his and so are the Cattle upon a thousand Hills will he eat Bulls flesh or drink the blood of Goats To what purpose are the multitude of sacrifices and the fat of fed Beasts these thou delightest not in incense is an abomination unto thee the calling of Assemblies the new Moons the Sabbaths all external worship is hateful and a trouble unto thée so long as the persons of those who observe them are not accepted so long as the men are Formalists Hypocrites and have their hands full of blood 't is the penitent soul to which thou wilt look the sincere heart which thou wilt regard Cleanse me therefore O Lord and wash my heart give me power to put away the evil of my doings let me cease to do evil and learn to do well that so my person being pleasing in thy sight thou may'st hear my prayers and accept my thanks It is now a day of trouble and as thou hast commanded I call unto thee for help Ver. 15 Lord hear my prayers and deliver me as thou hast promised so shall I glorifie thy Name be obliged to offer thee Thanksgiving and pay my vows to the most High Remit Lord and pardon the sins of thy people put our present sufferings and extream afflictions before thy eyes and return to us who return to thée with fasting wéeping and mourning so shall we have just occasion to offer thée praise and glorifie thée for this great mercy and deliverance for ever and ever thy statutes shall be our song in the house of our pilgrimage and we will run the way of thy Commandments all the dayes of our life PSAL. LI. One and a chief of the Penitentials THE occasion of this Psalm was the message that David received from God by Nathan the Prophet for the murder of Vriah and his Adultery in defiling Bathsheba this put him into the state of a Penitent and to petition to God for mercy for pardon for grace for peace of conscience for renovation of his heart It in general contains Davids prayer 1. For himself ver 1. to 13. 2. And three vows or promises ver 13. to 18. 3. For the Church from ver 18. to the end David being in a perplexed estate conceived he could have no comfort The first part but in Gods mercy and therefore he first in general prayes for that Have mercy on me Ver. 1 O Lord not on David the King thine Anointed but on me The general Petition for mercy that am not worthy to be called thy servant thy son and the motive he useth to gain that is not any plea or merit of his own but 1. The kindness of God Have mercy on me according to thy loving-kindness 2. The compassion of God According to the multitude of thy compassions The general Petition for mercy being offered next he tenders three particular Petitions 1. His first particular Petition is for forgiveness of his sins the fact was past The first Petition for forgiveness but the guilt remained he therefore earnestly petitions Put away mine iniquities and upon this he insists and in other terms comes over it for a soul that is truly sensible of sin is never at rest and satisfied with one deprecation for sin is a spot a deep stain Therefore wash me throughly wash me from mine iniquities Ver. 2 and cleanse me from my sin Amplius lava as if one washing were too little for a double sin for two such sins To this Petition for mercy he subjoins a confession of his sin knowing well To this he subjoins a confession that this was the readiest way to obtain it for he that confesseth and forsakes his sin shall find mercy in which we may learn many excellent conditions requisite in a true Confessionist 1. He enters into a serious consideration of the nature of sin he feels the weight the burden of it feels the anguish and abhors it I excuse it not 1. I know my iniquity I know it now to abhor to reform it Ver. 3 2. It is ever before me not to please me but to trouble and grieve me 3. He aggravates it with divers names iniquity sin transgression it is Pasteanos rebellion it is Greavah crooked dealing Chatta errour and wandring 2. And so he falls upon an open and plain confession Peccavi I have sinned Ver. 4 and this he first aggravates by two circumstances He aggravates his sins 1. From the person 1. Of the person It is against thee against thee I say a good gracious God that from a Shepherd hast made me a King a great and terrible God that art able and hast threatned to punish there was neither grace nor fear in me that I durst sin against thee against thee the Epizeuxis is emphatical yea against thee only have I sinned In maxima fortuna minima licentia So highly thou hast advanced me that I need to fear none but thee but this hath not kept me from this sin in this was unthankfulness Vriah was my Souldier I need not fear him the People my Subjects they cannot judge me it is to thee I am to answer for breach of thy Law I esteem therefore my sin to be against thee only for I had not known this sin to be a sin hadst not thou forbidden it nor need not fear any wouldst not thou punish it 2. Of the manner it was an impudent sin done in thy sight 2 The manner before thy eyes thou being by and looking on and so done without any reverence of thy Majesty as it were in contempt I have done this evil in thy sight So that I confess that in reproving and threatning me by Nathan thou art a just God and to be justified in thy sayings and clear in the judgment of any who with an impartial eye shall examine my offence and thy proceeding for I have deserved whatsoever thou hast threatned and given thee just cause to speak and judge as thou hast done Vt is not here causal but consequential for it is not his meaning that he sinned for that end that God should be justified but that this would follow upon it whensoever he was brought to confess his sin then God would be justified in his proceeding against him Ver. 5 3. He proceeds in the Amplification and Exaggeration of his sin He yet aggravates his sin 1. That it proceeded from original sin in him and declares from what root this his actual sin sprang even from his original Behold I was born in iniquity and in sin hath my mother conceived me This very sin that I have committed gives me occasion to enquire into my state and I find and confess upon a diligent inquisition that I am universally corrupted even from my mothers womb and that I carry about me the seeds of all sin 4. Ver. 6 Another aggravation of his sin is that in himself he found not that which God loves 2 From an insincere heart Thou requirest truth in the inward parts
