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
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
love Alas hee may heare us and we never the better hee may heare our voyce and yet his love to us perhaps but little for who will not give a man the hearing though he love him not at all With men perhaps it may be so but not with God for his hearing is not onely voluntarie but reserved Non omnibus dormit his Eares are not open to every ones cry indeed to heare us is in God so great a favour that he may well be counted his Favourite whom he vouchsafes to heare and the rather for that his hearing is alwayes operative and with a purpose of helping that if he heare my voyce I may be sure he meanes to grant my supplication or rather perhaps in Davids manner of expressing in Gods manner of proceeding to heare my voyce is no lesse in effect then to grant my supplication And now because hee hath inclined his eare to Verse 2 heare me I will therefore call upon him as long as I live that if it be expected I should call upon any other it must bee when I am dead for as long as I live I have vowed to call upon God But will this be well done May I not in so doing doe more then I shall have thankes for perhaps for my labour Is this the requitall that God shall have for his kindnesse in hearing me that now he shall have a customer of me and never be in quiet for my continuall running to him and calling upon him Doth God get any thing by my calling upon him that I should make it a Vow as though in calling upon him I did him a pleasure O my Soule that God might indeed have a customer of me in praying although I confesse I should not be so bold to call upon him so continually if his owne commanding me did not make it a Dutie for hath not God bid me to call upon him when I am in trouble and is there any time that I am not in trouble as long as I live in this vale of miserie and then can there be any time as long as I live that I must not call upon him For shall God bid me and shall I not doe it shall God incline his Eare and stand listening to heare and shall I hold my peace for the nonce that he may have nothing to heare Or shall I wave calling upon God who I know both can and will heare mee and call upon some other who I know not whether they can or no Is Prayer worth any thing if it bee not in Faith and can there bee Faith where there is uncertaintie O my Soule this is a great secret which we should perhaps have never knowne if God himselfe had not revealed it to us that to call upon him is not a trouble to him but a pleasure not in us a presumption but a dutie though it be our suite yet it is his service it is indeed both our suite and service and though his glory be not the more by it yet his glory is the more manifested by it and as he is a jealous God so of nothing so much as of his glory his glory hee will not communicate with any other any thing else perhaps but not his glory and this is all the glory hee can have from us that wee acknowledge our owne weaknesse and his Power that we call upon him not onely as one that is able to helpe us but as the onely One that is able to helpe us for else we satisfie not his jealousie and if it be a true rule in Philosophie Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora It is no lesse true in Divinitie It is in vaine to call upon any other for reliefe but God alone if God alone be able and willing to relieve us Either therefore wee must say that God is not able or not willing to helpe us or else confesse it at least a great vanitie to call for helpe to any other But if Gods benefits be the Motive to love him why are not his afflictions as well a Motive not to love him For is there any evill in the Citie and God hath not done it No my soule the reason is not like his benefits are all gratuitous and come gratis from him his Afflictions are as it were violent and come forcibly from him his Afflictions are punishments or chastisements duly deserved but his Benefits are not Wages or Rewards that are justly merited and therefore we cannot so justly say that crosses and afflictions are cast upon us by God as that they are drawne upon us by our owne sinne for sorrowes and paines are as the Ecchoes I may say of sinne and according as this calls so they answer if sinnes be but light there is like to be heard but a light reflexe of sorrowes but if they be crying sinnes heynous and loude what marvell if the Ecchoes be answerable and that the sorrowes of Death compasse us about and the paines of Hell take hold upon us But if it be doubted by what meanes afflictions and crosses doe happen to us yet it cannot be doubted by what meanes they must be removed from us seeing there is none able to rowle away the Grave-stone of our sinnes but onely God and therefore no meanes to remove afflictions but onely his Mercy and no meanes of this meanes but to call upon him Doe Physitians use to come to a Patient unlesse they be called and why then should wee looke that God the great Physitian of our soules should come to helpe us if we call not upon him Upon him O my soule and upon no other for of his Power and Will to helpe me I cannot doubt of others I may For the Verse 3 sorrowes of death compassed me and the paines of hell tooke hold upon me and can I doubt of his power that hath delivered me from these Or can I thinke of any other that could deliver me from these but onely hee Could any deliver me from the sorrowes of Death but hee onely who triumphed over Death Could any free me from the paines of Hell but hee onely who put Hell it selfe to paine and cast Death and Hell into the Lake of fire and shall I call upon any other to deliver me but upon him onely who I am well assured is able to deliver me No my soule but to leave no time for calling upon any other I will call upon God as long as I live Not for a day or a moneth but all the dayes of my life even as long as I live And how long will that bee Alas how long can it be seeing the sorrowes of Death have already compassed me about and the paines of hell have taken hold upon mee For what are the sorrowes of Death but sorrowes like those of Rachel that would not be comforted because they were not What are the paines of Hell but paines caused by guiltinesse of sin that deserves Hell Paines not more in sense of
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
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
