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
above and alone was their Physitian 3. This was the manner of their Cure He saveth them out of their distresses 1. And he restores them to life and health He sent his Word and healed them He said the word only and they were made whole or if any Dos were applied as put case a Brazen Serpent Ver. 20 or a Bunch of Figs yet it was his Word his Will his Command that made them Medicinal Wisd 16.12 13. And therefore the Prophet useth an apt word to put us in mind of this He sent his Word no otherwise than some great Prince sends forth his Embassadour to do his Command and I little doubt but the Centurion had this in his mind when he said to our Saviour Say the word only and my servant shall be whole Mat. 8. 2. And he delivered them from their destructions which is opposed to the danger they were in ver 18. They draw nigh to the gates of death For which he calls on them to be thankful 3. But again he remembers the delivered to acknowledge the Cure with a grateful heart Ver. 21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men And he adds 1. And let them sacrifice their Sacrifices their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. But yet with these conditions and limitations Ver. 22 1. That it be with a thankful heart they must be Sacrifices of Thanksgiving an outward Sacrifice was nothing worth without it 2. That with the Sacrifice there go an Annunciation that men declare his works publish what great things God had done for them that the Cure was his 3. That it be done with rejoycing that we have an experience of Gods presence his mercy and favour in which the heart ought more to rejoyce than for the Cure done upon the Body 4. The fourth Misery ariseth from the danger at Sea of which all Travellers The fourth misery Shipwrack Merchants Mariners have experience which 1. He describes 2. Shewes the course they take in a storm 3. And the event following upon their prayers 4. Upon which he calls upon as upon the three before to praise God 1. They that go down to the Sea in ships Go down Ver. 23 for now the Sea is lower than the Earth The storm described to which he prefaceth 2. That do business in great waters Have a Calling and Vocation to go down as Merchants Mariners for as for Pyrates they have no Vocation they may perish they have no promise of Protection nor Audience 3. These men see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep Ver. 24 Others hear of them by Relation but these see them They see the great Whales innumerable kinds of strange Fishes and Monsters they see what the vastness and depth of the Sea is they see Islands innumerable dispersed and safe in the Waves they find in it many Whirle-pools Quick-sands Rocks they have experience of the virtue of the Load-stone they discover many Stars that we know not they behold the working of the Sea the raging of it through which fear and horrour of death invades the hearts even of the most valiant men 4. For he commandeth Now he begins to describe the Tempest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. From the cause God it is that sayes the word and his word is a Command 2. And with his word He raiseth the stormy wind Incutit vim ventis 3. Which inspired with his word lifts up the waves thereof that is the Sea Fluctus ad sidera tolli Virgil. Aenead 1. 4. They that is the passengers mount up to heaven they go down to the depth Hi summo in fluctu pendent his unda dehiscens Terram inter fluctus aperit 5. Their soul is melted because of trouble Their strength fails and their spirit for fear and horrour faints Extemplo Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra 6. They reel too and fro they are tossed this way and that way Tres curus ab alto in Brevia Syrtes urget 7. They stagger and totter as a drunken man an apt similitude Cui dubii stantque labantque pedes 8. And are at their wits end Or Omnis sapientia corum absorbetur Their Judgment roves their Art fails their Skill is at end Et meminisse viae media Palinuras in unda Denegat Acts 27.14 Hitherto the Prophet hath Poetically described the Tempest and Storm Then they cry to God and now he comes to acquaint us with the Course they in this danger took for to save their lives They all flie to the common Remedy this they thought was safest and might do it when all failed Then they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble The Course that the Mariners in Jonah took Jonah 1. I see the old Proverb will be true Qui nescit orare discat navigare And the Consequent was as before And he quiets the Tempest And he brings them out of their distresses The manner this 1. He makes the storm a calm Dicto cirius tumida aequora placat 2. So that the waves thereof are still Et cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor 3. Then are they glad because they be quiet which is the first Effect No more reeling too and fro no more at their wits end but taken out of the jawes of death by a sudden calm whence ariseth much joy Laeto testantur gaudia plausu 4. And sets them safe on shore And to increase it at last he sets them safe on shore So he brings them to their desired Haven Magno telluris amore Egressi optata nautae potiuntur arenâ Et sale tabentes artus in littore ponunt 3. For which he calls on them to praise God And now in the last place he puts them in mind of their Duty and wishes that they would pay their Tribute for the miracle done upon them in saving of their lives out of so great danger Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men And it might be that in their danger they had made some Vow as was usual for men in a great danger at Sea to do Read the life of Nazianzen who in such a case vowed himself to God This the Prophet would have paid and yet openly 1. Let them exalt him also in the Congregation of the people In a Congregation where all the people are assembled to praise God 2. And that not only before the promiscuous Multitude but in the presence of those who excel in Authority Wisdom and Power even the Princes Let them praise him in the Assembly of the Elders Me tabula sacer votiva paries indicat vida suspendisse potenti vestimento Maris Deo 3. The third part Gods Providence in the alterations of Kingdoms After the Prophet had exalted Gods mercies in freeing men from these four former Miseries and Calamities Banishment Captivity Sickness and Shipwrack now he manifests
and before all others for ye are the servants of the Lord chose out of the people to this service 3. Ye are those which by night stand in the house of the Lord ye are appointed Levit. 8. Numb 18. and must therefore stand upon your watch In the Temple you ought not to be sleepy and idle for you were set for another purpose Therefore 4. Lift up your hands by prayer in the Sanctuary before the Ark of the Covenant which was the symbol of his presence And to bless the people 5. Bless the Lord laud and magnifie his Name The other part of your office is to bless the people let not that be forgotten neither but say in this Form of words 1. Which they do The Lord blesse thee Let them know from whom the blessing comes 2. Out of Zion So long as they remain'd in the unity of the Church no blessing to be expected The form of blessing when Zion was left 3. That Lord who hath made heaven and earth He that hath power to bless and hath given and must give his blessing to all creatures without which they will not be blessed to thee The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and thirty fourth Psalm O Merciful God that hast chosen the Tribe of Levi and taker us neere unto thy self give us grace and abilities to perform our duties to thee We are thy chosen servants we are to stand in the house of the Lord cause us therefore night and day to stand consciouably upon our watch to lift up our hands in thy Sanctuary to offer up our prayers continually unto thee and to intercede for thy people and never let us forget to bless thee our Lord and thy people in thy name And moreover we intreat of thee dear Father that thou wouldst ever do good to thy people out of Zion who fly unto thée for a blessing Thou art the Lord who hast made heaven and earth deliver us from our present difficulties and dangers and since thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of thy truth give us a hoart to land and praise thy holy Name for ever and ever Amen Here endeth the Psalms of Degrees PSAL. CXXXV IN this Psalm the Prophet invites the servants of God to praise him and Ministers especially vers 1 2. by arguments drawn 1. From his goodness especially in his election of Israel vers 3 4. 2. From his greatness and power shewed in his works from vers 5. to 8. 3. From his justice shewed upon the enemies of Israel from vers 8. to 13. 4. From his loving kindness extended and to be extended to his servants vers 13 14. 5. He invites the Levites to praise God The first part Having derided the vanity of Idols from vers 15. to 19. he returns to his exhortation calling upon all to blesse God from vers 19. to 21. 1. He calls upon the Ministers of Religion especially to attend to the recitation of divine praises and in the same words of the former Psalm 1. Ver. 1 Praise ye the Lord praise ye the Name of the Lord praise Him O ye servants of the Lord. 2. Ver. 2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord in the Courts of the house of our God 2. The second part The reasons And now ingeminating his words again he produces his reasons to perswade it 1. Ver. 3 Because the Lord is worthy of all praise Praise the Lord for he is good What is good is worthy of praise 1 Because he is good what is bad worthy of dispraise But God is absolutely good not comparatively nor by participation from himself good not from any other and therefore praise the Lord because he is good 2. 2 It is a pleasent work Sing praises to his Name because it is pleasant it is no troublesome work or laborious but full of delight sweetness content The Hebrew word Nahim may be referred to the Lord to his Name or to the praise so that the sense may be sing unto the Lord because the Lord is sweet or sing to his name for it is sweet or sing unto the Lords Name for it is a pleasant and an action of content that delights the soul Ver. 4 3. Praise the Lord for his love to Israel which imposeth a debt and obligation to praise him 3 They tyed to do it because God chose Jacob. 1. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself to be his inheritance portion 2. And Israel to be his peculiar treasure Rom. 9. Malach 1. I have lâ—ved Jacob and hated Esau And this obligation lies upon Christians now The third part 3. The next Argument which the Prophet useth to perswade to the praise of God is from his greatness of which he was assured For I know first that the Lord is great secondly Ver. 5 that our Lord is above all gods 4 Because God is great And first that the Lord is great and of great power he proves by many instances 1. From his Empire and universal dominion in heaven the earth the seas c. Ver. 6 1. Whatsoever the Lord pleased that he did In his works Nothing is impossible to him We would do many things but cannot He does all by his free will not out of any need but we work for the most part because we want necessity compels us 'T is but 't fithen we give to him the praise not to our selves 2. He doth all things what he pleaseth in all places in heaven earth seas hell And these last words the Prophet amplifies by setting down some especial places in which his works are most apparent 1. In the earth 1 In the earth He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth from all parts East West North South Ver. 7 which are endued with several qualities 2. In the air and clouds above He maketh lightning for the rain 2 Aire A wonder that fire should be mixt with water and not distinguished 3. In the water For he brings the winds out of his treasures 3 The water A third wonder for nothing is more obscure than the generation of the winds out of his treasures they come from his rich and secret power John 3. 4. The third argument the Prophet useth to perswade us to praise God The fourth part is from his justice in taking vengeance of the enemies of his people as 5 Because just 1. Upon the Aegyptians Ver. 8 1. Who smote the first-born of Aegypt both of man and beast For instance on Egypt and it was evident that it was his hand because the first-born only were smitten and of the Aegyptians onely and not of Israel 2. Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee O Aegypt upon Pharaoh and all his servants Exod. 7.8 9 10 11 12. in brief he minds us of all the signs and plagues of Aegypt 2. On the Amoritish Kings Sihon and Og 2 On
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
They shall not stand in judgment though some refer this clause to this life When he is judg'd by men causa cadet he shall be condemn'd 2. Exclusion from the company of the just Sinners shall not stand in the Congregation of the righteous 3. Ver. 6 The cause of both In the close he shews the cause why the godly is happy the wicked unhappy 1. Because the way of the righteous is known to God approved by him and defended 2. But the way studies plots counsels of the wicked shall perish The Prayer out of the first Psalm O Almighty and most merciful God who hast taught us by thy holy Word that the only way to obtain felicity Ver. 1 is to avoid evil and to do good never suffer me to walk in the counsels of the ungodly nor to stand in the way of sinners nor to acquiesce and sit down and rest in the Chair of the Deriders of Religion and Piety Ver. 2 But so renew and quicken all the faculties of my soul by the gracious assistance of thy Spirit that my delight may be to walk in the paths of thy Commandments and the meditations of my heart day and night taken up with the study of thy sacred Word and Will By nature I am a wild Trée Ver. 3 barren of good fruit be pleased then to transplant me and ingraff me into the true Olive root me in true faith sustain me in charity let those heavenly dews of grace and Rivers of waters which flow from thy Sanctuary moysten and comfort my dry soul so I may bud and knit and fructifi◠and in a fit season bring forth such fruits as may chear thee my God and be beneficial to man then I may expect happy successes and prosperity upon the work of my hande O Lord thou knowest my frailties no Trée more subject to the violence of tempests than I am to the fury and rage of enemies who if they may have their will will not leave one leaf upon me they will deprive me of my juice and devest me of my greenness O let not then the scorching heat of any temptation wither nor the storm of a winter persecution beat off a leaf of grace with which thou hast beautified my soul but in the midst of this fiery trial let me still flourish and in the coldest blast let me retain my life and fresh vigour that howsoever I séem to men to be in an unhappy condition yet I may have the testimony of thy Spirit within that thou who disposest all things to the best for those who love thée wilt make me prosper Prosper me therefore in my wayes prosper me in my actions prosper me in my afflictions prosper me in life prosper me in my death whatsoever I do let it prosper Should I sell my self to work wickedness consent to ungodly counsels or settle upon the lees of sin and sit down in the Chair of the scornful I can expect no such success from thy hand Ver. 4 thy mouth hath said it As for the ungodly it shall not be so with them though they may séem to men to be well rooted and excéedingly to flourish yet their prosperity is but for a moment their happiness light and vain Carried they are with every violent wind of lewd affections and empty Doctrines Ver. 5. 6. and therefore they shall be as the Chaffe which the wind drives from the face of the earth their way shall perish they shall never be able to stand in judgment But thou O Lord art a sure protection for thy people Grant therefore O Lord Ver. 6 that when I shall appear before thy Iudgment seat I may be able to stand with boldness in thy presence and let thy mercy absolve me from my sins for the merits of my Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen PSAL. II. The prime Subject of this Psalm is Christ the Type David THE persons we are chiefly to reflect on are three which make three parts of the Psalm The Enemies of Christ Christ the Lord. The Princes and Judges of the earth 1. The enemies to Christ are great men who are described here The first part The enemies of Christ described partly from their wickedness and partly from their weakness First Their wickedness is apparent 1. They furiously rage 2. They tumultuously assemble 3. They set themselves stand up 1 By their wickedness and take counsel against the Lord and against his Anointed 4. They encourage themselves in mischief saying Come and let us cast away their cords from us Ver. 1 All which is sharpned by the interrogative Why Secondly Their weakness 2 Their weakness for their plots vain in that they shall never be able to bring their plots and conspiracies against Christ and his Kingdom to pass for 1. What they imagine is but a vain thing Ver. 1 2. He that sits in Heaven shall laugh and have them in derision Ver. 4 3. He shall speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure Ver. 5 4. For maugre all their plots Ver. 6 God hath set up his King upon his holy hill of Zion 2. At ver 6. begins the exaltation of Christ to his Kingdom The second part Christ by God exalted to be King which is the second part of the Psalm in which the Prophet by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 brings in God the Father speaking and the Son answering First The words of the Father are Vnxi te in Regem I have set my King Ver. 6 where we have the inauguration of Christ or his calling to the Crown 1 His inauguration Secondly The answer of the Son I will preach the Law which sets forth his willing obedience to publish and proclaim the Laws of the Kingdom Ver. 7 of which the chief is Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee 2 His willing obedience Thirdly The reply of the Father 3 His reward containing the reward that Christ was to have upon the publication of the Gospel which was Ver. 8 1. An addition to his Empire by the conversion and access of the Gentiles 1 The amplification of his Kingdom Ask of me and I will give thee the Heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost ends of the Earth for thy possession Ver. 9 2. And the confusion of his Enemies Thou shalt break them 2 The confusion of his enemies who would not have thee reign that did rage and stand up against thee with a Rod of iron and break them in pieces as a potters vessel 3. In the third part the Prophet descends to his Exhortation and Admonition The third part The Prophet exhorts and that very aptly for is Christ a King is he a King anointed by God is he a great King a powerful King so great that the Nations are his Subjects Ver. 10 so powerful that he will break and batter to pieces his Enemies Besides Kings 1. to is he the only begotten
Lord. Vers. 7 The administration of his Kingdom is 1. Eternal The Lord shall endure for ever Vers. 8 2. His Office to be Judge He hath prepared his Throne for judgement 3. He is an universal Judge He shall judge the whole world 4. He is a just Judge He shall judge in righteousness Which begets a confidence in his people he shall minister judgement to the people in uprightness 5. He is a merciful Judge to his people Vers. 9 For the Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed a refuge in time of trouble 5. The effect or consequent upon this his execution of justice which is the confidence thence arising in the hearts of his people which are here describ'd by their knowledge of God 2. Seeking him Vers. 10 They that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee 2. An Exhortation to others to praise God 2 He exhorts others to praise God Sing praises to the Lord that dwells in Zion that is in the midst of his people and Church to defend them Declare among the people his doings The second part Of which he assigns the reason that he is a just God and will require their blood at the hands of those that oppressed and slew them Vers. 11 An inquisition for blood he will make And when he makes inquisition for blood For his justice he remembreth them the innocent unjustly oppressed and slain Vers. 12 and forgets not the cry of the humble The cry of their blood shall be heard 3. A Petition for himself that God would shew him mercy 3 He Petitions for favour and look upon his affliction Have mercy upon me O Lord The third part consider the trouble of them that hate me thou that lifts me up from the gates that is the power of death Vers. 13 As if he had said Do by me now as thou hast done heretofore And the Reason or Argument by which he perswades God to hear him and shew mercy is drawn from the final cause Vers. 14 he looks not so much upon himself as Gods honour it is That he may have just cause to praise God which he vows That I may shew thy praise 2. All thy praise 3. In thy Church in the gates of the daughter of Zion 4. That I may do it with joyful lips 5. Which I will do I will rejoice in thy salvation 4. And then as if he were shewing forth this praise in the Congregation The fourth part he sings forth his Song of Triumph his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 over his enemies in Metaphors And performs in a Song of Triumph 1. The heathen are sunk down into the pit that they made 2. In the net which they hid is their own foot taken 3. This is the Lords doing Vers. 15 Therefore though wicked men did doubt before of his providence and justice yet Vers. 16 now the Lord is known by the judgement he executes For 4. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands Higgaion Selah Which is a thing exceedingly to be meditated on and not forgotten 5. The wicked shall be turn'd to hell and all the people that forget God Vers. 17 their breath is in their nostrils and dye they must which is some comfort to those they oppress and if they repent not Vers. 18 suffer eternal punishment 2. But the chief comfort is The fifth part is A Petition and proceeds from Gods justice and his goodness toward the innocent unjustly oppressed For the needy shall not alway be forgotten the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever Their hope shall not be frustrate Vers 19 5. The Conclusion is Petitory Arise O Lord. Against the enemies of the Church 1. Let not man prevail over thy people 2. Let the heathen be judg'd in thy sight Vers. 20 3. Put them in fear O Lord now they fear nothing That they may fear being in their height and prosperity they are insolent and proud manifest thy divine presence to their terrour For then 4. And know themselves to be but men They will know themselves to be but men infirm and mortal creatures and not insult over thy people and glory upon their own strength and prosperity The Prayer and Hymn out of the ninth Psalm for the Church in affliction persecuted and oppressed by enemies I Will praise thee Vers. 1 O Lord with my whole heart and I will make known to others as much as in me lies those wonderful works which thou hast done for thy people in all ages Vers. 2 I will not be glad and rejoice so much in the vain and empty things of this life as in thée the giver of them and for that I will sing praise to thy name O thou most high higher than all things in this world and far beyond all praise that I can give For thou Vers. 7 Lord who art from all eternity and shall continue the same for ever Vers. 8 hast prepared thy seat to judge the world on which being ascended thou wilt judge the world in righteousness rewarding every man according to his deserts repaying good things to those who know thy name and séek thée but heavy judgements to those who dishonour thée and oppress thy people Have mercy upon me Vers. 13 O Lord consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me Vers. 4 O thou that sittest in the Throne and judgest right maintain my right and my cause Vers. 16 and lift me up from the power of death Make thy self known by executing judgement for me Vers. 3 O let my enemies be turn'd back and perish at thy presence Vers. 18 Forget not the cry of the needy and let not the expectation of the poor perish for ever Vers. 12 Make inquisition for that innocent blood of thy servants which they have poured out like water that cannot be gathered up again and forget not the voice of Abels blood that yet from the earth cryes unto thée O God we have heard with our ears and our Fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their dayes and in the old time before them Vers. 5 how thou hast destroy'd the wicked and rebuked the heathen and put out their name for ever and ever Vers. 9 Arise therefore O Lord be a refuge to the oppressed Vers. 19 a refuge in this needful time of trouble let not man prevail and let thy enemies be judged in thy sight Put them in fear O Lord that they may know themselves that they are not God but weak infirm and mortal men Now they are proud of their victories and puff'd up with their successes O break the hardness of their heart with some calamities and fearful disasters that being brought to consider their own frail condition and intolerable insolence they may cease to pride it against thée and thy Church O thou enemy Vers. 6 thou breathest nothing but
this way Ver. 7 and despoil me of this my innocence that it must be more than an 〈…〉 that must preserve me Ver. 8 Shew therefore thy marvellous loving kindness 〈…〉 that savest by thy right hand those that trust in thee Let me be aâ— dear unto thâ—e and as safely kept as the apple of the eye protect and hide me under the shadow of thy wings with thy merciful care and tenderness more than the kind Hen doth her little Chickens from the coldest showres or the scorching Sun or the gréedy Hawk or Vulture For behold O Lord our enemies breathing nothing but fury and death Ver. 9 compass me and thy poor Church about on every side they have shut up their bowels of compassion towards us they waste and oppress us Ver. 10 they are fatned with wealth power success and prosperity and being swell'â— with their victories over us their mouth speaketh high and proud things It satisfieth not that they have outed us and despoiled us of all our goods oven yet when they have driven us almost to hide our selves in secret places they watch our steps Ver. 11 and compass us about with their nets and snares to catch and destroy us On this only they fasten their eyes and bend their thoughts and counsels Ver. 12 that they lay us flat upon the Earth and bring our honour to the dust No Lyon is more gréedy of his prey nor young Lyon that lurks in secret places dent to raven than they are to take tear and devour us But thou O Lord hast séemed overlong to sléep Ver. 13 the impunity of our enemies hath béen overlong deferr'd Arise now therefore O Lord and shew thy power and come amongst us Disappoint them and cast them down and deliver our souls from the ungodly who is thy Sword and the Rod of thy wrath with which thou dost punish thy disobedient and rebellious children Deliver us O Lord from the men of thy hand Ver. 14 from the men whom thy hand hath armed against us who yet now fight against thée save us from the men of this world who expect no other life nor reward nor are like to receive none for they shall receive their portion in this world in this short life and though their mind is unsatiable yet their bellies are fill'd their belly is their God and their belly thou fill'st with thy hid and choicest pleasures they flow and abound in wealth and delights they have enough and to spare a multitude of children to whom they leave their superfluities and ill-gotten goods And in this they place their greatest happiness But Vers. 15 O Lord let me never receive from thée these outward things as my sole and utmost reward rather let my lot be to suffer with thy people here in this life that I may be happy with them in the life to come With the hope of this reward I will sustain my self in the midst of my pressures I will not forgo my innocence as they must their riches but I hope to behold thy face in my righteousness with all the defects thereof pardoned and covered with the long white Robe of thy Son Being fully perswaded that I here who want and hunger neither could be satisfied with these vain and perishing goos if I did abound in them when I shall awake out of my bed of dust and be renew'd after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with thy glory joy immortality which thou hast prepared for all those who wait for the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen PSAL. XVIII Is Davids 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Song of Triumph after his Conquest of all his enemies 2 Sam. 22. IN which He expresseth what God is to him he first expresses what God is to his servants to him especially My Rock my Fortress my Deliverer c. 2. The first part The effect it wrought upon him 1. Love I will love the Lord. Vers. 2 The effect it wrought in him 2. Confidence In him will I trust 3. Invocation I will call on the Lord. The fruit of which was his safety So shall I be saved from my enemies 2. Vers. 1 Next he makes a long Narrative 1. Of the dangers in which he was Vers. 2 2. Of his Escape 1. Vers. 3 The second part His danger was great Sorrows of death floods of ungodly men sorrows of hell snares of death these compassed him made him afraid prevented him came upon him at unawares The danger he was in vers 4 5. 2. Vers. 4 5. He shews how he behav'd himself in these dangers and from whom he sought for help Very great He flies to God He betook him to God In my distress I call'd upon the Lord and cryed unto my God 3. He shews the goodness of God to him and his readiness to help him He heard me out of his Holy Temple Vers. 6 and my cry came before him c. 4. Vers. 6 The cause of his escape was the immediate hand of God who made use of his Power to deliver him Gods goodness for his escape From Vers 7. The manner to Vers 16. Vers 16 17 18. and testified his presence in a strong way by Concussion of the earth Thunders winds tempests darkness thick clouds hail-stones coals of fire lightnings strange inundations 5. He reckons up his deliverance with the manner and the causes 1. He took he drew me and when the danger was greatest for it was out of many waters from my strong enemy from them that hated me were too mighty for me that sought at unawares to surprise me 2. He did it in a strange way For he sent from above He brought me into a large place 3. But then he was my stay And the causes that moved him to it were 1. His own good-will Because he delighted in me 2. Vers. 20 My innocence Which he declares from vers 20. to vers 25. 6. Which extends to all good men And then ab hypothesi from his own particular case he takes occasion to discourse in Thesi that this is not true only in Davids person but shall be verified of all that are Innocent as he was Which he proves from the nature and usual manner of Gods proceeding with good and bad men from vers 27. With the merciful thou wilt shew thy self merciful and with an upright man thou wilt shew thy self upright With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward For thou wilt save the afflicted people and bring down the high looks of the proud c. The third part Davids Victory amplified Now follows Davids glorious victory 2. The consequent upon it from vers 28. to 46. 1. His victory he expresses and amplifies many wayes 1. From the opposition that he conquer'd Nor troops Vers. 29 nor walls hinder'd Vers. 30 31. 2. From Gods singular protection He was his Buckler His Rock Vers. 32 33. 3. From the Armour the nimbleness the military