the place of thy service where I may publickly acknowledge thee to be all these O happy men that may dwell in thy house for there as a good Master of the Family thou dispensest to them the bread of eternal life Thou suppliest unto them matter of praise and they again are as ready to praise thee in which constists the chief pleasure and selicity of man So often as they meet there they will invocate thy name offer thanksgiving confess their sins and give glory to God vow they will to propagate thy Truth and in reverence and fear do all acts of piety and devotion These are happiest but those are also happy that have a destre and a liberty to ascend thither O Lord increase in us these destres and give us again this freedom our strength is in thee and our hearts are in thy wayes and though we must pass through the Valley of tears yet we desire to ascend to that place which thou Lord hast appointed to thy self for an habitation In the strength of the Lord God we will procéed till we appear before God in Zion and find that Majesty and mercy which we so earnestly long for and séek For whatsoever happiness we are capable of in this life we know it is to be obtained in the pious Assemblies of thy Saints O Lord God of hosts hear my prayer give ear O God of Jacob. Thou who art our Shield and Protector behold me with a serene countenance and when I shall lift up my eyes unto thee O turn thy face toward thy Anointed and for his sake look upon me and thy people with mercy and bring us back again to thy house Grant that the love of thy house may be to us that which thou desirest that we may think the time of one day spent in it better than thousands in doing our own pleasure yea and that it is better to be the meanest servant a door-kéeper in the house of God than to dwell with honour in the Tents and Palaces of ungodly men The pleasures and delights which we may hope for in those Tents are nothing to the contents we may enjoy in thy house for there we shall enjoy thée who art our Sun our Shield the Father of all good gifts and wilt deny no good thing to those who sincerely serve thée O Lord be unto me a Shield and a Sun A Sun to illuminate us A Shield to protect us Dispell our darkness comfort and warm our hearts with thy light increase us with thy swéetest influence and defend us by thy power Give us grace and adopt us for thy Sons and at last bestow upon us eternal glory Thou hast promised to deny no good thing to those who walk before thée in simplicity and integrity Inable us then O God to walk in thy wayes with a pure and an honest heart For then we may be comforted with this hope and assurance that we shall be blessed and that we shall come at last to those eternal Mansions in heaven by the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. PSAL. LXXXV 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 MYstically this whole Psalm is a Prophesie concerning the redemption of Mankind from the Tyranny of sin and Satan by the coming of Christ prefigured by the deliverance of the Jewes either from Egypt or rather from Babylon after which they fell again into grievous troubles under Antiochus Three parts of the Psalm 1. An Acknowledgment of Gods formet mercies ver 1 2 3. 2. A Petition upon that ground that he would still do the like 4 5 6 7. 3. A profession of obedience and an advice to continue in it ver 8. that men may be partakers of the promises both spiritual 9 10 11. and temporal ver 12. which shall be performed to those who keep in the wayes of God ver 13. 1. In the three first verses A Commemoration of Gods mercies the Prophet makes a Commemoration of Gods mercies to his people of which the Fountain is his good will and favour Lord Thou bast been favourable of which the effects were temporal and spiritual The first part 1. Temporal Thou hast been favourable to thy Land Ver. 1 Thou hast turned away or brought back the captivity of Jacob 1 Temporal freed them from the Babylonian yoke 2. Spiritual which consisted in two things Ver. 2 1. Justification Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people 2 Spiritual and covered all their sins Ver. 3 2. Reconciliation Thou hast taken away all thy wrath and hast turned thy self from the fierconess of thy anger 2. And now upon the experience of these former mercies The second part Upon this favour he prayes the Prophet commends a new Petition the sum whereof is briefly this Thou hast been favourable to us before and therefore we hope that thou wilt be so now this is the consequent of the former antecedent and upon it in confidence he prayes Turn us then O God our Saviour c. to the 8th verse Ver. 4 in which Petition is said over again That God would assure those mercies what was acknowledged before in the Commemoration of the benefits 1. Thou hast turned away the captivity Restore us then turn us then or return to us O God our Saviour 2. Thou hast been reconciled be again reconciled to us Thou hast taken away all thy wrath c. ver 3. Ver. 5 Now cause thine anger towards us to cease Wilt thou be displeased at us for ever Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all Generations This is contrary to thy nature who art slow to anger 3. Thou hast brought us back and so revived our hearts ver 1. And wilt thou not revive us again by delivering us from our present calamities and this death that thy people may rejoyce in thee 4. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people c. ver 2. Shew us then thy mercy O Lord and grant us thy salvation Save us in mercy first from sins the cause of our sufferings and then from the punishment our present miseries 3. And that the Church might prevail in her Petition she now promiseth obedience and to wait upon God I will hear what the Lord God will speak The third part As if she had said For which he waits why do I expostulate thus with my God why do I thus complain I will attend to his Word and hear what he will say for he is a trusty Counsellor in all our afflictions Ver. 8 and this it is that he will say I wound and I make whole I kill and I give life Being assured that God will turn all to the best 1. For he will speak peace unto his people and to his Saints Though he begins to his people in the cup of his Cross yet he keeps the best wine till the last and turns his Cross into a Crown if they hear what he saith he will speak peace to them And speak peace to his people 2. If they
