Her enemies are many that rise up against her bring upon them a sudden destruction and let her eye see her desire on her enemies and her ears hear her desire of the wicked that rise upagainst her But for thy righteous Servants who adhere to the Truth and serve thée in sincerity of heart let them flourish like a Palm tree grow higher and gréener by their pressures let no time consume them nor storm of persecution more shake them than a Cedar in Lebanon the more they are hewed the more make them to grow the more they are cut the more cause them to spread These being by nature Cyences of the Wild-Olive Vers. 13 thou hast engraffed into the good Olive-trée and planted them in thy house thy Church water them by thy Word and Sacraments root them in Charity Vers. 14 prune them by thy Discipline that they may flourish in the Courts of the house of our God let them be fat and full of sap in this old age of the world and when other Trées are barren let them still bring forth fruit Be unto them a strong Rock to which they may fly in every storm Vers. 15 and on which they may stand secure and undanted in the greatest tempest Let them live to praise thy name and shew that the Lord is upright and acknowledge that there is no unrighteousness in thee though thou dost suffer the wicked man to flourish for a time and thy best Servants to lie under the Cross Ah good Father cherish our fainting hearts with this hope comfort us with this thy loving-kindness and faithfulness in Iesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour PSAL. XCIII A Doxology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 'T IS the purpose of the Prophet to comfort the Church opposed by Tyrants and Persecutors and yet she shall not utterly fail The gates of Hell shall not prevail against her because Christ sits in his Church as King The Sum of it is 1. The magnificence and power of Christ our eternal King vers 1 2. 2. That he defends his Church in the day of a storm vers 3 4. 3. That his Laws are holy and his Church also vers 5. The Prophet in the first verse describes our King 1. From his Office He reigns He is the great and chief Monarch The King of the Church described The first part 1. From his Office He is no idle Spectator of things below but wisely and justly and powerfully he administers all things 2. He is a glorious King For he is clothed with Majesty 3. He is a potent King The Lord is clothed with strength 4. He is a warlike King For he hath girded himself Vers. 1 buckled his sword upon his armour for offence of his enemies 2 His Majesty for defence of his Kingdom 3 His Power Then for his Kingdom 4 His Ammunition 1. It is first Universal The World 2 His Kingdom universal 2. It is fix'd firm and stable The World is also stablished and cannot be moved Vers. 2 3. It is an everlasting Kingdom from everlasting to everlasting 1 Firm immutable Thy Throne is established of old Thou art from everlasting 2 Everlasting Aeternus Rex aeternum Regnum 2. The second part Against this Tyrants arise But in this his Kingdom there be those who raise tumults commotions and rebellions These he compares to swelling waters and foming waves 1. The floods i. e. Tyrants Persecutors c. have lifted up O Lord Vers. 3 the floods have lifted up their voice the floods lift up their waves The Church dwells in the Sea and the waves of tyranny ambition malice beat furiously upon it 2. But to no purpose Well be it so yet the Lord on high is mightier than the noyse of many waters yea than the mighty waves of the Sea He wonderfully and strangely hath shewed his might Vers. 4 in getting himself the Victory over all Persecutors and propagating and inlarging his Kingdom over all the earth in despite of his enemies 3. The third part The Laws of his Kingdom unalterable And as his Kingdom is immoveable so are also the Laws by which it is governed fixt and unalterable also Thy Testimonies are very sure The Gospel is an eternal Gospel the Doctrine thereof holy and inviolable by which God Vers. 5 testatus est hath witnessed his
good-will to man and what he will have done by all his loving Subjects which is that they be a Holy people 2. 2 And holy as are his Subjects also For Holiness becomes thy House for ever The Temple the Priests the people must be a Holy Nation for ever correspondent to the Holiness of his Law and Testimonies Be ye Holy for I am Holy Holiness becomes thy House O Lord for ever The Prayer collected out of the ninty third Psalm O Omnipotent Lord which framedst the whole world by thy power and orderest all things by thy wisdom and yet in mercy hast made choice of some only to be a peculiar people to thy self Vers. 3 thou seest how this thy little flock is opposed afflicted oppressed by the pride and malice of bloody men Our enemies O Lord are mighty and insult over us they roare as the Sea they lift up their voice they seek to dash us in pieces with their insolent waves of anger and hatred as an inundation of waters and a tempestuous Sea they encompass us and seek to swallow us quick Let it be thy pleasure Vers. 4 O Lord to deliver us from these waves we believe that thou O Lord art mightier than the noyse of many waters yea than the mighty waves of the Sea stir up then thy strength and come amongst us Cast them then down in thy power still the waves of this troublesome Sea with thy word break in pieces the heads of Leviathan in these waters that we may have just cause to glorifie thy name Other Lords now raign over us Vers. 1 but thou art our King shew thy self then thou that sitt'st between the Cherubims appear as thou art clothed with Majesty Vers. 2 fortified with power and strength girded with thy sword