feare evill when the evill is so eminent and the danger so great Is the face of Death no more terrible but that you dare looke upon it without feare Though it be the reproach of the wicked to feare where there is no cause of feare yet not to feare where there is cause can be no commendation in the godly And why then will David speake thus more like a desperate man then one that were well advised No doubt David will give good reason for that hee speakes As it were desperatnesse not to feare where there is Imminent danger So it were cowardise to feare where there is eminent comfort Lay then the comfort to the danger and you will easily excuse David for fearing no evill You have seene the Danger now heare the Comfort The Lord my shepheard is with mee For he is never absent from his flock his rodde and his staffe they comfort mee and may they not justly comfort me when with them he is able to recover a sheepe though falling downe the steepest Praecipyce or though already in the Wolfes mouth or in the pawes of the Lyon Indeed if I had not my Shepheard with mee Or if my Shepheard had not his instruments with him I might justly then be in feare of evill but what evill can I feare now when I have my Shepheard and my Shepheard his Instruments his rod and his staffe Both Instruments of comfort and not onely of comfort but of incouragement both Instruments of preserving But is it well understood what his Rod and his Staffe meane For they may as well bee instruments of correcting as defending and if of defending there is then just cause they should be comforts but if of correcting what comforts can they be for what comfort can it be to be corrected O my soule great comfort to me that know the nature of this Shepheard as I doe for doe not I know that whom he loves he corrects and therefore whom he corrects it is a certaine Argument that hee loves Indeed if the Rodde and the Staffe were in the hands of an enemie I should then feare them as instruments for my evill but being in his hands that is my Shepheard now they are but as my owne weapons put into an abler hand that can better manage them for my good then I could doe my selfe Could Moses with his rod fetch water out of a Rock and shall not God with his rod bring comfort out of trouble Could Jacob with his staffe passe over Jordan and returne enriched with heards of cattell and shall not Gods staffe make me passe over the Jordan of this world and bring mee home with troopes of joy Shall not his rod though it wound me comfort me when I know he wounds but to the end hee may apply a Plaister Shall not his staffe though it beat me comfort me when it is but to beat the dust out of mee that am nothing but dust But most of all must not his rod needs comfort me when it is his rod that makes me lye downe in greene pastures Must not his staffe needs comfort me when it is his staffe that keepes me right in the paths of righteousnesse Oh sweet Rod how can I choose but kisse thee Deare staffe but embrace thee seeing it is long of you that his greene pastures and his paths of righteousnesse doe me any good for they would certainly doe mee hurt his greene pastures would pamper up my flesh too much his pathes of righteousnesse would puffe up my spirits too much If his Rod and his Staffe were not used as Moderatours And if you thinke this strange that the paths of righteousnesse should puffe up the spirits Remember Saint Paul to whom there was given a thorne in the flesh lest his walking in the paths of righteousnesse should puffe him up But if the rod and the staffe in these senses may not be sufficient comfort to take away all cause of feare at least there shall come forth a Rod out of the stemme of Jesse indeed to David in particular a speciall comfort that will certainly be sufficient against all feare though I walke in the Valley of the shadow of death for this Rod as a Mountaine shall fill up all Valleys and as the substance shall fulfill all shadowe and as the true life shall swallow up Death in victory And is there not a staffe that will doe as much the staffe upon which Jacob leaned when he was a dying when he was indeed in the Valley of the shadow of Death O my soule having this Staffe of Jacob to leane upon this Rodde of the stemme of Jesse to be my comfort I shall make my selfe unworthy of protection if I should feare any evill though I walke in the valley of the shadow of death For why should I feare Death which is but the parting of the soule from the body seeing I cannot come to God with them both at once but they must first bee parted one from another My soule cannot come to the light of life if my body bee not first in the shadow of death indeed but in the shadow for the substance of death can never take hold upon it if my soule be gone before to take possession of the Light O then vouchsafe O God to bring my soule first and after it my body out of the shadow of Death into the light of Life and then I shall have cause just cause to say and to glory in saying The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want But if it be doubted still how it can be that Gods rodde and his staffe should be comforts to the godly then marke the issue and see what followes upon his Rod and his Staffe Thou preparest a Table before mee in the presence Verse 5 of my enemies Thou anoyntest my head with Oyle my cuppe runneth over For this is a sure rule with God that his chastening alwayes ends in cherishing if he strike with his Rod and perhaps breakes the head with his Staffe he gives Oyle presently to anoynt it and to make it whole againe If he make mee to keepe Fasting-day to day he allowes mee a feast for it to morrow and then my cuppe shall runne over Hitherto God hath vouchsafed to bee a Shepheard and David hath beene his sheepe Now God will be a Conquerour and David shall be a King Now God as a Conquerour will bestow favours on his friends and disgraces upon his enemies and therefore now the Scene alters where it was before in the field it is now within doores and where David before spake in the third Person he speakes now in the second Thou preparest a Table before mee and this is to feast his friends In the presence of mine enemies and this is to confound his enemies To prepare a Table before him is it selfe a favour but the greatnesse of the favour is in this that a Table is prepared before him in the presence of his Enemies For as there is no such joy of
distempered with violence of Passions for alas what good were it to have still waters and turbulent spirits Hee restores it indeed to life that was growne before in a manner quite dead and who could restore my soule to life but he onely that is the good Shepheard and gave his life for his sheepe which no shepheard ever did but Hee Saint Peter layd downe his life but he gave not his life for he would perhaps have kept it if he might and he layd it not downe neither as a shepheard for his sheepe but as a sheepe rather for his shepheard but this Shepheard gave his life for his sheepe Gave it quia oportuit indeed because it was necessary he should give it but yet quia voluit too because hee would giue it for if it had not beene voluntarie it could not have beene acceptable and if not acceptable never certainly have served for a Ransome and if not Ransomming no Restoring But is it not said The Shepheard was smitten and the sheepe were scattered and what was his smyting but the Giving his life and had he not done better to have kept his life then leaving it to leave his sheepe to scattering O my soule though they were scattered for a time yet it was but to be gathered together againe with the greater joy for though he left his life yet he left not his sheepe but had a care of them even in death for hee had power to lay downe his life and power to take it up againe and as he layd it downe for his sheepes Ransome so hee tooke it up for their justification Every shepheard knowes that sheepe are subject to many infirmities and knowes many infirmities to which they are subject and therefore is never without his Boxe of Tarre as the best remedie in cases of danger but if the danger passe his Tarre-boxe and touch upon the life he then gives them over and lets nature worke but the Lord is a Shepheard of another nature above the power of Nature He restoreth the soule when the life is in danger hee hath wayes