Harp to do all this So that of Cassiadore is true That the Book of the Psalms is a spiritual Library of most kind of Doctrines fit for Meditations c. As Ambrose Commune quoddam Medicinae promptuarium 3. Sect. The whole is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and came from one and the same Fountain One Word and Wisdom of God revealed these words to the sons of men one Holy Ghost indited them one Blood of the Lamb sealed them one Spirit of Inspiration moved in the Pen-men that set them down one Spouse of Christ hath received them and preserved them so that we may not nor dare not prefer one Prophet before another nor Evangelist before Evangelist or Apostle before Apostle In this House they are all Vessels of equal Honour and Authority Moses is no better than Samuel David a King than Amos the Heardsman not Peter than Luke or Luke than Paul 4. Sect. Notwithstanding as the parcels of this Book were published and delivered by divers Notaries in divers Ages and on divers Occasions so also may they serve for divers ends and purposes though all to make the Man of God perfect Precepts of Life and Worship we read in Moses Examples of Virtue and Piety in the Histories Predictions Promises and Threats in the Prophets the plain and true Doctrine of Salvation in the Evangelists and Epistles 5. Sect. But the Book of the Psalms is so composed that it comprehends whatsoever may be useful in all these so that it is much like the Israelites Manna which tasted and relished according to every mans desire and necessity Prophesies we find here to settle Promises to stay the wavering spirit In brief many Stories to delight a curious Reader Examples of Virtue enough and enough Rules for practice good store Dehortations from Vice Exhortations to Virtue Judgments brought on the wicked Mercies multiplied upon the righteous In a word A whole Treasury of Divine Truth 6. Sect. The Temptations and Afflictions of good men cannot be so many but in these Psalms they may find ease and remedy nor their Affections in Piety so inflamed but here they may find Forms to express them 1. Sect. For do our sins lie as a weight of Lead upon our souls or doth the heavy wrath of God sadden and molest the Conscience Here are words to be found that being sent up to God with Davids spirit may ease it Do Tyrants oppress us Doth the malice of man pursue us Do friends in this case forsake us nay which is more than all this Doth God from Heaven seem to write bitter things against us Whence can we fetch more ready and certain comfort than from this little Manual 2. Sect. Would you meditate on Gods Benefits keep a Record of his Providence Need you Exhortations to Piety Are your hearts inflamed to pray to or to praise God Not a Book of the Old or New Testament that can sooner and to more effect satisfie your desires than this What is it I pray that you may not learn out of the Psalms Here you may find ready made a Buckler of Fortitude the exact Scale of Justice a Rule for grave Temperance absolute Prudence the way of Repentance the Rules of Patience some of these may be fetch 't out of other Authors but not upon such grounds never instill'd from the like spirit 3. Sect. But I am yet too low Here you may learn the great Mysteries of Christianity and that stupendious good Will of God to all Mankind the whole work of mans Redemption the Incarnation the Passion the Resurrection the Ascension of the Son of God is so lively in divers Psalms expressed as if David had been an Eye-witness rather than a Prophet and to write a Story rather than a Prediction Sect. To collect all If our Patience be to be strengthned in our Afflictions if we are to call and cry to God for his help in Extremities if our Hope be to be under-prop'd if our Love and Piety be to be inflamed if our Faith to be confirmed about the great Mysteries of our Redemption if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be given to God in the exercise of which all the power of Religion doth consist every good and pious man ought to betake himself to this rich Treasury destined by God to these uses and yet left to us for those uses that we should not be to seek for comfort when we need nor for Forms of Thanksgiving when we have received 2. Sect. Now that all these advantages might the better be apprehended by us and have the deeper impression in us it hath pleased the Spirit of God to convey unto us in Poetry and Musical Numbers all this for God saw how hardly man would be drawn to that which is good and how prone we are to that which delights and therefore as skilful Physitians lap up their bitter Pills in sugar lest the sick Patient should be averse to what will restore and recover him so hath God by the smoothness of Musick conveyed his Precepts to the ear that listning to what we delight in we might at the same time learn what might do us good Sect. Scarce any Prophetical Prediction or Prophetical Precept is by the Vulgar remembred beyond the Church-door but the tune of the Psalms and the words too are longer lived Pueri modulantur domi vivi foro circumferunt That was the use in Basil's time and would it were in use still our Lives would be more holy and our Passions more calm For a Psalm doth calm the waves of our passions and quiet the soul it pacifies the anger of the mind and cools the flames of wantonness A Psalm unites friends reconciles enemies knits together disagreeing