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
stand not idle and may have some testimonie for my salvation that it grow not doubtfull There is one Verse 4 thing I have desired of the Lord and that I will seeke after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple This beholding of Gods beauty will be a continuall exercise for my Illumination and this enquiring in Gods holy Temple will give me assurance of my salvation It were very hard if David making but one request to God that God should deny him for hath he not bidden us to aske and wee should have and could David aske lesse then to aske but one thing No my soule God denied it not to David nor will deny it to thee nor to any other that shall aske it in Faith and specially if hee aske it to so good an end as David doth here to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple But seeing David would make but one request to God why would he not make a greater for alas what a poore request is this to desire to dwell in Gods house and what to doe but onely to see and to see what but onely a Beautie a fading thing at most but to enquire and what is enquiring but onely to heare newes a vaine fancie and what cause in any of these why David should make it his request to God But marke O my soule what goes with it Take altogether to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple And now tell mee if there be tell me if there can be any greater request to be made any greater cause to be earnest about it For though worldly beauty be a fading thing yet the Beauty of the Lord shall continue when the world it selfe shall fade away and though enquiring after newes be a vaine fancie yet to enquire in Gods Temple is the way to learne there is no new thing under the Sunne and there it was that Solomon learned that all is vanitie Indeed this one thing that David desires is in effect that Unum necessarium that Christ speakes of in the Gospell which Mary made choyce of there as David doth here and I may say it is that pretious Jewell which the rich Merchant sold all he had to buy and had his bargaine commended by Christ himselfe O how happy were wee if we could bound our desires within the compasse of things necesserie for all our miserie growes from this that our desires have no certaine dwelling but wander and range about from one object to another like vagabonds from place to place and no helpe there will be for it till our desire arrive at that which is the best for as long as there is any better to be had the Desire will never leave desiring and where is that best to be had but in him onely that is onely good in him indeed that is the onely good and seeing there can be no happinesse till the Desire be settled and the Desire will never be settled till wee come at God therefore no meanes so likely to make us happy as to dwell in Gods house for there wee are sure we shall be with him and once with him never have desire to any thing besides him There are other houses which in worldly considerations and to worldly mindes may seeme as convenient and perhaps be more profitable to dwell in then this house of God but that which makes me so desirous to dwell here rather then any where else is partly for the prospect that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and partly for instruction that I may enquire in his holy Temple For there is not such a Prospect againe in the world as this Not on the Mount where Christ was shewed all the Kingdomes of the earth and the glory of them Nor such another place for instruction as here Not all the Schooles of Philosophers Not all the Oracles of the Heathen in any degree to be compared with it And what then is this beauty of God which David is so desirous to behold what this house of God in which he desires to dwell There is a beauty of God in his creatures most glorious indeed and most worthy of beholding but yet this needs no dwelling in Gods house to see it wee may see it as well dwelling any where else but there is a beauty of God in himselfe a beauty which if once we see wee shall never be willing to take our eyes off a beauty which the more wee see the more we shall see cause to desire to see it a Beauty which without speciall illumination neither the eyes of men are able to behold nor the tongues of Angels to expresse and this Beauty is no where to be seene but in Gods house and not there neither but by dwelling in it It is not for every one that comes in as a stranger to see this Beauty they must be dwellers in it continuall and constant frequenters of it or they are never like to be admitted to behold it There is indeed in all the creatures of God in some more eminently a certaine tincture of this Beauty and is perhaps that which deceives us in the estimating of our happinesse because wee take tincture for substance and fixe our selves upon that which is made but onely for a passage For tinctures though they please for a time yet they soone weare out and decay no solidnesse nor durablenesse but in the substance it selfe and no substance of beauty but onely in God and therefore the truest happinesse indeed all true happinesse in onely the beholding of this Beauty And if any man doubt of this because seeing is but the satisfaction of one sense and happinesse gives satisfaction at least to all the senses Let him then heare what David in another place sayes Videte gustate quam suavis est Dominus See and taste how sweet the Lord is For in this Seeing not onely the Tasting but all the senses are united at least the pleasures of all the senses are comprised and the rather if wee consider that Beholding hath a preheminence above Seeing for where seeing may bee in Transitu onely Beholding implyes a permanencie and a fixing our eyes upon it and such is the Seeing that is the Essentiall sense of happinesse And what then is this house of God in which David desires to dwell hath God any other house then Heaven and would David dwell in Heaven whilst hee is dwelling upon Earth will nothing serve his turne but to aske God for impossibilities Indeed Heaven is Gods Throne but Heaven and Earth both are full of the Majestie of his glory and therefore God hath a House on earth too a House dedicate to the honour of his Name and David justly makes his Prayer for this House because indeed it is the house of Prayer and no Rent payd for dwelling in it