the misery of it from ver 2. to 7. 3. The causes mans rebellion and Gods anger for it from ver 7. to 12. 4. A Petition which is double 1. That God would instruct man to know his fragility 2. That he would return and restore him to his favour from ver 12. to 17. 1. The first part An acknowledgment of Gods protection to his people In the beginning Moses the man of God freely acknowledgeth what God had alwayes been unto his people 2. What he is in himself and his own nature 1. To his people he had been alwayes a refuge as it were a dwelling place though they had been Pilgrims and Sojourners in a strange land for many years Ver. 1 yet he had been nay dwelt among them and no question he alludes to the Tabernacle of God that was pitched among them as an evidence of presence and protection Lord Thou hast been our dwelling place a secure place to rest in in all Generations Deutr. 33. from 1. to 6. 2. 2 And in himself from everlasting But in himself he was from everlasting other creatures had a beginning and their Creation and Ornaments from him he the eternal being Before the Mountains were brought forth Ver. 2 or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world Not like man even from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God Not like man then whose mutability fragility mortality brevity he next describes 2. The second part Who is from dust and to dust must return Thou turnest man to destruction though framed according to thy own image yet he is but an earthen vessel rid gis mortalem eo usque ut sit contritus to that pass thou bringest him till he be broken to pieces broken as a potters vessel To him thou sayest Return ye children of men of Adam return for dust thou art Ver. 3 and to dust shalt thou return The mortality of man may not be then attributed to diseases Man is then mortal and his life short as a day chance fortune c. but to Gods Decree pronounced to man upon his disobedience First then let the sons of Adam remember that they are mortal next that their life is but very short suppose a man should live the longest life and somewhat longer than the oldest Patriarch a thousand years yet let it be compared with eternity Ver. 4 it is as nothing A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past Like a But as of a day which is short of a day that is past and forgotten which the Prophet farther illustrates by elegant similitudes 1. 1 Watch. And as a watch in the night A time of three houres continuance which is but the eighth part of a natural day and so far less than he said before the flower of our youth our constant age and our old age may well be the three houres of this watch and wise they are that observe their stations in either of them 2. 2 A flood Thou carriest them away as with a flood as a sudden inundation of waters our life passeth Ver. 5 we swell and fall or as all waters come from the Sea and return thither so from the earth we came and thither return or we are as water spilt on the earth that cannot be gathered up again 3. 3 A sleep or dream They are as a sleep or rather a dream all our happiness a dream of felicity in our dreams many pleasant many fearful things are presented so in life or we pass half our time in sleep drowsily 't is certain there be some men that are filthy dreamers our life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pindar 4. 4 Grass Or we are like grass Quasi herba solstitialis paulisper fui repentè exortus sum repentè occidi In the morning they are like grass that groweth up in the morning it flourisheth and groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth The herb hath its morning and evening The causes of it and its midday and so hath our life naturally it fades or violently it is cut off 3. After he had spoken of and explained our mortality the brevity The third part 1. Gods anger the misery of our life he next descends to examine the causes of it which are two 1. Gods anger 2. And that which brought it upon us our own iniquities Ver. 7 1. Gods anger We consume away by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled The cause then of death and diseases is not the decay of the radical moysture or defect of natural heat but that which brought these defects upon us Gods wrath 2. Our own sin For this anger of God was not raised without a just cause 2 Our sin that caused it a just Judge he is and he proceeds not to punishment but upon due examination and trial and to that end he takes an account not only of our open sins but even of our secret faults such as are not known to our selves or such as we labour to conceal from others 1. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee 2. And our secret sins in the light of thy countenance No hypocrisie He repeats again the effects no contempt can escape thy eye all to thee is revealed and clear as the light 3. And then he repeats the effect together with the cause Therefore all our dayes viz. the forty years in the Wilderness are passed away in thy wrath 2. We spend our dayes as a tale that is told Et fabusa fies the tale ended vanisheth and is no more thought of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. And as for our age it is of no great length The dayes of our years are threescore years and ten To that time some men may be said to live because the faculties of their souls are tolerably vigorous and their bodies proportionably able to execute the offices of life 2. Our life encumbred with But say now it so happen which happens not to many That by reason of strength some excellent natural constitution a man arrive to fourscore years yet our life is incumbred with these three inconveniences labour sorrow brevity 1. 'T is laborious nay labour it self one is desirous to be rich 1 Labour another wise this man potent that man prudent or at least to seem so and this will not be without labour all is affliction of spirit 2. Sorrow for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Sorrow 3. Short For it is soon cut off and we flie away Avolat umbra 3 Brevity Thus much by experience there is no man but knows to be true every man feels that his life is laborious sorrowful short and upon the wing but such is the security of man that this is not well thought nor the nature of our life nor the cause viz. Gods anger for sin is not laid to heart This yet not considered and of this the Prophet in
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
