yet afterwards when he was baptised l Euseb Jb. c. 63. Graece p. 255. b. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now of a truth saith he I knowe my selfe to be BLESSED and that I am counted worthy to inioy hereafter everlasting life that I am made partaker of heavenly light Vers 2. But his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law will be exercise himselfe day night Nobis initium bonorum abstinentia peccatorum est To vs m Ambros in hunc Ps saith S. Ambrose the beginning of good things is an abstinence from sinnes and therefore we read n Ps 37.27 Flâ—e from evill and doe the thing that is good The Prophet in the former verse hath taught vs to flee the evill but because that is not sufficient he teacheth vs now a new Lesson namely to doe the thing that is good That is to delight in the Law of the Lord and to exercise our selues therein First for the Law of the Lord. The Latine word Lex which signifyeth the Law is o Vid. Vrsiâ— Catech. Angl. edit 1611. p. 886. deriued from Lego which hath two significations namely to read and publish or els to choose With the former derâ—vation agreeth thâ— Hebrew word Thorah with the later 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Greeke In the Hebrew the Law iâ— called Thorah Doctrine because Lâ—wes are published vnto all that euery one may learne them The Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commeth from a Wotd that signifieth to diuide and distribute and therefote the Law is so called because it distributeth vnto euery one proper charges and functions Now the Law as it is sometimes taken in holy Scripture for the whole Old Testament in generall so sometimes againe for the Bookes of Moses only as here in this place Moses wrote Fiue in all winch were therefore called the LAVV for asmâ—ch as all the Lawes that belonged to the Iewes Morall Ceremoniall and Iudiciall were comprised in those Bookes The Morall Law is a Doctrine agreeing with the eternall Wisdome and Iustice of G d discerning things honest and dishonest knowen by nature and engendered in reasonable Creatures at the Creation binding all the reasonable Creatures to perfect obedâ—ence both Internall and Externall promising the fauour of God and euerlasting Life to those which performe perfect Obedience and denouncing the wrath of God and euerlasting Paines and Punishments vnto them who are not perfectly correspondent thereunto The Ceremoniall were Lawes deriued from God by Moses concerning Ceremonies that is Externall solemne Actions and Gestures which in the publique Worship of God were to be performed binding the Iewes vntill the comming of the Messias that they should distinguish that People and the Church from others and should be Signes Symbols Types or Shadowes of spirituall Things to be fulfilled in the New Testament by Christ The Iudiciall were Lawes concerning the ciuill Order or ciuill Government or maintenance of externall Discipline among the Iewes according to the tenour of both Tables of the Decalogue that is of the Order and Offices of Magistrates of Iudgment Punishments Contracts and of the distinguishing bounding of Dominions deliuered from God by Moses for the setling and preseruing of the Iewes Commonwealth And these are that Law here intimated by the Prophet and whereof he speaks so much in his 119. Psalme It is the longest and largest Psalme in all the Booke consisting of 176. Verses and not one of all those Verses one only p There are in the English fiue more the 84. the 121 the 132 the 149 and the 156. but in the Latine they haue one of these Words according to the Latine excepted namely the 122 but makes mentioÌ„ of this Law or by that very name or by the name of Testimonies Way or Wayes Word or Words Commandements Statutes Iudgements Ceremonies Righteousnes or Trueth In these Lawes it should seeme the Iewes were so perfect that Iosephus speaking of them Euery one q Ioseph cont Appian l. 2. sayth he of our Nation being demanded of our Lawes can answere as readily as he can tell his owne Name For euery one of vs learning them as it were so soone as we come to the vse of Reason we haue them as it were written and printed in our mindes and by this meanes offend we much more seeldome and when we offend we are sure to be punished Secondly where it is said His delight is in the Law it may very well be taken for continuall Reading the same Law Orationi Lectio Lectioni succedat Oratio Let her pray and read r Hieron ad Lect. de Instit Filiae sayth St Ierom read and pray wrighting to a Gentlewoman concerning the bringing vp of her Daughter And writing to an other Let the Booke of sacred Scriptures Å¿ Hieron ad Rust Monach. sayth he be neuer out of thy hands or from thine eyes Discatur Psalterium ad verbum As for the Book of Psalmes get that in thy memory word by word For such is our Nature t Aug. Quaest mixtim qu. 120. saith St Austen as that it becomes dull and heauy if we accustome not our selues to reading For as iron if it be not vsed gathereth rust so the Soule vnlesse it be frequent in reading diuine Scriptures is surrounded with Sinne as it were with rust Thirdly after Reading he meditates thereupon and therefore is it here added And in his Law