is not turned back from us And Jer. 6.26 saith he O daughter of my people gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thy sâ—lf in ashes make thee mourning as for an only son most bitter lamentation for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us To mourning doth he call them upon the sight of the evil that he saw coming upon them And for the great wickedness of his people and the Judgments of God that came upon them for it doth the Prophet lament sore Jer. 9.1 Oh saith he that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men that I might leave my people and go from them For they be all adulterers an assembly of treacherous men And saith he Jer. 13.16 Give glory to the Lord your God before he cause darkness and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains and while ye look for light he turn it into the shadow of death and make it gross darkness But if ye will not hear it my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride and mine eyes shall weep sore and run down with tears because the Lord's flock is carried away captive While there remained some time to provide for their peace and good he exhorts them to a reformation and to give glory to God before the time of darkness came fully upon them But if they would not hear he tells them that he would sorely bewail their folly and the calamity and misery that would come upon them And this God ordered that they should mourn and weep for the misery that was coming upon them Jer. 9.17 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider ye and call for the mourning women that they may come and let them make hast and take up a wailing for us that our eyes may run down with tears and our eye-lids gush out with waters And ver 21. For death is come up into our windows and is entered into our palaces to cut off the children from without and the young men from the streets And saith God to him Jer. 14.17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them let mine eyes run down with tears night and day and let them not cease for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach with a very grievous blow If I go forth into the field then behold the slain with the sword and if I enter into the city then behold them that are sick with famine yea both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not Thus was he to weep before them for their miseries And the Prophet sheweth how Jerusalem wept for the miseries and sorrows that were come upon her Lam. 1.2 She weepeth sore in the night and her tears are on her cheeks among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her all her friends have dealt treacherously with her they are become her enemies And I wish that the Sons of the Protestant Church would not now so deal with her and become her enemies And ver 15 The Lord hath troden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men The Lord hath troden the virgin the daughter of Judah as in a wine press For these things I weep mine eye mine eye runneth down with water because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me my children are desolate because the enemy prevaileth Zion spreadeth forth her hands and there is none to comfort her the Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob that his adversaries should be round about him Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them Thus doth he bring in Jerusalem bewailing her self and doth much lament her desolate condition And saith he Lam. 2.11 Mine eyes do fail with tears my bowels are troubled my liver is poured upon the earth for the destruction of the daughter of my people because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city In this extraordinary manner was he troubled and did sorely weep for the great misery that came upon them and their beloved Jerusalem And the Prophet Amos rebukes it as a crime in some of them that they were not grieved for the affliction of the People of God Amos 6.1 Wo to them that are at ease in Zion And ver 6. That drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief ointments But tbey are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph And our blessed Lord himself wept over Jerusalem for the misery and destruction that was coming upon it Lu. 19.41 And when he was come near he behold the city and wept over it saying if thou hadst known even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy Peace but now they are hid from thine eyes For the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground Thus sorrowful did our blessed Lord shew himself for the great misery and destruction that was coming upon this City for the great wickedness thereof and did most earnestly desire that they would amend and mind the things that belonged to their Peace before it was too late and was greatly troubled at their carnal security that they were so unconcerned in this weighty matter By these and such places we see that it is our duty to be troubled and to mourn and weep for all the publick Calamities and Miseries that befal our Church and Nation To see men to grow cold in their Zeal and Devotion towards Almighty Gâ—d and to have little or no heart towards their duty and seâ—vice towards him To see the house of God to be deserted and forsaken and his Ordinances and Worship to be slighted and neglected To see the Church rent and torn to pieces with schisms and divisions and to see mens zeal all spent a wrong way in heats against one another To understand that Popery is like to prevail over the Protestant Church for three years and an half and that the Popish Gentiles are like to tread under foot the holy City the true Church of Christ for forty and two months To see wickedness and impiety to abound every where in the Nation and Love and Goodness to be withdrawn to see the Kingdom divided into Factions and Parties and to know as our Lord hath told us that a Kingdom so divided cannot stand To see that our sins and iniquities are grown great and to know that wrath and judgments will be sure to be the issue and consequence of them These things must needs be matter of sorrow and grief to all good men and call them to lamentation and mourning to see the Peace of our Church and Kingdom in such a manner to lie a bleeding
