to too Great a heighth either for the Common Peace or our own Security Which brings me to the Consideration of that Other sort of Deliverances which God has vouchsafed to our King as he did to David heretofore viz. 2 dly From the Force and Power of his Enemies And this again carries me into a new Field of Discourse and ministers another large and noble Subject to us of Praise and Thanksgiving It is but a little while since we seem'd to have been a Nation mark'd out by Heaven for Ruin and Destruction Our Religion and Liberties were begun to be both equally trampled under foot Our Laws were over-ruled and become no longer of any Use to us The very Legis-lative Power its self contrived by our Ancestors in such a manner as to be the Great Security of the Subject and Barrier against the Arbitrary and unbounded Power of the Prince by Secret Practices and unwarrantable Attempts endeavour'd to be turn'd against us and made the very Means of running us into Slavery In the midst of this Distress God raised up a mighty and unexpected Salvation for us A Prince not less injured but much more able to assert his Rights and exact a Satisfaction than We were And God prosper'd his Enterprize in such a manner as I believe is not to be parallell'd in Story nor will Posterity perhaps believe it That there should be a Conquest without a Battle A Kingdom peaceably Deliver'd up by a Prince to his greatest Enemy who had at the same time to all Appearance a better Force actually in the Field to defend it than the Other had to force him out of it But what can be done when God infatuates Mens Counsels and strikes a Terror upon their Hearts that will not suffer them bravely to defend what they have Vainly undertaken And tho' Subjects for Conscience sake may submit to the most unjust Usurpations and not dare by Force to Right themselves Yet I think few have ever been so delicate in their Obedience as to esteem themselves under any Obligation to fight themselves into Slavery and contend for their Chains with those who would set them at Liberty from them Thus did God begin to Save us from our Enemies and from the Hands of those that Hate us Or rather in the words of the Text from the hands of strange Children whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their right hand is a right hand of Falshood But we have yet more than this to fill out our Hymns of Praise and Thanksgiving God has not only saved Us from this Danger within but has preserved us too from that which was the natural Consequence of it the Fury of War-Abroad And given such a Success to our Arms as I am perswaded the most Sanguine amongst us could hardly have flattered Himself withall When was it ever heard before that a little weak Town and a few undisciplined Men baffled all the Attacks of a numerous Army provided with all things necessary for the reducing of it And at last forced them after a Siege of Fifteen Weeks to quit their Attempt as Vain and Unpracticable That a whole Kingdom fenced by Nature to a degree of being almost impregnable supported by Men every way engaged both by Interest and Religion by all their Hopes of this World and the Other to do their utmost to Defend it Assisted by a Powerful Force from Abroad and to all this animated with a Spirit of Hatred and Revenge should yet in two years time be reduced to that Degree as not to let the least corner of it remain Unconquer'd Where can we find any Instances that may serve to parallel the Battles that have been fought and the Attempts that have been made upon this Occasion Scarce did ever Despair its self oblige Men to run such Hazards as our Forces have freely done and that by the wonderful Providence of God with Success too Nor let any here Object either the Treachery or Cowardise of our Enemies as if it were to those we ought to ascribe a great part of that Success we have had against them But rather let us attribute these Blessings as most certainly we ought to do to the Favour of God to the Justice of our Cause and to the Fortunes and Bravery of our Princes dear to Heaven and raised up by it to be the Instruments of Providence in reforming the Manners and redressing the Oppressions of an injured and groaning World In short to the Help of that Hand which has so plainly shewn its self in all this Deliverance that we may with Assurance cry out with the Holy Man in our Text It is the LORD who Giveth Victory unto Kings that hath delivered David his Servant from the Hurtful Sword And having thus fulfill'd this first part of the Duty of this day let us now to our Tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving add 2 dly Our Prayers too that He would vouchsafe to Accomplish what He has thus graciously begun for Us and not cease to protect our King and Prosper his Arms till he shall have finally deliver'd us out of all our Dangers It was the great Complaint of David heretofore and what made him so much the more Earnest in his Requests to God for his Assistance that his Enemies were Men of no Religion neither whose Faith could be rely'd on nor could any thing keep them from doing him a Mischief but only their being reduced into such a State as not to have it in their Power to hurt Him This is the Character which He gives Us of Them in the Text