maintaine his owne Cause Is the Prayer of the Prophet iust Yes no question For the Cause of God is euer iust and therefore ought euer to bee maintained Nor is it any partialitie in God to his owne Cause that hee comes to iudge it But he is forced as it were to the maintenance of it himselfe partly because some men will not and some men cannot defend his Cause And partly because it must be iudged at some Tribunall Now there lye many Appeales in the cause of God And all Appeale is to a superiour Court The highest is Gods Therefore when Malice and Tyrannie hath done what it can to Gods cause if his Seruants doe but Appeale as they euer doe The Cause must in the end reuolue to God himselfe who alone hath no superiour Yet his very Enemies need not feare For he vvill so plead and iudge his owne Cause that their owne Consciences shall tell them his Iudgement 's right Now one thing vvhich laies a kinde of Necessitie vpon God to maintaine his own cause is as I told you that some Men will not and some men cannot maintaine it I find both these touched in the Text. First they that vvill not For these vvords Arise O God and maintaine thine owne Cause are a grieuous taxe vpon all them to whom God hath giuen means ability yet will not stir to succour his cause For'tis as if he had said Men vvil not maintaine thy cause If thou vvilt haue it defended thou must doe it thy selfe The Iewes it seemes vvere now very guilty of this else the Prophet vvould neuer haue runne vvith that earnestnesse to God He vvould haue prayed to God had Men bin neuer so vvilling yes God forbid else but had they done their duty the extremity had not beene fear'd And marke and tremble at the curse of God which vvas called for vpon some of that People for this sinne Iudg 5. Curse yee Meroz saith the Angell of the Lord curse the Inhabitants thereof Why beause they came not vp to helpe the Lord to helpe the Lord against the mighty To helpe the Lord Why What cause of God vvas this What Why'twas his cause of Warre against Sisera as appeares Iudg. 4. Against Sisera yet to helpe the Lord. And certainely 't is a great and a grieuous errour in any People as well as in Israel and in any age of the world as well as in that to fast and pray and call vpon God to Arise and Maintaine his cause and their owne ioyn'd vvith it if in the meane time they vvill put nor hand nor purse to maintaine either their owne or Gods Their owne in the State Or Gods in the Church These Men perhaps are of Tiberius his minde Deorum iniuriae Dijs curae And vvhat that Oracle meant when he writ so to the Senate vvhether It belongs to God to vindicate his owne cause Or God vvill be sure to doe it Or let his cause sinke if he vvill not defend it I am not certaine This I am sure of God can defend himselfe sine Patrocinio nostro without any aide of ours But yet if we come not in to helpe vvhen the Cause of God is deposited vvith vs the feare is and 't is Iust that God vvill Maintaine his cause and leaue vs to maintaine our owne Secondly They that cannot For these vvords Arise O God Maintaine thine owne cause imply disability in Man as vvell as malice For 't is as if hee had said Men cannot at all times maintaine thy cause If thou vvilt haue it defended thou must doe it thy selfe And this is true of the strongest of the Sonnes of Men if they bee left to themselues But this though it puts vs in more feare yet it makes vs not halfe so guilty For Guilt followes malice more then Impotency And our weakenesse and disability is such that we are not able to hold it vp against so many and great Enemies as the cause of God bath This was the case of Hezekiah He durst not trust to himselfe and his owne strength against the Hoste of Assiria Therefore to his Prayers he went 4. Reg. 19. O Lord our God do thou saue vs out of his hand which is all one with the Text. Arise and maintaine thine owne cause But I pray take this with you When Hezekiah pray'd thus the People were in Armes No deserting the cause though no selfe-ability could hold it vp But what Enemies had the cause of God then or hath it at this day that such earnest prayers vvere then and are now made that God would Arise and maintaine it Doe you aske