thou break a leaf driven too and fro Ver. 11 How long wilt thou pursue the dry stubble While thou Writest these bitter things against us our dayes are like a shadow and decliues and we are withered as grass whose beauty and glory fades in a moment But why art thou thus vexed O my soul Ver. 12 and why art thus disquieted within me O put thy trust in God Call to mind that he endures for ever and the remembrance of his Covenant to all generations 'T is thy promise O Lord we look to 't is thy Covenant only we hope in according to thy word arise and have mercy upon Zion pity thy poor afflicted people for the time to favour her is now very seasonable Ver. 13 yea the time is come For thy servants think upon and take pleasure in her stones not so much those stones with which those goodly structures Ver. 14 in which we were wont to meet and praise thee were built and beautified as those living stones built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Ver. 17 Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone and it pitieth them to see her in the dust In the dust Lord we favour them and for these we pray that they may be restored to their places in thy Sacred Temple Ver. 16 O regard the prayer of the poor destitute and despise not our desire for this will tend to thy honour and enlargement of thy Kingdom being alsured Ver. 15 that when the Lord shall build up Zion and when he shall appear in glory that the heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the earth thy glory Look down then O Lord from the height of thy Sanctuary and from heaven behold the earth Ver. 19 Hear the groaning of the Prisoners and loose those that are appointed to death Ver. 20 that they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise at Jerusalem Ver. 21 May we but obtain so great a mercy it shall be written for the generations to come and the people our children that shall be born Ver. 18 shall praise the Lord They shall praise thee and sing of thy mercy in the great Congregation even when the people are gathered together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. That thou wilt make an Inquisition for innocent blood I am assured that those who have profaned thy dwelling place shall be as a rolling thing before the wind Ver. 23 I do believe that they who have swallowed down riches shall vomit them up again I know for God shall cast them out of their belly But thou hast so weakned my strength in the way and so shortned my dayes that it is not likely I shall lide to sée it Lord might my eyes sée thy salvation I would willingly sing with old Simeon Ver. 24 Now let thy servant depart in peace Yet will I pray O my God take me not away in the midst of my age I am thy Creature O Lord created after thy own image yet not to live for ever on earth as thou shalt live in heaven for thy years are throughout all generations Even the earth whose foundation thou hast laid and the heavens which are the work of thy Power and Wisdom wax old as a garment and as a vesture shall be wrapt up they shall perish and be annihilated spare me a little then because I am a creature of a short continuance and can bear no proportion to thy esernity for thou art the same and thy years have no end But I yield my self to thy Will I submit my self to thy dispose if I cannot arrive to what I desire to sée Jerusalem in prosperity yet grant that I may see my Lord in the Land of the living for I am assured that the children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee and live in thy presence for evermore Amen PSAL. CIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Psalm to David THE Title shews the Psalm to be inspired into David by the Holy Ghost and the end is to comfort a soul heavy and laden but especially with the burden of sin To him every word in it drops like an Honey-comb so that had not the comfort been revealed and sent from heaven it could never have been believed that Almighty God should be so merciful to sinful man Three parts there are of this Psalm 1. The Exordium in which David by an Apostrophe turns to his own soul and stirs it up to bless God ver 1 2. 2. The Narration or an ample Declaration of the Benefits from the first to the last conferred by God upon him and others and the causes of them from ver 3. to 20. 3. A Conclusion in which he makes a motion to Angels and all other Creatures to joyn with him in the praise of God from ver 20. David stirs up his soul to praise God The first part to the last 1. David being fully perswaded that he was one of the number of the Elect stirs up himself in the person of the Elect to praise and speak well of God in the two first verses 1. Bless God think on the Benefit and bless the Benefactor Ver. 1 Extoll him with praises 2. O my Soul bless him because the Soul alone can know and inform the whole man what God deserves for his blessings 2. Again he would not have it a lip-labour but come from a heart affected with it Heartily done for quod cor non facit non fit 3. Not the Soul alone but that all that is within him Totum hominis And the whole man whatsoever is within his skin every part every faculty about him Will Understanding Memory Affections Heart Tongue Hand Eyes c. All joyn 4. And bless Jehovah for he gave them their Being and their Properties and Operations 2. Praise