And what a deep Impression the Consideration hereof made upon his Mind we may see by this that he not only insists upon it in his Prayer to God against Them as one great Motive to implore his Help for the utter Destruction of them but repeats it again and again Send thine hand from above says He rid me and deliver Me out of the Great Waters from the hand of strange Children Whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their right-hand is a right-hand of Falshood Vss. 7 8. And again Vs. 11. Rid me and deliver me from the Hand of strange Children whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their right-hand is a right-hand of Falsehood So that then if We would know how far we are concern'd to joyn with David in the Prayer before us we must stop a little and consider how nearly our Enemies resemble his And if upon the Enquiry it shall appear that they come up in every particular to the full Character of those in the Text If it shall be found that We have now to do with the same Strange Children that he had heretofore Whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their right hand is a right hand of Falsehood Then doubtless it must remain that we ought also to pray as he did that God would rid us and deliver us out of their Hands And 1 st As to what concerns the Point of Religion they are in the utmost import
STAMP Mayor Curia Tent. Jovis tertio die Decembris 1691. Annoque Regni Regis Reginae Willielmi Mariae Angl. c. Tertio Ordered THAT the Thanks of this Court be return'd to Dr. Wake for his Sermon preach'd at the Parish Church of St. Mary le Bow before the Lord-Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of this City on Thursday the 26th of November last being the day of Thanksgiving for the Preservation of Their Majesties Persons the Success of their Forces in the Reducing of Ireland and for His Majesty's Safe Return and that he be desired to Print the same Goodfellow A SERMON Preach'd before the LORD-MAYOR AND Court of Aldermen IN THE Church of St. Mary le Bow On Thursday the 26 th of November BEING THE Day of the Publick Thanksgiving By WILLIAM WAKE D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties and Preacher to the Honourable Society of GRAYS-INN LONDON Printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate next Holbourn 1691. Psalm Cxliv 9 10 11. 9. I will sing a new Song unto Thee O God upon a Psaltery and Instrument of Ten Strings will I sing Praises unto Thee 10. It is He that giveth Salvation to Kings who delivereth David his Servant from the hurtful Sword 11. Rid me and deliver me from the Hand of Strange Children whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their right hand is a right Hand of Falshood IT is but a very little while since we were wont to meet together in this Place to implore the favour of God in the Preservation of their Majesties Persons and for the Good Success of their Arms in those Great Enterprizes they were pleased so generously to undertake for the necessary Defence of our Country the Preservation of our Religion and Liberties and to put a quicker End to those unhappy Confusions we have been so long and dangerously exposed to We are now Assembled with all possible Thankfulness to acknowledge his Mercy in the Gracious Return which he has vouchsafed to make to these our Requests That He has Preserved our King and Prosper'd his Enterprizes and given a Success to our Arms if not equal to what perhaps some would have wish'd yet I am sure beyond what any of us could reasonably have expected Now this being the Design of this days Solemnity I cannot tell how I could better entertain your Devotion than in offering you some Reflections upon the Words before us In which we have the Thanksgiving and Prayer of a King A Gratulatory Acknowledgment of God's Mercy to Him in his past Deliverances and an earnest Request that He would still continue to deliver him both from the Power and Malice of his false and treacherous Enemies That this Psalm was composed by King David the Inscription of it will not suffer us to doubt And that he composed it upon the account of some great Deliverance which God had given him from a Personal danger as well as for some Great Victory which He had obtain'd against his Enemies the words of the Text sufficiently demonstrate But now what that Deliverance in particular was which he here acknowledges with so much Gratitude and promises God He would ever celebrate with the most pious Resentments and in the most solemn manner that He was able we are no where told nor is it perhaps an easy matter to determine any thing certainly concerning it Indeed were the Title which the Septuagint praefix to this Psalm of such Authority that we might securely rely upon the Credit of it we should then soon come to a Resolution of this Point The Danger which the Psalmist here refers to being therein expresly said to have been that which he underwent when he encountred singly with Goliah 1 Sam. XVII and from whose Sword the Chaldee Paraphrast on the Text tells us he here blesses God for delivering of Him But as 't is certain that this Inscription is not now to be found in any of the Hebrew Copies at this Day so Theodoret assures us that neither could He in his time