a transitorie thing and wert not to continue thou mightst justly then looke after transitorie pleasures and such as have no continuance but seeing thou art a substance perpetuall and immortall O therefore looke after pleasures like thy selfe pleasures that may last and never come to the last that may last and be durable and not leave thee to the miserie of Fuit Ilium ingens gloria teucrorum for Fuisse foelicem miserrimum est To have beene happy and not to bee to have flourished and now to bee withered is the greatest miserie in the world And the greater for that once pluckt off from his stalke Once taken from the Earth the Earth will never know him any more Alas it will scarce take notice that ever such a one there was and the Verse 16 notice it takes but in specie neither not in Individuo some perhaps as of a man None as of this man or rather some as of a Name None as of a man Or is it rather that Man turned once to Dust his place will know him no more for how should it know one from another when they are all so like How know Dives from Lazarus when they have both the same face seeing Death hath but one copie to draw all her pictures by Or is it rather that Man once turn'd to Dust is blowne about with every wind from place to place and what knowes the place when Dust falls upon it whether it be the Dust of a Prince or of a Peasant whether of a Man or of a Beast And must not Man then bee needes very miserable when Time and place the two best helpes of life doe both forsake him for what helpe can hee have of Time when his dayes are but as Grasse What help of Place when his place denyes him and will not know him But O how vaine a thing is Man to forget not onely the very matter of which he is made but the very condition under which hee is made and so to forget it that God must bee faine to remember him of it but much the vainer that being remembred of it never so often yet hee regards it never the more but contenting himselfe to be fading grasse at most a fading flowre never seekes to improve his Dust to that true solidnesse which nothing but the feare of God is able to procure nothing but the pitty in God is able to effect But now at last if neither the Distances of Place nor the Affection of Nature can make you sufficiently conceive the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take an expressing in plaine tearmes and this will certainly make you conceive it For his mercy is from everlasting Verse 17 to everlasting upon them that feare him It is from everlasting for it began to be before the Foundations of the world were laid and it is to everlasting for it will continue to be when the Frame of the World shall bee dissolved that now O my soule there can bee no feare of the greatnesse of Gods mercy all the feare now is of thine owne feare for although Verse 18 Gods mercy bee so Everlasting yet it is so but to them that feare him for if thou feare him not and keepe not his Commandements then his mercy to thee is neither from Everlasting nor to Everlasting but if thou feare him and keepe his Commandements then his mercy to thee is both and not onely to Thee as though Gods mercy were onely a Personall benefit and should end with thy selfe but it shall be continued to thy childrens children Et natis natorum qui nascentur ab illis to thy whole Posteritie O my soule what an Inheritance is this to purchase to our children at least if it bee not an absolute Inheritance yet it is so sure an Entayle that nothing but the want of fearing God can cut it off And indeed why else hath God prepared Verse 19 his Throne in Heaven but to the end the godly may bee assured that though they bee now oppressed on earth yet thither they shall come at last to bee with him in Joy to bee there in Joy for having obeyed him when the wicked shall bee left behind to bewayle their miseries for not obeying him For though his Throne be prepared onely in Heaven Yet his kingdome ruleth over all Over All both Man and Beast both the Godly and the Wicked both blessed Angells and damned Spirits and because his Kingdome ruleth over all therefore All shall serve him and shall serve him indeed with feare yet there shall be a difference for the godly shall serve him with feare and joy where the wicked shall serve him with feare and trembling And now seeing God hath prepared his Throne in heaven Therefore O yee his Angells inhabitants of Heaven that obey his Commandements by the freedome of your will Doe you begin first and prayse his Name for you excell in strength and are best able to doe it And seeing his Kingdome ruleth overall Therefore all ye his Hosts his other Creatures that obey his Commandement too though not by will yet by instinct Doe you second the Angels in praising his Name And then thou my soule that partakest of both the Natures Doe thou also and with thee also the Soules of all the godly joyne with them in his Prayses that so at least there may bee a Consort of Three to Blesse and Praise him who is a Trinitie in Unitie Three Persons and one God to be Blessed and praised for ever and ever But to be blessed and praised as by all the persons of his Kingdome so in all the places of his Dominion which are Heaven and Earth and Hell a Triplicitie too for even Hell is a place within his Dominion And for praising him in Heaven the Angells will be sure enough to looke to that and for praising him in Hell let the wicked and the damned spirits looke to that at their perill but for praising him on Earth Thou my soule and the soules of all the godly will undertake to doe that at least will pray continually to him that sitteth upon the Throne to be enabled to doe it and when all these shall faile or lest they should faile when Heaven and Earth shall passe away when Time and Place shall bee no more yet his Prayse shall bee continued still by his owne Workes which are his Glory and his Power his Infinitenesse and his Eternitie but above all which is above all his Workes the Workes of his infinite and Everlasting Mercie THE HVNDRED AND SIXTEENTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Love the Lord because hee hath heard my voyce and my supplication 2 Because hee hath inclined his eare unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live 3 The sorrowes of death compassed me and the paines of hell got hold upon mee I found trouble and sorrow 4 Then called I upon the Name of the Lord O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soule 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous
