frequent experience of c. 2 I will call upon him whom I also praise tendring up my Thanksgivings for mercies already bestowed while I offer up afresh Petitions for renewed favours from him and thus gathering encouragement from what I have already received to continue my Dependence chearfully upon him and Faith in him for the future There is a great consent of Interpreters this way I will praise the Lord and call upon him So the Arabic In a Song or Hymn I pour out Prayers So the Chaldee See Dr. H. Vicars Decapl in Loc. I will call upon him with Praises So R. Sol. Praising him with Prayers So Apollinarius i. e. joyning of Praises and Requests Doxologies and Letanies together When I shall have praised him first for his past Benefits I will then call upon him for those yet to come So a Latin M. S. Having celebrated the Lord with these Encomium's viz. of the precedent Verse I will now call upon him So Clarius Invocabo laudatum I will call upon him being praised that is in a Poetical Phrase Dr. H. I will first praise him and then call upon him He signifies hereby as Mr. Calvin Notes preces suas laudibus mistas fore That his Prayers shall be mingled with Praises and Thanksgivings according to that of the 116 Psalm I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord Vers 13. And again Offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and call on the Name of the Lord Vers 17. So is the Apostolical Direction Phil. 4.6 In every thing by Prayer and Supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God We are at the same time to testifie both our Gratitude and Dependence and Thankfulness for what we have received is one effectual way of obtaining what we want I will therefore call on the Lord with a grateful acknowledgment of his former Goodness gathering encouragement from thence still to continue my Petitions unto him who hath already so well deserved of me The Mercies he hath vouchsafed me hitherto are not only so many Essaies of his power and readiness to relieve me Dr. H. Par. but also so many Pawns and Pledges for the future and therefore to my Songs of Praise I chearfully add my most Humble and Earnest Requests And thus doing never fail of a Gracious return from him Which leades us to the second part of the Text namely the Psalmist's motive to his Resolution and Practice from the assured good success of it So shall I be safe from mine Enemies And this I shall little more than gloss upon Be mine Enemies never so Potent and Formidable for Multitude never so many an Host of Devils and Sons of Belial for Power never so strong for Malice never so spiteful and cruel for Policie never so cunning in their Assaults never so violent in their Confederacies never so combined in their Plots never so secret I shall nevertheless be saved from them all and remain secure by the Divine interposure on my behalf Dwelling in the secret place of the most High Psal 91. I shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty There shall no Evil befall me neither shall any Plague come nigh my Dwelling for he shall give his Angels charge over me to keep me in all my waies He will Answer me whensoever I call will be with me in Trouble will Deliver and Honour me with long life will he satisfie me and shew me his Salvation All Salvation is of the Lord and he hath a peculiar regard in his saving Providence unto Kings Psal 144.10 It is He that giveth Salvation unto Kings that delivereth David his Servant from the hurtful Sword And the like Acknowledgment we have in the close of this 18th Psalm Great Deliverance giveth he to his King and sheweth Mercy to his Anointed to David and to his seed for ever Even the succession of Anointed ones the whole race of Kings throughout all generations St. Chrys Liturg They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preserved by him by whom they Reign But yet God expects to be sought unto by them too that they own and acknowledge their need of his Help and put themselves into a capacity of receiving it in the most becoming posture from him That therefore is the Ground of the Psalmists Resolution I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised so shall I be safe from mine Enemies And that we may all in a proportion gather the like encouragement unto this Duty of calling upon God in our Distresses and Troubles we are to remember that he is stiled in general Psal 65. The hearer of Prayers unto whom all Flesh therefore is to come that he hath bid us Ask Seek Knock with promise that he who asketh shall receive and he that seeketh shall find and to him that knocketh it shall be opened That He hath assured If we who are Evil know how to give good Gifts to our Children much more will He our Heavenly Father give Good things to them that ask him Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall he saved saith the Prophet Joel Joel 2.32 Act. 2.21 Rom. 10.13 and it is thrice quoted for Confirmation in the New Testament And the promise refers to as black and dismal Times as we can well imagine viz. such as attended the Siege of Jerusalem by the Romans When there were the dreadful Appearances of Blood and Fire and Pillars of Smoke the Sun turned into Darkness and the Moon into Bloud even the great and terrible Day of the Lord come upon them Nevertheless in these circumstances the promise is left Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be Delivered And for our farther Confirmation as to the publick invocation of God with the Congregations of his Saints in his Holy Temple we may cast our Eyes on the several passages of King Solomon's Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple the House of Prayer which God himself testified his Acceptance of Hearken then 1 Kings 8. saith he unto the Supplication of thy Servant and of thy people Israel when they shall pray towards this place and Hear thou in Heaven and Forgive and Do that all the People of the Earth may know thy Name to fear thee as do thy People Israel c. We under the New Testament to be sure are nothing short of them in real Priviledges nay God hath reserved some better thing for us For though we have not their Temple yet we have their God as near unto us in all that we call upon him for we have the Holy Spirit whereby we cry Abba Father making intercession within us and we have a most powerful Advocate at God's right hand Jesus Christ the righteous by whom we may come with Confidence to the Throne of Grace Hebr. 4.16 that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for our most seasonable Relief in the