will he exercise himselfe day and night Excellent things they are that are spoken of Meditation and it is strange what in this case Authors report euen of Bruit Beasts This u Plin. Nat. Hist l. 8. c. 3. saith Pliny is knowen for certain that on a time there was an Elephant not of so good capacity as his Fellowes to take out his Lessons to learne that which was taught him Wherevpon being oftentimes beaten for that blockishnesse of his was found studying and conning those Feates in the night which he had bene learning the day before The same x Plin. l. 10. c. 42. Pliny tells vs the like of Pyes and Stares Nightingales and y Plutarch de Solert Animal Plutarch tells of a Pye that to learne certaine Tunes which shee heard Minstrels play waxed dumbe many dayes after At length vpon the sodaine she brake forth into the same Tunes which those Minstrels had playd before to the astonishment of all that heard her and thought she would neuer haue sung again But to returne vnto my purpose Meditation is that in the Old Law which was signified by Chewing the Cud. For as there the Swine was z Levit. 11.7 vncleane to the Israelites because it chewed not the Cud howsoeuer it divided the Hoofe so howsoeuer we read the Word and divide our times to that purpose yet vnles we Meditate thereupon and doe as the Blessed a Luc. 2.51 Virgin did lay it vp in our hearts as in good ground either the wicked One commeth and catcheth it away b
knowledge of God but whereas they lived in great warres of ignorance those so many so great plagues they called peace The zeale that they had and the contentation of their hearts made them believe that all their superstition and idolatry and other enormities was Catholique unitie This zeale as on the one side it hath many tokens of goodnesse for that it hath a conscience and a feare and an obedience towards God so on the other side it is very dangerous because it lacketh knowledge even as a ship for lack of a governour is ever in danger of the Rocks and as the body which hath no eye is ever in danger of falling Such kinde of zeale the greater it is the worser it is the more vehement it seemeth the more vehemently it fighteth against God For our good meaning maketh not our doings good our zeale is not a rule whereby we may measure out either our faith or our works but only the knowne will and pleasure of God Therefore speaketh God in this manner by the Prophet Esay Esai 55. my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your waies my waies Therefore saith Solomon Prov 3. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and leane not to thy own wisdome in all thy waies acknowledge him and he shall direct thy doings This counsell also doth Moses give Deut. 5. take heed that yee doe as the Lord your God hath commanded you turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left But the true and godly zeale proceedeth not from hypocrisie or intention but is led and trained by understanding and is molten into the heart and the vehemency and heat of it no man knoweth but he that feeleth it It taketh away the use of reason it eateth devoureth up the heart even as the thing that is eaten is turned into the substance of him that eateth it as iron while it is burning hot is turned into the nature of the fire so great and so just is the griefe that they which have this zeale conceive when they see Gods house spoiled or his holy name dishonoured 1. King 19 So saith Elias J have been very jealous for the Lord God of hoasts for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant broken down thy Altars and slaine thy Prophets with the sword and I only am left and they seek my life to take it away So when Moses found that the people had forsaken God and were fallen down before a molten Calfe did put their trust in the work of their own hands his wrath waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hand Exod. 32. and brake them in peices beneath the mountaine his heart was so inflamed with zeale that he considered not what he had in his hand nor what he did Jeremy when he saw the disorder of the people how they were not mended with his preaching and would inwardly conceale the griefe he conceaved and purposed not to make mention of the Lord nor to speak any more in his name yet could he not for his zeale found way Ierem. 20. and brake out His word saith he was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearing and J could not stay And albeit there is much likenesse between the rage and fury of hypocrites the godly zeale of good men for either are hot either are vehement either wisheth redresse yet this is an evident difference godly zeale is tempered and seasoned with charity the ungodly is joyned with bitternesse and revenge the godly seeketh to win the ungodly to kill and to destroy the ungodly have their hands full of bloud they kill the Prophets they say we have a law and by our law He must dye they say come let us destroy them that they be no more a nation Let not the name of Israel be had any more in remembrance they burn the holy books of the Scriptures as did Aza and Antiochus they say ransack it pull it down rase it to the foundation let not one be left alive they dig up the