rare proceeds from a King 1 He exhorts Princes to praise God and not from a common man a Prince a great Prince minds Princes and great men that there is one greater than they and that therefore they yield unto him his due honour and worship 1. That they withold it not from him but freely yield it up and give it Ver. 1 for which he is very earnest as appears by the Anaphora Give give give 2. That in giving this they yield him no more than his due Give him the honour due unto his Name 3. What they are to give Glory and strength They must make his name to be glorious give him such glory as is fit for his name 2. Then again attribute their strength to him 4. That they bow before him and adore him Incurvate Junius 5. To perswade this he proposeth two Reasons That they exhibit this honour in that place they ought in atrii sancto ejus Vulg. In decoro sanctitatis Jun. In decore splendore ornatu sanctitatis Moller In the beauty of holiness his Temple And that they may the easilier be perswaded to give the Lord this honour due unto him he proposeth two Reasons to be considered 1. 1 His power shewn His Power a Power though they be Filii fortium high and mighty Potentates far beyond theirs which is seen in his Works of Nature but passing by many other he makes choice of the Thunder and those impressions that follow it this he describes 1. From the nature of it for however men of it do conceive natural causes In the thunder which is Vox Jehovae yet religious men will look higher and when they hear those fearful Murmures in the Aire will confess with David it is Vox Jehovae Vox Jehovae here seven times repeated and this voyce hath affrighted the proudest the mightiest Tyrants 2. From the place whence this voyce is given the watery Clouds The voyce of the Lord is above the waters Ver. 3 upon many waters 3. From the force and power They are not vain and empty noises but strike a terrour Humanas motura tonitrua mentes The voyce of the Lord is powerful Ver. 4 the voyce of the Lord full of Majesty 4. The effects of it From the effects which he explains by an induction 1. Upon the strongest Trees the Cedars the Cedars of Lebanon The voyce of the Lord breaks the Cedars c. 2. Ver. 5 Upon the firmest Mountains even Lebanus and Sirion for sometimes the Thunder is accompanied with an Earth-quake and the Mountains dance Ver. 6 and skip as a Calf 3. Upon the Aire which is no small wonder for when nothing is more contrary to fire Ver. 7 than water it is miraculous that out of a watery Cloud such Balls of fire should be darted The voyce of the Lord divideth the flames of fire Ver. 8 4. In the Creatures of all kinds especially the wild for it makes them fear and leave their Caves and the Woods yea makes the Dear for fear abortive The voyce of the Lord shaketh the Wilderness c. The voyce of the Lord maketh the Hindes to calve 5. In the mighty Rains that follow upon it When the Cataracts of Heaven are opened and such floods of water follow that a man may justly fear a second inundation would drown the World out of all which he draws this conclusion The Lord sits King for ever Ver. 10 2. 2 His works of grace His second Reason is drawn from his Works of Grace when he moveth the hearts of his people to acknowledge his voyce and to give him glory in his Temple Ver. 10 in his Temple doth every man speak of his honour Secondly by the security he gives in people even in that time he utters his voyce and speaks in Thunder whereas the wicked then tremble and quake The Lord will give strength unto his people Ver. 11 the Lord will bless his people with peace i. e. security and peace of conscience The Meditation collected out of the twenty ninth Psalm O Omnipotent God wheresoever we cast our eyes Ver. 1 we have occasion to fall low before thy Foot-stool to adore worship and praise thée so admirable and illustrious is thy dignity and glory which is apparent in all thy Creatures Thy voyce O Lord is heard in the Clouds above whence thou roarest to us in Thunder and whence being resolv'd into Rain thou sendest many and mighty waters In this murmur of the Aire thy voyce is heard with so much power and Majesty that the greatest Atheists have trembled at it and hid themselves thy voyce hath béen so terrible to their ears thy presence in that voyce so full of horrour to their guilty consciences This thy voyce is of so great strength that it breaks the Cedars and splits to pieces the strongest Daks Those mighty Trées have béen torn by the voyce of thy Thunder and rent asunder by thy hot Thunder-bolts The earth was also moved and shook withall and the rocky mountains and strong hills of Lebanon did tremble and quiver and leap too and fro at thy voyce At thy voyce it is that those bottles of Heaven at the same instant send down Rain and dart flames of fiery lightnings miâ—'c with that water Thy voyce it is that makes all the Beasts of the Desert to tremble and shake and to leave for fear their Dens and Thickets and to discover themselves to pursuit and danger yea to abortion The breath of thy mouth makes bare the Trées and thy blasts rend off the branches The Rain sometimes descends in such Spouts and violence as if it threaten to drown the World but it is thy hand that preserves the earth For thou sittest upon the flood and kéepest in the waters that they overflow not nor pass farther than thou hast decréed O Lord our God thou remainest a King for ever O then all ye who are mighty upon earth give unto the Lord give unto the Lord glory and strength acknowledge that you have your power and glory from him Give unto the Lord the glory due to his Name worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness adore him in his holy Temple where his service hath beauty in it and in which every one doth speak of his glory O Lord while the wicked do tremble at thy voyce thy people are thereby confirmed against dangers and calamities For thou Lord wilt give strength unto thy people Bless O Lord thy people with the blessing of peace A Prayer out of the same Psalm O Almighty God great hath béen thy mercy unto us that by the voyce of thy Son thou hast made known unto us the great mysteries of our salvation O let this thunder never sound in our ears but let it strike a terrour into our hearts that we despise not so great Redemption and let it raise in our eyes a showre of penitent tears that our sins should crucifie the Son of God O let this thy voyce be
shew thy power severity and mercy All which should breed in us fear and reverence But like those rebellious Israelites we have not kept thy Covenant nor walkt in thy Law we have forgot thy works and thy wonders then done we have turned back we have tempted thee our God these ten times we have provoked and grieved the holy One of Israel We have not remembred thy hand nor the day when thou deliverest us from the hand of the enemy Of a truth Lord when thy hand hath been heavy upon us by the pestilence famine or sword when thou by any of thy severe judgements didst stay us and bring us to the jaws of death then we sought thee then we returned and enquired early after God then we remembred that God was our Rock and the high God our Redeemer Novertheless we did but flatter thee with our mouths and lyed unto thee with our tongues for thy heavy hand was no sooner removed but our obedience was at an end We have again rempted and provoked the most High God we have not kept thy Testimonies but turned back and dealt unfaithfully with our fathers Thine own people were not more contumacious Israel not more stubborn forgetful wilful than we have been If they dissembled with thee we have done the like if they provoked grieved tempted thee we have done the like Our great deliverances have not wrought upon us thy apparent judgements have not bettered us thy returns of mercy have stiffned our hard hearts Wo be to us for our infidelity and disobedience whither shall we fly to whom shall we go Were it not that we consider that thou art the Father of mercies our hearts would faint Those words upon record are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb to our dying souls Israel was not right with him nor stedfast in his Covenant But he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroy'd them not yea many a time he turn'd his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath For he remembred that they were but flesh a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Remember O Lord the mould of which we are made consider that we are but weak and vain flesh strive not alwayes with us remember that the breath in our nostrils is but a wind that passeth away and cometh not again then turn away thine anger and stir not up all thy wrath Out of thy meer compassion pardon and forgive our iniquity and destroy not the work of thine own hands Raise us by the power of thy Spirit and confirm us in thy truth that there never may be in us hereafter a heart of unbelief Never let us depart from the living God or harden our hearts from thy fear The natural branches are broken off and we who were slips of the wild Olive are graffed in of which we have not so much reason to boast as to tremble lest that thou who hast refused the Tribe of Joseph and cast aside the Tribe of Ephraim for their ingratitude rebellion impiety and disobedience shouldst upon the same ground reject us also We will not boast against the natural branches but come before thee with fear and hope with fear lest what hapned to them may befall us and yet with hope that the same mercy which followed them may yet follow us In the hottest of thy anger thou yet madest choice of the Tribe of Judah and sett'st thy love upon Mount Zion there thou built'st thy Sanctuary on high and sett'st it like the earth which never should move at any time David thou madest choice of to be their Prince and brought'st him to feed Jacob thy people and Israel thine inheritance Let this thy love notwithstanding our wickedness continue unto thy Church let the Tribe of Judah be dear in thy eyes take pleasure and do good to Zion build thy Sanctuary on high and make it conspicuous and beautiful in the eyes of her very enemies never let the gates of hell prevail against it Call thy servant David from his low condition to guide thy people and rule thy inheritance And let the power of thy Spirit be so effectual in him that he may feed thy people according to the integrity of his heart and guide them prudently with all his might So shall we who are the sheep of thy pasture give thee thanks for ever and ever PSAL. LXXIX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm was composed when the Church was oppressed as some conceive by Antiochus certain it is it was in a very distressed condition And it hath These parts Viz. 1. A Complaint for the desolation of Jerusalem from vers 1. to 5. 