souls for who can think that man his enemy with whom he hath joined his voyce in singing a Psalm to his God Charity is the chiefest good amongst men of which the consent of the voyce puts us in mind A Discord we make in this heavenly Musick so often as there is not an union of souls as well as voyces in this Quire he sings out of Tune that is not in Charity Sect. This Symphony drives away evil spirits this Harmony brings the Angels to our help this is our Armour in the darkness of the night with this we ease the labour of the day A Psalm is an Ornament in the mouths of children and young men a comfort to the aged the best dress for women an honour to Virgins it is the work of the Angels the study of the Saints a spiritual sacrifice and a shadow of your future happiness this this Symphony beautifies our Festivals and graces all our Service To Beginners in Religion it is a Rudiment to Proficients an increase in grace to perfect men a foundation The voyce of the whole Church being in harmony and but one sets babes and sucklings to learn Hosanna better Scholars to go on in their praise and old Mâ—asons to rejoyce that their God should be thus honoured with many
joyful noyse 1 Universally that it be done in gladness and singing 3. 2 Heartily That it be not partial and restrain'd but complete the Copia verborum in which the Exhortation is offer'd 3 Completely shews it Jubilate colite scitote Vers. 2 venite laudate benedicite 4. 4 Sincerely That it be sincere and not feined done as in his eye and presence Vers. 3 5. 5 Knowingly That it ought to be well grounded arise from knowledge Know ye that Vers. 4 6. 6 Thankfully But thanksgiving be a part of it 7. 7 Publickly That it be as oft as occasion is offer'd Publick Enter into his Courts with Thanksgiving 2. The second part The Duty being set down reasons the Prophet sets down also to perswade to it The reasons for it drawn from the Nature of God 2. The benefits he bestows on us 1. First from his Essence Know ye if you know not so much already that the Lord he is God Vers. 3 Other gods there be talk'd on but none True but he 1 He is God Which shewed by his works of And therefore none to be serv'd but he 2. And this he shews himself to be by his work of Nature and Grace upon you 1. 1 Nature or Creation By his work of Nature for he is your Maker It is he that hath made us and not we our selves Parents are said to get chilcren but that ability is from God He makes the barren to bear and to be a joyful Mother of children Thou hast fashioned me in my mothers womb What saith Elkanah Am I in the place of God when his Wife was displeased she had no child 2. 2 Of Grace By his work of Grace For we were out of the fold but he call'd us into it and ever since accounted of us as his people of his pasture He governs us feeds us And that we be yet the more cheerful and ready to perform this duty in the last verse he puts us in mind of three Attributes of God His Mercy his Goodness his Truth for which he is worthy to be praised by us because we the better for them for be cause he is good he hath mercy upon us and because he is merciful 2 He is he promiseth us aid and assistance and because he is faithful and true he will perform it 1. Vers. 5 For the Lord is good O how good to those that are true of heart He is reconcil'd to us 1 A good God pardons our sin justifies us adopts us for his children and that freely without any merit of ours 2. His Mercy is everlasting He is the Father of Mercies 2 Merciful and begets Mercies as oft as we bring forth sins It is the Mercy of the Lord that we are not consumed 3. And his Truth endureth to all generations 3 Faithful For he never made promise but either he hath or will perform it God is not as man that he should lye The Prayer collected out of the one hundred Psalm O Omnipotent and holy God Vers. 1 the excellency and transcendency of thy Nature and those infinite benefits by thy favour conferr'd upon us exact at our hands that we appear in thy presence to celebrate thy name with joy and gladness and enter into thy Gates with thanksgiving and into thy Courts with praise But being conscious to our own unworthiness which ariseth from the thoughts of our manifold transgressions afraid we are that we dust and ashes sinful dust and ashes should take upon us to speak unto our Lord we tremble at thy presence and are ready to sink under thy displeasure If thou Lord should'st be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Remember yet we are thy creatures and the work of thy own hands Vers. 3 for thou hast made us and not we our selves Remember that when we were not a people worthy of love thou calledst us and madest us thy people when we were clean without the pale that wentest after us and broughtest us home to thy fold and madest us the sheep of thy pasture Give us grace then O thou great Shepherd of our souls that we may lament our unthankfulness and forgetfulness of these favours and the heinousness of our rebellions being removed be reconciled unto us and inable us that instead of a corrupt and impure life we may serve thée in righteousness and holiness all our dayes Of this we have yet some hope because thou art good Vers. 5 thy mercy is everlasting and thy truth endureth from generation to generation from thy goodness procéeds thy mercy and because thou art merciful thou hast made promises to penitent believing sinners and we