bodies of the dead out of their graves they shew their crueltie upon the bones and ashes which were long before buried and well nigh consumed It grieveth them when they lack upon whom they may whet their bloudthirstie and cruell zeale It grieveth them no one thing else so much that they did not work surely and cut up the root Such is the zeale of the ungodly even such a zeale as was in Nero in Caligula of whom it is reported he wished that all the Romans had but one neck that he might cut off all their heads at one stroke as was in Herod in Annas and Caiphas the like murtherers But the godly when they see any disorder they doe nothing like the other they mourne in their hearts to see that the truth is not received to see the mindes of their brethren so obstinately hardned they make prayer to God for them they are deeply touched with the feeling of such calamities which God layeth upon other The zeale of Moses could not like the Idolatry of the people yet he went unto the Lord againe and said Exod. 32. Now if thou pardon their sinne thy mercy shall appeare but if thou wilt not I pray thee rase me out of thy book which thou hast written Christ lamented over Jerusalem ô Jerusalem Jerusalē which killest the Prophets Mat. 23. stonest them which are sent to thee how often would I have gathered thy childrē together as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and yee would not behold your habitation shall be left unto you desolate Paul suffered much at the hands of the wicked Jewes they troubled the Church of God they hindered the course of the Gospell they were enimies of the Crosse of Christ they were dogs they were Concisiō yet he saith I have great heavinesse Rom. 9. and continuall sorrow in mine heart for I would wish my selfe to be separated from Christ for my brethren that are my kindsmen according to the flesh which are the Israelites David saith Psal 118. Mine eyes gush out with rivers of water because they keepe not thy law And again My zeale hath even consumed me because mine enimies have forgotten thy words Againe I saw the transgressours was grieved because they kept not thy word And when he saw the whole nation of Israel wasted by the enimies how mournfull a complaint made hee to God O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance Psal 19. thine holy Temple have they defiled and made Jerusalem heapes of stones the dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the foules of the heaven and the flesh of thy Saints unto the Beasts of the earth At this time when the Tabernacle was lost when Saul was unquiet and the Priests were slaine and the Prophets despised and the people left without all comfort
Learned First for the Wisdome here meant it is no Machiavellian Wisedome that 's Hypocrisie Satis est Principem externâ specie pium religiosum videri etiamsi ex animo non sit It is sufficient for a Prince y Machiavel de Princ. c. 18. saith Machiavel to seeme in outward shew Deuout and Religious though in Heart he be not so and hee had wont to bee the Oracle of Princes But he that so palpably taught Hypocrisie in those dayes no vnlikelyhood but hee hath by this time his Portion with Hypocrits z Mat. 24.51 where is Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth The next way to obtaine true Wisdome indeed is to follow that Counsell which the Lord gaue to Ioshua This Booke of the Law a Iosh 1.8 saith God shall not depart out of thy Mouth but thou shalt meditate therein Day and Night that thou mayst obserue to do all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy Way prosperous and then thou shalt haue good successe or as it is in the Margent as agreeing to the Originall And then thou shalt doe wisely Secondly for Learning here it is not that high Speculation or Humane Knowledge or Skill in the Liberal Arts and Sciences that in this Place is required which yet is very necessary in time and place but the Instruction and Reformation of their mindes in b Rom. 15.4 Godlinesse and indeed the c Ephes 4.20 Doctrine of CHRIST Where by the way what shal we say of them that so generally haue maintained that d Vid. B. Iewels Defence of the Artic. Art 27. Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion No Ignorantia Iudicis plerunque est Calamitas Innocentis The Party Innocent e Aug. de Civ Dei l. 19. c. 6. saith St Austen many times smarts for the Ignorance of the Iudge and Origen speaking of Divels Possident omnes qui versantur in Ignorantiâ They possesse themselues of all f Orig. in Num. Hom. 27. saith he that remaine in Ignorance Indeed concerning the Heathens Mysteries it was the saying of g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Casaub Exerc. 