his holy Name his Essential Properties his Wisdom Power Goodness Justice for to oclebrate God in all these is To praise his holy Name 5. Bless the Lord O my Soul for he comes over it again Ver. 2 that he might press the Duty more emphatically and shew his vehement desire to have it done it shewes we freeze and are cold in the Duty and need a Goad to quicken us 6. And forget not all his benefits He repeats it and adds That we forget not His Benefits 1. Forget not He would not be guilty of the common Errour forgetfulness of a good turn for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which if it happen 't is impossible to be thankful and therefore Omnium ingratissimus qui beneficii accepti non reminiscitur Forget not then 2. All his benefits Not all no nor indeed any of them for not one but deserves a blessing 3. His benefits Some read Munera the Vulgar Retributiones If Munera they are freely given if Retributiones they are more than we can deserve yet it pleases him to accompt them so Let but a man well consider how many evils we
not the interposition of our sin so it be repented and left that can hinder his Grace to shine upon us and remove it 3. He is slow to anger and he hath this of a Father also 3 Slow to anger For no men more patient than Fathers in tolerating the infirmities and childishness of their Children this in him also For like as a Father pieth his Children Ver. 13 so the Lord pitieth them that fear him 4. Plenteous in mercy 4 Plenteous in mercy He takes into his consideration what frail Creatures we are and fading For he knoweth our frame he remembreth we are dust Ver. 14 As for man his dayes are as grass as a flower of the Field so he flourisheth for the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more And this fragility and instability of our's causeth him to be exceeding merciful to us which David expresseth in the next verse by way of Antithesis But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting ab aeterno in aeternum from the Eternity of our Predestination to the Eternity of our Glorification yet not bestowed hand over head it is with thy Restriction and Limitation But to those that fear him and keep his Covenant 1. Upon them that fear him 2. And his righteousness that is veracity and faithfulness in performing his Covenant not to the Fathers alone but to Childrens children 3. To such as keep his Covenant Yea and are obedient observe the conditions of Faith and Repentance 4. Yea and of obedience also That remember his Commandments to do them These Benefits are many and wonderful and the mercy from which they proceed infinite but that no man doubt of the performance of it Ver. 19 that God will do for those That fear him and keep his Commandments This mercy God is able to make good what he hath promised and in the Close of this Part the Prophet puts us in mind of his Power 1. He is Dominus in Coelo not like our Lords on Earth his power is no where circumscribed 2. He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens there he fits pro Tribunali can see and judge the World 3. And that we suspect him not to be some under-Judge set over us and appointed by another David tells us His Kingdom ruleth over all The Supremacy is his he is the Supreme Monarch 3. The third part For these Benefits he invites all Creatures to praise God And thus the Prophet having particularly remembred Gods Goodness and Benefits to his People as being not able to return sufficient thanks alone he invites all the Creatures to joyn with him in his praise and first the Angels Bless the Lord ye his Angels whom he describes 1. 1 Angels From their excellency Ye that excel in strength 2. From their obedience And do his Commandments 3. From their celerity readiness and chearfulness in it That hearken to the voyce of his words that you may shew you selves faithful Ministers and Servants 2. 2 Armies of God He invites all the Armies of God to joyn with him by which Bellarmine understands all the Superiour Order Archangels Principalities Dominations and Powers which is the Militia of Heaven Luke 2. together with the Angels before-named Bless the Lord all his Hosts ye who how glorious soever yet are but Ministers of his that do his pleasure faithfully receive your charge and do it diligently and daily execute it 3. 3 All his works He invites all the Creatures of God to joyn with him also as if they had sense 3 All his works and understood him Bless the Lord all his works All for that no man should think that he meant only rational Creatures in Heaven and Earth 2. He adds in all places of his Dominion which extends over the whole world All Creatures then without exception and all in all places he desires would do it and good Reason for he made all and rules over all and is in all places with all and fills all and preserves all and moves all and in their kinds they have done it the Water at the Flood the Fire at Babylon the Crowes in feeding Eliah the Lyons in sparing Daniel c. And they do it when all keep their own stations and work according to that Law of Nature which God hath put upon them 4. 