are assured thou wilt perform them because thou art faithful and true O seal these promises to our disconsolate hearts by the graces of thy Holy Spirit Vers. 2 then we shall be bold to come into thy presence then will we enter into thy Gates with thanksgiving then we will be thankful unto thée and bless thy holy Name We will serve the Lord with gladness and make a joyful noyse to our Lord the God of Jacob for ever Amen Here ends the Third Book of the Psalms according to the Hebrews PSAL. CI. A Psalm of David Didascalicus DAVID being Anointed by Samuel to be King or as most conceive newly made King promiseth and vows to God to reign in Righteousness and Holiness In a word he would so govern Himself his Palace the Church the State that all wicked doers being taken away and all good men countenanc'd by him God should be honour'd and justice peace temperance piety flourish Two parts of the Psalm 1. The Syllabus or brief of the Psalm with the Dedication of it vers 1. 2. The full Explication of what he means by Mercy and Judgement and how practised 1. Toward himself For he shews what his life shall be from vers 2. to 5. 2. Toward ungodly men vers 4 5 7 8. and the end of it vers 8. 3. Toward all good men vers 6. These should be his Counsellors and Servants 1. The sum of the Psalm The first part He Summarily sets down what he will treat of in this Psalm viz. Mercy and Judgement the two great vertues of a King I will sing of mercy and judgement Ver. 1 1. Mercy Judgement which he really vowes Mercy in countenancing giving audience judging for and rewarding the good 2. Judgement in discountenancing punishing and being a terror to evil works and workers And that he would do this really not talk and seem to profess a great love to Mercy and Judgement as Princes use to do when they mean no such matter He makes a Solemn Vow to God to perform it Unto thee O Lord will I sing From thee proceed these gifts to thy honour they shall be referr'd and by me as in thy sight impartially executed This I Vow and Promise to thee 2. The
David's HARP Strung and Tuned Or an easie ANALYSIS Of the whole BOOK of PSALMS Cast into such a Method that the Summe of every Psalm may quickly be collected and remembred With a Devout MEDITATION or PRAYER At the end of every Psalm framed for the most part out of the words of the Psalm and fitted for several Occasions By the Reverend Father in GOD WILLIAM by the Divine providence Lord Bishop of Gloucester LONDON Printed for William Leake and are to be sold at the sign of the Crown in Fleet-street between the two Temple-Gates 1662. To the Right Honorable EDWARD EARLE of CLARENDON Viscount Combury Baron of Hyndon Lord High Chancellor of ENGLAND and Chancellor of the University of OXFORD and one of His MAJESTIES most Honorable Privy Councel Right Honorable A KING and a Prophet greet you well And yet it is the same Person under two names who under either notion I presume shall be welcome For you have a King in your heart and admit the Prophet into your bosome The great services you perform to the one and the great affections you bear and real courtesies you do the other hath embolâ—â—ed me to present these my Meditations unto your protection I shall lesse fear the rigid Censures of others if in your Lordships deep judgment I have contributed the least mite that may help forward devotion You are the great Moderator of the rigor of the Law and therefore what I cannot claim in justice I humbly beg in equity that is a favourable sentence for exposing these my crude conceptions under your Name and I am enough honoured if no dishonour be cast upon you by fixing your Honors name to a Work so unworthy This indeed I had not done had not your Lordships favour in particular obliged me to it 'T is by your Lordships influence upon me that I glimmer as a little Star in the Church and that I yield a more vigorous luster is your Lordships endeavor for which I have little to return but thanks in this poor acknowledgment That you are a Patron to the Muses in general is too large and universal Propositions are as Catholica Catholick medicines that cure few That you have been a Patron to my studies puts life into my old blood not to be faint and weary A vice to which old age is subject that is to waste and go out except there be oile in the Lamp That I no sooner medled with this subject was because I durst not The Mysteries herein contain'd and the Art in the delivery were so superlative that I always held them fit for a mature judgment which by length of years and observation is heightned in old men till they wrack upon dotage Besides I have observed that the best of Expositors have presented their thoughts upon the Psalms in their riper years and made them one of their last works Heavenly raptures they met with in this Book which raised their spirits and hearts and beforehand prepared them to that place to which they did approach I have therefore written after their Copy and brought it to light as the child of my old age and then 't is supposed there may be many infirmities in it which that your Lordship cover with your mantle will be a signal Act of charity The Motive that chiefly was most powerful with me to undergo this task were those Meditations and Devotions of others which I used and perused upon these Hymns These to my judgment weak I confesse relish'd more of the Composers own Cenius than of Davids spirit