Zion and make choice of it for thy peculiar habitation more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Thou séest Lord with what winds with what storms this thy holy City is assaulted there be who are ready and bent to raze it oven to the foundations Have mercy therefore upon the inhabitants of this City O Lord and thou who hast promised to protect these Walls give the glory to thine own name And suffer not those thy enemies who have not known thée or do envy thy glory Vers. 5 continualiy to reproach thy name and triumph over thy people though they cry Down with it down with it to the ground yet do thou who art the most High establish and confirm it and never suffer the gates of Hell to prevail against it Many Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God The Gates are of pearls the stréets of gold the light in it beyond that of the Sun so that the glory of it was far to excéed the old Temple The glory of any City is in the multitude of the inhabitants bring in hither all Nations and let them walk in the light of this City that they may be saved let the Kings of the Nations bring their glory and honour unto it Day and night let these gates stand open and let those of Rahab and Babylon enter by them and those who were born in Philistia and Tire with Ethiopia be regenerated and born again in her of water and of the Holy Ghost When thou shalt enrole and write up the names of thy Citizens in the book of life set it down in fair Characters that this Alien this Stranger from the Common-wealth of Israel was born in thy house And declare it to the whole world at the day of judgement that his portion shall be with thy natural children In the mean time establish unity and concord betwixt all Nations and let us live in such love and peace that there be no dissonancy no jarres no tumults among us but such an Harmony as is among those who with joyful hearts who with Songs and Musical Instruments sound forth thy praises In Zion are the Springs of living water In Zion are to be found the hid treasures of all knowledge In Zion alone are the cléer fountains of all content all joy Lord evermore refresh our thirsty souls with this water enrich out souls with this treasure Affect us with some degrée of this joy while we remain in this City below and give us full draughts of it when we shall be translated into that heavenly Jerusalem which is above through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. LXXXVIII THIS present Psalm expresseth to the life the sad case of an afflicted and a troubled soul complaining to God upon the vehemence of the disease and sense of death that he could feel no comfort Four parts of this Psalm 1. A Petition vers 1 2. 2. The cause of this Petition the misery he was in which he describes from vers 3. to 9. 3. The effect which this his miserable condition wrought upon him which was 1. A special Prayer vers 9 13. 2. An expostulation with God for deliverance vers 10 11 12. 4. A grievous Complaint from vers 14. to 18. 1. The first part His Petition grounded on four Arguments The Prophet offers his Petition but before he commenceth it he premiseth four Arguments that may perswade the admittance of it 1. His confidence and reliance on God O Lord God of my salvation Vers. 1 2. His earnestness to speed I have cryed 3. His assiduity in it Day and night 4. Yea and that sincerely Before thee And then he tenders his request for audience Let my prayer come before thee Vers. 2 encline thine ear unto my cry 2. And then next he sets forth the pitiful condition he was in The second part that thereby he might move God to take compassion which he amplifies divers wayes The sad condition he was in 1. From the weight and variety of his troubles many they were and press'd him to death For my soul is full of troubles and my life draweth nigh to the grave Vers. 3 2. From the danger of death in which he was which is illustrated by three degrees 1. That he was Moribundus no hope of life in him even by the estimate of all men I am counted with them that go down to the pit I am as a man that hath no strength 2. That he was planè mortuus but as a dead man Free among the dead Freed from all the business of this life as far seperate from them as a dead man 3. Yea dead and buried Like the slain that lie in the grave whom thou remembrest no more i.e. to care for in this life and they are cut off from thy hand i.e. thy providence thy custody as touching matters of this life 3. And yet he farther amplifies his sad condition by two Similitudes Which he amplifies by two Similitudes 1. Of a man in some deep dark Dungeon Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness in the deeps As was Jeremiah Cap. 37. 2. Of a man in a Wrack at Sea that is compassed with the waves to which he compares Gods anger Thy wrath lieth hard upon me and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves Vndaque impellitur unda The recourse of his troubles was perpetual one no sooner gone but another succeeded 2. And to add to this his sorrow his friends And over and above his friends afforded him no comfort Which he amplifies by an Auxesis whose visits in extremity use to alleviate the grief of a troubled soul even these proved perfidious and came not at him He had no comfort from them Which was Gods doing too the more was his grief The auxesis is here very elegant 1. Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me Thou 2. Thou hast made me an abomination to them No less an abomination 3. I am shut up I cannot come forth As a man in prison I cannot come at them and they will not come to me 3. The effect of which grievous affliction was threefold 1. The third part The effects this wrought on him An internal grief and wasting of the body 2. An ardent affection in prayer And 3. An expostulation with his God 1. My eye mourns by reason of affliction An evidence it is that I am troubled and grieved to the heart 1 A wasting of the body that my eye droops and fails For when the animal and vital spirits suffer a decay the eye will quickly by her dimness deadness and dulness discover it 2. It produced an ardent affection a continuance 2 A fervency in prayer and assiduity in prayer which is here made evident by the adjuncts 1. His voice I have call'd dayly upon thee It was 1. Clamor 2. Assiduns 2. By the extension of his hands I have stretch'd out my hands to thee Men use to do so when they expect
