there not a necessitie of speaking many things besides Gods praises yet nothing must bee spoken but either his Praise or to his praise or else wee breake our Vow And how then is this Riddle to bee expounded Is it not as Saint Paul expounds it Whither yee eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the praise and glory of God And if all wee doe may bee done to the praise of God then certainly all we speake may bee spoken to the praise of God and indeed seeing he never ceaseth to send forth continually his blessings with what reason can we cease to set forth continually his Praises But when I make this Vow to blesse God at all times I make it not presuming upon any abilitie in my selfe Alas I know my owne weaknesse and how unready I am to any goodnesse but my soule maketh her boast in the Lord Verse 2 My confidence is that he who hath given mee the resolution to will it will give mee also the power to performe it that Hee who hath begun the worke will also finish it and being so good an Architect as he is will not lay a foundation but will as well also set on the Roofe If I should boast in my selfe I should doe wrong to God but if I boast not in God I doe wrong to my selfe seeing God is a strength to none but to them that make him their strength and none make him their strength but they that make their boast of him It is a hard matter to bring Boasting and Humilitie to meet together in one subject betweene which there is so naturall an Antipathie yet here it is done for this I may say is the humble boasting where a vaine man may glory without vaine-glory where a weake Agent may presume without presumption Not like the boasting of the Pharisee so hatefull in the eyes of God so offensive in the eares of the humble For the Humble can heare this boasting and bee glad which they would never doe if it were not conformable to the rules of Humility Can any boasting be greater then to say I can doe all things yet in this boasting there is humilitie when I adde In him that comforteth mee For though God like not of boasting yet he likes of this boasting which arrogates nothing to our selves but ascribes all to him and seeing my soule boasteth her felfe of God I doubt not but as the humble heare it and bee glad so God sees it and is pleased and accepts my Boasting as a sacrifice of Humilitie But to what end is it that my Boasting tends Is it to set forth my owne worthinesse and to vaunt of my abilities Is it to tread in the steps of Lucifer or to walke in the way of the Pharisee God forbid the humble then would not be glad to heare my boasting No my soule it is to magnifie the Lord O therefore Verse 3 magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together for alas what am I to magnifie his Name my selfe alone if I have not company to helpe me All I can doe and all the humble can doe is but to say Not unto us Not unto us O Lord but to thy Name give the glory which is rather a vilifying of our selves then a magnifying of him they must be creatures of a better mettall that can serve and yet cannot serve to magnifie him as they should and it is not the worke of a few all the Millions of millions in Heaven and Earth have enough to doe and more then enough to exalt his Name O therefore yee Blessed Spirits of heaven doe you magnifie the Lord but take mee with you in your company that though I adde nothing to the weight of the worke yet I may adde one to the number of the worke-men in magnifying his Name We that are dwellers on the Earth can exalt his Name no higher then the Heavens and there you that be Inhabitants of Heaven must take it and exalt it higher and so betweene us all wee shall make a shift to exalt him to his true Elevation for his Glory is above the Heavens But if perhaps you thinke scorne of our company as being men of polluted lips and therefore not worthy to bee of your Consort yet the humble will make a consort by themselves and will not indeed cannot be kept from exalting his Name for our Humilitie is his Exaltation and then wee raise him up to the height of his Throne when we cast our selves downe as low as his Footstoole that it is but a diverse expressing of the same thing in substance whither we say Let us exalt the Name of the Lord Or let us fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker David is not wont to use Exclamations but upon speciall occasion if he use one here and say O magnifie the Lord we may know that to magnifie his Name is a thing of great importance indeed so great that all things besides it at least all things without it are nothing but vanitie O then all you that be exalted in Heaven and all you that bee humble in the earth and lest any be left out where all are too few O all ye workes of the Lord blesse yee the Lord Praise him and magnifie him Verse 4 forever For I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered mee from all my feares To seeke and upon seeking to be heard is a great favour but to bee heard and upon hearing to bee delivered from all feares is a favour that deserves Magnifying in the highest degree But why is it that I sought him is it not because I had lost him before and why should I seeke to get him againe and would not keepe him when I had him O my soule Carendo magis quam fruendo Wee know the goodnesse of things more by wanting them