meet with it in any And the expressions of this Psalm both in the 2d and 10th Verses plainly shew that when he composed it he was not only King of Israel but throughly Established in the Throne For so those Words must be understood V. 2. Blessed be the Lord my strength who teacheth my Hands to War and my fingers to fight My Goodness and my Fortress my High Tower and my Deliverer my sheild and He in whom I trust who subdueth my People under me i. e. Who after all the Contests that have been raised against me to oppose my Authority has at last fully establish'd me in the Throne and brought All Israel to submit themselves unto Me. Now this has made Others suppose that the Sword from which God had delivered David and for which he here offers this Eucharistical return to Him was the Sword of Saul who so eagerly sought after his Life and from whose hand he could never have escaped had not the same Providence which before design'd him for the Throne in a wonderful manner preserved him for it and at last confirm'd him in it It cannot be deny'd but that this is a Conjecture agreeable enough to one part at least of the business of this Psalm which was to return Thanks to God for putting an End to those Oppositions that had been raised against him by the Friends of the House of Saul and bringing all Israel to receive him as their King But tho' I shall not therefore exclude this from being a Part of what the Psalmist here intended to Bless God for yet I cannot think that this comes up to the full meaning of the Words of the Text. For if we look more narrowly into the Expressions of it we shall find good grounds to believe that David not only composed this Psalm after he was come to the Crown but do's more especially refer to some Deliverance which he had received after his Coming to it and by consequence after all his Dangers from the House of Saul were at an End For having first vow'd a Thanksgiving to God Vs. 9. I will sing a new Song unto thee O God upon a Psaltery and Instrument of Ten strings will I sing Praises unto thee He tells us Vs. 10. That the subject of his Hymn should be this It is he that giveth Salvation unto KINGS that has deliver'd David his servant from the Hurtful Sword i. e. as the Connexion plainly shews when he was a King and as such received Salvation from Him In short As the Passage I have now mentioned does I think plainly enough argue that this Psalm was a Thanksgiving for some Deliverance which God had vouchsafed to him since he was King of Israel so we may reasonably conclude from the Acknowledgment which he makes in the Beginning of it of his being at last Peaceably Settled in the Throne as a Blessing which He had but newly received of Him that it was a Deliverance
preserved tho' yet even then we may observe that for the most part they perish miserably in the End When God raises them up to be the Scourge and Plague of a wicked World and makes use of them as he did sometimes of the Kings of Egypt and Babylon heretofore to punish the People and Kingdoms round about Them But otherwise I believe it will generally be found true that the more Careful any King or Prince is to live well and govern justly and do what in Him lies to propagate a true Sense of Piety among his People the Happier He proves and is the more Eminently preserved by God as he is certainly the more dearly Beloved by Him And good reason there is why God should observe this Method with them For 1 st This if any thing will lay the Strongest Obligations upon such Persons to be Very careful to support the Honour of God and the Credit of Religion When once they shall perceive that their Welfare in this present World as well as their final Happiness in the Other depends upon it And I need not tell you what a mighty Advantage this must needs bring to Vertue and Piety To find not only a Refuge in the Courts of Princes but a Respect and Encouragement too And be countenanced by those whose very Examples are Influential and will contribute more to the promoting a Sense of Religion in the World than all the Motives or Arguments that we can urge will ever be able to do without it 2 dly Such a Procedure as this gives a Great Justification to the ways of Providence in the Menagement of Affairs here below It shews that there is a God who judgeth in the Earth That he do's not look on as an unconcern'd Spectator of the Affairs of Men but when he sees Occasion both can and do's interpose too and reward or punish the Greatest Persons according to their Works The Fortunes of Princes as they are placed in a much Higher Sphere than those of Other Men so are they by consequence more Conspicuous too and lie open a great deal more to publick Observation And when once it shall be remark'd that they flourish or decay are either Exalted or Cast down according as they live or not in the Exercise of Piety This will effectually silence all the Cavils of the Greatest Sceptick in his Disputes against a Providence and force him whether he will or no to confess that Verily there is a reward for the Righteous doubtless there is a God who observes whatsoever is done by us and will not suffer the Wicked always to go unpunish'd Again 3 dly It is commonly alledged and I think very truly too that Kingdoms and Nations