vvhat Enemies I 'le tell you Perhaps I shall not be able to tell you all But what my Text tells me I 'le shew you First the Text tells me the Enemies that came vp against Gods cause were fierce had got some hope of Aduantage Implyed in this that the Israelites were faine to call for maintenance and supply against them Next the Text tells mee these Enemies were thought too cunning too strong for Israel to whom the defence of Gods Cause was then committed Implied in this that they were faine to flie to God and call him in to his owne defence A signe that all seconds were too weak Thirdly the Enemies were many and not like to be beaten or mastered at once And that 's expressed ver 20. A multitude of Enemies And last of all they vvere as cruell as strong and numerous For so vvee read ver 5. Where they are called Roaring Enemies A name vvhich euer had some affinitie with the Diuell 1. S. Peter 5. So in all likelihood nothing remain'd but to get God to be absent and then they might easily swallow his People and his Cause together To preuent this was the Prophets praier and so it is ours this day For so the Psalme begins O God considering how thy cause is streitned Wherefore art thou absent from vs so long And it ends at Arise and maintaine thy Cause against them And the forme of the Prophets Praier is very considerable too and a great example to the Church of Christ. The Prayer is that God would Arise and maintaine his Cause The first thing the Prophet aimes at is the Cause the equity right that belongs to it not the respect it had to Persons And this out of question is the vvay of Iustice to honour the person for the Cause not to esteeme the cause for the person Now men for the most part goe a crosse way to this and therefore vvhen they vvill come into the way of lustice I cannot tell For vsually all businesse is sided into parties 'T is no matter for the Cause let who will maintaine that simply for it selfe If it make for vs and our party so farre vvee vvill maintaine it else be it Gods cause or whose it vvill vvhether it sinke or swimme it shall not trouble vs. And I doubt as the practise of too
is to make their Cause all one with Gods And that is done by vpholding his and conforming theirs Our safety then is when our cause is one with Gods Our danger when they differ But what is it that puts the difference betweene them What why that which put the first Enmity betweene God and Man Sinne. And therefore if wee will quit the Enmity and bee made friends the onely vvay to reconcile vs with God and our Cause vvith his is by Faith and Repentance to banish Sin The sooner this is done the sooner we are safe vvhich cannot be till our Cause be one with Gods One and yet vvhen 't is one the preheminence is still vvith Gods Cause vve must not suffer ours to step on before him For our Cause as 't is spirituall and concernes our soules if it be neuer so good neuer so close ioyned vvith Gods yet God's is to haue the precedence For be ours neuer so good I must begge of your humility to Remember that Gods Grace did both preuent and follow to make it so And therefore we are to put his cause first and to pray chiefly for the maintenance of that which gaue worth to ours And for our cause as 't is tempor all and concernes this life onely Our safety life and liuely-hood Gods cause is to haue the precedence of that much more Father and Mother Wife and Children Brethren and Sisters Life and all must be accounted as nothing to Gods Cause S. Luke 14. And it hath euer been a signe that the Soule of a Man goes right That a vvhole People keepe vpon Gods path when they seeke first the Kingdome of GOD and the righteousnesse thereof and leaue God to minister and maintaine the rest S. Mat. 6. When they are more tenderly affected to the Cause of God and more sensible of the Reproach or Blasphemy of his Name then of any calamities that might or malice can bring vpon their persons And yet our giuing Gods Cause the precedence in our loue to it and our Prayers for it is no exclusion of our own Cause Nay the preferring of Gods before our owne And the making of our owne conformable to Gods Is the way to make God as iealous of our safety from all extremity as he is to vindicate his owne honour from Reproach and Blasphemy And therefore though the Prophet heere as Theodoret obserues doth not say Arise O God and maintaine Causam meam my cause but thine owne Yet the same God that will haue vs preferre his cause will haue vs pray for our owne like wise And so the Prophet did For though he be heere all for Gods cause yet vvee haue hime very earnest for his owne too Pleade thou my cause O Lord with them that striue with me and fight thou against them that fight against me Psal. 35. And defend my cause O God against the vngodly People Psal. 43. 