and not onely that I but that my glory may sing them and alas what glory have I doth not all glory belong to God Indeed so it is my glory then sings his Prayses when I ascribe to him all praise and glory my glory then sings his prayses when I praise him with all I have to glory in with all the faculties and powers of my soule and body those especially in which I was made after his Image for this is my Glory If this then bee the end that God intends shall I be so ungratefull to crosse his intentions if hee have given mee a Tongue and a Voyce to serve him shall I hold my peace and be silent in his service if he have turned my Mourning into Dauncing shall I bee sullen and slow to sing his Prayses Alas my Dauncing can never be kindly without Musick and what musick so fit for it as singing and what singing so fit as to the Ditty of his Prayses O my soule seeing God hath procured thee libertie to Daunce thou mayst well afford to find the musick and yet neither my Dauncing shall hearken to the musicke nor my singing shall looke toward the Dauncing but my Singing and my Dauncing both shall bee addressed and directed to God alone Shall my heart be so set upon my joy as to make me forget the Authour of my joy No O God my joy hath so sure a foundation that I can never be unmindfull of the Founder I will give thankes to thee O Lord my God for ever Not for a time which will cease Not as long as the Sunne and Moone endure which shall not alwayes endure not as long as I have breath in my body No my soule but as long as thou thy selfe hast Being which being breathed into mee by God shall never cease shall alwayes endure shall be forever When I extolled God I had relation to his Omnipotencie when I sung his Prayses to his Mercie and now that I give him thankes for ever to his Eternitie that now I may conclude and say O Almightie most Mercifull and ever-living God to thee be ascribed all Honour Prayse and Glory world without end THE THIRTIE FOVRTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Will blesse the Lord at all times his Prayse shall continually bee in my mouth 2 My soule shall make her boast in the Lord The humble shall heare thereof and be glad 3 O magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together 4 I sought the Lord and hee heard me and delivered me from all my feares 5 They looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed 6 The poore man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles 7 The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that feare him and delivereth them 8 O tast and see how good the Lord is Blessed is the man that trusteth in him 9 O feare the Lord yee his Saints for there is no want to them that feare him 10 The young Lyons doe lacke and suffer hunger but they that seeke the Lord shall not want any good thing 11 Come yee children hearken unto me and I will teach you the feare of the Lord. 12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many dayes that he may see good 13 Keepe thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile 14 Depart from evil and doe good seeke peace and pursue it 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry 16 The face of the Lord is against them that doe evil to cut off their remembrance from the earth 17 The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles 18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all 20 Hee keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken 21 Evill shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate 22 The Lord redeemeth the soule of his servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXXIV PSALME OF DAVID ALas what a Vow is this that Verse 1 David makes here a Vow which hee is sure before hand he cannot keepe for is it possible for any man to blesse God at all times Is there not a time of paine and miserie in which Jobs Wife perswaded him to curse God and dye and can cursing of God stand with blessing of God O my soule I take not my measure of blessing God from the last of that wicked Woman it is not paine it is not miserie it is not extremitie of paine or miserie that shall make mee to breake my Vow in blessing of God but if it be thought so great a matter to blesse God inmisery I will stretch my Vow yet further for I will blesse him for miserie and I may truly say if it were not for paine and misery I should want one speciall Motive for blessing of God But yet there is a time of sleepe which is a tribute due to Nature and is it possible to pay the tribute of sleepe to Nature and the tribute of blessing to God both at once If then sleepe be of necessitie so oftentimes how can blessing of God be performed at all times O my soule when our waking is terminated with blessing of God that blessing is in force till we wake againe for as in what place the tree falleth there it lyeth so in what state the Soule goes to rest in that state it resteth If my soule say to God I will lay mee downe to sleepe for it is Thou Lord onely that sustainest me my soule shall have it returned from God Thus the Lord giveth his beloved sleepe But if thus perhaps be made good the continuance of Blessing God yet in what consists the worke of blessing him Is it onely in Thought or onely in a good intention No my soule his praise shall continually bee in my mouth for though the heart indeed bee the Fountaine of blessing him yet out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and therefore it shall not be cloystered up in the Cells of silence but it shall have vent and bee brought into the light that if it bee not said that men seeing my good workes it may at least be said that men hearing my good words may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven But doe I not by this fall againe upon my old difficultie for if it seemed impossible before to blesse God at all times may it not justly seeme as impossible now that his Praise should continually be in my mouth It may perhaps be true of the Angels in whose mouthes wee know of nothing there is continually but Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath but to be verefied of the mouthes of men seemes a thing impossible for is