are therefore either rewarded or punish'd in this World because they shall not as such be judg'd in the Other And the same may be said of their Rulers too When the Greatest Monarch goes down into the Grave all his Pomp and Power His Titles and Majesty perish together with him And he shall stand in Judgment in the same undistinguish'd Rank with the meanest of his Subjects Whatsoever Reward therefore God shall please to give to such an One as a King it must be all in this present Life Now tho' I will not deny but that those who employ their Power and Authority which God has committed to them to the Ends of Vertue and Religion to promote the Peace and Welfare of their Country and as far as they can to procure the Happiness of all the Nations round about them both may receive a super-abundant reward for it and I doubt not shall receive a more than ordinary Retribution in the Other World Yet I cannot but think there may be some reason too why they should meet with some part of their Recompense in this And since to their private Piety as they are Christians they add a publick Concern for the Glory of God and the Good of the World as they are Princes Tho' I dare not say that God in Justice ought yet I think we may affirm that 't is not without good reason that he do's vouchsafe in a singular manner to watch over them as a common Blessing to Mankind and prosper their Endeavours in what tends so much to the noblest Ends of his Providence to his own Honour to the Interest and Reputation of his Religion and in one word to the publick Advantage both of Mâ—ns Peace and Tranquility in this Life and of their Everlasting Happiness and Salvation in the Other And this may suffice for the first thing I propoâ—d to speak to Of the General Obligation which â—…y upon the Royal Psalmist thus to praise God and of the particular manner wherein he engaged to do it I shall add but very little as to the Other Consideration II dly Of the Prayer with which he closed up his Thanksgiving Save me and deliver Me from the hand of strange Children whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their right hand is a right hand of falshood I have before observed that the Enemies against Whom David here prays and whom he brands with the Ignominious Character of a Vain Idolatrous and Perfidious People were the Philistines who declared War against him immediately upon his being Anointed King in Hebron Now tho' by the Blessing of God he had already obtain'd two considerable Victories over them whereby he was for the present at Ease from them Yet he knew that by the assistance which the Neighbouring Countries were all ready to lend to them they would again be in a Condition in a little while to make Head against him and he doubted not but that as soon as ever they were able they would be Treacherous enough to do it And it was upon this Apprehension that having first given Thanks to God for his present Deliverance he in the next place subjoyn'd his earnest Request to him that he would in like manner preserve him from their Attempts for the time to come And how necessary such a Prayer was the Event shew'd For it was not very long before he was again engaged with them And then God remembred his Prayer and not only deliver'd him out of their hands but strengthen'd him in such a manner till at last after many Encounters He utterly disabled them from giving any farther Trouble to Him But I insist too long upon the Consideration of these Words as they lie before me in this Psalm And the Solemnity of this Day calls me off to another Application of them And tho' I doubt not but you have in a great Measure prevented Me in your Reflections upon the foregoing Parts of this Discourse yet I cannot conclude without pointing out to you somewhat more plainly how great an Interest we have in the Subject of it And I st As to what concerns the Eucharistical part of the Text never had any People greater Reason to joyn with Holy David in his Thanksgiving to God than We of this Nation
at this Time have For indeed when did God ever more eminently shew himself to be the Saviour of Kings than in those frequent and signal Deliverances which he has afforded to our own Royal Soveraign from the Hurtful Sword If 1 st We consider his Personal Deliverances I may venture to affirm That never did any Prince more generously expose himself for any People than his Majesty in these late Years has done for Us nor I think ever did any more narrowly escape with Safety out of them For not to say any thing of the Common Hazards of War tho' perhaps no Prince either undertook more Expeditions or carried them on with greater Diligence or appeard in them with more Courage or Ended them with better Success or less consider'd His own Safety in comparison of the publick Good than our Royal Master has done since the time of Him of whom our Text speaks I can scarce yet without Astonishment remember How near the Fatal Blow came to him which had not the watchful Providence of God for sure nothing else could have done it prevented must for Ever have quench'd the Light of our Israel and have at once put a final period both to his Life and in that to all our Hopes But that God who raised him up to assert his Cause and to vindicate the Liberty