16. c. 43. p. 550. Synesius Ignoratio Mysteriorum est illorum veneratio proptereà Nocti creduntur Mysteria The Ignorance of those Mysteries was the Honour and Reverence of them and therefore were they alwayes performed in the Night but it is not so in Heavenly Mysteries Nay euen in their owne Vulgar they may read it themselues h 1 Cor. 14.38 Si quis ignorat ignorabitur Who so knoweth not shall not bee knowne I cannot here forget how this parcell of Scripture wee haue in hand was alleaged by S. Austen against the Donatists in behalfe of Christian Princes for dealing in Church Affaires Gaudentius the Donatist of old as Papists now adaies taking much exception against it Our Lord Christ i Aug. Cont. 2. Gaudent Epist l. 2. c. 26. saith he the Saviour of Souls sent Fishermen not Souldiers for the propagation of his truth God never expected the ayd of worldly Warriers seeing it is he onely that can iudge both of the Liuing and of the Dead To whom as S. Austen then answered so may we to our Adversaries in like case Heare therefore the holy Prophets as also the holy Fishermen and you shall not find religious Princes obnoxious to you For I haue shewed before saith he that it appertained to the care of a King that the Ninivites appeased God whose anger the Prophet Ionas had declared to them before And therefore as long as you your selues doe not hold that Church which the Fishermen foreshewed the Apostles planted so long Kings that hold the Church iudge it most rightly to appertaine to their care that you scape not scot-free in rebelling against the same And againe a little after God expecteth not the ayd of worldly Warriers seeing to Kings he giues this benefit that he inspires into them a care that his Lawes be kept in their Kingdomes For they to whom it is said Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be learned ye that are Iudges of â—he Earth serue the Lord in Feare acknowledge that their Power ought so to serue the Lord that they ought to be punished by that Power which will not obey the will of the Lord. But whereas you bring their Souldiers into envy doubtles if this care appertaine to Kings as in holy Scriptures hath now beene shewed by whom shall those Kings performe so much either against rebellious Circumcellions and their mad Complices or Ring-leaders but only by Souldiers that are their Subiects Vers 11. Serue the Lord in feare and reioice vnto him with reverence A specifying of that Wisdome as also of that Learning that was spoken of before namely Feare Reverence Wisdome and Learning are no other but each of these Feare and Reverence A seruing with Feare a Reioycing with Reverence First for Feare it is the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and End of Wisdome the Beginning as l Ps 111.10 David the Father teacheth vs the End as m Eccles 12.13 Solomon the Sonne in his Ecclesiastes or the Preacher But it is no Servile Feare The Apostle S. Iohn speaking of that Feare There is no Feare in Loue n 1. Ioh. 4.18 saith he and Feare hath Torment No but this is a Filial Feare it is a pleasant Garden of Blessing and there is nothing so beautifull as it as the Sonne of Syrach o Ecclus. 40.27 tells vs. Of this kinde of Feare S. Gregory speaking As Feare in the way of this World p Greg. Mâ—â—â— l. 5. c. 13. saith he begetteth Weaknesse so in our Iourny and Course towards Heaven Feare begetteth Fortitude Now this kinde of Feare is so farre from hauing Torment that it hath Reioycing annexed with it as wee see in the next words Secondly for Reverence it is in a maner the same with â—eare for it is a holy Feare of the Heart towards God witnessed by all seemely Behauiour Gesture Attire Countenance Attention and such like And Reioycing is here annexed with it as it were to season every of these to shew indeed they are all done not Formidine Poenae for Feare of After-claps but Virtutis Amore in Loue to Vertue as the q Horat. Epist l. 1. ep 16. ad Quint. Poet obserueth well making a difference in this respect betweene the Good and the Bad. I cannot before I goe from this Verse but remember those excellent Passages which S. Austen hath herevpon How doe Kings serue the Lord with Feare r Aug. Ep. 50. saith he but by forbidding and punishing with a religious severity those things which are done against the Lawes of God He maketh instance in the King of Ninive in Darius in King Nabuchodonosor and then goes forward in these Tearmes For the King serueth God one way as a Man another way as a King As a Man by liuing faithfully as a King by making Laws with convenient Vigour to command that which
Plut. Apopth Lacon Apopth Vbi Leonina Pellis non sufficit ibi adsuenda est Vulpina Where the Lyons Skinne will not serue it must bee peeced out with the Foxes Case is of much more force with Many then an Hundred of such Passages as these in the Apostle S. Peter z 1. Pet. 2.21 Christ also suffered for vs leaving vs an Example that ye should follow his Steps Who did no Sinne neither was Guile found in his Mouth Vers 7. But as for me I will come into thine House even vpon the Multitude of thy Mercy and in thy Feare will I worship toward thy holy Temple Howsoever the Lord when time was spake by the Mouth of the Prophet Esay a Esay 66.1 The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstoole where is the House that ye build vnto me and where is the Place of my Rest In regard whereof King Solomon had said long before b 1. King 8.27 Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot containe thee how much lesse this House that I haue builded Yet sure and certaine it is that as out of the whole Masse of Mankind the Lord hath reserved Some to Himselfe whom he calleth his Elect out of the Times and Seasons Some which he calleth