of curing which no shepheard knows of but himselfe and if other helps fayle he need but to say Velo sis sanus I will Be thou whole and without any Tarre-boxe it is a present remedie And may I not now justly say The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want And yet perhaps there will be want for all this for is it enough that he restore my soule and then leave me What is it to restore my soule but to put it in statu quo prius in the state it was made at first which was after the Image of God in holinesse and righteousnesse and if I could not continue in this state when made in it how shall I continue in it when restored to it Hee will therefore supply this want too for having restored my soule in righteousnesse Hee will leade mee in the paths of righteousnesse that though left to my selfe I tooke a wrong guide and went astray yet when he leades me that is the way it selfe I may be sure I cannot possibly goe out of the way But alas O Lord these paths of righteousnesse have a long time so little beene frequented that all prints of a path are almost cleane worne out that it is a hard matter now but to find where the paths lye and if wee can find them yet they are so narrow and so full of rubbes that without speciall assistance it is an impossible thing not to Fall or goe astray Even some Angels and those no meane ones were not able to goe right in these pathes of righteousnesse but for want of leading went awry and perished O therefore Thou the great Shepheard of my soule as thou art pleased of thy grace to leade me into them so vouchsafe with thy Grace to leade me in them for though in themselves they bee pathes of righteousnesse yet to me they will bee but paths of errour if thou vouchsafe not as well to leade me in them as into them O the comfortable pathes of righteousnesse the very paths in which Enoch walked with God and which walked in as they should be will bring us to a better Paradise then that of our first Parents For if God leade us in these paths these paths will leade us to the place where the Goats shall be put on the left hand and the sheepe be taken on the right that now I am certainly come to the highest cause of my glorying to say The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want for at his right hand is the fulnesse of Joy forevermore But why is it that this great Shepheard will doe these great things for me Is it because he findes me to be a sounder sheepe and to have fewer blemishes upon me then some other Alas no for I am nothing but blemishes and unsoundnesse all over but Hee will doe it for his Names sake For seeing hee hath taken upon him the Name of a good shepheard he will discharge his part what ever his sheepe be It is not their being bad sheepe that can make him leave being a good shepheard but he will be good and maintaine the credit of his Name in spight of all their badnesse and though no benefit come to them of it yet there shall glory accrew to him by it and his Name shall neverthelesse be magnified and extolled But now O my soule though I can say I shall not want yet can I say I shall not feare For is not Feare an inseparable companion of Mortalitie and can I then choose but feare that know my selfe to be mortall and know also what the condition is of being mortall Not onely that I may dye but that I must dye and not onely must one day but may this day Alas this very minute I feare indeed when I consider my owne frailtie but when I consider that the Lord is my Shepheard I then am armed against all feare against this feare of death it selfe Hee that makes me to walke in Greene pastures and in paths of righteousnesse and keepes me from want hee also leades me by the hand as I walke and keepes me from feare Yea thou I walke in the Verse 4 valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evill Though I be brought to never so great extremitie though brought as low as the Valley of death though brought as neere to Death as the shadow to the body though brought to walke as a ghost amongst the dead yet I will feare no evill The shadow of death may perhaps be farre enough from it for all our life is but the shadow of death but the Valley of the shadow must needs be close to death as being the very entrance to it yet if I were brought to this doore of death if brought within the doore and compassed about with Death yet for all this for all that can be said or done I will feare no evill Will you not will you not
his sight that was none of his workes but is a destroyer of his workes Is it possible that a thing which destroyes his creatures should have a Title of more value in his sight then his creatures themselves O my soule this is one of the Myracles of his Saints and perhaps one of those which Christ meant when he said to his Apostles that greater Myracles then he did they should doe themselves for what greater Myracle than this that Death which of it selfe is a thing most vile in the sight of God yet once embraced by his Saints as it were by their touch onely becomes pretious in his sight and to alter a thing from being vile to be precious is it not a greater Myracle then to turne Water into Wine Indeed so it is Death doth not damnifie his Saints but his Saints doe dignifie Death Death takes nothing away from his Saints happinesse but his Saints adde lustre to Deaths vilenesse and it is happy for Death that ever it met with any of Gods Saints for there was no way for it else in the world to be ever had in any account But why say I in the world for it is of no account in the world for all this It is but onely in the sight of God but indeed this onely is All in All for to be pretious in Gods sight is more to be prized then the world it selfe For when the World shall passe away and all the glory of it be laid in the dust then shall Trophyes be erected for the death of his Saints and when all Monuments of the world shall bee utterly defaced and all Records quite rased out yet the death of his Saints shall stand Registred still in faire Red letters in the Kalendar of Heaven for if there be glory laid up for them that dye in the Lord much more shall they bee glorified that dye for the Lord. I have wondered often-times why God will suffer his Saints to dye I meane not the death naturall for I know Statutum est omnibus semel mori but the Death that is by violence and with torture for who could endure to see them he loves so cruelly handled but now I see the reason of it For Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and what marvell then if he suffer his Saints to dye when by dying they are wrought and made fit Jewels to be set in his Cavinet for as God hath a Bottle which he fills up with the teares of his Saints so I may say he hath a Cabinet which he decks up with the deaths of his Saints and O my soule if thou couldst but comprehend what a glory it is to serve for a Jewell in the decking up of Gods Cabinet thou wouldst never wonder why he suffers his Saints to bee put to death though with never so great torments for it is but the same which Saint Paul saith The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall bee revealed But if you will have a Glasse to view the Extent of this pretiousnesse and plainly to see how pretious in the sight of God the death of his Saints is then look upon the revenge that is taken for it for there is nothing that God takes so much to heart and of which hee takes so sharpe revenge as the death of his Saints to touch them is to touch the Apple of his eye and if the punishment of Cain bee not thought sufficient to make it appeare at least the complaint of Christ against Hierusalem will be sufficient O Hierusalem Hierusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and it is thought by some that the destruction of Hierusalem was the rather hastened to revenge the death of James who was called the Just but how soever this wee know it was therefore executed to revenge the death of Jesus who was truly the Just and may we not well take notice that the death was exceeding pretious when the revenge that was taken was so exceeding furious But why speake I of Death when I may yet doe God good service in life and if the death of his Saints be pretious in his sight certainly the life of his servants is not unregarded For whether we dye wee dye to the Lord or whether wee live wee live