not of this Country only but of all Europe from the Rage and Power of its Common Enemy and Oppressor had yet more Victories for him to obtain And therefore he heard our Prayers and cover'd his Head in that Day of Battle and sent him back to us with so much the Greater Joy by how much the nearer we were to have been utterly deprived of Him But that which ought yet more to be consider'd by Us and to raise up our Souls to a still greater heighth of Thanksgiving for this Deliverance is that as his Danger was Imminent so was it of such a Nature too that nothing but the same God who preserved David heretofore from the Hurtful Sword could have delivered our King from the Stroak of it Here was no room for Counsel or Advice No Opportunity for any Humane Means to have interposed for his Preservation Neither the Courage of his Bravest nor the Conduct of his Wisest Servants could have stood him in any Stead No it was that God who did Deliver Him that alone was capable of doing of it And therefore not unto Us O Lord but unto thy Name be the Glory of it And these are such Circumstances as would at any time have engaged us to a lively Sense of so great a Deliverance But at such a time as that was in which God was pleased thus wonderfully to preserve him to restore him again to us this is what gives a singular Addition to the Blessing of it For a Nation to be deprived of a Good Prince a King endued with all those Royal Vertues which even the Enemies of our Great Soveraign cannot deny to be most Conspicuous in Him must certainly at any time have been a very great Calamity and what would have call'd for the Lamentations of all that truly valued either the Honour or Welfare of their Country But to have been deprived of such a Prince in a time of Trouble and Difficulty when nothing but his Conduct his Courage and Reputation could possibly have prevented Us from an utter Ruin and Confusion I want words to express how Fatal the Consequence must have been of it And yet this or rather if possible somewhat beyond all this was our Case when God sent us this great Deliverance Our Enemies defied us from Abroad They threatned us even there where we thought our selves the most Secure against Them Where we were wont till now to give Laws and strike Terrour into all other Nations besides And had they obtain'd this farther Advantage against us What could have hindred but that our very Name and Nation our Liberties and Religion must for ever have been buried in Reproach and Desolation Nor was the Insolence of Those within any less They began already to devour us again in their Hopes and expected only when the Happy Minute should come that would again have put them in a Condition to have accomplish'd their Wicked Designs against us Thus did all things seem manifestly to threaten us with Rain and Confusion Nothing now remain'd but the Dread of our absent Prince and whom tho' at the Greatest Distance they cannot but tremble at to rescue us from these Dangers And we may truly say it was the Reputation of his Name and the Apprehension of his Conduct that then kept us in Peace and Quiet when We justly fear'd that all was running into War and Tumults And had the Providence of God then fais'd him had not the Almighty in a most wonderful manner preserved Him and given him a more than Ordinary Success in his Undertakings We should now have been perhaps One of the most Miserable to be sure one of the most Slavish and Contemptible Nations in the World I should much exceed the Bounds of such a Discourse as this should I go on particularly to recount to you what mighty Deliverances God has again vouchsafed to Him since that of which I have been hitherto speaking To what Dangers he has been exposed in an Element that of All Others has ever been the most Contrary to Him What new Hazards he has again encountred in the Field And all this for our sakes to promote our Welfare and if it be possible secure it to all Succeding Generations Blessed be God! Who has again brought Him back to Us in Health and Safety and Crown'd him yet once more with Honour and Victory That has turn'd those Dangers we before lay under into some Hopes that I do not say into a fair Prospect of Peace and Security That has restor'd our Country its King Our Church its Defender and all of us Our publick Welfare and Security And who if We be not our selves wanting to his Desires shall by the Blessing of the same God not only save us from Ruin but repair our Credit and revive that Spirit amongst us which enabled our Ancestors so Gloriously to Triumph over their Enemies heretofore And shew that it is not in vain We either bear the Arms of France or pretend a Right and Title to it That Our Nation is still the same it ever was and has only wanted a Prince to lead it on And having now at last met with such a One who can tell but we may yet see that Proud Monarch at last shewn no longer to be Invincible But that a King of England supported by the Favour of God the Justice of his Cause and the â—â—â—â—age and Affections of his People is still able to give a Check to his Carier And deliver Europe from the Insolence of a Power which it had never fear'd had not the Pacifick Temper of our late Princes and even the Help of our Arms unhappily raised it