then by enjoying them though I could not see what happinesse it was to have him yet I see what miserie it is to want him and yet in this I account my selfe happy that I have sought him while he was within hearing for alas if I had stayed from seeking him till hee had beene out of hearing What hope could I have had of ever recovering him But O the tender mercies of God that hath not suffered me to put off my seeking him so long for O my soule it is no lesse his mercie that I seeke him then that hee heares me my desire is not more to have him then his to bee had for how else could he have heard mee as soone as I sought him but that hee stood listening as it were when I would seeke him and he heard me not as one that were indifferent whither he head me or no but he gave me audience with no lesse Intention to grant my suit then attention to know it for heare the successe of my seeking him see the fruit of his hearing me He delivered mee from all my feares To have delivered mee
of God Marke therefore how David speakes They will be still praysing him It is not enough to praise him it must bee a praising him still before it will make a Blessednesse and though to praise God be an easie matter yet to praise him still will be found a busie worke indeed to flesh and bloud a miserable worke for if I be still praising him what time shall I have for any pleasure O my soule if thou make it not thy pleasure thy chiefe thy onely pleasure to bee praysing him thou art not like in hast to come to Blessednesse And marvell not that David speakes thus under the Law When Saint Paul under the Gospell saith as much Whether ye eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the glory and praise of God And indeed how can I doubt of attaining to Blessednesse by praising of God when it is praising of God that makes the Angels in heaven Blessed for the seeing of God would never make them blessed if seeing him they did not praise him and praising him would never make them blessed if they did not praise him continually crying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath for as we praise God here on Earth with saying O Lord God of Hosts because here he fighteth for us against our enemies so wee shall praise him in heaven with saying O Lord God of Sabbath because there he will give us rest from our enemies Verse 5 But if it bee thought that praising of God will not be enough to make Blessednesse or not to make Blessednesse enough at least take this with it and it will surely be enough Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are For though our praising of God being our owne worke must needs be too weake to make a blessednesse yet when our strength is in God this makes it his worke and then our blessednesse hath a sure foundation When we trust to our owne strength for Blessednesse we are often deceived indeed as often as alwayes but when our strength is in God we may rest secure our blessednesse is upon a Rocke and cannot be shaken But then Gods wayes must be in our hearts for what way hath his strength to the heart if his wayes be not in the heart That 's their place if wee looke for strength from him Are we not in a continuall fight against Sin and have we any strength to fight but onely in him and will he take it well to be placed in a Wing No my soule he will strengthen us no longer then hee is placed in the heart of the Battell That 's his place if wee looke to bee strengthened in him It is not enough that Gods wayes bee knowne if they be not walked in nor walked in if not embraced and it is not enough to embrace them with the armes which is oftentimes feigned and but onely complimentall they must be embraced with the two armes of the heart Integritie and Sinceritie Integritie will embrace them all Sinceritie will embrace no other Though Gods wayes be many yet they must all goe into one Heart if any be left out the rest will not tarry though they must be in singlenesse of heart yet they must not be single in the heart They are fruites that grow in clusters not one by one There are many that have Gods wayes in their mouthes can talke holily and make Sermons of godlinesse though they bee no Preachers but because they draw neere to God with their lips and their hearts are farre from him they are like to have but the Pharisees entertainment not so well justified as the Publican There are many that have Gods wayes in their hands they give almes plentifully they distribute their bread to the Poore liberally but because their left hand knowes what their right hand doth they have their reward already They that have Gods wayes in their hearts they onely are in the right way to blessednesse and no rubbes of the world can turne them out of the way For when Gods wayes are in the heart together they lend assistance to Verse 6 one another For passing thorow the Valley of Baca they make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles That which seemed an impediment turnes to a furtherance at least no misery can be so great no estate so barren but a godly heart can make it a Well out of which to draw forth water of comfort either water to clense and make it a way to Repentance or water to coole and make it a way to Patience or water to moysten and make it a way of growing in grace and if the Well happen to bee dry and afford