2. A Deprecation of Gods anger vers 5. 3. A twofold Petition 1. Against the enemies of the Church vers 6 7 10 11 12. 2. For the Church vers 8 9. 4. A Doxology vers 13. 1. The Complaint is very bitter and riseth by many degrees The first part The Complaint bitter and amplified by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance The Antithesis is elegant The heathen those Wolves impure beasts are come into thy Land thy peculiar 2. Thy Holy Temple have they defiled Vers. 1 Prophaned the place consecrated to thy service 3. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps Funditus deleverunt Vers. 2 4. Their cruelty they have exercised upon the Dead The dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat to the fowls of the aire the flesh of thy Saints to the beasts of the Land Vers. 3 5. A second part of their cruelty was that they made no more reckoning to let out the life-blood of a man than of so much water Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem 6. They wanted a grave And there was none to bury them 7. Vers. 4 And to make up the full measure of their calamities their enemies looked on and scoffed at it We are become a reproach to our Neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about us 2. The second part The misery being fully decipher'd in this pathetical Complaint next the Psalmist acknowledgeth the cause of their calamity and expostulates with God The cause Gods anger 1. The cause was Gods anger and jealousie 2. Vers. 5 He expostulates with God about it and deprecates it How long O Lord About which he expostulates with God wilt thou be angry for ever shall thy jealousie burn like fire i.e. Cessairasci 3. The third part And prayes And now he begins his Prayer which is two-fold First Against the enemy 1. Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee and upon the Kingdoms that have not call'd on thy name 1 For vengeance to fall on the enemy for their cruelty Not upon us but on them 2. And he adds the reason and 't is a reason of weight in which he respects not himself but Gods people For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste
outwardly he speaks by his Word To whom God gave a day inwardly by his Spirit 3. This you are bound to hear to obey it 4. And 't is your own fault if you hear it not for you may hear it if you will to that purpose he hath given you a day T day if you will hear his voyce 5. Say you hear it not the cause is the hardness of your hearts and take heed of it Harden not your hearts For then it will be with you But they hardned their hearts as it was with the Israelites 1. As in the day of temptation in the Wilderness at Meribah and Massah 2. When your Fathers the Israelites that then lived tempted me and proved me And tempted God They asked whether God was among them or no They questioned my power whether I was able to give them bread and water and flesh 3. And they found that I was able to do it They saw my works for I brought them water out of the Rock and gave them bread from Heaven and flesh also But these were not the sole tentations and provocations I found from them their stubbornness was of a long continuance and often repeated for it lasted forty years so long as they were journying through the Wilderness Forty years long was I grieved with this Generation Therefore God censured them for a stubborn people which very much aggravates their rebellion and this drew God to pass this Censure and Verdict upon them 1. His Censure was that they were an obstinate stubborn and perverse people A people that did alwayes erre in their hearts that were lead with their own desires and run a head their own way which caused them to erre the way of God they would not go in they knew it not that is they approved they liked it not they thought themselves wiser than God and knew better how to make provision for themselves than God could They have not known my wayes 2. His Verdict upon them Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest 2 And swore they should not enter into his rest i. e. literally into the land of Canaan that I promised them the Oath is extant Exod. 14. As I live saith the Lord your carcasses shall fall in the Wilderness and in the Wilderness they did fall every one except Caleb and Joshua a fearful example against stubbornness and disobedience and to that end produced and amplified by the Prophet and the Apostle Hebr. 4. by it warns the Hebrews that they be not incredulous hard-hearted obstinate lest a worse thing happen to them lest they be excluded the rest of the celestial Canaan of which the earthly was but a Type A Meditation collected out of the ninety fifth Psalm MANY O Lord are the wayes by which thou workest upon the weak and untoward nature of man to win him to his duty Thou remembrest him of thy loving-kindness Thou settest before his eyes fearful examples of thy justice executed even upon a people whom thou madest choice of before all the Nations of the earth that he should be dutiful and not dare to be obstinate and harden his heart at thy voyce 't is thy desire that his service unto thée be a reasonable service and powerful are the reasons used here by the Prophet to perswade unto it bound we are to sing unto the Lord Ver. 1 to give thanks in his presence and shall we not do it bound we are to adore worship bow down and kneel and dare we plead as some do against it Tell me what it is that can move thee will power Ver. 3 He is the Lord. Will Majesty and Excellency He is the great Jehovah Will Soveraignty He is above all Princes of the Aire Ver. 4 and Princes of the Earth Will Dominion the whole terrestial Glove is subject to him the déep places of the earth and the strength of the hills are in his hands Ver. 5 He made the Sea and 't is his He formed the dry land and both are in his hands Ver. 6 Nay his hand went upon thée O man he stamped upon thee his own image and was thy Maker and Creator O my soul why then art thou so dull so heavy so flack so negligent in the performance of this Duty suffer not thy brutish flesh hereafter to over-rule and depress the Spirit come willingly and prostrate thy self humbly and adore reverently sing chearfully and give thanks heartily in the presence of thy God He is the Lord that made the whole World he is the Lord that rules the whole World the strength of Mountains the depths of the Earth and Sea the height of Princes are as the dust of the balance in comparison of his Power and Majesty fall then low before his foot-stool confess thy weakness and meanness and knéel before the Lord thy Maker I said too little for this is a general mercy and common to all creatures for not the least and vilest of these but is the work of his hands and over these thou hast set man to be a Lord in which Dominion a Heathen partakes with a Christian because he partakes of the name of man and hath thy image of reason understanding will memory stamped upon his soul bound then upon these Arguments he is to bow and knéel as well as I and obliged to worship and adore as much as any Christian But thou hast tyed us unto thée in a stronger Bond and obliged us to these duties by a nearer and more precious favour when we were stragling in the Wilderness thou wentest after us and brought'st us home to thy Fold Ver. 7 and hast made us the sheep of thy pasture when we were not a people Thou hast laid thy hand upon us and seized us for thy own people and ever since become unto us a Rock of salvation saved us from the fury and rage of Tyrants saved us from our sins saved us from thy wrath saved us from the wrath to come O come then let us worship and bow down and knéel before the Lord our Saviour and Redéemer And now O my soul Ver. 7 consider what it is that thy Maker and Redéemer requires of thée even that thou hear his voyce and obey his commands he hath given thée a day and but a day to do it Behold now is the day of salvation Ver. 8 put it not then off let it not slip from thée and harden not thy heart against his mercy take héed that there be not in thée an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God and thou be hardned by the deceitfulness of sin Ever have in memory the Israelites and their obstinacy their sin Ver. 8 and what befell them They were a stubborn Generation that set not their heart aright they provoked the most High they tempted the Holy One of Israel Ver. 9 forty years long was he grieved with that untoward people they erred in their hearts Ver. 10 and would