to the Lord and though in this life we cannot expect the reward of Saints yet in this life wee may claime the respect of servants and in this I claime an interest my selfe Verse 16 for truly O Lord I am thy servant and oh that I could serve thee so truly that I might heare thee say Euge bone serve For we are all very ready to professe our selves thy servants but very unready to doe the service of our profession and specially in these times when Servant is growne to be a word of complyment rather than of truth that to say I am thy servant is all one as to say I am an Hypocrite But O Lord let it not be found so in me not be thought so of me for I am thy servant by a double right and oh that I could doe thee double service as thou art the Lord of life and as I am the sonne of thy Handmaid Not of Hagar but of Sarah not of the Bond-woman but of the Free and therefore I serve thee not in Feare but in Love or therefore in feare because in love and then is service best done when it is done in love and in love indeed I am bound to serve thee For thou hast loosed my bonds the Bonds of death which compassed me about by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse and restoring me to health or in a higher kind Thou hast loosed my Bonds by freeing me from being a Captive to bee a Servant and which is more from being a servant to be a sonne and more then this yet from being a sonne of thy Hand-maid to be a sonne of thy selfe and therefore indeed a sonne of thy selfe because a sonne of thy Handmaid for what is thy Handmaid but thy Church and he that is not borne of this Handmaid though he may have the generall benefit of a servant sustenance and protection yet hee can never have the speciall benefits of a sonne freedome and inheritance Or thou hast loosed my bonds Thou hast freed me from the heavy yoak of the Ceremonies of the Law and hast Enfranchised mee with the glorious liberty of the Gospell that where before thou didst require the sacrifice of Servants which was the bloud of Beasts now thou acceptest the sacrifice of sonnes which is Verse 17 Prayer and Thanks-giving I will therefore offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and call upon thy Name For Prayer and Thanks-giving make both but one Sacrifice and seeing all sacrifice is due onely to thee therefore to thee onely I will offer both my Thanks-giving and my Prayer I could not make Thankes-giving a Sacrifice if Prayer did not begin it I could not make Prayer a Sacrifice if Thanks-giving did not finish it If there should bee Thankes-giving and no Prayer the Sacrifice would want a foot if Prayer and no Thanks-giving it would want a Head for as the Basis is Prayer so the Coronis is thanks-giving Although perhaps Thanks-giving bee but the Act and Thankfulnesse the Habit and it is the Habit that makes the Sacrifice because it must bee Juge sacrificium A continuall Sacrifice which the Act cannot be And if there had beene a word to expresse the Habit of praying as Thankfulnesse doth of Thanks-giving perhaps Saint Paul would have used it where he saith Pray continually for who can doubt but hee meanes the Habit of praying and not the Act and where he saith In all things give thankes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It intends perhaps but this In all things be thankfull And what then shall the Thankfulnesse or the Thanks-giving be that I will offer to God for a sacrifice O my soule it shall bee an acknowledging of his benefits and of his onely benefits it shall be a proclaiming him to bee my Patron and my onely Patron It shall bee an extolling him for his Mercy in forgiving my sinnes for his graciousnesse in healing all my infirmities for his compassion in Redeeming my soule from destruction and for his bountie in crowning me with loving kindnesse and tender mercies it shall bee indeed a Vowing to him the whole service of all the faculties of my soule and body And not to be done in a corner as though I were not willing it should be knowne nor before some few people onely as though I were loath too many should see it but I will pay my vowes to him in Verse 18 the presence of all his people that young and old rich and poore high and low may all bee witnesses of my thankfulnesse This for the persons before whom it shall be done and then for the place in which it shall be done it shall be done in the courts of the Lords house if any Verse 19 place be more conspicuous more publick then other it shall be done there it shall be done in the midst of thee O Hierusalem that the Fame of it may be spread that the sound of it may equally goe forth into all parts of the world that as all thy people shall be beholders of my thankfulnesse so all the world shall bee admirers of thy goodnesse and as there is in Heaven an Allelujah of thy Saints so there shall be in Earth an Allelujah of thy Servants of which Number of both which numbers my hope is to be one and that I may be sure to be one O my soule praise thou the Lord and because my owne praising will be but a very small service therefore mend it my soule by calling upon others and saying Praise yee the Lord. FINIS
prosperitie to the godly as when their enemies see the prosperitie they are in it being a kind of revenge that God takes upon their enemies in their behalfe so there is no such Tragedie to the wicked as to be made spectatours of the prosperitie of the godly it being the greatest affront that can be to their expectation to see them advanced whom they both hated and despised Could Haman have had a greater affliction then to see Mordecai advanced and himselfe forced to bee an instrument in his advancing Videbunt quem transfixerunt They shall see him whom they pierced shall be one of the miseries and perhaps one of the greatest in Hell it selfe And now is David a King and as a King hath Honour and Plentie Thou anoyntest my head with oyle This is his Honour My cuppe runneth over This is his Plentie that where he said before The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want hee may as justly say now The Lord is my rewarder I shall abound But is it not that in the Person of David here there is a Reference to Christ himselfe seeing it is all verefied in him that is spoken here Hee that hungred so long till Sathan thought he could have eaten stones hath now a Table prepared before him a Table where the godly shall sit and eat with him in his Kingdome Hee that had enemies insulting over him hath now all his enemies made his foot-stoole Sinne and Death Sathan and his members lye prostrate under him Hee that had his Head pricked with thornes hath now his Head anoynted with Oyle with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes Hee that thirsted and could get but Vinegar to drinke hath now such plenty that his cup runneth over All power is given him both in Heaven and Earth At least in the person of David there will be relation to all the godly Now Lazarus that could not get so much as crummes from Dives his Table shall have a Table himselfe prepared before him Now Dives that fared deliciously every day shall bee glad to stand waiting at Lazarus Table for a drop of water that the godly may well be content to be in penurie a-while seeing they shall have a Table ere long prepared before them They may well be content to let their Enemies bee masters awhile seeing they shall have them ere long to be wayters upon them They may well be content to hang downe their heads for awhile seeing their heads ere long shall bee anoynted with Oyle They may well be content to have hard measure for a time seeing the time will be shortly that their Cup shall runne over And now O my soule will not all this serve to comfort thee in this vale of miserie Art thou so besotted on things present as to have no consideration to make no valuation of things to come and to come so shortly so shortly all that they are put in the Present tense as if they were come already But if David cannot over-rule thee as a King let him at least perswade thee as a Prophet for now you shall have him a Prophet and a Votarie and this is his Prophecie Surely Mercy and goodnesse shall follow mee all the dayes of my life and this is his Vow I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever But is Davids Prophecie like to bee true will Mercie and Goodnesse follow him all the dayes of his