no water from below yet the raine shall fill their pooles and supply them with water from above If naturall forces bee not sufficient there shall bee supernaturall graces added to assist them that though troubles of the world seeme rubs in the way to blessednesse yet in truth they are none they hinder not arriving at the marke we ayme at they hinder us not from being made Members of Syon they hinder us not from approaching the presence of God No my soule they are rather helpes for by this meanes wee goe from strength to strength from strength of Patience to strength of Hope from strength of Hope to strength of Faith from strength of Faith to strength of Vision and then will be accomplished that which David speakes here Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are If my strength were not in God I should not dare to call upon him being Lord of Hosts but now that my strength is in him and that I know hee is Lord of Hosts for me and not against me a Shield to me a Sword onely to my enemies now I have confidence to say O Lord God of Hosts heare my prayer give eare Verse 7 O God of Jacob for as I doubt not but hee will heare me though he bee Lord of Hosts so I have much more confidenne he will give eare unto me being the God of Jacob for he hath made a Covenant with Jacob and with his posteritie for ever that he will be their God and they shall be his people of which number it is my happinesse that I am one not after the flesh which profiteth nothing but according to Faith the onely thing that makes the true Israelite But yet what good will it doe me that God heare my prayer and give eare unto it if he be still averse and turne away his Face O therefore Behold O Lord our shield and looke upon the face of thine anoynted For I shall never come to looke upon thy Face if thou vouchsafe not first to looke upon mine if thou afford me not as well the benefit of thine Eyes to looke upon me as the favour of thine Eares to heare me I shall be left onely to a bare expectation but never come to the happinesse of
senses are waking to entertaine it What is the Evening but the end of the day and what is the Evening of our life but the end of our dayes and in this Evening indeed there is commonly heavinesse weeping for parting of friends that have lived together but this heavinesse is removed assoone as morning comes for what is the Morning but when the Sunne riseth againe and what is our Morning but when we shall rise againe and as when this morning comes there will bee a day that shall have no more Evening so when this joy comes all teares shall be wiped from our eyes and there shall be no more weeping Indeed all our great joyes have ever come in the morning It was a Joy that came in the morning at the Birth of Christ It was a Joy that came in the morning at the Resurrection of Christ It was a Joy that came in the morning at the Descending of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles and these Joyes were then so great that they have made us Feasts ever since Our Christmasse our Easter and our Whitsontide yet these Joyes had their heavinesse preceding the Joy of Christs birth had the heavinesse of his Mothers slight the Joy of Christs Resurrection had the heavinesse for his Passion the Joy of the Descending of the Holy Ghost the heavinesse for Christs departing but these heavinesses were so presently followed with joyes that it hath made this Aphorisme be found true still Heavinesse may endure for a night but joy commeth in the morning And now O my soule what need it trouble thee to have heavinesse in the Evening so long as thou art sure to have joy in the morning What need it trouble thee to be weeping for a time when thou art sure of rejoycing when time shall be no more Hitherto I have beene busie about singing Gods praises for lifting mee up which hath beene his worke Now I must leave singing and come to saying to speake of my owne worke And I said in my prosperitie I shall never Verse 6 be moved but alas if my singing were no Verse 7 better then my saying it had beene better for me to have held my peace in both for what a saying is this to say I shall never be moved Is there any Mountaine so strong that it cannot be moved and if no Mountaine how any man but this is the insolent language of prosperitie to give over crying to God and fall a boasting of it selfe Alas Prosperitie hath neither good tongue nor good eyes as it made David say hee should never be moved so it made him thinke it enough that God by his favour had made his Mountaine strong but as for the maintaining it strong to arrogate that to himselfe when God knowes if once we leave depending upon God and arrogate any thing to our selves our Mountaine will soone bee turned into a Valley and our strength will goe from us as it did from Samson when his haire was cut off and this makes David say now Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled for as it is the favour of God that makes our Mountaine strong and our Mountaine being strong wee are kept from trouble so it is the hiding of Gods face that makes our moutaine weake and our mountaine being weake wee are presently troubled but rather indeed if God doe not as well maintaine our mountaine strong as make it strong we shall quickly bring our Mountaine to a Mole-hill wee shall quickly either