1. Well then Thy cause O God and my Cause O God But the Rule of Practise goes heere Gods cause must leade that ours may follow it vnder the protection of God As we haue therefore now begun so let vs pray on as the Prophet did That God euen our Gracious Father will bee no longer like vnto one that sleepes That hee will Arise and blow ouer these feares from vs. 'T is but his Breath and he can drie the Cloudes that they drop not Rottennesse vpon our Haruest 'T is but his Breath and he can cleere the Ayre of Infection as well all ouer the Kingdome as he hath beyond admiration done it in our chiefe City And 't is but the same Breath and he can shake our Enemies to peeces in the Sea That God being Arisen and come neere in prouidence will pleade first and after maintaine his owne Cause His owne in the hand of the King His owne in the heart of the Church And his owne in the Holinesse of his Name That he will giue this State and Church and euery Member of both such grace that our cause may bee his and his Maintenance ours That he wil remember and that 's enough that if his Cause bee ours our Enemies are his That we may so order our liues by his Grace that if these or any Enemies will Blaspheme it may not bee Him for our sinnes but Vs for his seruice That our Enemies and his how-wise soeuer in other things yet in their plots and practises against vs may be written in the Text-Letters FOOLES That we being preserued from them and all other Aduersity may take warning in time to mend our liues and so heereafter liue to honour and serue him that the world may see he hath beene mercifull and wee labour to be Thankfull That after the maintenance of his and our Cause heere we may in our seuerall times be receiued vp to him in Glory Through Iesus Christ our Lord To whom with the Father c. FINIS * In Octau Indaeorum Deum suisse Rom. numinibus vna cū gente Captiuum Verse 5. Verse 6. Hom. 14. in Ep. ad Hebr. Verse 13. Haeres 59. Verse 14. Verse 20. Psal. 50. 15. Esa. 17. 11. Esa. 7. 20. S. Iacob 4. Iud. 9. 33. Mat. 17. 21. Mat. 5. 6. Esa. 58. 5. 3. Reg. 18. 27. Psal. 121. 4. Psal. 44. 23. S. Basil in Psal. 23. S. Ierom in Habac. 3. Uelut ad dormientem loquimur Verse 12. Psal. 127. 2. S. Mat. 3. 17. Rom. 6. 9. S. Aug. in Psal. 129. S. Mat. 8. 28. Ver. 14. S. Iacob 4. 6. Psal. 99. 5. 1 Thes. 5. 3. Sen. Ep. 53. Min. Foel in Octau S. Ioh. 5. 17. Tho. sup q. 88. A. 1. Psal. 73. 12. Verse 16. Lib. 20. de Ciuit. Dei cap. 1. 2 Tim. 2. 19. Psal. 51. 4. Rom. 3. 4. S. Mat. 25. 45. Caluin 4. Inst. 20. §. 23. Rom. 13. 2. Arist. 1. Eth. c. 2. Sap. 6. 4. Tho. 2. 2. q. 99. A. 1. Primū Ephes. 1. 22. 23. Lib. 7. Hist. cap. 32. In. G. Naz. Orat. 4. Ibid. 4 Reg. 18. 25 S. Ioh. 19. 10 Elias Cret in Naz. Orat. 4. Ibid. Iudg. 5. 23. Iudg. 4. Tacit. Lib. 1. Anal. Cal. 3. Inst. c. 23. §. 2. 4. Reg. 19. 19. 2 Chron. 32. 6. Verse 20. Verse 5. 1 S. Pet. 5. 8. Verse 21. Epist. Fabio de 42. Mans. Ma. 3. Elias Cret in Naz. Orat. 4. S. Iohn 14. 1. Iosuah 1. 7. 17. Homil. 14. in Epist. ad Hebr. Verse 24. Ibid. Verse 11. 19. Ibid. Tho. 2. 2. q. 13. A. 1. c. Psal. 14. 1. Verse 9. Ibid. Cal 3 Inst. c. 23. §. 2. Psal. 83. 13. 1 Cor. 1. 20. 2 Sam. 17. 14. Ibid. Verse 20. Verse 23. Verse 24. S. Iaco. 5. 16. S. Hierom in Thren 5. Ose 1. 6. Ibid. Innocen 3. 〈◊〉 L. 2. Mist. Miss c. 6. Psal. 130. 3. S. Luke 14. 26. S. Mat. 6. 33. Ibid. Psal. 15. 31. 1. Psal. 43. 1.
