of God saith that it rest upon the head of the murtherer and so it rested upon Davids head that bloud that ranne in Uriah's veins to preserve his life sits now heavie upon Davids head to procure his death it was time for David to have his soul healed it having so many deep and deadly wounds And yet healing was scarce sufficient for in another Psalm hee seems to require more Create in me a clean heart O God saith he and renew a right spirit within me Psal 51.10 All the faculties of his soul were so wounded by those sins that he desireth not there a reparation but a new creation And these sins considered in abstracto simply and by themselves did deeply wound his soul but if we consider them in concreto with all their adjuncts we may find many circumstances that made his wounds the greater for David was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both a King and a Prophet and as a Prophet was bound to instruct as a King to protect the lives and chastity of his subjects For Bathsheba something may be said in her excuse for it was hard for her to resist the importunity of a King but all circumstances aggravate Davids sin his holy profession and the sword of justice which God had put into his hand to punish such offences ought to have restrained himselfe from committing them This sin in David did not onely wound his owne soul but it wounded the whole Church and laid it open to the calumnies and reproaches of the heathen for as S. Ambrose witnesseth In the primitive times of the Church when the contention was hot between the Christians and the heathen concerning the truth of religion the heathen objected this against the Christians Ecce quomodo Christiani innocentiam sequuntur Apoleg David lib. 2. cap 3. fidem praeferunt religionem venerantur castitatem docent quorum principes homicidia adulteria fecisse produntur Behold said they how the Christians imbrace innocence extoll faith honour religion teach chastity whose chiefest masters were both murtherers and adulterers But I will insist no longer upon these particulars neither will I speak of his other sins appendant to these of his making Uriah drunk to conceal and palliate his adultery of his ingratitude in rewarding Uriah with death whose faithfull services ought to have been rewarded with honour of his deep hypocrisie in being present at the service of God and offering sacrifice for the space of nine moneths together polluted in the mean time with these horrible crimes these and the rest I will passe over lest as Shimei reviled him in his life so I may seem to revile him after death Saint Ambrose hath made an apologie in his defence and for my part I will not make an invective against him God himself hath justified him and then who shall condemn him I have only named his principall sins that according as my Text requires I might shew you the wounds of his soul Now therefore I will leave him and come to our selves And first since sin doth wound the soul let us be carefull and watchfull over it for the soul is the most noble and excellent part of a man A man consists of two parts a body and a soul and both these have their naturall beauty and excellency The excellency of the body if wee consider the outward forme and workmanship is very wonderfull I will praise thee saith David for I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psal 139.14 He useth two termes here to expresse the rarity of this work fearfully and wonderfully as if the structure of mans body were so artificially framed that the sight thereof was not onely able to beget fear but wonder and astonishment And in the next verse he adds further I am curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth the Originall hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is I am curiously imbroydered as if mans body were made like a piece of Phrygian workmanship being variously wrought with veins and sinewes and bones and muscles so that wee have reason to be carefull of our bodies and if they be wounded at any time to make provision for their health How much more then ought we to be carefull of our souls whose excellency like Benjamins messe is five times as much as the excellency of the body The soul of man is a divine substance a rich and noble possession the greatest gift and most precious that a man ever received from the liberall hand of his Creatour it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Gregory Nyssen by it wee know the height the breadth and depth of the heavens the number of the stars their greatnesse distances approaches What should I speak of Divinity Philosophy the Mathematicks What should I speak of History Poesie of all the Sciences and Arts as well liberall as mechanicall the knowledge whereof wee attain unto by the benefit of the soul By it a man being but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Chrysostome stiles him a short creature not above a yard and an halfe long obtaines the government of the whole world By it the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles spake unto God received divine revelations learned many secret and ineffable mysteries and knew upon earth what things were done in heaven Hee that knoweth not the worth of this jewell may undervalue it but a skilfull Jeweller that knowes the properties and excellencie of it will prize it above the whole world Such a Jeweller is God who for the desire he had to those jewels assumed our humane nature and when he could not have them at a cheaper rate hee tooke them in exchange for his own bloud Such Jewelers are the Angels which watch continually over mens souls that they may keep and preserve these jewels deputed to their custody And such a Jeweller if I may lawfully rank him in this place is the Divell who to get these jewels goes about continually and compasseth the whole earth Seeing the soule then is of so great excellencie let us be carefull and watchfull over it let us not suffer such a divine learned noble and active creature to perish by our negligence Secondly Seeing sin doth wound the soul let it be our chiefest care to avoid sin let us not set our affections upon it but flye from it as from a deadly enemy The world sets too high a price upon her owne beauty for her fairest things are but imperfect and defective her wisdome is but foolishnesse her light but darknesse her riches but poverty What shall wee say then of her deformities her pride ambition lust and all her other vices which men falsly think pleasures but are indeed the price of their souls are so far from being good as they are the worst of evils for how can wee reckon those among the number of good things which destroy the soul God is the life of the soul let us set our affections upon him Why should wee turn from God who is the substance and