fall our selves from our Mountaine or have our mountaine to fall upon us Wee see the Earth hath no comfort but in the Sunne and therefore if the Sunne bee removed the Earth presently puts on Blacks is pincht with cold and covered with darknesse That which the Sunne is to the Earth thy Face O God is to me and what marvell then when thou hidest thy face if I bee left as a disconsolate Earth in trouble and mourning God useth not to hide his face from any that depend upon him and therefore as long as I put my trust and confidence in him he was to me as a strong Mountain I enjoyed his favour and the light of his Countenance but assoone as I left depending upon him and trusted to my owne strength my Mountaine was suddenly turned into a Valley and I was left alas in a vale of miserie O therefore my soule notwithstanding any prosperitie whatsoever Doe thou depend upon God for thy Mountaine both for making it strong and for maintaing it strong and never bee moved to say thou shalt never be moved for to bee immovable is a priviledge of God himselfe and of God alone and is not communicable to any creature It is a false saying in any estate to say I shall never be moved but in prosperitie falsest of all for hee that is in prosperitie stands in a slipperie place and such a place is not capable of stabilitie What is prosperitie but an earthy thing and can any thing that is earthy be secure from moving when the body of the Earth it selfe is moved O my soule the consideration of this Alas the feeling of this hath made mee leave both singing and saying and fall to my crying againe I cryed to thee O Lord and unto the Lord I made supplication Verse 8 Indeed crying is the voyce of a suppliant and the fittest voyce for a supplication but yet why should David tell God of his crying to him and say I cryed to thee O Lord as though God knew it not without his telling it No doubt God knew of his crying for how else did he heare it and of his supplication for how else could hee grant it and therefore it seemes hee tells it not so much to God as to us that wee may take notice with what sacrifices God is pleased For as there are divers sacrifices that are acceptable to God so each of them in the due time is the fittest and most acceptable singing fittest after a benefit obtained and crying fittest for obtaining a benefit Allelujahs fittest when wee are in triumph Hosanna's fittest when we are in distresse And therefore being at the present in perill of his life and delivered as it were into the hands of Death the sacrifice he offers now is a supplication which yet seemes not so much a supplication as an Expostulation Verse 9 What profit is there in my bloud when I goe downe into the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth If I goe downe into the Pit shall I not bee turned into dust and is dust good for any thing but to be food for the Serpent May I not doe thee better service above ground then under it Alas I shall be there but in the company of Wormes poore silly things that are not capable of knowing thee I am here in the societie of reasonable creatures with whom I may joyne in extolling thy Praises Hast thou not breathed into mee the breath of life and wilt thou draw in thy
breath so quickly againe and leave mee but dust as thou foundest me at first Though the service I can doe thee be not great yet it is more then dust can doe Hath dust a tongue or a voyce or any instruments of life for the declaring of thy truth and why then wilt thou make a divorce of parts which thou hast joyned together of purpose for that purpose If I desired life for any end of my owne thou hadst just cause then to make an end of my life but now that I desire it to doe thee service why wilt thou diminish the number of thy servants and not leave enow for the service thou hast to doe Can any number be sufficient to praise thee Can there ever be mouthes enow to declare thy Truth and may not I make one a sinfull one I know but yet one in the number if thou but please to spare mee for descending into the Pit But what Pit I meane not the Pit where the Apostate Angels are I know they descended not but fell and I know the Pit they fell into is a Pit of blasphemie the Pit I feare descending into is but a Pit of silence and yet in one thing is worse then theirs for they in their Pit retaine their substance still but I in this shall lose my very Being at least the quantitas continua of my body shall bee turned into the quantitas Discreta of dust and the frame compacted of all the Elements dissolved I shall remaine nothing but as it were a few crummes of Earth and what can Earth doe when it is not assisted with fire and water O therefore Verse 10 Heare O Lord and have mercy upon me Lord bee thou my helper for if thou lend mee not thine eare how can I hope thou wilt shew mee mercy and if thou have not mercy upon me how can I hope thou wilt bee my helper Heare me O God while I am in a place where I may be heard for if once I be descended into the Pit I shall quite then be out of all hearing Have mercy upon me while I am capable of mercy for if once I be turned into dust what mercy can I looke for Be thou my helper O God now that I am in a state to bee helped for if my bloud in which my life consists bee once shed what good then will thy helpe doe me I place Gods