To remedy this I conceived no better way than to compose the Prayer in Davids words which for the most part is here done and though the order of the Verses be here often inverted yet this is done for the better Connexion of the whole The scope and intent of the Psalmist is strictly observed Pray and Sing we ought with understanding and that is not possible till we understand what we Pray or Sing Now to beget this knowledge in those whom I do desire to animate and render devout in those duties the easiest way I could think on was to present the whole Summe of every Psalm in a brief Synopsis This consideration produced that Analysis which I here offer How happily or unhappily this is perform'd I leave it to your Lordships exacter judgment And yet there was another reason which cast me on this Subject The face of the times were sad and cloudy and our Mother the Church in a mourning weed as Rachel lamenting for her children because they were not and yet upon the promises of God there was hope of a resurrection As then those who accompany their dearest friends to their last home though covered over with vests of sadnesse yet mourn not as men without hope So I in this doleful and general funeral as it were of this our Mother followed her to the grave as the bitter and enraged enemies of hers hoped and boasted with a sad heart and waterish eye and yet in this depth of sorrow I received this comfortable assurance that the day of resurrection would appear for Zion that her walls would be rebuilt and flourish which beyond my expectation God be blessed for it I have lived to see and by your Lordships favor enjoy a large and honorable portion in it Now that I might have somewhat suitable and at hand ready to expresse both these passions I could not find any part of Scripture so apt and pertinent as this little Epitom of the whole By which I have been taught to grieve and hope to lament and joy to complain to my God and comfort my self in the deepest of those complaints with those lively and inspiriting encouragements which this Swan of Bethlehem hath left to be sung by all the good people of God in their extremities The whole is Davids the Method only mine and if it shall find a Candid interpretation from others and a favorable acceptation from your Honour you shall oblige me to remain what I am Your Lordships in all due observance WILL. GLOUCESTER A PREFACE To the EXPOSITION of the Psalms THERE is no way by which Man may learn but by the same God vouchsafes to teach him There is Liber Naturae and Liber Scripturae The Book of his Creatures and his Book of Scriptures The Book of his Creatures is as it were a great Common-place Book written in Folio for all Nations and Languages and able to Catechize all men in these two Principles That there is a God and that he is to be worshipped 2. Sect. But his Book of Scriptures is as it were his own Book of Statutes written for his own peculiar people the Church wherein by Precepts he instructs by Requests he exhorts by Promises he allures by Threats he terrifies and therefore hath he sent his servants for the attaining of these ends with divers qualities Some like Moses to teach some like Esau to comfort some like Jeremy to mourn but David with his
love that he hath saved them from the Jaw of the Lyon and the Paw of the Bear or else in the midst of their afflictions an inward sense and perswasion of Gods good will and love to them with which being content they can sing even in the Prison and rejoyce under the Whip No man is able to express but he that feels it the joy and content of that soul which is fully perswaded that he hath peace with God load such a man with chains tear his flesh with Whips threaten Fire Swords Rackâ— Halters present him with the grim face of Death he smiles and laughs and rejoyceth That he may be accounted worthy to suffer for Chrisâ—s sake And hath not such a soul reason to sing in misery David had experience of both No man in greater troubles no man more strangely delivered he might well then sing Psalms for that in the greatest of his dangers he had a full assurance of Gods love and good will to him and this enlarged his heart to sing Thy Statutes have been my Songs in the house of my Pilgrimage This difference then the Book of Psalms hath from other parts of Scripture That whereas they may be read and repeated even by carnal minds these can never be heartily sung except by spiritual men and such who have had experience of Gods good will either in their deliverance or else the sense of comforts in their greatest extremities They then are unapt to sing these spiritual Songs who are no more affected with what David sings than as if Gods Providence Protection Love and Goodness did no way concern them Sect. Enough I hope I have said to make you in love with this Book for if either the utility or profit of it can move you or the sweetness of the harmony in it work upon you then you cannot choose but prize it as a Celler full of precious Oyle whereby all your necessities may be provided for or a Tree or rather a whole Paradise of Trees of life which bring forth fruits every Month nay every day and houre whose fruit is fit for meat and leaves for medicine And what marvel the Original thereof being from Heaven not Earth the Author God not man the Indicter the Holy Spirit not the wit of David the Matter verity piety purity uprightness the Form Gods Word