Metropolis and Royal City of the whole Land of Judea at that time and in the days of King Solomon and always afterward was the Royal City of the Kingdom of Judah till they were carried into Captivity for their great Sin and Wickedness And here in Jerusalem the House and Posterity of King David Reigned and had their Royal Throne and God himself doth signifie that they should Reign here and that the People should be prosperous and happy under their Government if they would hearken to his voice and keep his sacred Commandments This was the Supreme Seat of Judgment among them where the highest Courts of Judicature were kept and where true and impartial Justice was to be Administred whereby every one was to be protected and defended in his just Rights and Liberties And by the Regal Power thereof were they to be preserved from the invasion and annoyance of all Forreign Enemies And upon the Peace and Prosperity hereof did their own Peace and Prosperity depend and could not well subsist without it In this City did God declare that his Servant David should have a Light before him 1 Kings 11.36 And unto his Son that is Solomon's Son will I give one tribe that David my Servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem the City which I have chosen me to put my Name there For Solomon's sin in departing from the Lord and following of Idols and for the wickedness of the People did God declare that he would rend part of the Kingdom from his Sons and posterity and give it to Jeroboam but yet he would let them have a part for David's sake that he might have a Light before the Lord in Jerusalem that is a Son and Heir of his Family to reign there in Jerusalem And although Abijam deserved to have his Posterity deprived thereof yet God would have David to have a Lamp there still and have Jerusalem established with the Royal Throne of King David 1 Kings 15.4 Nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem to set up his Son after him and to establish Jerusalem And this is one reason why the Lord would defend this City from the King of Assyria because it was the Royal City of the House of his Servant David 2 Kings 19.34 And when God was about to deliver them to be spoiled by their Enemies he declares to them that if they would repent and keep his Commandments and sanctifie his Sabbaths he would still grant to them this blessing that they should have the Kings hereof over them ruling in great prosperity and that they should still be happy under their Government Jer. 17.25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this City Kings and Princes sitting upon the Throne of David riding in Chariots and on Horses they and their Princes the Men of Judah and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem and this City shall remain for ever And so Jer. 22.3 And the Psalmist here in this Psalm doth mention as a part of the Prerogatives of this City of Jerusalem that the Seats of Judgment and the Throne of the Kingdom was there and doth hereby intimate that this was one reason why they should pray for the Peace and Happiness of it ver 5 the Verse before the Text For there are set Thrones of judgment the Thrones of the House of David And vers 8. For my Brethren and Companions sakes I will now say Peace be within thee We may see that it was upon publick respects that he enjoyns them to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem And we may conceive that this was one reason why he requires them to pray for it because it was the Regent City and the Royal Throne of the Kingdom was fixed there and it was the chief place where Justice and Judgment were to be executed In praying then for Jerusalem we may conceive that he intends no less than that they should pray that this City might be advanced and set up on high and that the Throne of David might be therein continued and that he might not want a Man to sit thereon after him to sway the Scepter thereof in Truth and Righteousness That the Kings hereof might prosper and be Mighty and that they might protect and save the People from all their Enemies That true Justice and Judgment might be administred from hence and every one defended in his just Rights and Liberties That they should seek and pray for the Peace of Jerusalem their head City because in the Peace thereof they all should enjoy great Peace and Prosperity as God ordered them afterwards to Pray for the Peace of Babylon upon the like account when he sent them into Captivity Jer. 29.7 And seek the Peace of the City whether I have caused you to be carried away Captives and pray unto the Lord for it For in the Peace thereof shall ye have Peace And much more then might they expect Peace and Prosperity in the Peace of their own City Jerusalem in the days of David and Solomon and the succeeding Kings thereof In praying then for the Peace of Jerusalem he doth in effect require them to pray for their whole Polity and Government and for the Good and Welfare of their whole Land and Nation that depended hereupon and was made happy in the Peace and Prosperity of this City and the Throne therein established But farther Jerusalem was the Renowned City of all the World that had none like it upon the face of the whole Earth for this was the City of the great King the Lord of Hosts the City that he had chosen above all others to place his sacred Name there and to be the place of his more peculiar Residence here amongst us Mortals and here was a Temple then to be built for his Honor and Service according to his own direction and appointment which was to be a House of Prayer to all Nations and here had he commanded them to perform his more solemn Worship and Service and here he vouchsafed more of his divine Presence than he did in any City besides And upon this account especially it is that the Royal Psalmist exhorts and enjoyns them to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem God did declare by his servant Moses that he would choose a place to cause his Name to dwell there and that they should resort to that place to perform there more solemn Worship and Service to him there long before David's time Deut. 12.10 But when ye go over Jordan saith Moses and dwell in the Land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit and when he giveth you rest from all your Enemies round about so that you dwell in safety then shall there be a place which the Lord your God shall chuse to cause his Name to dwell there thither shall ye bring all that I command you your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices your tythes and the heave-offerings of your hand and all your choice vows which ye vow
