and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord Behold to obey is better then sacrifice and to hearken then the fat of Rams For disobedience is as the sinne of witchcraft and stubbornesse is as wickednesse and Idolatary 1 Sam. 15.22,23 But in the mysticall sense Christ saith absolutely that God had no further will to them and tooke pleasure in them no longer but his will and pleasure was they should be antiquated and abrogated Of this mysticall sense this is a good argument that Christ is here brought in to mention not only sacrifices of thanksgiving which only were pertinent to Davids purpose but also expiatory offerings and sacrifices for sinne whereof if wee respect Davids intent there should here be made no mention For Davids intent was a testification of his thankfulnesse unto God and not an expiation of his sins at that time But because the Holy Ghost would wrap up a mysticke and deep sense in these words therefore the Author doth here specifie and reckon up all kindes of sacrifices and offerings whatsoever which are reduced to three sorts 1. By sacrifice and offering in the fifth verse he seems to understand all offerings eucharistical or of thanksgiving whereof a part went to God as the bloud and the fat part was a Fee to the Priest and the rest returned to him that offered it 2. By burnt offerings in this verse are understood those which were wholly burnt and went wholly to God which are sometime called sacrifices of praise because they were offered wholly in honour of God as he was the Lord Almighty and not by way of speciall thanksgiving for any particular benefit then received from God which was the proper consideration for a sacrifice of thanksgiving 3. By sacrifices for sinne are meant all expiations or offerings to put away the guilt and punishment of ignorances and infirmities for which kinde of sins only those sacrifices were allowed and in the Hebrew are oftentimes called simply sins 7. Then said I Loe I come This word of comming doth shew a mysticall sense For how did David come when hee spake this word in the literall sense Therefore in the literall sense it signifies only Loe I am at hand or I am ready I have prepared my self to do thy will But in the mysticall and proper sense it signifies the appearance of Christ in that future world to execute the will of God In the volume of the booke it is written of me In these words David shews the cause why he is ready to doe the will of God or if ye please the manner and way of his obeying God q. d. I am ready to doe as it is written of me in the volume of the booke or else for so it is written of me that I should doe thy will Therefore in these words we must understand either some particle of likenesse as according or some casuall particle for because or seeing for such particles are oftentimes concealed or silenced But here againe we meet with another difference betweene the Greek translation and the Hebrew text In the Hebrew it is in the volume of the booke which hath a plaine and an open sense for by the booke he eminently understands the booke of the Law which is called a volume because unciently the Law was wont to bee written in skinnes of parchment or velum one glued to another and so rolled up and unrolled in the forme of a Court-role which in Latine is properly called Volumen from the rolling of it and hence bookes are called Volumes A famous Expositor among the Romanists preferres the Greeke reading in this place before the Hebrew and writes that it is a vaine repetition to say in the volume of the booke for that is all one as to say in the booke of the booke This is a vame cavill for all volumes or rolles are not bookes but there are volumes and rolles of many other things besides So that the word booke is fitly added to volume to specifie the differences of volumes We meet with a like phrase Jer. 36.2 But why doth the Greeke translation read it in a Chapter of the Booke The reason may be because the Hebrew word Megillah doth not only signifie a whole booke consisting of many skinnes but also any one single skinne which may containe only some Chapter of the Booke And therefore the Greek Translator conceived that he should not go from the sense of the words if for the whole volume he should put only some part or certain Chapter of it especially because by this means the redundancie in words would seem the lesse or none at all yet some there would seeme to be if he had said the volume and that had been taken to signifie the whole booke Wherefore these words must bee taken as if he had said In a Chapter of the booke namely of the Law it is written of me By which meanes not onely all shew of redundancy is taken away but also a more speciall place is designed where the thing is written that is here spoken Now let us a little enquire what Chapter this might bee Certainly other Chapter it can be none but that wherein the very thing is handled which David said he came to doe i. that David should doe the will of God For wee have said that in these words is shewed the cause why David said hee came to doe Gods will or the manner how hee should doe it But where is it said that David must doe the will of God Namely there where the Kings of Gods people are commanded to doe so which is set downe in the