mercy in the midst here because it must serve to both the other both to make God to heare me and to make him to helpe me and Gods mercy can doe both it can make him to heare me though I were silent and can make him to helpe me though I were dust But though Gods mercy can doe it am I sure it will doe it O my soule his mercy hath done it already for it is the worke of his mercy that Hee hath turned my mourning into dauncing that hee hath put off my sackcloth and girded mee with gladnesse O wonderfull conversion the very same myracle I may say that Christ wrought at the Mariage in Cana for to turne Mourning into Dauncing what is it but to turne water into Wine To have turned my mourning but into comfort had beene a great worke and a great favour but to turne my mourning into dauncing the extremitie of sorrow into extremitie of joy who could doe this but thou onely O God with whom as no Myracles are wonders so no extremities are limits Mourning is not properly but for one that is dead and indeed so neere being dead was I that I might well be said to mourne for my owne death not unlike the Swan if it be true that shee sings her owne Elegie and now to have my mourning turned into dauncing the drooping act for Death be turned into the most lively act of Life what is it but the Myracle as it were of Resurrection and Ascention both at once at least from the lowest stayre of miserie to be raised to the highest of happinesse and not Gradatim by degrees and steps but per saltum by a motion more swift than the Fiery Chariot that carried up Elias into Heaven and so the change not more wonderfull then the suddennesse Mourning turned into Dauncing a wonderfull change and done as it were in the turning of a hand as wonderfull a suddennesse And now to make me fit for Dauncing Thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladnesse for indeed if I had kept on my sackcloth still I should have made but a heavie Dauncer but now that my sackcloth is off and I am girded with gladnesse I shall leape as light as Abraham did to see thy day I put on sackcloth when I was a Mourner but now that I am to be a Dauncer I am girded with gladness and if I mourned before to think of Gods anger may I not justly daunce now to thinke of his favour If I put on sackcloth before as sorrowing for my sinne may I not justly now be girded with gladnesse as rejoycing in my Saviour For though it be Gods mercy that hath done this for me yet it is his mercy in Christ my Saviour without whom his mercy alone would never have done it He would never have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladnesse but for his sake and through his meanes that was anoynted with the Oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes My sackcloth was but a loose garment about mee which might easily be put off at pleasure but my gladnesse is girt about me to bee fast and sure and cannot leave me though it would at least none shall be able to take it from me And now though this be spoken here in the case of David yet it may bee conceived as in Type for all the godly if they mourne and lye in sackcloth now yet they shall ere long be girded with Gladnesse and daunce for joy but what Dauncing Not like that of Herodias Daughter for which Herod allowed her to aske halfe his Kingdome but like that of David before the Arke for which God without asking will give us a whole Kingdome And when shall the time bee Alas it cannot be long For they shall not goe out of Egypt into Canaan as the old Israelites did by the tedious passages of a troublesome Wildernesse but their Mourning shall be turned into Dauncing a conversion as sudden as when Moses his Leprous hand was turned to be sound againe by putting it onely in his bosome But to what end is it that God hath done Verse 12 this for me It may be thought because hee hath turned my Mourning into Dauncing and hath girded me with Gladnesse that hee hath done it to this end that I might live in jollity and spend my time with Belshazzar in revelling and feasting but there is no such matter hee hath done it to this end that my glory may sing praise unto him and not bee silent to this end that not onely I may praise him but may sing his praises
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
kingdome of Heaven But if you thinke this distance of height from Earth to Heaven not sufficiently to expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take the distance of length from East to West For as farre as the East is from the West so farre Verse 12 hath he removed our sinnes from us that if the East and the West can never come to meet together no more shall our sinnes bee ever able to come against us in the sight of God But alas this gives not so good satisfaction as the other for though the distance from East to West bee vast indeed to us as to which our sight cannot reach though wee should use all the Perspective glasses of the world yet what is this to God who can as easily see from East to West as if they were hard by and close together But is it not that all Gods mercy to us is onely in Christ and may wee not then conceive that these Distances are represented by the manner of Christs hanging upon the Crosse where his Feet and his Head seeme to point from Earth to Heaven and the stretching out his hands seemes to point