4 Himself Lastly That no man should imagine that he that called on others would be backward in performing the Duty himself as he began so he concludes this excellent Psalm Bless the Lord O my Soul At all times let his praise be in thy mouth The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and third Psalm BOund I am Ver. 1 O Omnipotent God and most merciful Father for thy great favours unto me with heart with soul with all powers of my mind and all strength of my body perpetually to acknowledge thee to praise thee and laud thy holy Name Wherefore O my Soul Bless thou the Lord and all faculties within me and parts about me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all or any one of his Benefits My actual sins are many and grievous but thou O Lord in mercy hast forgiven my iniquities Thou hast justified me by the death of thy Son cleansed me by his blood of an unjust person made me just of an enemy a friend of a slave a san I consess O Lord that the bitter root of sin is so graffed in my nature that I carry it about me in my mortal body and I lament yet I give thanks to thy grace which hath so healed my infirmities and so subdued them by the power of thy Spirit that I féel it daily dying and the strength thereof so decayed that it cannot reign rule and command within me And this gives me assurance Ver. 4 That thou hast redeemed my life from death hell and destruction and that at last out of thy loving-kindness and tender mercies I shall be Crowned with a Crown of Glory Lord what was I or what could I deserve that thou shouldst bestow these wonderful Benefits upon me when I think upon them I am not able to comprehend them and when I comprehend them I should be never able to believe them had'st thou not revealed them and assured them to my foul by thy boly Spirit O my Soul then bless the Lord bless his holy Name and forget not all his Benefits But as if all these high favours had been too little Thou hast over and above added many temporal blessings I enjoy by thy bounty food and rayment Ver. 5 which are good things so long as well used with these thou hast satisfied my mouth and given me health and strength to make use of them So that my youth is renewed as the Eagles in this my old age I find my body healthful my senses not altogether impaired my
both great and small whether thou hast raised them to a high degrée of honour or made them vessels of dishonour Thou Lord art that great Lord that hath made both heaven and earth she power in heaven Thou hast reserved to thy self the earth Thou hast given to the children or men that they may inhabit it and be sustained by it By thine own mouth all those who serve thée in fear and reverence are pronounced to be the Blessed of the Lord give then good God to these the dew of heaven and the famess of the earth multiply and increase them more and more both the fathers and their children Of this nothing can deprive us but our abuse and unthankfulness that may make heaven brass and the earth iron under us So touch our hearts then with thy grace that we never receive a blessing but we be as ready to return a blessing that we use not the gift without blessing thée the Doner t is the end we live 't is the end we breath The dead praise thee not for the gifts of the earth because they have no use of them they that go down into the stlent places of the grave are altogether silent for thy swéet dewes and showres wherewith the earth is impregned and fatned because they stand not in néed of any of her supplies We are the men who yet live and draw our breath which must be nourished and sustained by the dugs of this good mother which we will never praw without thankfulness We will bless the Lord while we live upon the earth even from this time to the end of our life and if we could live for ever for evermore Since therefore O merciful Lord Thou hast given the earth for a possession to the sons of men and to that end that there may be upon the earth some to celebrate thy Name we beséech thée to defend thy little flock from the hands of violent men and suffer them not by their rage and fury to be taken from their possessions by a violent and immature death But much more O Lord preserve them from eternal death and damnation in which no man can praise thée and grant unto them that while they live on earth they may live by the life of thy Spirit that both now and for ever as it is their bounden duty they may praise and magnisle thy Name and set forth thy mercies in Iesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen PSAL. CXVI Didascalicus THIS Psalm is gratulatory for it shewes some great straits to which David was brought from which God delivering him he vowes to be thankful The points of this Psalm are three 1. David makes profession of his love and shews the Reasons of it viz. Gods goodness to him in hearing him when he was in a sad condition and helping him from ver 1. to 9. 2. He professeth his duty and faith ver 9 10 11. 3. He vowes to be thankful and in what manner from ver 12. to 19. 