return daily to God for his good things he freely bestowes on us and how many good things he returns to us daily notwithstanding the evil we return him and we shall easily understand how great is the goodness of God That retributes good for evil and makes his Sun to shine on the just and unjust Luke 6. And Beneficia they are to us for we are the better for them The second part Which now he beginâ— by an 〈◊〉 to number the Benefits 1. Done to himself 2. At the third verse the Prophet begins his Declaration and by an Induction of particulars reckons up the benefits and that in this order 1. Those done to himself in which yet he excludes not others as if they might not share with him 2. Done to the whole Church But of the first he had a true sense and experience what others felt he could not say Now these benefits to himself were either spiritual or temporal 1. Ver. 3 The first spiritual Benefit was Justification or Remission of sin by which of an unjust man Spiritual as 1. Justification he made him just of an enemy a friend of a slave a son Bless God who forgiveth all thine iniquities freely forgives thy Debt or unjust Actions although many All everyone Original and Actual 2. 2 Regeneration The second Benefit is Regeneration by which the Power of Concupiscence that dwells in us is daily weakned and subdued though not wholly abolished The full cure must be expected in the life to come but such a cure is done upon us in this life That it shall not reign in our mortal bodies and we obey it in the lusts thereof And of this cure in himself David was sensible and therefore he saith Who heals all thy diseases or infirmities is daily cutting away and snubbing these roots of sin 3. Ver. 4 The third Benefit is Redemption Who redeemeth thy life from destruction 3 Redemption from the Pit from the Grave from Death and that which followeth it eternal Destruction 4. 4 Glorification all out of mercy The fourth Benefit Glorification Who Crowneth thee gives a Crown of Glory and the cause of this and the other Benefits be conceals not it is with or out of loving-kindness and tender mercies ex visceribus miserecordiae Neither is he behind with thee for temporal Benefits for however Bellarmine refers these and the following words to the felicity of the Soul 2 Temporal and immortality of the Body in the life to come which I dislike not in the Anagogical sense yet I conceive the Literal sense of the words may properly be referred to this present life in which God feeds and nourisheth our Bodies and supplies what is necessary for Food and Rayment and also conserves us in this life and gives us health and strength Ver. 5 both which the Prophet teacheth us in the following words 1. 1 Abundance Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things He gives not sparingly and with a Niggards hand but gives abundantly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6. He satisfieth and good things they are till we abuse them 2. 2 Long life and health So that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles An Eagle is a youthful and lusty Bird in her old age and of long life and this often God grants to many of his that they be long-liv'd healthful and lively active and vigorous old men as to Moses Joshua Job which if it happen it is a Gift of God 2. 2 Benefits to the whole Church As man is to pray so also is he bound to bless God for the good that befalls his Neighbour which course David here takes for he blesseth God not only for the Benefits of God bestowed upon himself but such as were common and did belong to the whole Church and in two he gives his instance The first is the defence of his people and deliverance of all that are oppressed The second is the Manifestation of his Will by his Servants the Pen-men of Scripture to them 1. 1 Deliverance Most just God is to his and good in punishing their Adversaries The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed with wrong Ver. 6 which is a new Benefit Two Alms he distributes 1. A righteous portion to his servants 2. Judgment and a just revenge to his enemies to all that are oppressed with wrong The Israelites were preserved in Aegypt but Pharaoh plagued 2. 2 Manifestation of his Will Most kind in making known his Will which had he not declared to his servants Ver. 7 we had never known it It must then be acknowledg'd for another favour That he made known his Wayes to Moses his Acts unto the children of Israel And here the Prophet interserts four Epithers or Attributes of God Both the Benefits bestowed because God is which declares unto us the true cause of all the former and following favours The Lord is Merciful and Gracious flow to anger and plenteous in mercy 1. Ver. 8 Merciful Rachum because he bears a pateâ—nal Affection to pious men 2. Gracious Channum the Giver of Grace and Benefits For he that loves with a fatherly Affection will give 3. Slow to anger Not easily drawn to strike he will bear long and much as a Father before he punish 4. Plenteous in mercies When he does us good being moved by no merit of our's Of all which Attributes the Prophet shewes the effects and applies them singula singulis in the following verses 1. He is merciful bears a paternal Affection to his Children 1 Merciful He will not alwayes chide neither keep his anger for ever Ver. 9 Angry he will be with his Children when they are untoward yea and chastise them too For every father chastises the son that he loves But his anger shall not last long for in his heart there remains the love of a Father from whence the stripes proceed 2. He is gracious Ver. 10 and therefore out of meer Grace he will give us a Pardon For if he should deal with us according to our deserts 2 Gracious who could abide it Psal 130. For what doth a sinner deserve but death Rom. 6. Whereas he forgives us and gives us Life Grace Glory and therefore we may truly say with David here He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Ver. 11 This Grace and Favour the Prophet amplifies by two Comparisons 1. The first is the distance of the Heaven from Earth which from the Center to the highest Orb is of an immense Altitude Yet look As high as the Heaven is above the Earth so great is his mercy toward them that fear him 2. The second is the distance of the East from the West which is of an immense Longitude and yet look Ver. 12 As far as the East is from the West so far hath he set our sins from us Let the sin be of what extent it will it is