many men is so is their Prayer For the Faction and the Party all not the cause either as 't is Gods the Churches or the States And parties are euer priuate ends The Cause as 't is Gods the Churches or the Kingdoms is euer common Euer fit to be made the Obiect of our Prayers Yet this aduantage may heere be had If euer you may safely preferre the person before the cause and yet be iust you may doe it heere God before his owne cause And the Reason is because God as he can neuer tender an vniust cause to his People so is he Iustice it selfe And euer Iuster then any cause of his that is without him Therefore whatsoeuer others doe Arise O God and maintaine thy selfe and thine owne cause Maintaine it euen from heauen ther 's no great trust to the Earth for that is full of darkenesse and cruell habitations verse 21. Now all this while wee haue almost forgotten who 't is that makes this Prayer Saint Hierom tells me and hee is not alone in the opinion the Psalme was Dauids and therefore the Prayer too As a Prophet he foresaw the danger and as a King he went on directly to the highest remedy And though Kings now are not Prophets yet 't is a great blessing vpon any Kingdome to haue the King a Seer so farre as is possible To haue him with both eyes open His right eye open and vp to heauen for God to maintaine him And his other eye downwards but open vpon his People to take care of them and maintaine them with the same support that hee hath receiued from God And herein aboue other Nations we are blessed this day I say againe Aboue other Nations if vve can see our blessing and be thankefull For the King keepes his eye as steddy vpon God as if hee had no helpe below him And yet at the same time as gracious an eye vpon his People to relieue their iust grieuances as if he were more ready to helpe them then to receiue helpe from them Let not your hearts be troubled neither feare S. Ioh. 14. Here are two Kings at once at Prayer for you Dauid and your owne King They are vp and calling vp on God to Arise For shame Lagge not behinde God and your King You haue beene and I hope are a valiant Nation let nothing dead your spirits in Gods your Countries Seruice And if any man drop malignant poyson into your Eares powre it backe into his owne bosome And Sir as you were first vp sumon'd the Church to awake and haue sounded an Alarum in the Eares of your People Not that they should Fast and Pray and serue God alone but goe with you into the House of the Lord so goe on to serue your Preseruer Your Merit and the Noblenesse of your heart will glew the hearts of your People to you And your Religious care of Gods Cause and seruice will make him I doubt not Arise and haste to the maintenance of your Cause as of his owne Only in these and all times of difficultie bee strong and of a good courage keepe close to the Lawe of the Lord. Be full of Counsell and then resolute to Act it Else if you shal not be firme to deliberated Counsells they which are bound to serue you may seeke and finde opportunities to serue themselues vpon you This doe and God Arise and be with you as he was with Moses Ios. 1. This do and as S. Chrysost. speakes Aut non habebis Inimicum aut irridebis eum Either you shall haue no Enemy or you shall be able to scorne him the world ouer The second thing vvhich the Prophet vvould haue God doe when he is risen is that he would Remember how the Foolish man blasphemeth him dayly The Enemies of Gods Truth and of the peace of his People it seemes doe not onely seeke to ouerthrow his Cause but base vnciuilly irreligious as they are they flye vpon his person too For so you see the Text changes from the thing to the person Maintain thy cause but remember the Reproach runs against thy selfe They blasphemethee And by this you may see how dangerous a thing it is for any Men or any States to become Enemies to the Cause of God For sinne will not stay till it haue wrought them farther euen into enmity against God himselfe And therefore this sin here a high and a presumptuous sinne is not called the presumption of them that hate Gods Cause but of them which hate God himselfe Ver. 24. Presumption easily falls to Reproach goodnes itselfe But what Reproach is it these Enemies cast vpon God What Why 't was in the highest degree 'T was Blasphemy For so Saint Basil renders my Text. And so 't is called againe Ver. 11. 