life O my soule it was true in David it shall be true in all the godly for whom God loveth he loveth to the end and Mercie and Goodnesse shall follow them all the dayes of their life Mercy to commiserate and Goodnesse to relieve Mercie to beare with infirmities and Goodnesse to supply wants Mercie to be an assistant in Adversitie and Goodnesse to be a Governesse in Prosperitie Alas O Lord if thy Mercie should not follow me thy Justice would if thy Goodnesse should not follow mee thy Vengeance would and then one that were no Prophet might easily foretell the miserable estate I should be in as now that Mercie and Goodnesse follow me one that is no Prophet may easily tell the happy condition I shall be in Although this perhaps be not so much a Prophecie as a Faith in David at least a Prophecie which all the godly may make to themselves by Faith to be assured of the mercy and goodnesse of God and not to follow them for a time and then give over but to follow them all the dayes of their life But what no longer then all the dayes of their life and then leave them No my soule but all the dayes of that life that shall never leave them O the comfortable doctrine of Faith farre more comfortable then Heathen Philosophie ever knew for that went no further then Ante obitum nemo as though no man could be happy till his death where by this it appeares that men may bee happy while they live for if a man be then happy when the mercy and goodnesse of God follow him as certainly a greater happinesse there cannot be then seeing they surely follow the godly all the dayes of their life surely a godly man is happy while hee lives But then the surenesse is long of the mercy and not of the man for it seemes he would goe farre enough from it if Mercy did not follow him but now that hee is followed by Mercy and Goodnesse hee cannot goe so fast from them but they will overtake him and make him happy O mercifull God so frame my heart that I may not flye from thy Mercy and put it to follow mee at least let it so follow me that it may overtake me for then I shall have the happinesse to bee able to keepe my vow that I will dwell in thy house for ever but rather I shall have the favour as an effect of thy Mercy that I shall dwell in thy house for ever For if this be a Vow it is a strange one where all the benefit is to him that makes the Vow and none at all to whom it is made for what is it to God whither I dwell in his house or no such Vowers God may have enow O my soule to vow to dwell in Gods house is to vow to be his servant and to bee his servant is to serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of our life and though this service be no benefit to God as indeed no more is any thing I can doe for my goodnesse extendeth not to him yet the Vow to bee his servant being well performed will bee more acceptable to him then if I should vow as Jepthe did to sacrifice his onely Daughter But wee need not stand to justifie Davids Vow for it seemes not so much a Vow of David to God as a favour of God to David that when his mercy hath followed him all the dayes of his life he will take him afterwards to live with himselfe and though his body for a time be cast out
then things themselves we see nothing now but colours and colours are deceitfull and no trusting to them the light I hope for is to see as I am seene a sight not subject to either dimnesse or dazeling a sight that discerneth not onely colours but substances and is not the hope of such a sight a comfortable Ingredient to keepe from fainting But yet what good is it to see goodnesse for we see many good things which yet wee are never the better for seeing But is it not true here Videte gustate for such our seeing shall be Vidchimus gustavimus our seeing shall be a tasting our tasting an enjoying and enjoying is not properly of any thing but in which there is joy and where there is joy must there not needs be comfort But yet what more goodnesse of God can wee hope to see hereafter then now for can there bee a greater goodnesse of God to bee seene then this that hee makes the Sunne to shine the raine to fall upon both just and unjust Wee see indeed now a great goodnesse of God but wee see it mingled with much badnesse of men and may I not say with some badnesse of his too for is there any evill in the Citie and God hath not done it but the goodnesse of God which I hope to see is a goodnesse like to garbled spice without any mixture at all of refuse stuffe amongst it a goodnesse not mingled with either evill of men or evill to men but pure and Impermixt as God himselfe is The goodnesse of God which we see now is a goodnesse in effects but there is a goodnesse in God which is as the cause Not as having goodnesse but as being goodnesse Not onely as imparting it selfe to us but as communicating it selfe with us and this goodnesse wee shall then see though now we cannot Have Philosophers conceived that if vertue could be seene with the eyes Mirabiles excitaret amores sui It would stirre up in us a wonderfull love and will not the goodnesse of God when seene with our eyes stirre up in our hearts a wonderfull joy and is not the hope of such a joy a strong Cordiall to keepe from fainting But why in the land of the living for is not the world in which wee now live the land of the living Are there not in the water living fishes in the Ayre living Birds On the Earth living Trees living Beasts living Men and what can be thought of more then these to make a Land of the living Alas what Land of the living is this in which there are more dead then living more under ground then are above it where the earth is fuller of graves then houses where life lyes trembling under the hand of Death and where Death hath power to tyrannize over life No my soule there onely is the Land of the living where there are none but the living where there is a Church not Militant but Triumphant a Church indeed but no Church-yard because none dead nor none that can dye where life is not passive nor Death active where Life sits crowned and where Death is swallowed up in victorie And now make up a Compound of these Ingredients Take first a Hope of seeing which is enjoying then the goodnesse of God not a qualitie but a substance then the Land of the living where there is no dying and now say if such a Cordial must not needs be strong of necessitie be effectuall to keepe from fainting O therefore my soule bee sure to provide thee good store of this Cordiall that if at any time thou be oppressed with either multitude or malice if at any time false witnesses bee risen up against thee if enemies at any time come upon thee to eat up thy flesh thou maist have this Cordiall in a readinesse and be able to say Doe the worst you can I feare you not for I beleeve to see the goodnesse of God in the Land of the living This not onely will keepe thee from fainting but wil fill thy spirits with extasie of joy for it is grounded upon a principle of comfort delivered by Saint Paul The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed And what is this glory but to see the goodnesse of God and where to be revealed but in the Land of the living But all this yet is but the hope of a Cordiall at most but a Cordiall of hope but when will the Cordiall it selfe that is hoped for bee had May I not stay so long waiting for it that I may be weary with waiting and faint with wearinesse and then the Cordiall will come too late No my soule Waite on the Verse 14 Lord be of good courage and he shall give thee strength for as none is so worthy to be waited on as God so nothing is so worthy to be waited for as this Cordiall and never feare wearinesse by long waiting for it so long as thou waitest upon God for it for God that gives power to the Cordiall to keepe thee from fainting will give power to thy waiting to keepe it from wearinesse Onely bee sure to have a good heart and God will not faile to supply it with spirits Doe thou but onely bring wood to the Sacrifice and God will send fire from Heaven to kindle it But how happens it that David should give so good counsell to others and yet follow it so ill himselfe for hee confesseth of himselfe in another place that hee is dejected and bowed downe and can it stand with courage to be dejected But is it not that to be dejected is a Passive infirmitie to be couragious an Active vertue and there is no contradiction to bee Passively weake and Actively strong both at once Or is it not indeed rather that when he confesseth himsele to be dejected hee lookes upon his sinne and sinne will deject any that hath but eyes and is able to see it but when he counsells to be couragious hee lookes upon God and God is ready to give strength to any that hath but a heart and is able to take it As therefore I said before so I say againe Waite on the Lord which can never be too much taught because never enough be learned never be too much said because never be enough done THE THIRTIETH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Will extoll thee O Lord for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me 2 O Lord my God I cryed unto thee and thou hast healed mee 3 O Lord thou hast brought up my soule from the grave thou hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe to the pit 4 Sing unto the Lord all yee Saints of his and give thankes at the remembrance of his holinesse 5 For his anger endureth but a moment weeping may endure for a night but joy commeth in the morning 6 And in my prosperity I said I shall never be moved 7 Lord by thy favour thou hast