the Word of Truth the Word of Salvation the Effects light of understanding stableness of perswasion repentance from dead works newness of life holiness joy peace in the Holy Ghost Lastly the end and reward and study thereof fellowship with the Saints participation of the heavenly Nature fruition of an immortal Inheritance that never shall fade away Happy is that man that delights in the Scriptures in this Scripture and thrice happy is that man who meditates in it day and night Now that your Meditations may be more fruitful it will not be amiss that you know before hand that these things about this holy Book The Authority the Author the Sense the Division or Order of this Book DE AUTHORITATE 1. Sect. Of the Authority I shall need say but very little since our Saviour himself hath given it an ample Testimony Luke 24.44 These were the words that I spake unto you while I was with you That all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Where you see that the old Testament is integrale totum it admits of three limbs The Pentateuch writ by Moses the greater part writ by the Prophets and the Psalms writ by David and all these testifie of Christ and the Psalms especially there being not any one Book out of which more Testimonies are produced and therefore was alwayes and must be continued in the Canon DE AUTHORE And you may remember that I but now said David was the Author of them which may not yet be so understood as if he penn'd them all for some of them were penn'd in and after the Captivity but his they are said to be à parte praestantiori as denominations use to run because he composed the greatest part of them and was so excellent in expressing himself this way that he alone was called the Psalmist DE DIVISIONE ORDINE These as it is conceived Esdras after the Captivity collected and cast them into that Order they now stand One Book he composed of them which by the Jewes was for what reason I know not subdivided into five Tracts The first from Psal 1. to 42. The second from 42. to 73. The third from 73. to 90. The fourth from 90. to 107. The fifth to the end At the end of each there is an Hallelujah Amen hoc primum medium ultimum The whole contains One hundred and fifty Psalms so say Herom Remigins August the Master of the Sentences for some mystery in the Number but as Chrysostom thought in the Honour of the Trinity but Rupert for the Trinity of the three Theological Virtues Faith Hope and Charity to which three Graces he reduceth all the Psalms But Thomas hath another conceit This was done saith he to shew the threefold state of Gods faithful people they are in a state of Repentance Righteousness Glory Penitents they are and that state enas in Psal 50. Miserere mei Deus Psal 51. Justified persons they are and that hath the limit at the 100. Misericordiam Judicium and in their Glory they are and then they sing to the end Omnis Spiritus laudet Dominum But the best Division of these is that of Villa Vincentius who for use reduceth them to these six Classes or Heads 1. Sect. Some of them are simply Didactici or Paranaetici which teach what we are to follow what to avoid According to the letter of Moses Law Vice they condemn and de finibus bonorum disserunt as the 1 11 14 15 32 36 49 50 51 62 73 77 78 84 90 99 101 119 127 130 131 133 134. 2. Sect. Some of them are Prophetical and contain Predictions of Christ of the different state of the Church and Saints of their Persecutions and their liberty and deliverance and the utter destruction of their Enemies as Psal 2 5 8 9 16 19 21 22 24 29 40 41 45 47 53 59 67 68 72 87 89 93 95 96 97 98 100 113 117 145. 3. Sect. Some are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 precatorii in which the Prophet and all depressed souls do implore the mercy of God seek remission of sins and deliverance from danger and preservation of the Church 3 8 6 7 10 12 13 17 20 25 26 28 31 35 38 39 42 43 44 51 54 55 56 57 61 63 64 69 70 71 74 79 80 81 83 85 86 88 94 102 119 120 123 132 133 140 141 142 143. 4. Sect. Others are Consolatory speaking of Repentance of the expectation of deliverance of good men of the Promises Goodness Justice Judgments of God and of that ruine that will fall upon
deserved both praise and a reward And an ample reward he had for it for God established the dignity of the high Priesthood in Phineaz and in his posterity as long as the Common-wealth of the Jewes continued 7 Another rebellion at Meribah 7. The Prophet comes to another remarkable sin of the Jewes extant Numb 20. where the people chode with Moses for want of water 1. They anger'd him also at the waters of strife That is God when they contradicted Moses 2. So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes for being passionate and disturbed with cholar He spake unadvisedly with his lips When Moses smote the Rock and offended God Hear now ye Rebels c. and he smote the Rock By their murmuring and grumbling they so provoked his spirit to bitterness that he who at other times was chearful and ready to obey all Gods Commands did now somewhat strike at it 8 Their rebellion after they came into Canaan 8. Hitherto the Prophet hath set down seven several rebellions of the Jewes during their abode in the Wilderness now he proceeds to shew us how they have behaved themselves after they came into and were seated in the land of Canaan Better a man would think they should be now that God had made good his Word to them But I see a Blackmore cannot change his skin nor they their manners disobedient stubborn and rebellious they were still which the Prophet confesseth and is upon Record in the Book of Judges 1 They destroy'd not the Heathen 1. God had expresly commanded that the Nations of Canaan should be destroyed Deut. 7.1 2 3. But they did not destroy the Nations concerning whom the Lord had commanded this was Disobedience 2 They married with them 2. But were mingled among the Heathen They made Leagues and Marriages with them Judg. 2. 