reconciled This is to pursue it Or perhaps the counsell that Saint Paul gives to Timothy may expresse it plainer Be instant in season and out of season to bee instant in season is to seeke peace to be instant out of season is to pursue it Indeed if a man desire long life and to see good dayes he must have a speciall care of peace whither it be peace in the humours or peace in the Passions whither Peace with God or peace with men they are all prolongers of life and life is never shortened or disquieted but for want of peace in one of these and therefore that you may not bee to seeke of long life seeke peace and pursue it And now O my soule is there not great cause that the feare of the Lord should animate all our words and workes when so great a Majestie as the eye of God is looking upon them when so sacred an Auditorie as the Verse 15 eares of God are hearkening to them For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry and can any man be so without shame as to bee without feare when he is the spectacle which God is pleased to looke upon the speaker which he vouchsafes to hearken to But O my soule as it cannot but make thee feare so it cannot but make thee joy for what greater honour then to bee the object of Gods eyes and eares What though the world regard thee not as long as God regards thee What are the eyes and eares of the world but eyes and eares of scorne or else of envie of scorne when in adversitie and of envie in prosperitie but the eyes of the Lord are righteous eyes and are therefore upon the righteous his eares are eares of compassion and therefore are open to their cry But are not the Eyes of the Lord as well upon the wicked and what priviledge then is this to the Righteous No my soule his Eyes are upon the Righteous but they are against the wicked and not onely his eyes but his whole Face is against them to cut off their remembrance Verse 16 from the earth O my soule as thou considerest with joy the great force that is in righteousnesse which drawes the eyes and opens the eares of God so consider with trembling the great force that is in sinne which not onely turnes away his Eyes and stops his Eares but makes him to bend his whole Face in furie that if his favours of looking upon us and hearkening to us cannot winne us to feare him out of love at least the bending his Face against us in anger may force us to feare him out of terrour for he bends not his Face to make a shew onely as though he did but set a face upon it but it is to cut off the very remembrance of them that doe evill from the Earth But may not the wicked erect Tombes and Monuments that will preserve their remembrance for many Ages perhaps as long as the Earth shall endure and how then is their remembrance cut off from the Earth but from what Earth is it not meant from the Land of the living that in this may be seene the different condition betweene the godly and the wicked for as it is said here that the remembrance of the wicked shall be cut off from the Earth so it is said in another place of the godly that they shall be had in everlasting remembrance and where is any everlasting remembrance to be had but in the Land of the living Indeed to have their remembrance cut off in this Earth is not worthy of Gods threatning It is the cutting off from the Land of the living which is the blotting them out of the Booke of life that is a worke worthy of Gods setting his Face against them and this may well bee called a cutting off not onely because it shall come suddenly upon them but because they are never like to be heard Alas never like to be heard of any more which can never be the condition of the godly for they can never be so out of remembrance but that they shall bee alwayes heard of God For the righteous cry Verse 17 and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles But how is it like to be true that the godly shall never be forgotten when they seeme to be forgotten already while they live for how else should it happen that they are more in trouble in more trouble than other men but that God hath cast them out of his remembrance O my soule their very being in trouble is a certaine argument that God remembers them if he had not remembred Job and his righteousnesse he would never have given Sathan so much leave as he did to trouble him For indeed though troubles be judgements to the wicked and are as the first blowes to cut off their remembrance from the earth yet they are but tryals to the godly and doe but serve to make their remembrance be the fresher Doe we not see how Trees are nipt with frost and cold and not so much as a leafe left hanging upon them scarce so much as life remaining in them but is it not to renue in them the fresher springing and to make way for fruits in a greater plentie and such are the troubles of the godly they end in deliverance and though they be bitter for the present yet they make the joyes afterward to taste the sweeter And what marvell if God heare the cry of the righteous being so nigh unto them as hee is For the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken Verse 18 heart Not broken with envie as many are Not broken with despaire as some are but broken with sense of their sinne as the righteous are for this onely is the broken heart to which God is nigh and hee is not nigh it in vaine No my soule it is good having God to be our neighbour for hee saves all them to whom he is nigh Hee saves all them that bee of a contrite and humble heart the lower they are in their owne eyes the higher they are in his and when their heart is broken with sense of their sinne he makes it whole againe with supply Verse 19 of his grace It is true Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of all For the righteous have many enemies and therefore must needes have many troubles but their troubles are not troublesome because they have the Lord for their deliverer if it be sicknesse he makes their bed in their sicknesse If it be hunger hee fills the hungrie with good things when hee sends the rich emptie away if it be Death it selfe Domini Domini sunt exitus mortis the issues of Death are all in Gods hands and all this while though their heart be broken yet their bones are whole still They may have thornes in the flesh but not a bone of theirs is broken
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