we talk of all this while worldly minds have no feare but of worldly enemies and from such perhaps worldly friends may free them but the spirituall man feares rather spiritual enemies and who can free them from such but onely thou O God that art the God of spirits O mercifull God let not spirituall enemies have the victory over mee and I make no great reckoning of other enemies triumphing Alas I know that worldly enemies can never triumph over me if spirituall enemies get not first the victory And now O my soule if God have done this for me have lifted me up above these enemies above these enemies of both kindes have I not a double cause to extoll him for it and to praise his Name And yet I may say I extoll him not more for doing it then for his readinesse of doing it For I cryed unto him and hee healed mee I no sooner cryed but hee heard me he no sooner heard me but he healed me My suite was no sooner made then granted My disease as soone cured as discovered hee kept me not languishing by drawing out his cure in length but he applyed a present remedy and prevented Hope with hast As therefore I extolled him before for his love in lifting me up above my enemies so I must extoll him now for his compassion in being moved to doe it for my onely crying to him I used no intercessour but my owne voyce and hee healed me and for God to be moved with the cry of a wretched sinner and so to be moved as presently to heale him Is it not a just cause to extoll him and say O the wonderfull bowels of compassion that are in God Verse 3 To be lifted up from any place is an act of Power but the lower the place is it is the greater act of Mercie and can there be a lower place then the Grave at least then the grave of the Soule and from this low place was David lifted up as yee may heare himselfe say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave Thou hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the pit But is not this a strange speech in David as though there were a grave of the Soule as there is of the Body for if there be not how then is it true that God hath brought up his soule from the Grave Is it perhaps that he calls it the Soule which is but the cementing of the Body and life together or that he calls it the Grave of the Soule when it is in the lowest estate of vivifying the Body What ever it be it shewes a great mercy in God and a great power of that mercy to raise him up that was brought so low and to keepe him from falling into the Pit that was fallen already to the pits brinke The truth is that as sinne is the death of the Soule so continuance in sinne is the grave of the Soule and in this Grave of continuance did Davids soule lye a long time Alas the shortest time in this case is long till God by his quickning Spirit restored him againe to the life of Grace that hee had just cause to say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave and hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the Pit Oh how many there are that have bodyes walking above ground when their soules are lying in the Grave that are lustie and strong in the naturall life when in the spirituall life they are dead and buryed yet so long as they lye not buried above foure dayes so long as they continue not in sin so long till it have brought the Soule into an absolute corruption there is example in Lazarus and where there is Example there is hope they may be raised againe to life and be kept from falling into the Pit of perdition And now O my soule though God have not lifted thee up to as high a place yet seeing he hath lifted thee up from as low a place as he did David hast thou not as just cause as he to say I will extoll thee O God for thou hast lifted mee up and hast not suffered my enemies sinne and death to triumph over mee And here I find my selfe so oppressed with joy that I am not able to expresse it without assistance and what assistance can I looke for but from the Saints of God O therefore sing unto the Lord all yee saints of his give thankes unto him at the remembrance of his Holinesse It is not enough to praise him if yee doe not sing his praises for it must be done with chearefulnesse and exultation and it is not enough to sing if yee doe not praise him for your joy must be in him and for him in his goodnesse and for his glory If it were to sing of another thing I should require the whole Quire of Gods creatures to joyne in the singing but now that it is to sing of Gods holinesse what should prophane voyces doe in the Consort None but Saints are fit to sing of holinesse and specially of Gods holinesse but most specially with songs of holinesse O therefore sing to the Lord all yee saints of his and let your songs be more of his praises then of your owne thankfulnesse and let your thankfulnesse not be so much for the benefits which you have received as for the holinesse with which they are bestowed for God gives not his benefits as the world useth to doe out of any corrupt affection or with any corrupt intention but there is a holinesse in his giving as well as in his gifts and seeing the Cherubins and Seraphins doe continually cry to God Holy Holy Holy You that are his Saints may well afford to sing to God at the remembrance of his holinesse But what holinesse can there be in Anger Verse 5 and is there not anger in God sometimes and will not this then bee a cause rather of weeping to thinke of his anger then of singing at the remembrance of his holinesse O my soule this need be no cause to breake off the singing for his anger endureth but a moment and even anger it selfe is in God a holinesse It is none of the things that are naturall and permanent in God It is but forced upon him by the violence of sinne and as forced as it is it stayes not with him it is but as a wind that passeth Dum oritur moritur It dyes in the birth Nothing lives and is permanent in God but onely his favour and his love and therefore Though weeping may endure for a night yet joy commeth in the morning And seeing our life is of this condition that heavinesse sometimes must as well be had as joy it is happy for us they are so disposed that heavinesse comes but in the Evening when wee may sleepe it out and when our senses are apt to be tyed up from feeling it but joy commeth in the Morning when all our