That when all humane helps failed they implored the aid and help of God Almighty 1. Then in their trouble When no other Course will work this will do it Ve. 6 and therefore God lets his be brought into trouble In prosperity They cryed to God the heart of the best man is often too secure and thinks not on God but let such a one be brought into some extremity and streight and he will cry They did so here 2. They cryed In their Petition they were very earnest 't was not a cold prayer that might freeze in the way before it came to Heaven but it was fervent a Cry 3. And they cryed Not to any false god as did Baals Priests nor relied wholly on any humane help But they cryed unto the Lord their cry was rightly directed Now the success was answerable to their desire 1. In general He delivered them out of their distresses He delivered them 2. But in particular the deliverance was every way fit and accommodated to the exigence they were in the manner being this 1. They wandered in the Wilderness in a solitary way they found no City to dwell in ver 4. But he led them forth by the right way Ver. 7 that they might go to a City of habitation 2. They were hungry and thirsty and their soul fainted in them ver 5. But he satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness Which mercies are every way correspondent to them express'd in ver 4 5. And upon this he inculcates his Exhortation to praise God For which he exhorts them to praise God with which he began ver 1. But is so earnest to have it done that he interserts between the mercies as if he were loth to have it deferr'd which Course he also perpetually takes as may be seen after in the Psalm Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men 1. The Lord deliver'd the Lord led them forth let him then have the praise 't is his due 2. It was out of meer goodness he did it not out of desert For he is good ver 1. 3. And the effect of his goodness was seen in his works his wonderful works He would then have his praise be as publick as were his works open manifest And it was his hearts desire it should be so Oh that men would praise 2. The second Corporal Misery to which men are subject is Captivity and Imprisonment which as before he first describes The second misery captivity then shewes the Course the Captives and Prisoners took and the consequent of it viz. Gods mercy in their deliverance upon which he exhorts them as he did the banish'd and hunger-starv'd to be thankful 1. He describes their misery 1. Captives they were taken by the enemy put into Dungeons and Prisons Ver. 10 where they were debarred of the comfort of the Sun In which they suffer often very sorely For they sate in darkness and shadow of death for such is a Dungeon and they in it are in daily expectation of death 2. Besides in this place They were fast bound with affliction and iron the iron enters into their souls For disobedience against God 3. And the farther it will enter if the cause be as it is of the most their rebellion against God when they are conscious of this their irons will be far the more afflictive To others as Joseph the Apostles Jeremy the Dungeon will be the less troublesom But as I said this is the cause of few the most come thither Because they rebelled against the words of the Lord Ver. 11 and contemn'd the counsel of the most High as did the Israelites in the time of the Judges and after And therefore he brought down their heart took down their pride with labour they fell down and there was none to help 2. But then they took the same course that the banished did 1. The remedy as before They cryed unto the Lord in their trouble 2. And found the same favour And he saved them out of their distresses 3. The manner being very sutable to their distress 1. For they sate in darkness and shadow of death ver 10. But he brought them out of darkness When the same course is taken and shadow of death 2. They were bound in affliction and iron he brake their Bands asunder yea and set open the Prison-doors For he hath broken the gates of Brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder The Prison was not so strong but he was stronger and in mercy did deliver his from the severest and sharpest Captivity Now he interposeth as before his Exhortation to be thankful Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men 3. The third misery some great sickness The third Misery in which the Prophet instanceth is some great sickness or pining away of the Body under some grievous disease incurable by man such as was that of the Israelites when stung by fiery Serpents or after of Hezekiah And about this he useth his former method 1. Describes the danger and dolour under which the sick parties languish 2. Shewes the Course they took for recovery which was the very same with the Exiles and Captives 3. And the Consequent upon it their recovery upon which he the third time calls upon the delivered to be thankful 1. Which God sends on foolish sinners The appellation he fastens upon these diseased persons is Fools Not but that they may be wise enough in other things but in that they sin with a high hand against God for which they draw some plague upon them they are Fools 2. For some grievous sin Now such Fools God often smites with an incurable disease Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquity are afflicted Not but all sickness is from sin but this that the Prophet here speaks of being extraordinary was for some general Apostacy Rebellion Contempt of God and his Word some more than ordinary sin You have the first description of their sickness from the Cause 3. For which the sickness sharp The next is from the Effect which was lamentable and double 1. Their soul abhorred all manner of meat Meat with which the life of man is sustained all manner of meat becomes loathsom to them the disease was grievous 2. And deadly to the eye of man Yea and deadly too no Art of Physitians able to cure them For they draw near to the gates of death i. e. the Grave where death exerciseth his power as the Judges of Israel did in the gates 2. This causeth them to cry to God But these being but dead men in the eye of man took the same Course as they before 1. Then they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble 2. Ver. 19 And by Gods blessing they recovered beyond all hope and expectation God
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