Canopy extended over his Throne sometimes in his Chariot drawn by the swiftest Horses with all his Nobles Ministers and Servants about him and attending his pleasure And in this manner he presents the Majesty of God which were the work of the first and second day for by that order he proceeds in setting forth Gods works viz. by the order of the dayes they are made 1. His Robe is the light the work of the first day which is the purest The second part the most beautiful the most glorious illustrious vivifical Ver. 2 chearful of all Gods Creatures with this he is cloathed as with a garment 1 Of the first day for he is light John 1.1 and be dwells in that inaccessible light that no man hath seen nor can see 1 Tim. 6. 2. His Pavision stretched round about him is the Heavens 2 Of the second day the work of the second day these as it were the Hangings the Curtains of his Chamber of Presence by his fiat and power stretched out Ver. 3 as we now see them He stretched out the Heavens as a Curtain 3. His Palace built in a most miraculous manner the beams thereof laid not as is usual upon some firm and solid body but upon that which is most fluent He layes the beams of his Chambers in the waters In Gen. 1.7 we read of waters above the Firmament which were a part of the second dayes work and of these surely the Prophet speaks What is to be understood by waters above the Firmament is no dispute for this place Vide Zanch. de op Dei lib. 2. c. 1. 4. His Chariot the Clouds Who makes the Clouds his Chariot upon these he as it were rides and in a wonderful nimble manner is in all places he pleaseth no otherwise than the Clouds who are now in this place and instantly removed to another 5. The Horses that draw it the Winds Alipedes as the Poets feigned the Horses that drew the Chariot of the Sun by it his intent is to shew That by the power of God are brought upon the face of Heaven and remov'd at his pleasure Ver. 4 6. His Attendants Angels He maketh his Angels Spirits In which his Majesty appears his Ministers a flaming fire No Creature of greater quickness and agility than a Spirit no Element more active than fire These blessed Spirits he sends forth as he pleaseth to defend his Servants and as a flame of fire to consume and burn up his enemies in which appears his Might and Majesty 2. Next the Prophet descends from the Heaven and out of the Aire 2 Of the third day in which his Power and Wisdom The Earth created and comes to speak of the work of the third day and he begins with the Earth that Element which is best known to us in which he shewes the power and wisdom of God many wayes 1. In the foundation of it upon its center that whether it have the motion of Verticity as some do teach or else is fix'd and moves not at all Ver. 5 strange it is that so great and heavy a body should remain in the midst of the World and not sink ponderibia librata suis 1 In foundation This the Prophet attributes only to the Power and Providence of God Who laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever 2. Another part of his Providence about the Earth was that whereas the water being the lighter Element did at first cover the Earth 2 The raising it above the waters by his Fiat and made it useless God either by taking of some parts out of the upper superficies of the Earth in sundry places and made it more hollow and laying them in other places made it more convex or to speak more plainly by raising some and depressing others made room for the Sea This was a work of Gods Word and the Prophet speaks of this in the three following verses 1. First He shewes in what condition the Earth was in the first Creation it was covered and under water Thou cover'dst it with the deep Ver. 6 as with a Garment the waters stood above the Mountains 2. He shewes how the Earth became uncovered it was by the voyce power and fiat of God Let the waters be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear Gen. 1. This the Psalmist here calls the rebuke of God the voyce of Thunder for God had no sooner spake the word Ver. 7 But it was so At thy rebuke they fled at thy voyce of Thunder they were afraid whether they were such waters as are now or thick mists and vapours after to be condensed into vapours afraid they were to stay any longer and to cover the Earth when God rebuked them spoken as it were in Thunder and bid them remove 3. Ver. 8 And so there became a new World as it were Jussit extendi campos subsidere Valles 3 Confining the Sea The Mountains and the Vallies take the lower place Or else as we read They the mists and vapours go up by the Mountains for quanti montes volvuntur aquarum but they stayed not then nor yet do stay upon the Mountains But they go down by the Vallies unto the place which thou hast appointed for them still failing along to Sea 4. Ver. 9 4 His Providence about the Rivers There thou inclosest them as with doors and bars Job 18. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth yet not violently kept there as some suppose but restrain'd by an ordinary way of Nature it being natural for water to descend to the lower places which by Gods power was not hollowed for them to remain in that they once did return and cover the Earth was by Gods extraordinary Command 3. And next he comes to speak of the Rivers and Springs and shewes Gods wonderful Providence about them 1. Ver. 10 He sendeth the Springs that is the streams of water from the Hills into the Vallies 1 Their Springs which yet at first run among the Hills for who knowes not that the domus fluvii the Spring and Well whence the greatest Rivers stream is seated commonly in the foot of some Mountain 2. 2 Their Use And the end of this infinitely declares Gods Providence it is for the sustenance of Beasts and Fowles perish they must for thirst were it otherwise and therefore he adds 1. They i. e. the Springs and Rivers give drink to every Beast of the Field the wild Asses quench their thirst 2. By them shall the Fowles of the Heaven have their habitation which sing among the Branches 4. But the Springs and Rivers cannot water all parts of the Earth were it not then for another part of his Care and Providence 3 The Rain and Dewes the Hills and higher places would be altogether barren and unfruitful his Wisdom therefore
satisfied from thy open hand without which the Husbandmans industry and the fatness of the ground is to little purpose Farther Life and Death is in thy Power 1. 1 Death Death and the Fore-runner of it Trouble 1. Thou hidest thy Face seemest to be displeased and withdrawes thy help and assistance and they are troubled 2. Thou takest away their breath they dye and return to their Dust 2. 2 And life Life also 1. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit a vital Spirit by restoring new Individuals to every species for so they are created that is formed 2. And by this Thou renewedst the face of the Earth which if it were not done The third part He votes all praise to God the whole World would fail in one Age. Now after this long Catalogue of the Creatures and Gods Power Wisdom and Goodness made most manifest in the Creation Governance and Sustentation of them he descends to what he began with and votes all praise to God for so most read ver 32. 1. Let the Glory of the Lord his Glory for his Wisdom Goodness Power endure for ever And moves man to an honest use of the Creature hallowed be his Name 2. The Lord shall rejoyce in his Works Let man be so careful to use them well that by the abuse he put not God to grief and cause him to repent that he made them 3. Which if it happen it would be remembred that he is a God and power able to punish the ungrateful person how great soever For if he looketh on the Earth with a threatning brow it trembleth that Earth whose foundation he said should not be removed ver 5. He toucheth the Hills and they do smoke it was so as Sinai Exod. 19. 2. This praise he would give Then he makes an open profession of his own practice 1. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will praise my God while I have any being 2. And this he would do with delight which is indeed the fat of the Sacrifice My Meditation of him shall be sweet unto me I will be glad in the Lord. 3. The fourth part He imprecates against sinners And he concludes with an Imprecation against unthankful and negligent persons who regard not the Works of God and will not see his Glory Power Wisdom Goodness in his Creating Governing and Sustaining this Fabrique of this Universe and therefore very little praise him against these he prayes Ver. 35 That they may be confounded or converted Let the sinners be consumed out of the Earth and let the wicked be no more i. e. Let them so fail from the Earth that either they be converted and cease to be sinners or else if they will continue obstinate and perverse let them perish out of the Earth But O my Soul be not thou like to them Bless the Lord Hallelujah The Prayer and Meditation out of the one hundred and fourth Psalm O Most Omnipotent Wise Glorious and most merciful God Ver. 1 how should I that am but dust and ashes dare to appear in thy presence Ver. 2 Thou art cloathed with Honour and Majesty and I am a vile worm Thou art vested with light as with a Robe and I am darkness Thou hast stretched out the Heavens over thee like a Curtain the Clouds are thy Chariot the swift winds at thy Command and thy Angels thy Ministers ready to take revenge in a flame of fire upon disobedient sinners if thou give the word How can I that am conscious to my self of so repeated and continuâ—â—â— sobedience presume to be a Petitioner unto thée or offer up any reque◠〈◊〉 There is not a Creature that I cast my eye on but upbraids me for negligence and inconsideration since thy Power thy Glory thy Wisdom thy Goodness is illustrious in all these and yet I have passed these by as if they were not worthy of my saddest thoughts Their Natures I have inquired into but have not looked up to thée the Lord of Nature O my Soul then rouze up this deadness and dulness of spirit ascend from the Contemplation of the Creature to the Meditation of the Creator and remember what the whole Vniverse preacheth unto thée That he must be a God of Power that hath so made a God of Wisdom that hath so disposed a God of Mercy and Goodness that to this day governs and sustains every Creature to thy use and service Canst thou tread upon the Earth and not admire Ver. 5 It would sink under thée had he not laid the foundations of it so strangely and strongly that it should not be removed Canst thou look down upon the Vallies through which there glide many silver streams and less than wonder that they should descend from Rocks of stone and Hills of flint Ever since That at the rebuke of God the waters fled and hasted away and left the Earth uncover'd Had it not béen for this great Providence of the Almighty Thou and thy Cattle had dyed for thirst and perished for want of water But his goodness stayed not here for for a necessary supply he hath placed his Bottles in the Clouds and thence descends in silver showers and watereth the highest Hills and barren'st Mountains That the whole Earth might be satisfied with the fruit of his Works O ungrateful man ascribe not too much to thy wit industry and labour know that he is the Father of the rain and did not he from above water what thou plantest and give an increase to what thou sowest thy early rising would be but lost labour and all thy foresight bread only of carefulness Thoâ— waterest and manurest thy Fields and Meadows but it is the Lord above that causeth the grass to grow for thy Cattle Thou delvest diggest wéedest thy Gardens but it is the Lord of Heaven that gives life to thy Plants and Herbs which he commands to shoot for thy service whether for meat or medicine Man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God he brings food out of the Earth an Herb a Plant a Root a Fruit it may be by that power and virtue which thou hast established by the perpetual Law of Nature but food it will not be without thy blessing Continue to us then Ver. 15 merciful God these outward things but yet so that thou give thy blessing with them It is thy Wine that must make glad the heaâ—t of man Ver. 16 and thy Oyle that makes his face to shine and thy Bread that strengthens mans heart the sap in our Fruit-trées is from thée and the strength of the Cedars from thy Plantation Ver. 27 upon thée then will we wait upon thy Providence will we depend Give us O Lord our meat and all other necessaries Ver. 28 in due season and when thou shalt give it us we will gather it for we are assured when thou openest thy hand we shall be filled with good No Creature will be good