yea our God is mercifull 6 The Lord preserveth the simple I was brought low and he helped me 7 Returne unto thy rest O my soule for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 8 For thou hast delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from falling 9 I will walke before the Lord in the land of the living 10 I beleeved therefore have I spoken I was greatly afflicted 11 I said in my hast All men are lyars 12 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me 13 I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. 14 I will pay my vowes unto the Lord in the presence of all his people 15 Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints 16 O Lord truly I am thy servant I am thy servant and the sonne of thy hand-maid thou hast loosed my bonds 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and will call upon the Name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vowes unto the Lord in the presence of all his people 19 In the Courts of the Lords House in the midst of thee O Hierusalem prayse yee the Lord. MEDITATIONS VPON THE CXVI PSALME OF DAVID BUt how can David say Verse 1 so peremptorily I will love the Lord as though it were in his owne power to love whom he list Indeed nothing is so voluntary as love that it seemes to be the extremitie of the will for then wee are said to love a thing when the will is inclined and violently bent upon it and yet I know not how there seemes nothing more constrained then love for we often-times love a thing which we would faine wee could forbeare to love but that we are drawne to love it by a kind of violence in the object and therefore David may well say I will love the Lord seeing both the causes of love are here met a propension in the Will and an excellencie in the Object Man indeed is naturally a loving Creature but doth not alwayes place his love aright his love is then best placed when it is placed upon the best Object and what is that best Object but God If he place it upon Beauty that fadeth If upon Riches they perish If upon Honour that vanisheth If upon life that wasteth but all these are in God not onely in Eminencie but in Continuance In him is Beautie that never fadeth in him Riches that never perish in him Honour that never vanisheth in him life that never wasteth and therfore as the truest object of love as the dearest object of my love I will love the Lord. But though all these Eminencies be in God yet they would bee no cause for man to love him if they had not a relation to man for what cause of love where there can be expected no effects of love but seeing there is in them not onely a Relation but a Propension not onely they are ready to bee imparted but are imparted with readinesse what man is hee that will forbeare to say that can forbeare to say I love the Lord And if all men will forbeare to say it yet I will say it For hee hath heard my voyce and my supplication No doubt a just cause or rather indeed to a naturall man the onely cause for loving of God For of fearing him of praising him of worshipping him of magnifying him there are other causes but of loving him no cause so proper as his loving of us and the Benefits which he bestowes upon us For love is so reciprocall a thing that we should hardly love God himselfe but for his Love to us at least for our opinion of his love to us and wee should hardly have an opinion of his love if we had not a feeling of his Benefits For what love can wee thinke is borne us by them that are able to doe us good and doe it not but when we have a feeling of their benefits and find they doe us good then wee are easily perswaded of their love and being so perswaded who can choose but say as David doth here I love the Lord for he hath heard my voyce and my supplication But doe we love God but for his Benefits onely and if it were not for his Benefits should we not love him Indeed to love God as we ought is not to love him for ought but for himselfe onely without any consideration had at all of his Benefits but such lovers wee are of our owne good that wee should scarce love our selves but for the good we are ready to doe our selves and if we love God in the like degree we thinke it perhaps to be love enough for him But O my soule this is just the Divells love I meane such love as the Divell thought to be in Job Doth Job love God for nought He hoped he did not though hee knew he should and therefore was never in quiet till it might bee tryed and if hee had found it so he would quickly have made Job leave loving of God and fall to loving of him But the hedge which God had set about Job was not a hedge of prosperitie as Sathan supposed but a hedge of Grace and therefore with all his fierie tryalls hee could never get other words from Job but such as these Shall we receive good at Gods hands and shall we not receive evill Yes O Lord though thou kill mee yet will I love thee Thus Job did and thus should we doe but God knowes there is not such a man againe as Job was upon the face of the earth For alas wee are commonly but of the Classis or forme of which Saint John speakes Wee love God because God loved us first and it were well if we would doe but so how much soever Sathan slights it and seekes to disgrace it Or is it perhaps that David speakes in the curiositie of this distinction that we doe not Amare Deum but for his Benefits but wee may Diligere Deum without any consideration of his Benefits had at all and in this sense a naturall man may Amare Deum but none but the spirituall man Diligere Deum But O my soule doe thou endevour to be of Jobs forme to love God without distinction and whether he heare thy voyce or heare it not whether he grant thy supplication or grant it not yet to love him and to love with Amando and with Diligendo and with any another Devotion of love that can be expressed or conceived For it is indeed no true love of God if wee love him for any thing but for himselfe if we love our selves but onely for him as it seemes both Moses and Saint Paul did who for the love of God left all care of themselves and were contented to have beene if they might have beene even Anathema's But is this such a Benefit to us that GOD heares us Is his hearing our voyce such an argument of his
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