as is the water he drinks and pierce his marrow and bones as the oyle with which he anoints him let him carry it perpetually along with him as he doth his garment and his girdle For this is it which the Prophet intends by the following similitudes who would have the curse be not only piercing and efficacious but lasting and perpetual 1. Ver. 18 As he cloathed himself with cursing like as with a garment lov'd to have it alwayes about him 1 Efficaciously as a man doth the cloaths he most delights in 2. 2 Perpetually So let it come as waters into his bowels that the stomack concocts and turns into the very flesh of the Animal so let this curse be converted into his nature and manners 3. But water pierceth not the bones oyle will do that and therefore let it come as oyle into his bones The intent of the Prophet is That it be wholly outwardly and inwardly accursed deprived of all good and fill'd with mischief and all evil And as he would have the curse to be of great efficacy so he would have him carry it alwayes about him 1. Let it be unto him as the garment that alwayes covers him That is let it alwayes stick close to him as his garment which he puts not off least his nakedness appear 2. And for a girdle with which he is girded continually i. e. compass him and go round about him being fastned either with buckles or knots 1. Moller for a garment reads Pallium which is a Cloak that a man puts off at home and calls for when he goes abroad By which he conceives the Prophet desires that God would set some external mark upon him as a note upon him that he may be known to be a Cast-away 'T is noted of the Jewes that they carry an illsent about them and their ears are grown into a Proverb some say their Visage betrayes them 2. If Doeg were the Type of Judas as most agree in this Psalm then by the girdle also might be understood Cingulum militare which they cast not off while they were of that profession And he Doeg being a misitary man he would have the curse cleave as long to him and encompass him as did his girdle And now the Prophet concludes this part of the Psalm with an Exclamation and Vote He concludes the Imprecation with a vote by which he shewes that he was perswaded that his execrations were not in vain Let this be the reward of my Adversaries from the Lord and of them that speak evil against my soul The third part He prayes for protection For himself and his Church that say I am a Deceiver a Seducer and deny me to be the Son of God 3. The Prophet now turns from cursing into prayer and in the person of Christ directs his prayer to God for protection and deliverance both of himself and for the whole Church and as before he pray'd against Judas and the Synagogue and indeed foresaw the evils that were to fall upon them so doth in this pray for himself and in that for the Church foreseeing the many good things that should be conferred on that Body of which the Messiah was to be the Head 1. He begins his prayer in this Form But do thou to me O God the Lord Ver. 21 for thy Names sake because thy mercy is good Help he asks against his Persecutors on three grounds 1. Because his Lord was Jehovah the Fountain of all Being of all Power and therefore could if he would Upon Gods mercy repress his Persecutors 2. Because it would be for his honour Do it for thy Names sake thy Name i. e. thy Clemency thy Goodness thy Faithfulness in defence of thy Church and Justice in executing Vengeance on her enemies will be thereby celebrated and declared for the Name of God imports all this 3. Do it because thy mercy is good Deliverance is easily inclined to succour such as are in misery which animates me also to ask being assured that out of mercy thou wilt do it 2. Deliver thou me methinks this part of the Petition seems to have an eye to that houre in which Christ prayed Father save me from this houre John 12.27 O my Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Mat. 26.39 For the reasons to perswade it are the same 1. Deliver me for I am poor and needy destitute of humane help And that because the Disciples slept fled 2. Deliver me for my heart is wounded within me my soul it exceeding sorrowful even unto death Mat. 26.38 And to these he adds many other Reasons the first of which illustrated by the two similitudes of the Evening shadow and the Locust Bellarmine very acutely refers to his apprehension in the Garden 1 His life short and he patient and silent and his being posted off from the High Priests to Pilate from Pilate to Herod and so back again 1. I am gone like the shadow when it declines which passeth away in a moment silently without the least noise So was Christ pull'd from his Disciples and led away as a Prisoner without any murmur 2 Unworthily used without any resistance without any defence He was led as a Lamb to the Slaughter Isa 53. 2. I am tossed up and down as the Locust Tossed from one Tribunal to another as the Locusts base Creatures that the wind carries from place to place Exod. 10.12 19. 3 Pains with trouble And so also it fell out to the Apostles and Martyrs who dyed patiently and were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tossed up and down the World 2. A second Reason from his debility or weak condition his body was now in 1. My knees are weak through fasting The little sustenance Christ took in the night before the Passion his watching in prayer that night makes this good 2. And my flesh faileth of fatness through the loss of much blood 4 Opprobriously used so faint he was that they compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry his Cross 3. A third Reason yet to move God to pity and deliver is taken from his opprobrious usage the Sarcasms and Scorns and Jeers they put upon him than which there is no injury more grievous to a Noble and ingenious spirit I am become also a reproach unto them when they looked upon me they shaked their head He prayes for the Resurrection which needs no illustration the four Gospels being an ample Comment upon this verse and so he concludes the Passion This is the first part of his prayer A second part there is of it which follows for a speedy Resurrection as he prayed before in the 22. Psalm which was also a Psalm of the Passion which is there set out to ver 18. And then he prayes as here that he might not lie long in the Grave ver 19.20 21. Help me O Lord my God save me from the pains of death Acts 2.24 according to thy mercy