breath so quickly againe and leave mee but dust as thou foundest me at first Though the service I can doe thee be not great yet it is more then dust can doe Hath dust a tongue or a voyce or any instruments of life for the declaring of thy truth and why then wilt thou make a divorce of parts which thou hast joyned together of purpose for that purpose If I desired life for any end of my owne thou hadst just cause then to make an end of my life but now that I desire it to doe thee service why wilt thou diminish the number of thy servants and not leave enow for the service thou hast to doe Can any number be sufficient to praise thee Can there ever be mouthes enow to declare thy Truth and may not I make one a sinfull one I know but yet one in the number if thou but please to spare mee for descending into the Pit But what Pit I meane not the Pit where the Apostate Angels are I know they descended not but fell and I know the Pit they fell into is a Pit of blasphemie the Pit I feare descending into is but a Pit of silence and yet in one thing is worse then theirs for they in their Pit retaine their substance still but I in this shall lose my very Being at least the quantitas continua of my body shall bee turned into the quantitas Discreta of dust and the frame compacted of all the Elements dissolved I shall remaine nothing but as it were a few crummes of Earth and what can Earth doe when it is not assisted with fire and water O therefore Verse 10 Heare O Lord and have mercy upon me Lord bee thou my helper for if thou lend mee not thine eare how can I hope thou wilt shew mee mercy and if thou have not mercy upon me how can I hope thou wilt bee my helper Heare me O God while I am in a place where I may be heard for if once I be descended into the Pit I shall quite then be out of all hearing Have mercy upon me while I am capable of mercy for if once I be turned into dust what mercy can I looke for Be thou my helper O God now that I am in a state to bee helped for if my bloud in which my life consists bee once shed what good then will thy helpe doe me I place Gods mercy in the midst here because it must serve to both the other both to make God to heare me and to make him to helpe me and Gods mercy can doe both it can make him to heare me though I were silent and can make him to helpe me though I were dust But though Gods mercy can doe it am I sure it will doe it O my soule his mercy hath done it already for it is the worke of his mercy that Hee hath turned my mourning into dauncing that hee hath put off my sackcloth and girded mee with gladnesse O wonderfull conversion the very same myracle I may say that Christ wrought at the Mariage in Cana for to turne Mourning into Dauncing what is it but to turne water into Wine To have turned my mourning but into comfort had beene a great worke and a great favour but to turne my mourning into dauncing the extremitie of sorrow into extremitie of joy who could doe this but thou onely O God with whom as no Myracles are wonders so no extremities are limits Mourning is not properly but for one that is dead and indeed so neere being dead was I that I might well be said to mourne for my owne death not unlike the Swan if it be true that shee sings her owne Elegie and now to have my mourning turned into dauncing the drooping act for Death be turned into the most lively act of Life what is it but the Myracle as it were of Resurrection and Ascention both at once at least from the lowest stayre of miserie to be raised to the highest of happinesse and not Gradatim by degrees and steps but per saltum by a motion more swift than the Fiery Chariot that carried up Elias into Heaven and so the change not more wonderfull then the suddennesse Mourning turned into Dauncing a wonderfull change and done as it were in the turning of a hand as wonderfull a suddennesse And now to make me fit for Dauncing Thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladnesse for indeed if I had kept on my sackcloth still I should have made but a heavie Dauncer but now that my sackcloth is off and I am girded with gladnesse I shall leape as light as Abraham did to see thy day I put on sackcloth when I was a Mourner but now that I am to be a Dauncer I am girded with gladness and if I mourned before to think of Gods anger may I not justly daunce now to thinke of his favour If I put on sackcloth before as sorrowing for my sinne may I not justly now be girded with gladnesse as rejoycing in my Saviour For though it be Gods mercy that hath done this for me yet it is his mercy in Christ my Saviour without whom his mercy alone would never have done it He would never have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladnesse but for his sake and through his meanes that was anoynted with the Oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes My sackcloth was but a loose garment about mee which might easily be put off at pleasure but my gladnesse is girt about me to bee fast and sure and cannot leave me though it would at least none shall be able to take it from me And now though this be spoken here in the case of David yet it may bee conceived as in Type for all the godly if they mourne and lye in sackcloth now yet they shall ere long be girded with Gladnesse and daunce for joy but what Dauncing Not like that of Herodias Daughter for which Herod allowed her to aske halfe his Kingdome but like that of David before the Arke for which God without asking will give us a whole Kingdome And when shall the time bee Alas it cannot be long For they shall not goe out of Egypt into Canaan as the old Israelites did by the tedious passages of a troublesome Wildernesse but their Mourning shall be turned into Dauncing a conversion as sudden as when Moses his Leprous hand was turned to be sound againe by putting it onely in his bosome But to what end is it that God hath done Verse 12 this for me It may be thought because hee hath turned my Mourning into Dauncing and hath girded me with Gladnesse that hee hath done it to this end that I might live in jollity and spend my time with Belshazzar in revelling and feasting but there is no such matter hee hath done it to this end that my glory may sing praise unto him and not bee silent to this end that not onely I may praise him but may sing his praises
What place will be left for wonder to give cause to say How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts But if hee had sayd How terrible are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts though it might have beene wonderfull in the degree yet it could not bee wonderfull in the kind for what wonder is it if the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts bee terrible but when he saith How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts this is not onely wonderfull in the degree but in the kind much more For what can be more wonderfull then that being Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts they should be amiable and so amiable as to be wondred at But is it not that God is in himselfe so amiable that all things of His even his Terrours themselves are amiable his Tabernacles and his Tents his Sword and his Speare his Darts and his Arrowes all amiable Terrible no doubt to his Enemies but amiable wonderfull amiable to all that love and feare him and great reason they should be so seeing they are all in their defence and for their safeguard though they be Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts to the wicked yet they are Courts of the Prince of peace to the godly and this makes my soule to Verse 2 long for the courts of the Lord. For I desire indeed to be a Courtier yet not as I am now God knowes I am very unfit for it but because Gods Courts are such they make any one fit that but comes into them they receive not men fit but make them fit and he that was before but a shrub in Baca assoone as hee comes into the Courts of the Lord is presently made a Cedar in Lebanon Indeed if his Tabernacles bee so wonderfull amiable they must needs be as wonderfull attractive for there is no such Adamant as Amiablenesse Nothing that so powerfully attracts and drawes all hearts unto it And to know the measure of their Amiablenesse by the power of their Attracting you need but looke upon my soule For my soule longeth and even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord which it would never doe if it were not for their wonderfull amiablenesse that attracts and drawes it by a kind of violence indeed by a kind violence unto them Every Amiablenesse is not so great to make a longing Nor every longing so great to make a fainting Nor every fainting so great to make the soule to faint Oh then consider how great this Amiablenesse is which makes my soule not onely to long but to faint with longing And blame me not for fainting as though it were my owne fault that would not restraine my longing for seeing his Tabernacles are of infinite amiablenesse they must needs worke in me an infinite delighting and that delighting an infinite longing and what restraint can there be of that which is infinite No alas my fainting is but answerable to my longing and my longing but answerable to the