from East to West But though Relation to Christ be not the ground of these expressions yet it cannot be doubted but that they sufficiently expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy seeing they are the greatest distances that humane apprehension is capable to conceive But if you bee not satisfied with these expressings from Distances of place then take an expressing from the affection of Nature Verse 13 For as a Father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him And now let any that is a Father examine his owne Bowells how much he pitties his children and then say If Gods pitty to them that feare him be not in a very high degree Certainly if any Name could expresse a greater pitty then the name of a Father Christ would never have taught us to use this Name in making our prayers And who could be so fit to make this comparison as David who gave a testimonie of it in himselfe by making his moane O my sonne Absolom my sonne my sonne Absolom would God I had dyed for thee O Absolom my sonne my sonne that now it seemes Gods pitty is matcht and this example reacheth home to expresse the greatnesse of Gods pitty to the full No my soule it is too short yet for though the pitty of a Father may reach to be willing to dye for his Child yet Gods pitty reacheth further not onely to be willing to dye but to dye indeed and not onely for a Child but for his Enemies for when wee were enemies even then did Christ very God dye for us that Gods pitty holds the supremacie still and cannot indeed be matcht alas it cannot be exprest by any thing that is in man But though there may be comparison in the tendernesse of their pitties yet in the abilitie there can bee none for a Father pitties often-times a child when he cannot helpe him but Gods pitty is alwayes active and powerfull and never without releeving that though it be commonly said It is better to be envied then pittied yet here it is not so but it is a farre happier thing to be pittied of God then to be envied of men But whom is it that God pitties onely them that feare him and indeed Feare is a thing that deserves to be pittied for it makes the joynts to tremble and puts the spirits in amazement But O my soule it is not such a Feare that is here meant but this Feare is all one I may say with love and differs but in the Object for looking upon Gods Justice wee feare him and looking upon his Mercy wee love him although wee love him for his Justice too and wee feare him for his Mercie too for as there is Mercie with him that hee may be feared so there is Justice with him that he may be loved But why is it that God pitties them that feare him Indeed hee hath cause enough to Verse 14 pittie them For hee considers of what wee are framed Hee remembers that we are but dust and alas what is there in dust to helpe it selfe if God in mercy take not pitty upon it When God lookes downe upon us and sees how foule we are growne whom hee Created cleane hath he not cause to fall a chiding and to be angrie yet when he considers of what we are framed and that wee are but dust this is some cause againe to make him leave his chiding and not to keepe his anger for ever that we may truly say Our miseries are our happinesse for if it be our miserie that we are framed of so meane a matter as Dust It is our happinesse that wee have the meannesse of our matter for God to take into his consideration and perhaps this was it at least one circumstance that made so ill for the Angels that fell that God could find no excuse of their sinne in their matter the more hee considered of what they were framed the more he found he had cause to bee angrie and therefore no marvell if his anger to them continue for ever But this is every ones case to bee framed of Dust and why then should God pitty some more then others seeing they bee equally of Dust All Is it not that hee is the lesse angrie indeed for that they are but Dust but yet he pitties them not for being Dust but for being Dust and fearing him for if they feare him not he never pitties them but lets them goe on in their Pride at least in their securitie and make what they can of their Dust for they reckon upon great matters from their Dust and thinke they can improve it to a great heigth but alas what can they make of it but to come to be grasse at most to get up to be a flowre a poore fading thing that whether Verse 15 you gather it or let it grow whether the Sunne shine upon it or the Wind blow upon it it quickly withers and once withered becomes a pittifull sight to be seene a loath some thing to be smelt that where all the grace of it consisted in the two Senses of sight and smelling it is now offensive to both and is no longer carried in the hand or worne in the bosome Alas it is scarce thought worthy to have a place upon the dunghill And indeed what could more be lookt for of Dust being so light a thing as it is that if the wind but passe over it if you but blow upon it it is presently scattered and gone and the place where it was will know it no more And such is Man his flourishing is but as a Flowre as quickly withered as a Flowre and as soone cropt off from his stalke as a Flowre and alas what good is in a flourishing that ends in a withering What happinesse in pleasures that have no continuance O my soule if thou wert thy selfe