have the Lord for their God This is an acute sense of this whole clause But if I mistake not David in earnest intends it as a blessing when men enjoy even Temporal blessings so it be with God For Godliness hath the promises of this life as well as that which is to come And it may not be conceiv'd that God created so many excellent things in this world only for fools and disobedient persons Temporal blessings the rewards of piety Besides many of his best Servants have enjoyed the particulars here mentioned let no man think then but they may be rewards of piety David therefore prayes 1. Ver. 12 Vt That our sons may be as plants grown in their youth Well planted well rooted green and flourishing Which is the first happiness of any family For sons are the pillars of any house They first desired and for them other things 2. Vt That our daughters may be as Corner-stones Antarij lapides Stones that joyn and knit the buildings Polished after the similitude of a Palace i. e. very beautiful specious hansome for upon such stones there is commonly most Art shew'd 3. Ver. 13 Ut That our garners may be full affording all manner of store Semper domus tota boni assidui Domini lccuples abundat haedo lacte caseo gallina c. Referta est cella vinaria olearea mellarea c. It hath in it newand old 4. Ver. 14 Ut That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets Our flocks increase 5. Ut That our Oxen may be strong to labour Healthy not sickly 6. Vt That there be no breaking nor going out No plundering among us nor inroads made upon us as Job 1. But that we live in peace and enjoy our own 7. Vt That there be no complaining in our streets No screetches of women tumults of people cryes and clamours in our Cities as is usual in insurrections and irruptions of enemies This is a part of Davids prayer and it hath coherence with the tenth verse where he thanks God for delivering him from the sword This he desires God to continue that under his reign his people might be happy and enjoy the fruits of peace viz. that their sons might grow up as plants in their youth c. Which if it happen so they take in the last clause of the Psalm They make happy he pronounceth them a Happy people For he concludes all with this Epiphonema 1. Happy is that people that are in such a case Ver. 15 Such as he formerly named 2. Yea Happy is that people whose God is the Lord. With God That hath for his God the True God that is perswaded he is loved by him adopted to be his son and that he takes care of him For if they be happy who possess those outward blessings They must needs be much more happy who possess the fountain of those blessings and all other The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and forty fourth Psalm O Lord God of hoasts Ver. 1 we acknowledge that all military skill and power 〈◊〉 from thée for thou teachest our hands to War and our fingers to fight thou art our strength in the battel our fortress to fly to our tower to defend us the fountain and original of all our good our deliverer from danger and captivity our shield to protect us and kéep off all blows therefore we have and will ever hereafter relie and trust on thée The success which we have had at this time and the victory over our enemies is from thée and for it we bless and praise thy Holy Name Thou hast put into the hearts of the whole Army to be subdued and obedient to the conduct of their Leaders and valiantly to oppose themselves to the fury of the enemy to thée therefore we attribute the honour of this conquest and not to our own arm To thée this ready obedience and courage in this people and not to our own wisdom or directions Amazed Lord and astonished I am when I consider this mercy for what is man that man should obey him Or what is man in comparison of thy glory that thou shouldst set him over others to be obeyed Ver. 3 What is any son of man that thou takest notice of him or that thou shouldst make account of him Maâ—â—s like to vanity capable indéed of great things but till thou fill him like an empty vessel only full of thin aire vain studies he follows empty things he desires He is of a short life and of no continuance for his Dayes are as a shadow which alwayes shifts the place till night coming on it passeth away And wilt thou open thine eyes and look upon such an one and wilt thou take him from the shéepcoâ—e from following the shéep to be a Ruler over thy people thy people Israel O Lord establish this house and confirm this throne for ever But thou seest O Lord how thine own work is opposed Ver. 5 rebellious men there are that rise up against it and furious men who seek to destroy it Bow the heavens O Lord and come down and declare thy power from above to their confusion Send forth thy hand and rid and deliver me out of these great waters from these troubles and free me from the hand of them who are strangers to thy worship and true piety whose counsels are mischievous and their works profane for their mouth speaks vanity and their right-hand is a right-hand of falshood Rid me O Lord and deliver me from the violence and conspiracies of these men so will I sing a new song unto thee O God upon a Psaltery and instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee Experience hath taught me by my wonderful escape from an imminent death that it is thou that givest salvation unto Kings and hast delivered David thy servant from the hurtful and unjust sword Good God as thou hast hitherto protected and sustained me so restore me again to my people and let my government over them be prosperous successeful and peaceable Let the sons of my subjects be as young plants well rooted gréen and flourishing full of strength sap and youth and let their daughters be as corner-stones well composed and well beautified fair as the polished works of a Palace Lord blesse their substance and make them to abound in riches and plenty of all good things let their garners and storehouses be full afording all manner of store let their sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets Let their Oxen be strong and healthy to labour Suffer not any inrode from enemies abroad to be made upon them nor sequestrations at home to molest them let there be no tumults or complaints lamentation or mourning heard in the stréets of our Cities Give them O Lord these outward symbols of happiness and the rewards of godliness and obedience Ver. 15 For happy are the people that are in such a case But
Gods Providence 1 From his Providence of which he gives divers instances 1. Ver. 8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds and prepareth rain for the earth When he brings clouds over the face of heaven The instances of it four it is not in his purpose to obscure or darken the beauty of it but to water and moisten the earth without which it will not be fruitful Psal 104.13 14. Jer. 14.22 2. Who makes grass to grow on the Mountains in the most barren places to which the rain will not suffice except God co-operate with it 3. He giveth to the Beast his food He giveth it them they gather it 4. Ver. 9 And to the young Ravens which cry Naturalists tell us That the Raven seeds not his Chickens till they be plumed not owning them till they be like them all which time God sustains them But others that no Bird so soon suffers his young to prey for themselves as the Raven being then deserted by the Dam croâ—itant invocant and God hears and sends them meat Job 38.41 Christ useth this Argument that we rely on Gods Providence Mat. 6. Luke 12. Yea Object But how shall we be deliver'd we see no means but here the infirm and distrustful Jew may argue Alas we see no means for our deliverance we have no Strength no Ammunition nor Horse nor Armour for War no nor yet hearts to fight How shall we be delivered The Prophet prevents and answers this objection viz. That God who is to gather them needs no help at all he can do it without means as well as means 1. Ver. 10 He delights not in the strength of an horse which is a warlike creature Resp. God can do it without means and will 2. He takes not pleasure in the legs i. e. nimbleness agility valour of a man that is in any military preparation or power so far forth as if they were necessary means and he could not do his work without them these he will have in ordinary use but not trusted to he delights not in that But he placeth his delight in his servants and those some way or other he will deliver 1. The Lord takes pleasure in those that fear him not in the Majesty rich noble or superficial Pharisee but in those that fear him and trembles at his words 2. And in those that hope in his mercy That put their confidence that out of mercy love goodnesse he will deliver them 3. He again repeats this proposition and calls to the Church to perform it The third part of the second Section where in the Greek and Vulgar begins a new Psalm Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Zion He again exhorts to praise God Though others be negligent to praise God yet be not thou Not Jerusalem not Zion And then recites four arguments for which he would have Zion sing praises Ver. 12 1. Security and defence 2. Benediction 3. Peace 4. Jerusalem especially Sustenance or provision 1. Jerusalem is a City secure being defended by God 1 For her Security For he hath strengthened the barrs of thy gates Gates and barrs do well to a City Ver. 13 but then alone the City is secure when God makes them strong The true ammunition of a City is Gods defence Arms Lawes wealth c. are the barrs 2. Jerusalem is a happy City For he hath blessed thy children within hee 2 Benediction thy Kings Princes Magistrates c. with Wisdom Religion Piety c. 3. Jerusalem is a peaceable City He maketh peace in thy borders 3 Peace The very name intimates so much For Jerusalem interpreted is Visio pacis 4. Jerusalem is a City provided by God with necessary food and provision Ver. 14 For He filleth thee with the finest of the wheat 4 Abundance Now that it is God that doth all this for Jerusalem the Prophet makes good by other things that he doth for the whole world The Prophet proves this by his general providence for which he needs not any instruments and under-officers to do it by but only his word and his command 'T is but for him to say the word and what he will is done He sends forth his command upon earth and his word runs very swiftly it pierceth all things Ver. 15 and presently execution follows upon it Heb. 1.3 Wisd 7.22 24. 