and us therein That he would look down from Heaven Psal 80.14 and behold and visit this vine and the vineyard which his right hand hath planted that it may not be cut down and burnt up with fire That he would set watchmen upon the walls of our Jerusalem Is 62.6 which should never hold their peace day nor night but always give warning at the approach of any evil that it might be prevented and to make supplication to the Lord that he would defend our beloved City therefrom And now are we earnestly to pray unto Almighty God for the preventing as much as may be such judgments and calamities as do now hang over our heads and which we have justly deserved That our Candlestick may not be totally removed and that God may not send such a famine upon us as he threatens by the Prophet Amos 8.11 Behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord Such a spiritual famine of the word of God are we to pray to be delivered from and that God would preserve his pure Religion to us and keep us from all idolatrous practices and sinful errors in Religion That we may be delivered from the devouring Sword and that our Land may not be turned into a field of blood and a valley of slaughter That we may not hear the sound of the Trumpet and Alarm of war and be commanded as it is Joel 3.10 to beat our plowshares into swords and our pruning hooks into spears That our corn may not be given to be meat for our enemies and the Sons of the stranger may not drink our wine for which we have labored but that they that have gathered it may eat it and praise the Lord Is 62.8 That we may not as it is Is 65.22 build and another inhabit and plant and another eat the fruit thereof and that we may not labor in vain and bring forth for trouble That violence may not be heard in our Land Is 60.18 wasting nor destruction within our borders but that our walls might truly be called Salvation and our gates Praise To God are we to make supplication that he would not cause the Pestilence to cleave unto us nor smite us with any consuming sickness and disease That he would not send a famine upon us and cause us to be smitten with blasting and mildew and make the Heaven that is over our head as brass and the Earth that is under our feet as Iron nor give our substance and labor to be consumed by the locusts and caterpillers and such Armies of his That our Church and Kingdom may be preserved from these and from all other Plagues and Judgments that we have justly deserved are we to make supplication to Almighty God that we may endeavour to prevent them as much as may be We are also to make our humble and hearty prayers to Almighty God for the removing and taking away of such Calamities and Evils as our Church and Kingdom now do or at any time hereafter shall ly under That he who is the God and Father of mercies would at all times look down in mercy upon them and in his good time deliver them from all their distress and misery That there may not be such a time when the children shall be come to the birth and there shall not be strength to bring forth 2 Kings 19.3 when we shall call upon God for succour and help and he will not hear us but that according to Solomon's prayer 1 Kings 8.52 his eyes may be open unto the supplication of his servants and of his people to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto him That his Church and Faithful Servants may be preserved in this and in all other fiery Tryals that shall befal them and from falling away from him and that they may not be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow and misery but may find help and comfort from above when they can meet with none here below That God would remove from us all spiritual blindness and carnal security that we may know and mind the things which belong to our Peace before they are quite removed from our eyes and it be too late That we may not be like the Church of the Laodiceans of whom it is said Rev. 3.17 Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked that we may not be in such an insensible and miserable condition as this but may see what great need we have to repent and amend That God would do good in his good pleasure unto our Zion Psal 51.18 and build the walls of our Jerusalem That he would heal all our dismal Breaches and Divisions and reconcile all our Dissensions which so much disturb our Peace and threaten us with farther misery That he would not prepare more work for the greedy and devouring Sword but that we may all study and practise his Gospel of Peace and Love and that every man may dwell safely under his vine and under his Fig-tree as it is said that Judah and Israel did all the days of King Solomon 1 Kings 4.25 For the removing of these and all other afflictions and miseries that we are sensible that our Church and Kingdom do now or hereafter may ly under are we to make supplication to Almighty God and to intreat him that he would look down in mercy upon them and heal all their wounds and maladies in his good time And these things we are to pray for according to the Prophet's form Jer. 14.7 O Lord tho' our iniquities testify against us do thou it for thy Name 's sake for our back-slidings are many we have sinned against thee And not for our own sakes but for his great mercy's â—ake and for his dear Son Christ Jesus's sake are we to intreat him for the preventing of Judgments and for the removing of such miseries and and sufferings as do at any time befal our Church and Kingdom We are also to supplicate the divine Goodness of Almighty God for our Church and Kingdom that he would be pleased to continue to them such Mercies as they enjoy and that he would grant to them such Blessings and good things as they want and stand in need off That our Church and Kingdom may enjoy all manner of Peace and Prosperity in such a full manner as I have before described That God would make good to the Christian Church that in the Prophet Isaiah 62.1 That for Zion's sake he would not hold his peace and for Jerusalem's sake he would not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth That the Gentiles might see the righteousness thereof and all Kings it's glory That it may be a Crown of Glory in the hand