holy Spirit and raiseth them up again When we are most ready to perish then is God most ready to help Psal 94. Except the Lord had holpen me saith David my Soul had almost dwelt in silence Verse 8. Our help is in the Name of the Lord who hath made both Heaven and Earth This is the Conclusion of Thanksgiving containing a worthy sentence of great Comfort that against Sin the horrour of Death The Name of the Lord is our only Sanctuary and succour in all afflictions and other Dangers there is no other help or safety but only the Name of the Lord. If that were not saith he we should fall into all manner of Sin Blasphemy Errors and into all kind of Calamities But our help is in the Name of the Lord which preserveth our Faith and our Life against the Devil and the World And as ye heard in the other Verses before so he sheweth in this verse also that God suffereth his Saints to be tempted and in their Tentation to fall into great Distress as even now ready to be drowned and swallowed up presently with great floods of Water yet notwithstanding this Comfort he sheweth them that he will not utterly forsake them By the which Examples we may learn to know the Will of the Lord and to seek our help and safety at his hands which suffereth his People to be exercised in the Furnace of Egypt not to their utter Destruction but only to kill the old man with his vain hope and confidence which he hath in his own strength This is the cause why God suffereth his People to be exercised For it is not hearing reading talking or teaching nor Speculation only which maketh a Christian man but Practice is that which specially is required in a true Christian that is to say the Cross to pluck down the flesh and bring it to nothing That man despairing of his own strength and seeing no succour in himself should resign himself wholly unto the Lord looking with Patience and Hope for help at his hand for this is the Will of God Neither must we imagine to our selves any other God then such an one as will help the afflicted and oppressed with Desperation and other Calamities To know this Doctrine is one piece of the victory For they that know it not when Tentation assaileth them either do despair or seek other helps Let us learn then out of this Psalm that it is the Will of God to exercise his Saints with troubles and afflictions Who suffereth great floods of Water to run over their heads who also permitteth them to fall into the Snares of the Wicked and tryeth every Way not to destroy them but to shew them what they are of themselves and so to teach them to trust in his saving health But the flesh looketh to the power and multitude of the Adversaries and her own infirmity but to look unto God and to hope for his help and succour it is not able Wherefore this is a necessary Conclusion Our help is in the Name of the Lord. It is a short-Sentence but it setteth forth most worthy Doctrine and Consolation whereof specially in these latter days we have great need seeing the Pope together with the greatest part of the Princes and Rulers of the World so cruelly do persecure the Doctrine of the Gospel In respect of these huge Mountains what are we small Molehils Yea tho there were no Force nor Power of man for us to fear how are we able to stand against not only so many Devils but even the very gates of Hell also And yet this Experience we have of the great Mercy and Goodness of the Lord our God that when we are even in their hands and never so much oppressed yet are we not forsaken but are safe through our Confidence and trust in his Help The fruit of afflictions But to this Wisdom it is impossible for us to attain without continual afflictions whereby it is necessary that the confidence of all worldly succours should be beaten down For vexation and trouble bringeth Understanding as Isaiah saith whereby we are compelled to cry Help Lord for else we perish So in the last hour when Death approacheth there is nothing wherein mans Heart can repose it self or find Comfort but his trust and confidence in the help of the Lord There is rest and quietness there is perfect Peace He that can then say My Help is in the Name of the Lord dyeth happily and is out of all danger Thus we may learn what it is to have and enjoy God even to rest in the sure trust of his merciful help and succour in all dangers These are the Words therefore of a victorious and triumphing Faith Our help is in the name of the Lord which made Heaven and Earth As if he said The maker of Heaven and Earth is my God and my helper Shew me a God O ye my Adversaries like unto him What are your snares and your traines then compared unto this God What are your threatnings your Power your Policies c. Thus he setteth the Eternal God the maker of Heaven and Earth against all terrours and dangers against the floods and overflowings of all tentations and swalloweth up as it were with on breath all the raging furies of the whole World and of Hell it self even as a little drop of Water is swallowed up of a mighty flaming fire And what is the World with all his Force and Power in respect of him which made Heaven and Earth Let the World fret then let it rage so that this succour never fail us And if it be the Will of God that we shall suffer trouble and affliction yet in him we shall overcome at length THE COMMENTARY OF Dr. MARTIN LVTHER Upon the CXXV PSALM They that trust in the Lord c. THE Psalm going before The argument of the Psalm is a Thanksgiving or a Sacrifice of Praise because the Godly see and by experience feel that the Lord is faithful and helpeth them in the time of need This Psalm following containeth also in a manner the same matter For it pertaineth to the Doctrine of Faith and exhorteth the Faithful likewise to a sure trust and assiance in the help of the Lord in all their necessities Whereunto he stirreth them up with great and excellent promises It may also be easily understood by that which we have said before For herein consisteth all this Heavenly Wisdom that we do utterly remove out of our sight whatsoever flesh can comprehend and believe that which the Word only telleth us even against all that which either we know feel or see And therefore this Wisdom is against all humane Wisdom and Reason For by Reason and all that Reason can comprehend we feel see and conceive all things contrary to that which Faith leadeth us unto He that lyeth sick at the point of Death can by Reason conceive nothing else but the imagination of Death But a