Amiablenesse If I had the offer made me which was made to Christ to enjoy all the Kingdomes of the Earth but with condition to want the Courts of the Lord this want would bring to my soule a greater griefe then that enjoying would give it contentment for seeing his Tabernacles are so amiable where he is Lord of Hosts how amiable must they needs be where hee is Prince of Peace and Prince of Peace he is in his Courts though in his Campe he be Lord of Hosts And that you may know it is not the weaknesse of my soule that it faints with longing for indeed weake spirits are apt to faint upon every light occasion but that it is the very operation of the wonderfull attractive power that is in the amiablenesse of his Courts see my Heart and my Flesh also how they are drawne to long after the Lord which they would never doe if it were not for some wonderfull amiablenesse that is in him for you may well thinke it must bee an Adamant of a wonderfull attractive power that can draw these heavy I rons of my heart and my flesh unto it for indeed though my Soule have a longing for the Courts of the Lord yet my Body perhaps could be content to want them there are Courts in the world that might please my Body as well perhaps better then these but God forbid God forbid I should be one to have my soule and body divided while they are united to have my soule runne one way and my body another No I am none of those but assoone as my soule longed for the Courts of the Lord My heart and my flesh fell a longing for the living God As my Soule longed for the Place so my heart and my flesh for the Person for my heart and my flesh are of a duller apprehension they must have a present Enjoying of that they long for or they cannot be satisfied but my soule is of a cleerer sight and knows if it can but come to the place where he is it shall be sure withall to enjoy his presence and with his presence his Person The Soule indeed is a spirituall substance and therefore it is natural to the soule to long after spiritual things but the flesh is an earthly substance and therefore it is naturall to the flesh to long after earthly things and as long as these two are linked in the Body together they will alwayes be working upon one another alwayes seeking to draw each other to their partie and if the Soule can draw the flesh to goe her spirituall way then all is well it is as it should be but if the Flesh draw the Soule to goe her earthly way then all is out of order there will be no longing for the Courts of the Lord for they are spirituall and are never longed for but where the Soule is predominant and hath the leading And this is the order in Davids longing first his Soule begins to long for the Courts of the Lord and this is yet but a single cord but then comes in the Heart and the Flesh too and make it a Cord of three that is impossible to bee broken Indeed the Courts of the Lord are so exceeding amiable that it is impossible but every soule must needs long after them but yet every soule considers not what belongs to this longing but as Balaam longed to dye the death of the Righteous yet was loath to live the life of the Righteous so there are many that long for the Courts of the Lord but are loath to live the life of such Courtiers They that be in Kings houses weare silke and soft rayment because so it is fit for the honour of the place and they that will be in the Courts of the Lord must likewise weare rayment that is fit for the holinesse of the place they must be cloathed with the soft rayment of meeknesse and humilitie they must put on the robe of Righteousnesse and the garment of Sinceritie or because they are Courts of
my soule aspires for onely this Crowne makes sinne and Death to be my subjects Rebellious sinne that can never be brought into subjection but onely by this Crowne O God of thy loving kindnesse and tender mercies These indeed are Consequences most worthy to be remembred but yet perhaps not apt to be remembred for are they not of too high a straine and what the understanding doth not well apprehend the memorie doth not easily retaine He will therefore descend to Benefits of a lower Verse 5 ranke He satisfieth thy mouth with good things and renues thy youth like the Eagles This no doubt is apt to be remembred because it falls within the compasse of sense for who is not sensible of good things and specially when they bee good things for the mouth for all the labour of man is for the mouth All that the hands worke for and all that the feet toyle about is all but for the mouth so long as we may have greene Pastures and still Waters so long as we may have meat and drinkes not onely to satisfie hunger but to please the palate wee care not greatly for any thing else But O my soule these are not the good things that are here meant and yet even this perhaps were worth the caring for if it might continue but alas the dayes will come when I shall say I have no pleasure in them the time will come when my mouth will lose its taste and what good then will these good things of the mouth doe me No my soule no feare here of old age no feare of defect by reason of yeares For thy youth shall bee renewed like the Eagles There shall be no loosening here of the silver Cord no breaking of the golden Bowle but as the Eagle by mewing her feathers renues her youth So thou my soule by mewing thy feathers which is by casting off this fraile Tabernacle of thy flesh shalt perpetually be kept by the powerfull hand of God in a state of vigour Indeed the life we live now is the greatest part no life for Child-hood is scarce come to it and Old age is almost past it no time properly remaining to life but onely the short time of youth but the life that God hath in store for them that feare him not onely shall be alwayes but shall be alwayes Youth and no defect of Age shall be able to take hold upon it But may we not now begin anew and conceive rather that when David calls upon his soule to blesse the Lord and not to forget all his benefits Hee meanes he would have it to remember all his benefits and therefore he presently falls to reckon them all up himselfe not singula generum but genera singulorum Not all in particular but the generall Heads under which all the Particulars are comprehended And he begins with forgiving of sinnes because this is the Foundation this is that which reconciles us to God and which makes us capable of all his other benefits But alas what good will his forgiving my sinnes doe me if he stay there and goe no further for shall I not be committing of new sinnes continually and so God shall bee alwayes forgiving and never the neere Never the neere unlesse hee be alwayes forgiving To helpe this therefore his next benefit is the healing all my infirmities for this takes away that aptnesse to sinne to which wee are all of us by nature so prone and subject But alas what good will both these benefits doe me if hee yet stay here and goe no further seeing I am now a captive and already condemned to dye the death for should not my case bee like to theirs who upon the scaffold aske the King forgivenesse and when he forgives them yet they are put to death neverthelesse His next Verse 4 benefit therefore is a remedie for this For hee Redeemeth thy life from destruction Hee not onely frees thee from captivitie but preserves thee from perishing But alas what good yet will all these doe me if he should yet stay here and goe no further for when my sinnes be forgiven when my infirmities healed when my life redeemed yet what am I more by all this then as it were an Abrasa tabula at most what have I more to take joy in then every other ordinary creature Hee will now therefore Coronidem imponere give a benefit that shall perfect all For Hee crownes thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies Whatsoever is within the compasse of his loving kindnesse whatsoever within the extent of his tender Mercies he will not onely make thee capable of it but will freely bestow it all upon thee And who can deny but this now is a perfect Inventorie of all the benefits for which the soule hath cause to blesse the Lord to blesse him in respect of it selfe though there are other benefits indeed to the body for which the soule must blesse him too for alas the body is not able not able of it selfe without the soule and they are soone