last parcell of the 17. Chapter of Deuteronomy from the 13. verse to the end For David in a peculiar way was ordained of God himselfe to bee the first King over Gods people and the Kingdome was to remaine in his posterity for ever And therefore hee saith that there it is written of him not that it is there written of him by name as David but written of him as a King And here also the Holy Ghost seems to have left us some footstep of a mysticall sense For it might be said of Christ properly that there it is written of him by name for the Holy Ghost doth every where aim chiefly at Christ Hence it appears that they are in an errour who by a Chapter in the Booke understand the beginning of Genesis because as they thinke there it is written of Christ that he created heaven and earth But is there also any thing written of David or of Christ there that hee should doe the will of God But in the 17. Chapter of Deuteronomy before cited among other things which God willed to be observed by the future King of his people this is also delivered ver 18. And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his Kingdome that he shall write him a copy of this Law in a booke out of that which is before the Priests his Levites And it shall be with
him and he shall read therein all the dayes of his life that he may learn to feare the Lord his God to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to doe them That his heart be not lified up above his brethren and that he turne not aside from the Commandement to the right hand or to the left All Gods Laws are his will for they are that will of God which God would have done hee therefore that doth Gods Laws he doth his will And seeing all the future Kings of his people were to doe Gods will as here it was writen of them therefore David also when he was become King was to doe the will of God as in this Chapter of Gods Booke it was written of him And therefore David againe was to write himselfe a copy of the Law in a booke he must read therein all the dayes of his life hee must keep all the words of it and not lift his heart above his brethren for in doing these things he did the will of God as it was written of him in a Chapter of the Law But some man may hereupon demand how shall this belong to Christ must he write out a booke of the Law of Moses and perpetually read in it and never depart from it The Answer is easie That for the mysticall sense we must not tye our selves to every single word but only to the breviat and sum of the matter that which is spoken properly of the type must be so applied to the antitype as the nature of the antitype requires The sum of the matter in this place is That the King of Gods people must be obedient to Gods will particularly to that will of God which God would have him to observe and consequently to that Law of God which God would have stand in force As long as the Law of Moses was in force so long the Kings over Gods people must observe that Law But that Law being by God abrogated no man is bound to observe it much lesse is the King of Gods people bound to it And a new Law being surrogated Gods people and their King must observe that new Law Wherefore the Law written in the Chapter of that booke must be so taken or understood of Christ as the nature of the thing will beare it and as the Majesty and divinity of Christ requires Many things are said of the shadow which the perfection of the body doth reject But we must further observe that the sence of the words in this Psalme may yet be further extended seeing in the Hebrew text to the sence whereof the Author might have more regard then to the Greek Translation it is simply said In the volume of the booke i. of the Law and although according to the Greek Translation we understand that Chapter of the Law which we cited in Deuteronomy yet that very Chapter hath reference to the whole Law of God or it referres the King to all the words and precepts of the Law which the King of Gods people was to exccute Wherefore in a mysticall sence we may understand all those things wherein Christ was to performe the will of God and particularly those that belong to his expiatory Sacrifice which here is the thing in hand Whence it is in a manner yet left doubtfull whether Christ said these words when hee came into this world or the world to come For if by this will of God wee understand nothing else but the sacrifice of Christ strictly and properly taken excluding his death from it then we must affirme that Christ said these things when he came into that future world But if we extend the sacrifice or offering of Christ more largely and include his death the necessary antecedent unto it as in this place it seemes wee must doe and as wee have before intimated that wee may not set aside the excellent and proper act of Christ himselfe pertaining to his offering and sacrifice most acceptable to God seeing he saith that he came to doe the will of God and that we know that Christ himselfe had also his part herein then the thing it selfe declares that these words must be attributed to Christ when he came into this world And it is no obstacle to this that both according to the Greek Translation and according to the literall sence of the Hebrew words we respect that place wherein