1. Deum David diligit He begins with the expression of his content and love I have enough I love the Lord The first part and presently sets down his Reasons 1. Ver. 1 Because he hath heard my voyce and my supplications good reason then to love him Ratio prima That God heard him 2. Because he hath inclined his ear to me a certain evidence that he was heard Upon which certainty and experience of Audience Ver. 2 he infers this protestation Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live Secunda Ratio Amoris auditum in suâ angustiâ 2. Another Reason that moved him to love God and acquiesce in him was That he heard him in his greatest need and extremities which he describes in the next verse Neither can there be any greater for he suffered in body and soul by the sense of Gods wrath which how great they are those only can tell you that have had experience of them 1. The sorrowes of death compassed me even death it self is the King of fear Describet angustias 2. The pains of Hell gat hold upon me He feared the anger of God for his sin and the consequent of that anger 3. Both these brought him into a heavy case many compass'd about with the sorrowes of death living in prosperity they observe it not they consider it not and therefore they nor fear nor grieve But David was sensible of his condition he found where he was and therefore in grief and fear he-professeth I found trouble and sorrow but at last faith seems to conquer them he despairs not For he betakes himself to his old and safe remedy a remedy that never had failed him 1. Then in these sorrowes these pangs these troubles 2. Invocatio refugium I called upon the Name of the Lord Invocation was his sole Refuge 3. And he sets down the very words of his prayer for our use in the like case O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul i.e. from the sorrowes of death and dangers of hell And then Ostendit quibus fundament is nixus ad Deum fugit oravit viz. that he might shew that he prayed to God in faith and hope he acquaints us upon what ground he did it viz. those Attributes of God of which every one that happens to be in his case hath especial use or else he is not like to find comfort for then no talking of merits of predestination of Enthusiasms in such a case these are no Cordials to a soul under the sense of Gods wrath That which will then comfort any man is to remember and believe what David doth here 1. That God is gracious he inspires prayer and repentance into a man and freely remits sin Dei Attribut is and receives to favour all such as by a lively faith flie to him 2. And righteous and just that will perform what he hath promised and grant an induigence upon those terms that he hath promised 3. Yea our God is merciful he mingles mercy with his justice and though he scourgeth every son that he receives yet 't is with a fathers hand which is more prone to forgive than to punish 4. The Lord preserves the simple i. e. Men sine plicis such simple men as Job was these being without counsel or help he keeps he saves Of which David gives an instance in himself I was brought low and he helped me And the like favour others may find that call upon him on those grounds that I did relying on him because he is gracious righteous and merciful and preserves the simple 3. Another Reason he had to love God was the great rest quiet Tertia Ratio Amoris acquiescentia animi orta ex reconciliatione peace and tranquility he found in his soul after this storm was over and therefore after he had described the Tempest and the means he used for his deliverance out of it viz. Faith and Invocation and found them effectual
expect none but muddy troubled water that then the Prophet saith He shall drink of the Torrent intimates That the drink offer'd him should be much and troubled And at his Passion he descended into the very depth of the Torrent and drank very deep of it 3. In the way That was while he was Viator in his Journey all the time of his life that preceded his Resurrection and Ascension 2. His Ascension and Honour But Claritas Humilitatis praemium because he thus humbled himself and willingly underwent his Death and Passion for the Glory of his Father and the Salvation of Mankind therefore shall God lift up his Head he shall ascend into Heaven sit at his right hand and be constituted the Judge of quick and dead he shall rise from the dead and have all power committed to him in Heaven and Earth The Prayer out of the One hundred and tenth Psalm O Almighty God most gracious and merciful Lord sinned all Mankind hath and by it incurr'd thy displeasure and by the disobedience of our first Parents had we not since added to that disobedience béen utterly lost it was not in the power of any creature to save us it was not within the compass of any humane or angelical ability to make our peace to get our pardon and to reconcile us again unto thée The sentence of death was passed upon us and nothing could respite the execution but thy own Ordinance A Mediator was wanting to interpose and hear all differences a Priest to step in and make an Atonement an Advocate to plead for thy people and allay the anger that was gone forth And such an one O merciful Lord Thou out of thy méer love hast in mercy provided for us Thou saidst to thy own Son Thou art a Priest for ever and thy own Son said Lo I come to do thy Will Ver. 4 and so by thy wonderful Decrée and his willing Obedience we are redéemed Who ever heard so strange a thing who could or would ever believe this report hadst not thou O God revealed it The zeal of the Lord hath done this for us the zeal of the Son of God hath done this brought to pass that which flesh and blood would never believe were it not That thou hast commanded it to be believed O mystery beyond comprehension which when we séem to comprehend