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
in the Land of the living But though I had spoken thus and thus confidently yet I found my selfe in trouble and affliction still which made me say in my hast All men are lyars In my hast indeed for I Verse 11 thought not of one man who was farre from being a lyar and in whose mouth was found no guile It seemes that to give the lye was not so heynous an offence in Davids time as it is in these dayes for else how durst he have spoken such words that all men are lyars which is no lesse then to give the lye to the whole world And yet no man I thinke will challenge him for saying so no more then challenge S. John for saying that All men are sinners And indeed how should any man avoid being a lyar seeing the very being Man is it selfe a lye Not onely a Vanity and put in the ballance is lesse then vanity but a very lye promising great matters and is able to doe just nothing as Christ saith Without me yee can doe nothing and so Christ seemes to come in as it were to be Davids second and to make his word good that all men be lyars And now let the world doe its worst and take the lye how it will for David having Christ of his side will alwayes be able to make his part good against all the world for Christ hath overcome the world But though all men may be said to be lyars yet not all men in all things for then David himselfe should be a lyar in this but all men perhaps in something or other at sometime or other in some kind or other Absolute truth not found in any man but in that man onely who was not man onely for if hee had beene but so it had not perhaps beene found in him neither seeing absolute Truth and Deitie are as Relatives never found to be asunder But in what thing is it that all men should be lyars Indeed in this for one to thinke that God regards not nor loves not them whom he suffers to be afflicted for we may rather thinke hee loves them most whom hee suffers to be most afflicted and we may truly say he would never have suffered his servant Job to be afflicted so exceeding cruelly if he had not loved him exceeding tenderly For there is nothing lost by suffering afflictions No my soule they doe but serve to make up the greater weight of glory when it shall be revealed But let his afflictions be what they can be yet I will alwayes acknowledge they can never be in any degree so great as his benefits and oh that I could thinke of something that I Verse 12 might render to him for all his benefits for shall I receive so great so infinite benefits from him and shall I render nothing to him by way of gratefulnesse But alas what have I to render all my rendring to him will bee but taking more from him for all I can doe is but to take the cup of salvation and call upon his Name Verse 13 and what rendring is there in this taking If I could take the cup of Tribulation and drinke it off for his sake this perhaps might be a rendring of some value but this God knowes is no worke for me to doe It was his worke who said Can yee drinke of the cup of which I shall drinke Indeed he dranke of the Cup of Tribulation to the end that wee might take the Cup of Salvation but then in taking it wee must call upon his Name upon his Name and upon no others for else wee shall make it a cuppe of Condemnation seeing there is no Name under Heaven in which we may bee saved but onely the Name of Jesus Yet it may be some rendring to the Lord if I pay my Vowes and doe as it were my Penance openly I will therefore pay my vowes to Verse 14 the Lord in the presence of all his people But might hee not pay his Vowes as well in his Closet betweene God and himselfe as to doe it publickly No my soule it serves not his turne indeed not Gods turne but he must pay them in the presence of all his people yet not to the end hee should be applauded for a just Payer for though he pay them yet he can never pay them to the full but to the end that men seeing his good workes may glorifie God by his example and the rather perhaps for that David was a King and the Kings example prevailes much with the people to make them pay their vowes to God but most of all that by this meanes Davids Pietie may not be barren but may make a Breed of Pietie in the people also which may be one mysticall reason why it was counted a Curse in Israel to be barren for he that payes not his Vowes to God in the presence of his people may well be said to be barren in Israel seeing hee begets no children to God by his Example And perhaps also the Vowes which David meanes here was the doing of some meane things unfit in shew for the dignitie of a King as when it was thought a base thing in him to Daunce before the Arke he then vowed he would be baser yet and in this case to pay his Vowes before the people becomes a matter of necessitie for as there is no honour to a man whilst he is by himselfe alone so there is no shame to a man but before people and therefore to shew that he is not ashamed to doe any thing how meane soever so it may tend to the glorifying of God Hee will pay his vowes in the presence of all his people And hee will doe it though it cost him his life for if he dye for it he knowes that Pretious in the sight of the Lord Verse 15 is the death of his Saints But that which is pretious is commonly desired and doth God then desire the death of his Saints He desires no doubt that death of his Saints which is to dye to sinne but for any other death of his Saints it is therefore said to be pretious in his sight because hee layes it up with the greater carefulnesse And for this it is there are such severall Mansions in Gods House that to them whose death is pretious in his sight hee may assigne the most glorious Mansions This indeed is the reward of Martyrdome and the encouragement of Martyrs though their sufferings bee most insufferable their tortures most intolerable yet this makes amends for all that Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints for if it be so great a happinesse to be acceptable in his sight how great a happinesse must it be to bee pretious in his sight When God at the Creation looked upon all his workes it is said he saw them to be all exceeding good but it is not said that any of them were Pretious in his sight and how then comes Death to bee pretious in