8.1 For instance 1. He giveth snow like wooll Ver. 16 Sometimes great flakes of it like locks of wooll or else to cover the earth as a winter-garment a man He brings frost snow ice and keep it warm from the nipping of the cold winds as is evident in Northern Countries 2. He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes That thickens the aire as if ashes were cast into it For I have observed that with a hoar-frost commonly there is a mist which resolves into rain within twenty four hours 3. He casteth forth his ice like morsels That is fragments of ice 4. Who can stand before his cold That is able to endure it had not he provided clothes furrs fire against the violence and rigor of it Described he hath the vehemency of the cold in the snow frost ice Annd dissolves and melts it next he shews with what facility and celerity he dissolves and removes it Only by his Word 1. He sends out his word and melts them 2. He causeth his wind to blow His South wind and the waters flow Ice and Snow are resolv'd into water But note here that the Prophet calls it His ice His cold His word His wind that we may know that the constipation and resolution is from him and therefore we depend upon his providence for out food and raiment c. 4. This is an act of Gods providence in common to all Nations 2 The special Act of his providence to his people and by it he teacheth all Nations to acknowledge their Creator But there is a peculiar Act of his providence extended to his people in which other Nations did not nor do not yet communicate with them viz. The knowledge of his word and manifestation of his Will and this is a new argument by which he perswades them to praise God The knowledge of his word and will What Israel might that now the Christian Church may say and that with advantage 1. He shews his word unto Jacob his statutes and judgments unto Israel To them he spake by Moses and the Prophets To us by his own Son his Apostles and their successors 2. He hath not dealt so with any Nation with none at that time And now to none who belong not to the spiritual Jerusalem which is the Church 3. For all these benefits praise the Lord. And as for his judgments The Evangelical Preceps and Rules of life and salvation they have not known them Now for all these benefits and for all these reasons Hallelujah Praise ye the Lord. The Hymn or Prayer Collected out
Nor judgements nor mercies did awe them They still were stubborn and unthankful And made the Tribes of Israel to dwell in their Tents 8. But nor his mercies nor his judgements could keep in obedience this stiff-necked gain-saying people Ungrateful they were for all this After they were brought into the Land and setled in their inheritance the same they were which they were before For 1. Yet they tempted and provoked God 2. They were disobedient For they kept not his Testimonies 3. They turned back and dealt unfaithfully as their fore-fathers They brake the Covenant betwixt God and them sinning by the example of their fore-fathers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. They were inconstant in their resolutions starting aside like a deceitful bow that slips the nock when the Archer intends to shoot with it 5. And to make up the measure of their impiety at last they became impudent Idolators For they provoked him to anger with their high places and moved him to jealousie with their graven Images 9. Gods wrath for this grows more hot against his people Upon this as before the wrath of God overtakes them but now in a hotter manner than before Idolatry is one of the crying sins which God hears That which a man hears not troubles him not now this sin especially God hears and it troubled him 1. The Ark taken When God heard this he was wroth 2. And greatly abhorred Israel 2. He forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh and the Tent he placed among them 1 Sam. 4. 3. And he delivered his strentgh i.e. the Ark into captivity and his glory into the enemies hand 4. He gave his people up also to the sword and was wroth with his inheritance 5. The Priests Hophni and Phinehas were slain with the sword and their widows made no lamentation Being either taken and led away captive or dead as Phinehas wife 6. The sire consumed i.e. the wrath of God their young men and their maidens were not given to marriage for defect of young men and therefore not praised in Epithalamiis Thus the wrath of God overtook the Israelites But next he shews The Philistines that took it escaped not that the enemies even the Philistines that took the Ark and set it in the house of Dagon escaped not his hand This ignominy redounded to himself and he revenged it 1. Then at the taking of the Ark the Lord who seem'd to sleep before awaked as one out of sleep and like a mighty man that shouâ—s by reason of wine for vina addunt animos 2. And he smote his enemies i. e. the Philistines in the hinder parts i. e. with Emerauds or else made them fly and fall with their backs to their enemies which is dishonourable for a Souldier 3. Yea and he put them to a perpetual reproach vide 1 Sam. 5 6. Chapters 3. But how now did he deal with Israel The third part The mercy of God in bringing back the Ark and placing it Not as he had done before neiher For after the Philistines had suffered sharply for their impiety he caused them honourably to send the Ark home again after seven months 1 Sam. 6. A sign this was that his fierce anger was abated yet not so far but that some Monument should remain of his wrath against their Idolatry And therefore he would not suffer the Ark to be brought to Silo which was situate in the Tribe of Ephraim So saith the Psalmist 1. Moreover he refused the Tabernacle of Joseph 1 Not in Silo. and chose not the Tribe of Ephraim lest it should be abused either to Idolatry or at least to base gain as it was by Elies sons 2. But he chose the Tribe of Judah the hill of Zion which he loved 2 But in Iudah For it was carried to Betshemes a City of Judâ—h design'd for the sons of Aaron From thence to Kiriath-jearim thence to Gibea being translated to the house of Aminadah And after it had rested a while in the house of Obed-Edom it was brought by David to Jerusalem and setled in the hill of Zion which caused the Prophet to say 3 And at last in Zion The hill of Zion which he loved And he doth amplifie this Narration of Gods love to the Ark This mercy he amplifies and consequently the Church of which the Ark was but a type 1. From the splendour of the situation of Mount Zion 1 From the place And he built his Sanctuary like high places Strong and beautiful and eminent also as are Citradels higher than ordinary houses The Mountain Zion shall be raised above the tops of the hills Isa 2. 2. From the stability and fix'd position of it For there is no moving 2 From the stability of Zion or removing the Church It is like the earth which he hath established for ever 3. In choice of a King to be a Nursing Father to his Church He chose David also his servant He chose freely 3 In choice of David to be their King and not for any merit and worth that was in him for he was of a low degree a poor shepherd He took him from the sheep-folds when he was following the yews great with young 4. The end To feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance Which is the true institution and duty of a King 4 To feed them and govern them The Elogy given to David with which he concludes David did his duty So 1. He fed them according to the integrity of his heart 1. He fed them not flea and devour them 2. In integrity 5 And David did his duty Sincerely he perform'd his duty to God and man No dissembler 2. And guided them by the Skilfulnesse of his Hands In him there was Prudence and all the actions of his hands were guided by it The Prayer collected out of the seventy eighth Psalm WOnderful O Lord are thy wayes infinite thy mercies admirable thy patience and long-suffering toward the children of men Vers. 5 that we might know thée thou hast established a Testimony in Jacob and appointed a Law in Israel that we might not forget our duty thou hast left thy Commandments upon Record that we should not be a stubborn and rebellious generation a generation that set not their hearts aright and start from our duties as a broken bow thou hast acquainted us with thy procéedings with thine own people in Egypt in the Wilderness and in that Land which thou hast divided to them for an inheritance We have heard with our ears O God and our fathers have told us what thou hast done in the time of old and we will not conceal thy works from the generation to come Thy wonders in Egypt were illustrious in the red Sea wonderful in the Wilderness prodigious in Canaan full of power The plagues of Egypt thy path in the waters the cloud by day the pillar by night the Manna the Quails the water out of the Rock