feet therefore he could not be counted of Ezechia others like unto grass and yet before he atchieved what he went about he was compelled not without great fear and also much slaughter of his souldiers to raise his siege and he himself most miserably perished So Pharoah seemed mightily to grow and increase not upon the earth but in the air and upon the house tops but the miserable Jews were oppressed and trodden under foot like mire in the streets This is a resemblance of grass not withering but freshly flourishing But how quickly did it wither and vanish to nothing For when Pharoah did verily think to oppress them he was suddenly oppressed himself and perished in the waters Such an image of Tyrants and Tyranny the Holy Ghost painteth out unto us in this place Why then shouldest thou fear Why shouldest thou tremble Why shouldest thou despair as though thou hadst never seen most flourishing grass within few days to wither away of its own accord or didst not know the nature of it to be such as cannot long continue Athanasius when Julianus the Emperour did many wayes afflict both him and the whole Church and fought not only with cruelty but also with craft and subtilty against the faithful insomuch that others as it were in a terrible tempest were utterly discouraged and past all hope of deliverance said that this Persecution of Julian was not a tempest but a little cloud Indeed his heart was full of faith which could believe that Julianus was like not to a terrible and a violent tempest not to a mighty black cloud wrapping all things in darkness but unto a very little cloud which the Sun doth quickly consume In like manner must we also extenuate and diminish the power of our adversaries and set at nought all their proud brags and all their cruelty not in respect of our own strength but because they are of themselves nothing else but a bubble in the water grass on the house tops and a very shadow rather then men besides this that they provoke God also against themselves whose fury cruelty compared unto his power is a thing more vain than grass on the house tops or a bubble in the water for it is nothing but a bare and a naked shew which seemeth to be something when indeed it is nothing So are all the attempts of the adversaries full of threatnings but in the end they come to nothing This is the wisdom of Christians to diminish the power of the adversaries and contrariwise to amplifie the Word and the mighty protection of the Lord. The Devil Sin Death and other spiritual tentations are great but a Christian can make a distinction of greatness For greatness is understood two manner of ways The one is according to the eye which the eye judgeth after the outward shew the other is according to the truth which the truth judgeth after the Word The greatness therefore of Sin Death wicked Kings Princes and Bishops is that which is according to the eye only For God which saith Be of good comfort I have overcome the World Also Fear not those which can kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul the same God alone I say is the very true greatness to which if you compare Satan and all the fury of the whole World what are they else but a bubble what are they else but grass but light straw and stubble But when they are considered without God then do they terrify with a false fearful shew and seem to be great indeed Wherefore Christians must judge not according to their opinion but according to the truth For an opinion is that which Reason bringeth forth besides the Word but Truth is grounded upon the Word which judgeth the fury and the cruelty of the World raging against the faithful to be like unto grass on the house tops This promise being setled and surely fixed in the mind This Judgment that the enemies are like grass and therefore shall perish he calleth a promise confirmeth the godly against the great power as to reason it seemeth of the World and Satan Like as on the other side where the word is not the mind deceived thro' a terrible shew of Truth and the judgment of Reason is oppressed with terror These things must not so be taken as tho' we did utterly condemn the power of Princes and of the World which we count to be the creature of God but their presumption and the abuse of their power is it that we condemn because they fight therewith against God and his Church Let them be Princes on the earth Let them use their Power and Authority in the World but when they will needs make War in Heaven and with their Power go about to invade and oppress the word this is horrible this is execrable and damnable And who so compareth them to bubbles to grass to stubble yea and to nothing he saith truly he judgeth rightly For why do they fight against God Think they that we know not what God is and what man is what the Creature is and what the Creator is Wherefore they are rightly compared to grass on the house tops for more contemptuously the Holy Ghost could not speak of them For this grass is such that it soon withereth away before the sickle be put unto it Yea no man thinketh it worthy to be cut down no man regardeth it every man suffereth it to brag for a while and to shew it self unto men from the house tops as though it were somewhat when it is nothing So the wicked Persecutors in the World which are taken to be mighty and terrible according to the outward shew are of all men most contemptible For Christians do not once think of plucking them up or cutting them down they persecute them not they revenge not their own injuries but suffer them to increase to brag and glory as much as they list For they know that they cannot abide the violence of a vehement Wind. Yea though all things be in quietness yet as grass on the house tops by little and little withereth away through the heat of the Sun so Tyrants upon small occasions do perish and soon vanish away The faithful therefore in suffering do prevail and overcome but the wicked in doing are overthrown and miserably perish as all the Histories of all times and ages do plainly witness Verse 7. Whereof the Mower filleth not his hand neither the Gleaner his Lap. Here the Holy Ghost maketh a comparison between Grass which yieldeth no fruit and true corn which is fruitful that thereby he may the better commend unto us the former similitude and withdraw our minds from the false dread and terror which that vain and counterfeit shew bringeth Fruitful corn saith he is such that he which moweth it shall fill his hand and he that gathereth the sheaves shall have plenty to carry into his barn Here ye see is a truth and not a vain shew But