19. You may be sure the Prophet mistooke it not It went not single there vvere more then one and Theoderet cals them Execrationes Cursings and Reuilings of God And men of all sorts as vvell as vsurping Enemies had need bee watchfull ouer this sin For a man may quickly be vvithin the borders of it before hee be aware especially if he be bold and busie vvith the Cause of God as it is reserued and secret in himselfe For since all Blasphemie is a Derogation of some Excellencie chiefly in God the Schoole collects and truly That vvhosoeuer denies to God any attribute that is due vnto him or affirmes any of God that is not agreeable to his Nature is within the Confines of Blasphemie Entred though perhaps not so far gone But these Enemies it seems stuck at no degree of Blasphemy Spared God himselfe no more then his Cause And vvhat reason can this State or Church haue to thinke these Enemies or their like that spared not God nor his Cause vvill if they haue power enough spare them or theirs But I pray vvho or vvhat manner of Enemy vvas it that made thus bold vvith God Who vvhy my Text answers that too Sculous fuit it vvas the foolish Man And you may know so much by his boldnesse We find Psal. 14. There was a Foole that blasphemed God But 't was in his heart Out of his mouth hee durst not let it goe not once And this Foole was in the same feare at first For his Blasphemie kept in his heart verse 9. But now hee was growne impudent it brake out at his Lippes For as S. Basil and others obserue he did Palam maledicere Blaspheme at large The Prophet no question knew these Enemies what they were and that they had other names beside Fooles But hee fits them with their Name of Merit That they deserued that he giues them I told you these Enemies vvere cunning subtill Enemies And 't is true But Malignity against Gods cause and Blasphemie against his Person vvill make the greatest Wisedome in the world turne Foole. And Follie dares aduenture any thing against Man Nay against God
too vvhich is a like true of the Foole at home and the Foole abroad The Prophet pray'd against their Enemies as vve doe now against ours O my God make them as a wheele Psal. 83. And see in what a wheele they are The worst that euer moued For their Blasphemy carries their Wisedome round into Folly And their Folly turnes their malice round into heigher degrees of Blasphemy Thus is this Enemy no sooner a Blasphemer but a Foole And no sooner a Foole but a greater Blasphemer So Blasphemy is punished with Folly and Folly vvith Blasphemy Ther 's the vvheele both in the sinne and the punishment And I pray obserue These Enemies that beset Gods Cause at Ierusalem vvere a Nation And so some reade heere Not the Foolish man but the Foolish People And a powerfull Nation they were were they Babilonians Syrians or Romanes And one of them they were And yet you see the Prophet giues them no other no better name then Foole when they violently persecute Gods Cause Indeed they deserue it And this Sinne is as able to Foole a whole Nation as a particular Man Nay the holy Ghost heere speakes of them as of one Man As if Blasphemie could change a whole Nation into one Foole. And surely 't is no hard thing with God to make the wisedome of the whole world Foolishnesse 1 Cor. 1. And 't is as easie with him to confound the wisedome of a whole Nation as of one Achitophell And see I beseech you how their sins continue Once a Foole in this kinde and an Enemy to Gods Cause and a Blasphemer of his Person euer after without a great deale of mercy And this is noted in the circumstance Tota Die and Quotidie Daily and all the day long at this Blasphemy And 't is vsuall this with Enemies All the day For their Studdie is vpon it And euery day For these Enemies were the same in Blasphemy The day of their preparation The day of their Fight the day of their Victory And Ruffinus obserues that this Blasphemy grew in the continuance And either it derided God in his Seruants or it menaced men for seruing God How it flatter'd it self there while against both Man and God is thus far apparant in the Text That they neuer durst haue bin daily Blasphemers against God if they had not bin Opinators at least that God could neuer haue maintained made good his cause against them It