his Sabbaths and Solemne Feasts out of his Servants and Attendants Some whom he calleth his Ministers and Priests out of the Goods and Wealth of Men Some which he calleth his Tithes and Oblations so out of Houses and Habitations Some he reserueth which he calleth his owne House like as Iacob c Gen. 28.22 prophesied long before This Stone which I haue set for a Pillar shall be Gods House First then concerning the House here specified no doubt but the Sanctuary is thereby meant and it is called the House of God for that God had said he would d Exod. 25.8 dwell amongst them and it was the Place e Ps 26.8 where his Honor dwelt Secondly in that it is called here the Temple the Temple as yet not being built it is by the Figure Prolepsis or Anticipatio and that Figure then is vsed when a Place is called by a Name that it hath a long time after not when formerly it is so called As when it is said in the Book of f Numb 32.9 Nombers Venerunt in Vallem Botri it is so said saith g Aug. Locut de Numer l. 4. S. Austen by the Figure Anticipatio not because that Vally was called so when the Israelites came thither but for that it was so called when the Booke was written It is in the Originall HEICALL which †Vid. Ains worth in hunc Ps signifieth a Palace and is attributed to the Places where Gods Maiesty was said to dwell as the Tabernacle and Temple and Heauen it selfe Thirdly in that it is called The Holy Temple it is therefore so called for that it was set apart by Gods Ordinance to holy Vses and Offices Thus the Priests and the Altar and the Sacrifices and the Shew-Bread and the Fire and the Incense were all of them Holy euen Ierusalem as wicked as otherwise it was was in this respect The Holy City and so stiled by h Mat. 5.45 S. Mathew Fourthly that David here did promise to come into this House was in regard of the great Benefits that occurred vnto him therby what in respect of the Parties that were present in that House what in respect of the Things performed by those Parties Fiftly in that he would come euen vpon the Multitude of Gods Mercy he thereby intimates the Multitude of his Sinnes For as S. Austen on an other Psalme i Aug. in Ps 50. Qui magnam Misericordiam deprecatur magnam Miseriam confitetur he that sues for great Mercy acknowledgeth great Misery right so is it here in this Place he would come to that House even vpon the Multitude of Gods Mercy to diminish thereby the Multitude of his Transgressions Sixtly and lastly whereas hee saith And in thy Feare will I worship toward thy Holy Temple no doubt but that as Filiall Feare is here vnderstood whereof hath bene spoken l Exposit on Ps 4.4 p. 95. heretofore so a holy Preparation to Prayer is intimated also according to that of the Sonne of Syrach m Ecclus. 18.23 Before thou prayest prepare thy selfe and be not at one that tempteth the Lord or that of the Sonne of David rather n Ecclus. 5.1 Keep thy Foot when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to heare then to giue the Sacrifice of Fooles No doubt but that of Iacob was alwayes in his Minde o Gen. 28.17 How dreadfull is this Place this is none other but the House of God and this is the Gate of Heauen But how is it here said that he would worship toward the Temple whereas he had said in the Words before that he would come into the House The Answer is that the Temple here meant being the Tabernacle and the Tabernacle hauing a Court the Priests onely when they vsâ—d to pray did enter into the Tabernacle the Rest stood without in the Court and prayed towards the Tabernacle Now the Tabernacle and the Court like as afterwards the Temple and the Court were both called Gods House therefore is it here said that David would both come into it and also pray towards it Where by the Way we may call to Minde how Bellarmine wrongs Calvin in a Matter of this Argument Calvin had said in his p Calv. Instit l. 3. c. 20. §. 20. Institutions That Christ being entred into the Sanctuary of Heauen vnto the end of the Ages of the World he alone carrieth to God the Prayers of the People abiding farre off in the Porch Bellarmine hereupon q Bell. de Eccles Triumph l. 1. c. 1. inferrech that Calvins Opinion was that the Soules of the Saints doe not see God before the Day of Iudgment Why because in Calvins Iudgment they are excluded from the Sanctuary of Heaven Yea but then by like consequence the People came not into the Temple But if Bellarmine confesse that the a Luc. 20.1 People I that b Luc. 2.37 Women I that c Luc. 18.10 Publicans went vp into the Temple who were admitted onely into the d 2. Chron. 4.9 Ioseph cont Ap. l. 2. Court of the Temple needs must he granut by like consequence that the Saints euen in Calvins Iudgement were not excluded from Heauen for all our Saviours Prerogatiue in being entred into the Sanctuary of Heauen But to returne vnto my purpose That which caused our Prophet here to promisâ— to come to this House was dâ—uâ—tlesse the Service of God performed in this House and that not only in his Word but in his Sacraments and Sacrifices and Prayer aâ—d Pâ—ayses Especially PRAYER which albeit the Prophet could haue performed by himselfe alone no Man bâ—tter yet did he desire to make his Prayers in those