the office of the King is described whence Christ as now made a King seemes to speake these things as David also did For besides that the Hebrew words of the Psalme are more large as wee have said and therefore especially in the literall sence may justly be more largely extended this also must be marked That Christ although he were not yet a King actually yet because he was for certaine to be one and ordained to a Kingdome by Gods immutable Decree hee might very well even then referre to himselfe the precept wherein the King of Gods people is commanded to do Gods will 8. Above when he said From the words of Christ the Author further inferres that the legall sacrifices and offerings were abrogated and in their place the sacrifice and offering of Christ was instituted And he shews this to be manifest from the very manner of Christs words and from the cleere opposition of the things therein specified Above i. in the first place when he spake of sacrifices and offerings to be rejected before he spake of his comming to doe the will of God Sacrifice and offering and burnt-offerings and offering for sin thou wouldst not neither hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the Law The words which are offered by the Law must be read as included in a parenthesis whereby the Author specifies that the legall sacrifices and offerings are abrogated because the sacrifices and offerings which Christ saith here that God would not have neither had any pleasure in them and therefore must be taken away are no other but the legal sacrifices which were instituted by the Law of Moses and were offered according to that Law 9. Then said he Christ after he had spoken the former words for the abrogation of the Legall sacrifices then hee added these that follow For these are the words of the Author relating the words of Christ Loe I come to doe thy will O God Because Gods will was to abrogate the Legall sacrifices therefore Christ comes to do that will and pleasure of God which God should surrogate in stead of the Legall sacrifices He taketh away the first that he may establish the second q.d. What is this else but to abrogate the former that he may establish the latter But that former thing was the Legall sacrifices which Christ abrogates the latter is the will of God which he establisheth 10. By the which will we are sanctified Here he shews what benefit we gaine by this will of God performed by Christ and establisheth in the place of the Legall sacrifices For it might be demanded
narrowly and therein also the same things are expressed sometime more amply and sometime more briefly Whereof we must take notice for the better understanding and reconciling of severall places So the word Faith is sometime taken so narrowly that salvation and justification is ascribed to it alone and sometime again more largely to comprise other vertues in it sometime more sometime fewer according as the sense of the word is extended or restrained I will put my lawes into their minde and write them in their hearts Here he begins to describe the new Covenant q.d. In the old Covenant I wrote some of my Lawes in tables of stone and Moses wrote other some in a booke and they were put in the Arke to be kept there But my new Covenant shall not be according to that way but by it I will write my Laws in their hearts and put them in their mindes to be kept there They shall not be arbitrary and positive Lawes flowing from my sole will and pleasure whereof their hearts can conceive no reason and whereof their memories may easily faile such as were most Lawes in my former Covenant but they shall be only naturall Lawes grounded only upon naturall honesty and upon the dictates of right reason that their mindes may easily conceive them and their memories retaine them And their owne consciences shall acknowledge them to be convenient just right and good And besides they shall not have a bare understanding of my Lawes to know them but an hearty affection to doe them Now because Gods Covenant is described in these words therefore hence it appeares that this writing of Gods Laws in mens minds and hearts dependes and proceeds from the nature of the Covenant And therefore these words must bee taken within their force and efficacie and not necessarily extended to the very effect of the writing which is alway left in the free power of man For this is intimated unto us by the following words of God at the 12. verse wherein God opens unto us the cause manner or meanes of this which containeth wonderfull grace and mercy of God offered to his people for by this means he saith it would come to passe that they would serve him and keep his Laws with so great fervency But this way Gods Laws are written upon none but willing hearts The sense therefore is I will make such a Covenant that shall have sufficient force and power to containe my people in their duties For to have Gods Laws written in our mindes and hearts is nothing else but to be so knowing so mindfull and so affected with them that we never decline from them but alwayes observe them with all our endeavour And I will be to them a God This follows from the former as the former clause opposite to this and I regarded them not followed from the people 's not continuing in his Covenant which in like manner is opposed to the writing of Gods Laws in mens hearts For God to be a God unto us is to be our sovereigne Protector to defend us from all evill and to be our sovereigne Benefactor to accumulate us with all his blessings And they shall be to me a people Either this is really the same with the former and an amplification of it consisting of a mutuall relation such as we had before in these words I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son chap. 1.5 Or else it is as much as if the Author had said And they shall deale by me as my people ought to doe both of us shall performe our parts respectively I by protecting and benefiting them they by worshipping and serving me 11. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying Know the Lord They shall not need to admonish and exhort one another first to know my lawes and decrees and after upon knowledge thereof to observe them but all of them shall bee carried with such alacrity of minde to know and obey mee that none shall need any remembrancer to put him in minde of it Neighbour and brother are taken here for the same for in the Law these three names are coincident neighbour brother and friend See Lev. 19.18 For all shall know me from the least to the greatest Here againe God speaks of the efficacie of this Covenant and not of the effect it selfe for it shall be able to produce an universall knowledge of God though in some single persons it produce it not actually All of al sorts from the least age to the greatest yong old from the least state to the greatest poor and rich and from the least degree to the greatest low and high 12. For I will be mercifull to their unrighteousnesse and their sinnes and their iniquities will I remember no more Here God opens unto us the cause of his ardent affection towards us and withall unfolds the nature of this Covenant namely that therein he will be mercifull to all the sinnes of his people to their unrighteousnesses their transgressions and iniquities and will never remember them more This so great a benefit must needs oblige all mens mindes and in a manner constraine them to consecrate themselves wholly unto God and constantly to persist in the daily observation of his Lawes Which effect seeing every remission of sinne cannot produce therefore we must here understand such a one as hath the power to doe it namely a plenary and perfect remission whereby such as are truly and seriously penitent and afterward live holily are released from the guilt or bond of all their former sinnes not only in respect of temporall punishment and death but also of eternall death and withall eternall life is ordained for them For this remission of sinnes adding the condition of repentance hath this vertue and power in it to withdraw men from sinne and for the future to devote themselves to God The words unrighteousnesse sins and iniquities doe in like manner teach us that this remission is plenary and perfect extended to all manner of sinnes even the most heynous Hence we see that this plenary remission of sinnes is a promise proper to the new Covenant For in these words is evidently proved what he said before concerning the new Covenant that it was established upon better promises then the old This is the mysticall sense of those words of the Prophet the literall sense was that God would deliver the people of the Jewes from the captivity of Babylon and would so blot out their former wickednesse and foule sinnes that hee would acquit them from all further temporall punishments for them for which so great benefit the people must needs bee marveilously bound to God and induced to serve him constantly for ever after But this sense is far too slender to answer fully and solidly unto words of so high a nature For at that time to speake properly God neither made any new Covenant different from the former neither was
or censer whereon he was first to burne incense must needs bee without the oracle or else he could not first come at it And the arke of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold The Arke was a strong chest or coffer the matter forme and measures whereof see Exod. 25.10 This was called the Arke of the Covenant for the use of it which was to inclose the tables wherein the first Covenant was written Wherein was the golden pot that had Manna Wherein must be referred to the Arke as appears by the beginning of the next verse for in this verse the Author would shew what was in the Arke and in the next what was over it This pot of Manna was gathered before the building of the Tabernacle and commanded to be laid up before the Testimony there to be kept when the Tabernacle should be built See Ex. 16.33.34 And Aarons rod that budded Concerning Aarons rod how it budded and upon what occasion and for what purpose it did so See Num. 17. And the tables of the Covenant There were severall parcels of the old Covenant for there were the tables of the Covenant which the Lord wrote with his owne finger in stone containing the Decalog and there was the booke of the Covenant which Moses wrote and read in the audience of the people and sprinkled it with bloud when the Covenant was confirmed with a solemne sacrifice See Exod. 24.4 and afterward in this Chapter vers 19. Now wee finde none but the tables of the Covenant to bee laid up in the Arke yet not those tables that were first written for they were broken upon the indignation which Moses had at the worshipping of the golden Calfe but the tables written afterward were there reserved But how could the pot of Manna and Aarons rod bee in the Arke when wee read expresly that nothing was in the Arke save the two tables of stone 1 King 8.9 and 2 Chron. 