is too much to see the cause of God opposed To heare the Name of GOD Blasphemed were it but once But all the day long and euery day is a Tentation allmost vnsupportable to Christian and religious hearts Yet this wee must bee Inur'd to heare against King and Church and God himselfe if wee take not better course then hitherto wee haue done to keepe out the Enemy and his Blasphemy Against this 't was time for the Prophet and 't is time for vs to pray The Blasphemy of an Enemie is a very vrgent Motiue to make Men pray And the Prayer of the Prophet heere that God would remember the Blasphemer was very feruent For he beginnes this Prayer at Remember the Rebuke of the Enemy verse 20. And hee ends his Prayer with Remember the Blasphemy of this Foole v. 23. Remember and forget it not verse 24. This was the Prophet's Zeale for Gods Cause and you may learne by it that cold Prayers are not they which remoue the Blasphemy of Enemies The Prayers indeed of but one righteous Man doth much but 't is when they are feruent S. Iaco. 5. But you vvill say What needs all this calling vpon God to Remember Is it possible he should forget not possible certainly But then as before Though God cannot sleepe Yet to awaken not him but our poore vnderstanding concerning him the Praier was Arise O God So heere though God cannot forget yet because in his prouidence he somtimes carries himselfe to our sense and apprehension Ad modum obliuiscentis as if hee did forget and threatens that hee will forget Obliuione obliuiscar eorum Ose. 1. Forgetting I will forget them Therfore heere againe the Prayer runnes after the manner of men Arise O Lord yes and Remember too Why but since heer 's Enmity against the Cause of God and Blasphemy against himselfe why doth the Prophet aske no more of God but that he would remember this Why why certainly'tis because there 's aboundantly enough of that He knew if God did Remember he would punish And as S. Ierome obserues hee therefore Remembers that hee may confound in Iudgement And indeede in Gods Language to Marke and Remember is many times to punish and not to Remember is to forgiue sinne If thou Lord shouldest be extreame to marke and obserue that is to punish What is done amisse Psal. 130. And the Church hath learn'd not only to speake but to pray of the Prophet For so the Church praies in the Letanie Not punish not but Remember not Lord our Offences And therefore the Prophets Praier was home enough Remember Lord Yes do but that and we either haue or shall haue enough and our enemies too We I hope of deliuerance and preseruation and they of punishment Thus you haue heard the Prophets praier and I hope made your owne that God would Arise and bestir himself And what he desired God would do both for State and Church when he was Risen That is That hee would pleade and maintaine his owne Cause And Remember that is punish in his owne time the Blasphemy of all them that reproach or detract from it or him One thing yet remaines and 't is fit to be thought vpon this day euerie daie all the day long And that is what it is that makes God a Protector of any King any State any Nationall Church against either in bred or forraine Enemies Against the Fox at home and the Lion abroad And that certainly is for the State to goe on with Honour and Iustice. And for the Church to labour Deuotion as much at least if not more then knowledge For else Gods cause and ours may be two And then God may Arise and maintaine his owne but leaue vs to the Famine to the Pestilence to the Sword to any other Iudgement The onely way to make God Arise as soone as euer we call Nay to preuent our call and come in to helpe before we pray is for both King and People State and Church to weaue their Cause and Gods together To incorporate them so that no cunning of the Diuel may be able to separate them For then the benefit is apparant God cannot Arise and maintaine his owne cause but he must maintaine ours too because 't is one with his And his owne doubt you not he will maintaine against the proudest Enemie that can come against it And certainly the greatest hope and confidence of Gods Assistance to any Nation to anie Man that can preceed deliuerance itself