3. 3. And learned their works Many superstitious many lewd customes 3 Learned their works 4. But which went beyond all they learned to be Idolaters of them 4 Became Idolatrous forsook God for the Devil 1. They served their Idols which was a snare unto them for for that they became their slaves Judg. 2 c. 2. Yea they sacrificed their sons and daughters unto Devils that is to Moloch 5 This polluted them and the land 3. With inhumane sin that the Prophet might aggravate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he comes over it again And shed innocent blood that is the blood of innocent children even the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the Idols of Canaan The Consequents of which were double First a double pollution Secondly a heavy judgment 1. First A pollution of the Land in which they dwelt The land was defiled with blood 2. A pollution of their own souls Thus were they defiled in their own works Polluted as a Harlot that pollutes her body by the prostitution of it so they polluted when they went a whoring after their own inventions Espoused they were to God their husband but they left him and followed Idols they were to be accounted no better than Whores which Idols were properly their own inventions For which they were punish'd abominated for they learned to prostitute themselves to them neither from God nor Moses The judgment or punishment now followes and a signification whence it proceeded it came not by chance nor meerly by the hand of man it was by Gods Order and Anger 1. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people Therefore for their Idolatry Murder Whoredom so that he was not only angry but his anger was kindled it was in a flame 2. Nay he took so great dislike to them that abominatus est insomuch That he abhorred his own inheritance It must be a very foule offence that will kindle the wrath of a mild King against his people And justly given into the hand of the Heathen and a strange dislike for which a man will renounce and abhor his own inheritance it shewes how heinous a sin Idolatry is And the punishment he took upon them was very just 1. He gave them into the hand i. e. the power of the Heathen and this E Lege Taliouis God had given the Heathen into their hands to destroy them which because they did not but learned their works therefore now God gave them into the hands of the Heathen 2. Who were hard Lords over them He made them their Lords and hard Lords they were as easily appears in the story of the Book of Judges and the first of Samuel and no wonder for they hated them yea even when they made Leagues and Contracts with them Their case must be then very miserable when those that hated them ruled over them from such they were to expect little favour 3. And little they had for the Prophet in the next verse acquaints us that 1. Their enemies also oppressed them Tyrants Oppressors they were read the Book of Judges c. and very often if they sought to free themselves 2. They were brought into subjection under their hand to wit under the hand of the Philistines Moabites Ammonites c. In which state and condition yet God did not forget them For many times did he deliver them Not once but often as by Gideon Jephtha Deborah Sampson and others Yet God deliver'd them But O the ingratitude of a sinful Nation whereas being deliver'd they should have served But they provoked him again being deliver'd they provoked him with their Counsel that is by following the Counsels of their own hearts and not the directions of God And so were very justly brought into the case they were before And again punished For they were brought low for their iniquity that they might know that God that had humbled them and deliver'd them could when they revolted bring them into the same case they were before Yet again receiv'd to grace for God is moved by their affliction as he often did And now the Prophet adds that which indeed he drives at through the whole Psalm the wonderful and immutable good-will of God to them though he forgave and deliver'd them upon their Repentance and in a short time provoked him again Nevertheless he received them to Grace even after their Recidivations and Relapses and the Causes that moved him to this were external and internal 1. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that outwardly and occasionly moved him to it was their affliction and cry He regaraed their affliction when he heard their cry 2. But the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that inwardly sway'd him was his word past to them But more out of Mercy and his Word and his mercy 1. His word and his promise was past to Abraham to be their God and he would not break it And he remembred for them his Covenant 2. His tender affection that he alwayes bear them this caused him to repent and grieve that they should be