Christian man leaving his imagination knoweth that in Death there is true Life But thou wilt say He seeth and feeleth Death indeed but Life he cannot feel I Answer that because he resteth upon the Word and after it he judgeth and not after his own feeling therefore even in Death he seeth nothing but Life and in the midst of Darkness most clear light For like as God maketh all things of nothing and of darkness light so he worketh by his Word that in Death there is nothing but life The power of the Word Psal 33. They then which stick to the Word and Promise of God and follow the same do find it true which David saith He spake the Word and it was done c. But before we can come to this experience we must abide some trouble and therefore have need of such exhortation as this Psalm here setteth forth Verse 1. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but remaineth for ever The Prophet useth here a similitude of Mount Sion because Jerusalem wherein Sion stood when the Temple was builded had most ample and notable promises of God as appeareth in very many places of the Prophets that it should stand sure and invincible for ever against all troubles and Calamities for that the Lord had his abiding and dwelling there according to that promise where he saith Here is my rest here will I dwell c. And therefore David in another Psalm glorieth on this wise Lo the Kings were gathered and went together when they saw it they marvelled They were astonied and suddenly driven back As we may see it came to pass under Ezechias in the great Destruction of the Assyrians and other Kings as the stories witness which shew that Jerusalem remained safe in all dangers not by strength and Policy of the inhabitants but by the miraculous Work of God dwelling in it and thus mightily preserving and beautifying his own Common-wealth Now therefore saith he like as Mount Sion and our Holy City Jerusalem is never moved but remaineth sure and safe by the mighty protection of the Lord in all Extremities so he that trusteth in the Lord shall be defended against the furious Rage of the World and the Gates of Hell for ever Note how he commandeth no Work here to be done as in Popery in the time of trouble men were taught to enter into some kind of Religion to fast to go on Pilgrimage and to do such other foolish Works of Devotion which they devised as an high Service unto God and thereby thought to make Condigne Satisfaction for Sin To hope and trust in the Lord is tke greatest Service that we can do to him and merit Eternal Life but simply he leadeth us the plain Way unto God pronouncing this to be the chiefest Anchor of our Salvation only to hope and trust in the Lord and that this is the greatest Service that we can do unto God For this is the Nature of God as I have said to create all things of nothing Therefore he createth and bringeth forth in Death Life in Darkness The Nature of Faith Light And this to believe is the very Nature and most special Property of Faith When God then seeth such a one as agreeth with his own Nature that is which believeth to find in Danger Help in Poverty Riches in Sin Righteousness and that for Gods own Mercies sake in Christ alone him can God neither hate nor forsake For he serveth and worshipeth God truly which putteth his whole trust in the Mercy of God With this Service God is highly pleased because he delighteth of nothing to make something So he made the World of nothing so he raiseth up the Poor and Oppressed so he justifieth the Sinner so he raiseth the Dead and so he saveth the Damned Who so then consenteth to Gods Nature and obeyeth his Will there hoping sor something where nothing is he it is that pleaseth God and shall never be moved But thou must beware that thou imagine not to thy self a false Hope contrary to the Word of God and thy Vocation Whereof if thou be certain and abide in the same if troubles rise trust in the Lord and if he help not in his good time take me and David also for Lyars Satan will trouble vex and discomfort thee yea and peradventure make thee to believe that thou art utterly forsaken but if thou trust in the Lord thou shalt feel his help with joyful Victory So in the Council of Auspurge when the Princes were bent against us with one consent our cause seemed to be utterly overthrown Notwithstanding yet we live and enjoy such Peace and Liberty as we would wish maugre the Rage and Malice of the Pope and all the Adversaries of the World With such Conflicts we must be exercised least we be discouraged when we see our cause begin to quaile But the greater the danger is the more stedfastly we must trust So shall it come to pass that when we are overcome yet we shall overcome and the Conqueror shall yield unto us Triumph and Victory This is it that the Psalm here setteth forth They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but remaineth for ever And here we have a singular promise whereby we are assured that we shall stand and abide for ever If then we do not continue it is our own fault because we abide not firm and stable in our Faith For this promise must needs remain sure and infallible Yea as it is impossible that God should deny himself and not be God so is it impossible that he should forsake those that put their trust in him But we may not think the time long but patiently abide the Lords Leisure For Gods power taketh no place in us until we be utterly to speak after the manner of the Scripture exininated that is stript naked of all Worldly Hope and Helps that man hath in himself and brought to nothing like as when he saveth a ship from drowning now ready to perish and past all Remedy As the two Stories of the Gospel one of the Ship the other of the danger of Peter do testifie Verse 2. As the Mountains are about Jerusalem so is the Lord about his People from henceforth and for ever Where many hundred thousands of men are there are scarcely seven thousand which know God or believe in God and yet for their sakes the whole Multitude is called God s people Even so was it in Jerusalem Jerusalem called holy by the figure Synecdoche where a part is taken for the whole Albeit the greater part was Wicked and Godless yet was Jerusalem called Holy not only in Respect of a small Nnmber of the Godly but also because God had his abiding there So when there was not one just person in Sodom but Lot with his two Daughters yet could not the Angel destroy Sodom with fire so long as Lot was in