yet we understand not the secret so far passeth what our weak capacity can reach unto And in this thou O merciful Father hast condescended to our infirmity for that thy Decrée and thy Sons love be never more doubted Thou hast secured us by an Oath an Oath of which thou wilt never repent That he is a Priest for ever A Priest must have something to offer and he offer'd himself a Priest must offer blood and he offer'd his own a Priest must step in and appease thy anger when it was at the highest a Priest must reconcile when the terms of difference were the greatest And such an High Priest thou hast sworn thy Son shall be given him for us and to us not only to them that lived then and before but to all thine that are now and shall be hereafter for thou hast ordained to be a Priest for ever O holy and good Father how much hast thou loved us who hast not spared thine one only Son but hast deliver'd him to be our Priest and our Sacrifice and therefore our Priest because our Sacrifice to Sacrifice himself upon the Altar of the Cross that he might cancel and nail there the Hand-writing that was against us and by death destroy him that had the power of death the Devil This could not be done till he had drank of the Brook in the way till all thy storms and waves had gone over him for so it behoved Christ to suffer Ver. 7 and to enter into his Glory But now all those indignities that agony those unknown sufferings are at an end and thou hast lifted up his head He that sacrificed himself on Earth is an High Priest an Advocate a Mediator an Intercessor for his Body in Heaven and there applies his purchase and continues this his Office for his Servants and Saints O Lord I am the meanest the most sinful of this Society so often as I provoke thée to anger by infirmity or surreptitious by enormous or presumptuous iniquities turn thy face from me a wretched Caitiff and behold those wounds in his hands féet and side and accept of that precious Sacrifice which he made upon the Cross for me hear the cry of those wounds that intercede for me at thy Throne of Grace I rely upon no other Advocate I will sue to no other Mediator if he be not able to save me then let me perish for ever speak peace to my soul in his Name be reconciled unto me in his blood and make his intercession so powerful unto me That I may be purged from my sins and turned from mine iniquities And this Supplication I do not only offer unto thée for my self but for all thy people Ver. 1 for whose sakes thou hast lift up his head and said unto my Lord Sir thou at my right hand All power is now given unto him both in Heaven and in Earth for he is not only a Priest but a King also a Scepter he hath and a Rod in his right hand this is the Rod of his strength and it came first out of Zion Ver. 2 I mean his Gospel that Law which came first out of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem O set thy King upon thy holy hill of Zion give him the Heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession break them with a Rod of Iron and dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel Oppose all those that oppose the growth and enlargement of his Kingdom Let him rule in the midst of thine enemies and sit at thy right hand until thou hast made all his enemies his Foot-stool O Lord let him preside and have the Dominion over all till there be no Adversary left that shall dare to oppose him in his Offices Behold we humbly beséech thée how in these our dayes there are risen up blasphemous and wicked men cruel and bloody Antichrists who go about to break his Bands asunder and dare boldly and impudently say of him We will not have this man to reign over us Be present then O Lord our Saviour at the right hand of thy people and strike through Kings Princes and Potentates in the day of thy wrath Exercise judgment against these blasphemous and heathenish Rebels let not thy Eye pity them nor thy Sword spare them but fill the places with their dead bodies and in what Countrey soever they remain what Aire soever they breath let their factious bodies and their Machivillian and Tyrannical heads and leaders receive their deaths wound from thy hand and fury O Lord pronounce a favourable sentence for thy Church and let
thy Gospel which came out of Zion and was planted by thy Apostles and diffused by the impulse and power of thy good Spirit Ver. 3 once more flourish amongst us so visibly and extraordinarily work for us That all men even thine enemies may acknowledge That this is the day of thy power Thy power it must be that can collect us whom Heresie Schism and Tyranny hath dispersed thy power to cause us to méet in our solemn Assemblies speak but the word O Lord and appoint the day and thy people will be a willing people they will méet out of love and joy of heart and offer thee free-will offerings in the beauties of holiness O holy Father we must with shame confess against our own souls that we have profaned thy Sanctuary by entring into it with our shooes on our féet and when we have béen in it we have too often offer'd the Sacrifice of Fools holiness is that virtue which becomes thy house for ever and this holiness is from the womb of the morning it comes not from the will of man it procéeds not from the will of the flesh it is a swéet and Virgin dew that distills from