upon thy thigh revenge thine own cause upon thy enemies and defend thy little flock Thou art from everlasting Vers. 1 thou art the sole Monarch of the World thou reignest thy Throne is established of old let not man then have the upper hand lest he grow too proud Shew that thou hast so established the World and thy Church in the World that it shall never be moved In thee Vers. 5 all the promises made unto us are yea and Amen thy Testimonies are very sure and the decrées of thy Kingdom immutable They require of us Faith Obedience and Holiness Oh thou who art our King and our God give us Faith to relie on thy promises Obedience to submit to thy Laws and a study of Holiness constantly and ever to perform such holy services and duties that thou requirest and becomes thy house and those that dwell in it Make our bodies Temples of the Holy Ghost that the Holy Ghost may take delight to dwell in this Temple for ever Amen PSAL. CXIV 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IN this Psalm our Prophet prayes complains inveighs against wicked men Oppressors of the innocent reproves their Atheism and informs them of Gods Omniscience Comforts the godly and encourages the just to put their trust in God assuring them that God will reward the wicked and defend the righteous In this Psalm then The parts are 1. A Petition for vengeance upon the wicked vers 1 2. 2. A pitiful complaint with the causes of it which were two 1. The delay of Gods judgements on them vers 3 4. 2. Their insolence oppression of the poor blasphemy against God to 7. 3. A sharp reprehension of their blasphemy and Atheism and the refutation of it from vers 8. to 12. 4. A consolation to all good men that God will reward the wicked and defend the righteous from vers 12. to the end Which is confirmed 1. From Gods faithfulness who hath promised and will perform it vers 14. 2. From Davids own experience from vers 16. to 20. 3. From Gods hatred of injustice tyranny oppression vers 20 21. 1. Which will cause him to be a Rock and defence to his people vers 22. 2. A severe Revenger to the Oppressors vers 23. 1. He begins with a Petition The first part He petitions for vengeance on the wicked that God would take vengeance of the Oppressors of his people which that he might the easier perswade he makes choice of an Attribute and to shew the ardour of his prayer ingeminates it which is peculiar to God for mihi vindicta ego retribuam O Lord God Vers. 1 to whom vengeance belongs to whom vengeance belongs As if he had said Thou art the most powerful Lord a God of power and justice and hast vengeance into thy own hand Therefore now 1. Shew thy self appear shine forth evidently and apparently shew thy justice vers 1. 2. Lift up thy self thou Judge of the earth Do thy Office of Judicature Vers. 2 ascend thy Throne and Tribunal as Judges use to do when they give judgement 3. Render a reward to the proud For the proud humble not themselves to thee they repent not pronounce therefore the sentence of condemnation against them 2. And now the Prophet begins to Complain The second part He complains that it is delayed by which that by the delay of Gods vengeance wicked men were hardned in their impiety and gloryed in their villany 1. How long how long This thy forbearance seems tedious to us especially since the wicked grow worse and worse by it and insult over us the more 2. For they triumph of their strength they glory in their prosperity Vers. 3 and in their wickedness The wicked are encouraged in mischief 3. They utter and speak hard things boldly rashly Vers. 4 proudly they threaten ruine to thy Church they breath nothing but blood and eversion of Kingdoms and Cities freely and without fear they talk of nothing else but what they have done and what they will do 4. They are workers of iniquity and they boast themselves 'T is not sufficient for them to do ill but they boast of it Of their strength they boast of their power they boast of their success they boast as if nothing were able to withstand their counsel their sword their wisdom Especially to insult over and oppress the Church and poor Now to what end do they make use of all these for of that I must complain also the consequence is lamentable the event sad the effects are lamentable for in their fury and injustice 1. Vers. 5 They break in pieces thy people O Lord. The people elect seperate dedicated to thee 2. They afflict thine heritage The people that thou hast chosen for thy possession 3. Vers. 6 They slay the widow destitute of the comfort of an Husband 2. And the stranger a man far from his Friends and Countrey 3. And murder the fatherless all which thou hast taken into thy protection and commanded that they be not wrong'd Exod. 22. Deut. 24. Yet such is their fury that they spare not Sex nor age nor any condition of men Nay And to blaspheme God himself it were yet tolerable if their rage