and that David desired to have healed was his soul the principall and most excellent part of a man The Pelagians affirme that sin can no way wound the soul for being a bare privation it cannot have say they a positive and naturall act An errour directly opposite to my text De natura gratia cap. 19. Quid sanatur si nihil est vulneratum nihil sauciatum nihil debilitatum atque vitiatum Why doth David desire to have his soule healed if nothing in it were wounded nothing debilitated nothing corrupted it is S. Augustines inference out of these words The Polagians then were full of vain presumption or else David was full of vain fears But Davids fears were just and he spake these words out of experience and a deep sense of his own miseries For if wee descend into particulars wee shall see his soule had many wounds it had some as old as it selfe his soule was wounded as soon as it was created God gave him life and sin death at the same instant for David together with all mankind sinned in our first parents and was wounded in his soule by that originall sinne which hee derived from them Behold saith hee I was shapen in wickednesse and in sin did my mother conceive mee Psal 51.5 Here was a sin and therefore a wound at his first conception Apol. David lib. 1. cap. 11. Contra Julianum l. 6. cap. 7. S. Ambrose calls it naturale contagium a naturall contagion S. Augustine morbum languorem naturae the disease and languishment of nature And this wound was deep enough had he had no other for originall sin hath not onely wounded the soule but it hath wounded all her powers and faculties First it hath wounded the affections for whilest man stood in the integrity of his nature all his affections were regulated and governed by reason the superiour faculties of the soule exercised a kind of regall authority and jurisdiction over the inferiour and the inferiour did inviolably performe those duties that were required of them Man was like a perfect Common-wealth like Jerusalem that was built as a city that is at unity with it selfe but sin hath now so wounded the affections that they are no longer enclined or naturally able to execute the decrees of reason but as a ship is carried up and downe by the violence of the waves in a tempest at sea so a man is carried by the violence of his owne affections hee is driven by them as by strong and impetuous windes upon many rocks Now the inferiour faculties of the soule resist the superiour the affections like seditious Tribunes being alwayes ready to stir up commotions I see another law in my members saith S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 warring against the law of my mind Rom. 7.23 The affections are at warre with reason and force it oftentimes to stoop to their unreasonable and unjust commands This is the first wound of the soule which is called imbecilitas naturalis infirmitas imbecility and naturall infirmity Secondly It hath wounded the vnderstanding for the vnderstanding did naturally apprehend truth without difficulty and as the eye looketh upon a beautifull object so the vnderstanding looked upon truth with delight and pleasure and the more excellent and eminent the truths were the greater pleasure had the vnderstanding in the contemplation of them It was not subject to be deluded by the false insinuations of any affection but could upon deliberation clearly discern all naturall truths and as for those truths that were supernaturall and above its capacity as many of them as were necessary to be known were infused or revealed by God when he first created it But sin hath likewise so wounded the vnderstanding as it can hardly apprehend its first principles without difficulty Now reason like Achitophel takes part with rebellious Absolom the corrupt affections and is apt to represent things to the will not as they are in themselves but as the affections please Now the vnderstanding is filled with ignorance and obscurity and hath lost that knowledge that was revealed to our first parents and which should likewise have beene revealed to all their posterity together with the light whereby it was able to judge and discern supernaturall truths So that there is a double ignorance in the vnderstanding arising from a double defect and want in the soul The first kind of ignorance ariseth from want of sufficient revelation for naturally the vnderstanding cannot know the articles of faith God hath given to every thing a certain circuit and determinate sphere of activity beyond which it cannot passe as fire can heate to a determinate distance but cannot passe beyond that distance The vnderstanding hath a sphere of activity too it hath a naturall sufficiency to understand some truths such as are of the law of nature and such as it can come unto by the knowledge of the senses but cannot passe beyond them to those that are supernaturall The second kind of ignorance ariseth from want of evidence after sufficient revelation and is alwayes joyned with falshood or doubt Falshood ariseth from deception when the vnderstanding apprehends errour for truth in things speculative or in things practicall when it apprehends that goodnesse to be in some actions which is not and in others that goodnesse to be wanting which is in them Doubt ariseth from irresolution I speak not now of irresolution in matters of action which belong properly to the will but of irresolution in matters of judgement which belong to the vnderstanding for there is an irresolution in the will and an irresolution in the vnderstanding as a Judge sometimes knowes the law and yet suspends judgement out of partiality and affection and this is called suspensio facti a suspension of fact and sometimes when reasons are equall on both sides hee knowes not to whom the lawes incline and so suspends judgement for want of evidence and this is called suspensio juris a suspension of right So it is likewise in the soul sometimes a man knows what hee ought to doe but yet out of particular and private respects resolves upon nothing here the suspense is in the will and is answerable to that which in a Judge is called suspensio facti and sometimes when arguments are equall on both sides hee knowes not what to resolve upon for want of evidence here the suspence is in the vnderstanding and is answerable to that which in a Judge is called suspensio juris In the first case there is a conflict of severall desires in the last a conflict of severall thoughts And from this kind of irresolution proceed all doubts and scruples in matters of conscience which although they be not joyned with falshood because the vnderstanding hath made no conclusion yet they are alwayes joyned with ignorance And this is the second wound of the soule which is called Ignorantia coecitas mentis ignorance and blindnesse of mind Thirdly It hath wounded the will