thy holy Spirit and as by the silver drops that descend from above the roots of the Herbs are moistned refreshed and cherished so by these secret dews of grace our dry hearts are quickned and recover life vouchsafe we beséech thée therefore to descend upon us with these dewes that being regenerate and born again we may grow and increase in holiness in obedience in alacrity in thy Service refresh us when we are weary make us shoot when we are at a stand ever let us retain the dew of our youth that being lively in all the exercises of Christianity we may at last be exalted and set at thy right hand as thou art seated at the right hand of thy Father and enjoy those heavenly Mansions which our Lord is gone to prepare for us Grant us this O heavenly Father for thy Son Jesus Christs sake to whom with thee and the Holy Sprit three Persons and one God be ascribed all Honour Glory and Praise for ever and ever Amen PSAL. CXI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 T IS conceived that this Hymn was set by David to be sung at the Passeover and that it might be the easilier learned and remembred the Colons of it are in number as many and digested by order of the Hebrew Alphabet The Sum of it is an Exhortation to praise God for his wonderful favours and benefits bestowed upon the World at large and in special toward his people Israel and the Church Three parts there are of this Psalm 1. A Protestation of David to praise God and the manner how and the company with whom he would do it ver 1. 2. An Expression of the Reasons that moved him to it viz. his admirable benefits bestowed both general and special which he enumerates from ver 2. to 10. 3. A Conclusion or Inference upon the premises by way of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which he commends the fear of God ver 10. 1. The Title of the Psalm is Allelujah Praise ye the Lord Allelujah The first part He praiseth God himself And that this his Exhortation might pierce the deeper and that his Subjects might the more readily follow his example presently he vowes and protests 1. I will praise the Lord And expresseth the manner how he would do it and as indeed it ought to be done Ver. 1 2. Not hypocritically with the lips and mouth only 1 In sincerity but with the heart 2 In unity and with the Church 3. Not with a heart and a heart but with the whole heart 4. Not separately or Schismatically but in the Assembly of the upright and in the Congregation 1. Both in that Assembly where good and upright men are met 2. And also in the company of many even with the mix't multitude secretly among good men and openly in the Congregation he would praise God 2. And having made a pious confession of his readiness to practise the Duty The second part next sets down the ground and matter of his praise which contains the Reasons that moved him to it as if he had said Which he doing and perswading sets down his Reasons for it There be great and urgent causes that may move me and all others to praise God 1. The first of which is His works of power be it the Creation of the World and its Conservation or be they the favours shewed to his Church these are his works And these works of the Lord are great Ver. 2 1. Great not only for variety and beauty 1 Because his works great 1. Of Creation but that also in the least and most base creature his Wisdom admirable his Power wonderful there is nothing that came from his hand which is not very great and greatly to be admired 2. Great 2 Of Election for it was a great work of his to take to himself a people out of another people to make a Covenant with them to them to reveal his promises to give them a Law to settle among them a policy for Church and State c. This was also a great and admirable work 3. Fools and impious men indeed little consider these works Which fools little think of but wise men consider they think not of the Authour and therefore esteem them not much But in the eyes of all wise men they are exquisite works and they are sought out searched into by all them that take pleasure therein That are pleased both with the Authour the work and the use and end of them 2. Ver. 3 The second of these is His work of Wisdom in the governing of those creatures which he hath created 2 His work of wisdom in governing the World his Church which is 1. Honourable and his Church which he hath collected and this his work is 1. Honourable worthy of honour worthy of praise and therefore much more the Authour 2. And glorious Many Princes have done very glorious works but not to be compared to any work of God the Glory Magnificence and Majesty far exceeds them all 2 Glorious 3. 3 Is his work of Justice The third work is that of his Justice He is a righteous God and his righteousness endureth for ever Men may complain that they see wicked men exalted and his servants under the Cross oppressed and afflicted But the judgments and wayes of God may be secret and hid from us unjust they can never be for he never departs from the exact Rule of Justice though we cannot discern it nor search it out 4. 4 His work of mercy His fourth work is a work of mercy of which he would have a Record kept 1. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred as in the Jewish Feasts Ver. 4 2. And these proceeded from his meer mercy For the Lord is gracious