Psalm with an Epiphonema in which he perswades all good men to consider the former Premises and lay it to heart To observe the whole course of Gods Providence that they impute not the Changes of the World to Chance and Fortune nor be overmuch dejected at them but rather bless God for all as Job did 1. The righteous shall see it Consider and seriously meditate upon it 2. And rejoyce when they are assured that God is their Guardian and that therefore the Crosses which he layes upon them are trials for their good not for their ruine 3. And all iniquity shall stop her mouth By observation of the event at last evil doers shall not have occasion to laugh and blaspheme and find fault with Gods wayes but confess That all was by God justly done and wisely disposed But this is a Consideration not for every brain 't is for wise men that look afar off and think on it 1. Who is so wise will observe these things That is vicissitudes and changes of this World 2. And they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord It shall appear unto them at last how ineffable his mercy is toward them which truly fear him and call upon his Name but our life is hid with Christ in God The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and seventh Psalm O Omnipotent God when we look upon the strange vicissitudes and alterations of the things of this World our faith would waver and our hearts would faint were we not assured that all things are guided by thy hand and over-ruled by thy Providence and secret Will and Counsel Ver. 1 Who art good and whose mercy endures for ever Be it then that we are brought to wander in the Wilderness in a solitary way that we be pilgrims and strangers and have no City to dwell in that we are oppress'd with hunger and dryed up with thirst so that our soul is ready to faint within us yet will we not despair In our trouble to thée will we cry to thée will we make our moan nothing doubting but that if it shall be for thy glory and our good Thou wilt deal by us as thou hast done formerly with thy servants them thou hast deliver'd from their distresses those thou hast led forth by the right way and brought to dwell in their own Cities and Habitations Thou hast satisfied their longing souls and filled their hungry souls with good things which since thou art good and thy mercy endureth for ever we are in good hope Thou wilt do for us Redéem O Lord thy banished and bring them home So shall we praise thee for thy goodness and declare thy wonderful works which thou dost for the Children of men Long it is O merciful God That we have sate in darkness Ver. 10 and in the shadow of death our back is bowed down with many iron hands that we cannot lift up our head our heart is brought low through affliction and we find none to help and all this is justly come upon us because we have rebelled against the words of our God and contemned the Counsel of the most High We have not done thy Will nor kept thy Commandments but have set up abominations and have multiplied offences But now O Lord in our trouble we cry unto thée we how the knées of our hearts beséeching thée of grace forgive forgive O Lord and destroy us not with our iniquities Save us Lord from our distresses bring us out of this darkness and shadow of death and break our Bands asunder break these gates of Brass and cut asunder these Bands of Iron so shall we thy redeemed praise thee O Lord for thy goodness all the dayes of our lives and declare the wonderful works which thou dost for the children of men O Lord I confess against mine own soul that I have béen seduced and pielded to many foolish lusts of the flesh Ver. 17 and because of this my iniquity and transgression I am justly afflicted and séel no whole part in my body that thou shouldst lengthen out my dayes any farther I sée no hope my disease is so grievous That my soul abhorreth all manner of meat and my vital spirits so far spent That I am drawing to the gates of death To whom O Lord should I flie but to thée To whom should I cry in this my trouble but to thée O God be merciful to thy servant and press me not beyond my strength save me out of my distress send out thy Word and heal me and deliver me from destructions O let not thy fierce anger go beyond a fatherly correction and in judgment remember thy mercy that endures for ever So shall I whom Thou hast redeemed from the jawes of death praise thee my God for thy goodness and for thy wonderful works to the children of men I will sacrifice the Sacrifices of Thanksgiving and declare thy works with rejoycing O Lord our Vocation calls upon us to go down to the Sea in Ships and to negotiate Ver. 23 and do our business in great waters where we see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep At thy Command the stormy wind ariseth and the waves of the Sea are lifted up Tossed we are and mount up to Heaven and by and by we go down to the bottom of the Sea so that there we dwell in the shadow of death and our soul is melted and faints because of the present trouble we reel too and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at our wits end for our wisdom and our skill then fails us our sole refuge is in our prayers In this instant of our trouble as thou hast commanded We cry unto thee look down upon thy servants who in the abyss of the Seas and the abyss of our trouble invocate the abyss of thy mercies bring us out of these distresses Thou which didst command the winds and rebuke the Seas and they obeyed thée Make the storm a calm Rebuke the furious winds and waves and still them by thy power make us glad by rescuing us from the present danger and quietly bring us to the desired Haven So will we praise thee O Lord for thy goodness and for thy wonderful works to the children of men And when we come to land We will exalt thy Name in the Congregation of thy people and praise thee in the Assembly of the Elders O Lord we set our minds too much upon earthly things and attribute too much to Nature and second Causes whereas all the power that is in the Creature is from thée and that restraint that is upon the Creature procéeds from thée Remove from our hearts this heavy and gross ignorance and impiety and make us know and acknowledge that it is thy hand That turns Rivers into a Wilderness and a land water'd with pleasant Springs into a dry ground by which a fruitful land becomes barren But in this change thy Iustice O Lord is exalted by this thou shewest