reckoned for they may be reduced to these two Sustentation and Renovation For hee satisfieth thy mouth with good things and thy youth is renewed like the Eagles as much as to say Thou shalt have the happinesse of the Epicure and of the Stoick both at once at least there shall bee no feare of hunger and thirst No drooping with Age nor ruines of Time And now O my soule let not my being in trouble and oppressed with sorrowes make thee doubt of the truth of these things for besides Verse 6 these benefits The Lord executeth Righteousnesse and Judgement for all that are oppressed Righteousnesse to them and Judgement for them For as it is righteous with God that his servants who are here oppressed should hereafter be comforted and be made partakers of all these benefits so it is his Judgement to the wicked who are their oppressours that they should feele hereafter the full measure of Gods wratth as it were in their revenge And this Righteousnesse and this Judgement he not onely deliberateth and determineth hee not onely promiseth to the godly and threatens to the wicked and then leaves them undone but he is perfect in all his wayes hee is truly Reall and puts them most assuredly in execution at least he executes them Per se or Per alium either by himselfe or by his Angels For indeed this part of his Judgement which is inflicting of punishment is not properly in God Opus suum and therefore no marvell if hee leave it to be done by Angels as he did at Sodome but though the Ministrie be theirs yet the Execution is His all the power is onely from him And although the executing his Righteousnesse and his Judgement be inter Arcana sua things hidden from us at which we may stand amazed but can never understand them yet he hath often-times revealed them to his servants the Prophets and specially to his servant Moses For he made knowne his wayes unto
as the Grave which is low indeed yet there thou maiest rest in hope for even there the Lord will not leave to helpe thee Or is it that he was brought low was humbled in spirit to seeme vile in his owne eyes and then God helped him For God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble Verse 7 Now therefore O my soule returne to thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now my soule let it be no longer said Why art thou so heavie and why art thou disquieted within me For the Lord hath exceeded the bounds of mercifulnesse with his bountifulnesse Not onely in mercy hee hath forgiven my sinnes but as if my sinnes had been Merits he hath made me also to taste of his bountie Hee hath dealt indeed most bountifully with thee for where thou didst make suite but for one thing hee hath granted thee three Thou didst aske but to have my soule delivered and he hath delivered mine eyes and my feet besides and with a deliverance in each of them the greatest that could be for what greater deliverance to my soule then to bee delivered from Death What greater deliverance to mine eyes then to be delivered from teares What to my feet then to bee delivered from falling that if now O my soule thou returne not to thy rest thou wilt shew thy selfe to bee most insatiable seeing thou hast not onely more then thou didst aske but as much indeed as was possible to be ask'd But can my soule dye and if not what bountie is it then to deliver my soule from that to which it is not subject The soule indeed though immortall hath yet her wayes of dying It is one kind of death to the soule to bee parted from the body but the truest kind is to bee parted from God and from both these kindes of death hee hath delivered my soule From the first by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse that threatned a dissolution of my soule and body from the other by delivering me from the guilt of sinne that threatned a separation from the favour of God and are not these bounties to give my soule just cause of returning to her rest It is true it is the imperfection of life that it is subject to sicknesse and sicknesse drawes mortalitie after it but this imperfection is not here for hee hath delivered my soule from death and what is this but to have perfect health yet it is the imperfection of health that it is subject to crosses and crosses are a cause of teares but neither hath this imperfection any place here for he hath delivered mine eyes from teares and what is this but to have perfect Joy yet it is the imperfection of joy that it useth not to continue as it is said of the prosperitie of the wicked They are set in slipperie places and are apt to fall but neither is this imperfection found here for hee hath delivered my feet from falling and what is this but to be assured of continuance If then thou hast such health such joy such stabilitie Health not subject to sicknesse Joy not capable of sorrow Stabilitie not obnoxious to falling How canst thou O my soule how canst thou choose but pacifie thy unquietnesse and returne to thy rest But alas the rest thou canst returne to now is but a type of that true Rest when thou shalt rest from thy labours and when thy workes that now goe with thee shall then follow thee Thou hast now but one day of Rest for sixe dayes of labour but then thou shalt have an eternall Sabbath without any dayes of labour to disquiet it But though this rest cannot now bee had whilst thou dwellest in a restlesse body and thy body in a restlesse world yet there is a Rest that is worth the having and may onely my soule be called Thy Rest the rest which consists in the peace of conscience and to this rest thou maist well returne seeing not onely thou art at peace with God as being justified by his Grace but thou art in his favour also as having dealt so bountifully with thee And when thou returnest to this rest to the end thou maist have some exercise to thy rest that thy resting make thee not restiffe I will walke Verse 9 before the Lord in the land of the living For now that my feet are delivered from falling how can I better imploy them then in walking were they delivered from falling to the end they should stand still and bee idle No my soule but to encourage me to walke and where is so good walking as in the land of the living Alas what walking is it in the Winter when all things seeme dead when the very grasse lyes buried under ground and scarce any thing that hath life in it to be seene but then is the pleasant walking when Nature spreads her greene Carpet to walke upon and then it is a Land of the living when the Trees shew they live by bringing forth if not fruits at least leaves when the Valleys shew they live by bringing forth if not sweet flowers to delight the smell at least fresh grasse to please the eyes But is this the walking in the Land of the living that David meanes O my soule to walke in the Land of the living is to walke in the pathes of Righteousnesse for there is no such death to the soule as sinne no such cause of teares to the eyes as guiltinesse of Conscience No such falling of the feet as to fall from God and therefore to say the truth the Soule can never returne to its rest if we walke not withall in the paths of righteousnesse and we cannot well say whether this Rest bee a cause of the walke or the walking be a cause of the resting but this wee may say they are certainly companions one to the other which is in effect but this that Justification can never be without Sanctification Peace of conscience and godlinesse of life can never be one without the other Or is it perhaps that David meanes that Land of the living where Enoch and Elias are living with the living God but if he meane so how can he speake so confidently Verse 10 and say I will walke in the Land of the living as though hee could come to walke there by his owne strength or at his owne pleasure Hee therefore gives his reason I beleeved and therefore I spake for the voyce of Faith is strong and speakes with confidence and because in Faith he beleeved that hee shall come to walke in the Land of the living therefore with confidence he speakes it I will walke in the land of the living and perhaps to signifie that hee shall not walke there against his will but that he endeavours and useth the best meanes he can that hee may walke there For indeed if we endeavour not to walke here with Enoch and Elias in the paths of righteousnesse we shall never come to walke with God