And he backs his Petition with a strong Reason drawn from the final cause Help me save me that they may know that this is thy hand that thou Lord hast done it That all men especially the Jewes may know by my rising again in despite of their watch and seal that it was not their malice nor power that brought me to this ignominious death but the whole matter my Passion suffering and death proceeded from thy hand Acts 2.23 cap. 3.18 And by his Resurrection he was declared to be the Son of God Rom. 1.4 And in the close of his prayer His vote he sings as it were a Triumph over all his enemies the Devil Judas the Jewes those great enemies to him and his Church over them he insults in a bitter Epitrope 1. Let them curse speak evil of me call me a deceiver blaspheme me as the Jewes do in a solemn manner to this day 1 That God bless him let them esteem my followers as the off-scouring and out-casts of the World 2. 2 That the Jewes be confounded But bless thou So thou return me good for their cursing 2 Sam. 16.12 And not only to me in glorifying me and setting me on his right hand but for my sake bless all Nations that by faith in Baptism shall give up their names to me 3. When they arise For 1. Arise they will plot endeavour and oppose all they can both by force and fraud the establishment of my Kingdom 2. But let them be ashamed confounded and astonished that all their attempts are frustrate 4. 3 That he rejoyce But let thy servant for Christ took upon him the name and condition of a servant rejoyce not only that they are saved and their enemies confounded but because thy Name is thereby glorified And he continues his Imprecation But his adversaries cloathed with shame and comes over it again by way of Expolition Let my Adversaries be cloathed with shame and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a Mantle Confounded at the last day for their ingratitude foolishness and malice before men and Angels and wrapp'd about with it as veste talari as with a Robe or a lined Mantle that comes about and covers every part of the body 4. And at last he closeth all with thanks which he opposeth to the confusion of the wicked The fourth part For which he would praise God publickly they for amazement and astonishment of heart shall be struck dumb as the man without the wedding garment but 1. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth with great affection with a â—great Jubilee 2. Ver. 30 And that not closely among private Walls but in open Theater of the whole World yea I will praise him among the multitude Of which praise he renders this reason 1. He shall stand at the right hand of the poor i. e. such poor who are poor in spirit God will defend and save his people meek and humble and being conscious of their own wants and lack of strength are alwayes begging and beating at the door of God who is rich in mercy at the right hand of such a poor man he will stand as a Sword and Buckler to keep off every blow aimed at him for so it followes 2. I will stand at the right hand of the poor to save him from those that condemn his soul from the Devil and all his instruments Christ is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to his Church and he hath blotted out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us and nail'd it to the Cross Col. 2.14 So that cùm à mundo damnamur à Christo absolvimur Tertull. The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and ninth Psalm O Almighty Merciful and Gracious Father Ver. 1 Thou art the God of whom we make our boast all the day long and desire to magnifie and praise all our life long who art alone the Witness of the honesty and integrity of our hearts hold not thy peace in this néedful time of trouble but be our Advocate and plead our cause against the wicked and deceitful men the enemies of thy Church and Oppressors of thy Truth and people It is not Lord Ver. 2 unknown to thée That the mouths of these wicked and false-hearted hypocrites are opened against thée our Religion and Profession It is not unknown unto thée That they not only load us with lies and blasphemies but that forgetful of all humanity and piety They have compassed us about with words of hatred Ver. 3 They hate and malice us and what foul aspersions their malice could invent those they have cast upon us But with this their malice was not satisfied for from words they came to blowes our blood have they shed like water by the fury of War and defiled their hands with the slaughter of innocents our Mothers Children have risen and sought against us without a cause For what cause have we given them except it were that in charity we would have taught and informed them in the Truth and continued them in the bosom of thy Church What cause except it were that we prayed for them Father forgive them for they know not what they do Ver. 4 but such is their ingratitude That for our love they are become our Adversaries they have rewarded us evil for good and hatred for our love And for our good-will Ver. 5 repay us with oppression and make use of their power and lay hold of the time put into their hands to destroy waste and root out thy inheritance As for us we have no means to resist their fury no power to oppose against their rage but our prayers and tears and therefore we will give our selves to prayer and first pray for them Lord lay not this sin to their charge Or if they shall persist and go on in their wickedness against them as thou hast taught us in this Psalm O Lord the Curses are bitter the Execrations are fearful and we know of what spirit we are we shall then leave it to thy Iustice to execute them as on whom and when thou shalt think fit not looking so much what these men of a reprobate mind have deserved as what is our Duty taught and enjoyned by thée To love our enemies to bless them that curse us to do good to them that hate us to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us Afraid we are lest we indulge too much to our humane affections of self-love anger hatred and impatience even in using this Form that thou hast taught and therefore we will forbear to curse them and sollicite for our selves Conscious we are to our selves that we have not lived a life worthy of thy Truth and Gospel revealed unto us which is the just cause that at this time Ver. 21 in thy worship there remains almost nothing which is not corrupted with Novelty and polluted with falshood But O merciful God give us true contrition