5.10 The Answer is Either wee must say that in successe of time the pot of Manna and Aarons rod came to bee put into the Arke which before were not so Or wee must say that the particle In here must be a little extended in sense to include those things that were adjacent to the Arke being neare or about it So John is said to baptise in Bethabara because he baptised neare or about it John 1.28 So Joshua is said to be in Jericho when he was by or neare it Josh 5.13 And in this sense the Author first expresseth those things which were by or neare the Arke as the pot of Manna and Aarons tod then the things in the Arke as the tables of the Covenant And lastly in the following verse the things over the Arke as the Cherubims And this might happily bee the cause why under the particle in hee would first comprise the things by the. Arke before those in it that he might make use of this gradation 5. And over it the Cherubims of glory shadowing the Mercy-seate The Cherubims were two Images of solid gold fashioned like winged men whose wings did over shadow the Mercy-seate being one at the one end of it and the other at the other having their faces looking one towards another Of them see Exod. 25.17 And they were called the Cherubims of glory by an Hebraisme for glorious Cherubims because of their lustre and brightnesse which in Scripture is often called glory The Mercy-seate had two uses one to bee a Cover for the Arke to shut up the Tables of the Covenant the other to represent the seat or throne of God where God would speake with Moses to give answers for the people and to shew himselfe mercifull And the originall word in the Hebrew carries a twofold sence to answer and fit this two-fold use for Capporeth derived from the verbe Caphor which signifies to cover a vessell and to cover sinne which last is the proper act of mercy Therefore though the Hebrew word might have beene simply and fully enough rendred the Cover yet the Septuagint following the other signification of the word have translated Hilasterion i. a Propitiatory or Mercy-seate which distinguisheth this cover from all others as a peculiar use and property of it And it is very consonant to reason that by the ambiguity of the word the Spirit of God would signifie so much Of which we cannot now speake particularly Though each of these particulars concerning the first Covenant might require particular explication and serve highly for advancing the dignity of Christs Priesthood and of the new Covenant yet the time will not now permit it because our purpose calls us on to other matters 6. Now when these things were thus ordained Having briefly described the Tabernacle and the severall furniture of it now he comes to describe the way of divine service therein which according to the two partitions or roomes of the Tabernacle was twofold whereof he toucheth the first in this verse and handleth the other in those following The Priests went alwayes into the first Tabernacle accomplishing the service of God The ordinary Priests went onely into the first Tabernacle for none but the high Priest went into the second And into the first they went alwayes that is every day daily for herein they are opposed to the high Priest who went into the second Tabernacle once every yeare The daily services of God accomplished by the Priests in the first Tabernacle were to burne Incense on the golden Censer and to light up or mend the Lamps of the Candlestick c. 7. But into the second went the high Priest alone once every yeare The high Priest went in alone and therefore he onely yet he went not in daily but yearely once every yeare at the solemne fast of Expiation whereof see Levit. 16. Not without bloud which he offered Not without bloud is with bloud and with bloud onely for the high Priest offered in the second Tabernacle nothing else but bloud For he must enter thither with the bloud of a Bullock and of a Goate and offer it by sprinkling it with his finger upon and before the Mercy-seate seven times Whence it appeares that this offering of the high Priest did not consist in the slaughter of those beasts whose bloud he offered and therefore neither did the offering of Christ answerable thereto whereof the Author treates consist in the death of Christ but by his entrance into heaven after his death Indeed the death of Christ is called an offering and sacrifice yet it is so called for the resemblance of it with the free-will and peace-offerings and therefore especially because it was most gratefull and acceptable to God in which respect also other notable works of piety may be and are called in Scripture offerings and sactifices unto God For himselfe and for the errours of the people Here is a little trajection of the words for the right sence is thus for the errours of himselfe and of the people For in this sacrifice the Priest