if his repentance end where it begun it is a signe his will is not yet healed When good resolutions vanish like the morning-dew and are never put in execution what fruit can they produce but when resolutions and actions like the former and the later rain succeed one another in their due season they cause a fruitfull increase of glory and happinesse and it is an evident signe that the will is wrought upon by grace for that love that springs from grace makes the soule affectionate to God and carefull to abstain from all such actions as offend him When Israel came out of Egypt and the house of Jacob from among the strange people the sea saw that and fled Jordan was driven back Psal 114.1 3. The Israelites departure out of Egypt to worship God in the wildernesse was a type of mans conversion to God by love and the flight of the waters was a type of the flight of sin that follows upon it Ante retrorsum aquae conversae fuerunt nunc retrorsum peccata conversa sunt saith S. Ambrose upon that passage there the waters but here sins are driven backward there the course of the floud was stopped within its channell but here the course of sin is stopped in all the secret passages of the heart And this is the third thing to which Davids petition must be applyed namely to his will But Davids soule is not yet perfectly healed his conscience was wounded too and therefore in the last place this petition must be applied to his conscience Heal my conscience And here the manner of healing is something different from the former grace can heale the staine of sin but it cannot heale the guilt it can sanctifie but it cannot justifie the soule nothing can take away the guilt of sin but forgivenesse of sin but sin being forgiven the obligation to punishment is taken away then the conscience is healed and guilt is turned into innocence fear into gladnesse In the 102. Psalme David laments his own case very passionately My dayes are consumed away like smoak and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-brand my heart is smitten downe and withered like grasse so that I forget to eat my bread For the voice of my groaning my bones will scarce cleave to my flesh c. In the 103. Psalme hee seems to rejoice as much and breaks forth into elogies of praise Praise the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise his holy name Praise the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits What was it that transported him so suddenly from one passion to another If you read the Psalmes you shall soon see the cause his conscience was wounded when hee made the 102. Psalm and healed when he made the 103. Psalm his sins lay heavie upon his soule when hee made the one and were forgiven him when hee made the other As long as the guilt of sin disquieted his conscience not all the glory of his Kingdome nor the pomp of his Court not all the delights of Canaan though a land flowing with milk and honey could content his mind but when his sins were forgiven hee found a sudden alteration that heavinesse that possessed his heart vented it selfe and gave place to joy O Lord my God saith he I cryed unto thee and thou hast healed me Psal 30.2 And what ensued upon this Thou hast turned saith hee afterwards my heavinesse into joy thou hast put off my sack cloth and girded me with gladnesse That contentment of mind that tranquillity of conscience that circle of joy wherewith his soul was girt followed immediately upon the healing of his conscience and forgivenesse of his sins forgivenesse of sin is as proper to heale the guilt of sin as grace to heale the staine In the Scripture to heal sin and to forgive sin are termini aequipollentes termes which signifie the same things and are promiscuously taken the one for the other Return ye back-sliding children and I will heal your back-slidings Jer. 3.22 Here you see to heale their back-slidings is to forgive their sin And so again I have seen his ways and will heale him I will lead him also and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners Isa 57.18 I have seen his wayes and will heale him that is I have seen his sins and will forgive them But was not David healed before hee made this Psalm did not the Prophet Nathan tell him The Lord also hath put away thy sin 2 Sam. 12.13 He did but David being assured by the Prophet desired yet a greater assurance The richest of Gods saints alwayes suspect their owne poverty and think that which they have nothing in respect of that which they have not and of that which they desire to have David was healed the Lord had forgiven him all his sins and yet for all that hee desires still to be healed Let us then learn by Davids example to be thus carefull and solicitous to have our soules healed Pharaoh desired to be delivered from the plagues of Egypt but not from his hardnesse of heart Let us rather desire the last for the wounds of sin are the worst wounds The Scripture hath in many places very artificially painted out the nature of sin but it alwayes borrowes colours from noxious and hurtfull creatures it compares it to the basilisk to the viper to the asp whose poysonous qualities are destructive to the life of men And it hath also in many places allegorically expressed the nature of sin by many deadly diseases by the leprosie by the palsie by the bloudy-flux and sometimes by death it selfe in the abstract By these and many other expressions in the Scripture yee may learn the nature of sin and see how dangerous her wounds are if they be not healed Let us then doe as David did let us seek unto the Lord who is the Physician of our souls hee onely is able by his grace to heale the staine and by his mercy the guilt of our sins The time will not permit mee to enter into the last part of my Text I will therefore conclude all with that of the Prophet Jeremiah Heal us O Lord and we shall be healed save us and we shall be saved for thou art our praise FINIS PSALM 41.4 Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee I Have formerly begun to speak of these words in this place I divided my Text then as you may remember into three parts First here is Designatio partis vulneratae Davids discovery of the wounded part and that was his soul Heal my soul Secondly here is Petitio remedii his prayer and petition for a remedy and that was to be healed Heal my soul Thirdly here is Confessio causae his confession of the cause of those wounds and that was sin for I have sinned against thee I have already spoken of the two first parts where I shewed you the wounds of his soule and the manner how they were to be