place engageth them hereunto for they are surrounded with those Dangers and Troubles which none but God alone the Supreme Potentate can preserve or deliver them in and from No sooner have they escaped one Plot and Contrivance of mischief but another Snare is laying for them The Hydra of Treason and Rebellion hath many Heads and when one is cut off another perks up in its stead Such was David's Condition And we need not to look further than This Psalm for an ample proof of it Here we read of the sorrows of Death and Hell compassing him Verses 4 5. The snares of Death preventing him The Floods of ungodly men making him afraid The Sons of Belial men impatient of the Yoke of Government and Restraint coming like a mighty Torrent upon him Verse 16. Many waters threatning to overflow and drown him Blood-thirsty powerful and malicious Enemies such as hated him Verse 17. and were too strong for him Verse 39. rising up against him And those not only of Forraign Nations but amongst his own People Verse 43. The strivings of the people nor only making open Insurrections but endeavouring private Assassinations by men of violence Verse 48. and those too secret and unknown Dissembling and False-hearted Subjects Verse 44. such as yielded feigned Obedience such as lied unto him in all their fair professions and dissembled with him as the old Translation hath it Verse 6. No wonder therefore that we find him in his Distresse and in a Day of Calamity and as it were in Prison and Confinement Verse 18 19. in great straits sometimes in a state of War and at other times in great Perils Such is the condition of all Kings especially of Pious and Religious Kings For the King is the head of Order and the very life and soul of Laws both Civil and Sacred So many Enemies therefore as there are abroad to a State or Kingdom their level is chiefly neither at small or great but at the Head and Soul of all the rest The Devil and his Agents are all Adversaries to Order and Quiet and Peace with Piety and Virtue and therefore must necessarily impugn and strike at the grand Conservator of all these And then in his own Dominions if we reckon up how many there alwayes be that are in ill Circumstances themselves and have their hopes only in a Change in fishing as we say in troubled Waters in disturbing all that they may scramble for somewhat How many Ambitious of Rule and Power themselves that would fain be uppermost How many envious at all above them who therefore are ready to pull them down or undermine them How many thirsting for Liberty unbounded Liberty to do whatsoever is good in their own Eyes How many cross'd in their undue Desires and Lusts by the severity of good and wholesome Laws How many whose Faith and Allegiance is easily corrupted by the popular insinuations and pretences of wheedling Demagogues or to be bought and sold with Bribes and Pensions How very few of Courage and Honesty enough to stick by a Prince in his low Condition How many Powers and Policies and Devices he hath continually to watch over and to struggle with How many he must of necessity trust and imploy whom he hath but little or slender assurance of If we consider I say but these and the like obvious Circumstances we cannot but see the manifold Troubles and Miseries and Calamities that every Prince every good and Religious Prince especially is beset withal As David we read was But the greatest comfort is He hath a Refuge and Sanctuary near at hand notwithstanding all this to betake himself unto namely that of the Text. I will call upon the Lord. This we find upon all occasions was our Royal Psalmists stay and security When He knew not what to do nor whither to betake himself his Eyes were still unto God God Psal 46. saith he is our refuge and strength a very present help in Trouble Therefore will we not fear c. Si fractus illabatur orbis Impavidum ferient ruinae Thus at Ziklag 1 Sam. 30.6 David saith the text was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning of him because the soul of all the people was grieved every man for his Sons and for his Daughters and when any thing goes amiss or succeeds ill in Government the blame and complaints usually fix and center on the chief Governour but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God He becalmed himself as we read elsewhere with such like expostulations as These Psal 42. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope thou in God Psal 43. for I shall yet praise him who is the Health of my countenance and my God Observe therefore by how many different Names and Attributes of security he calls God in the Verse before our Text on purpose as it were to declare That he was All in All in his account My Strength saith he and my Rock Psal 18.1 and my Fortress and my Deliverer my Buckler and the Horn of my Salvation that is according to the Hebrew Idiom wherein Horn is used for Power and Plenty my most Powerful and All-sufficient Saviour and my High-Tower In weakness my Strength against the Storm and Billows of Adversity and that Ocean of Calamity which beats at any time upon me my Rock impregnable against all manner of Violence or Assaults my Fortress or Bul-work my Shield and Buckler invulnerable whatever Hosts or Armies invade me my High-Tower and Castle at all Times and in all Cases a most mighty and abundant Saviour and Deliverer They are excellent words of the Prophet Habakkuk Hab. 3.17 18 19. which I the rather mention because the later part of them is taken out of this Psalm Psal 18.32 33. Although the Fig-tree shall not blossom neither shall Fruit be in the Vines the labour of the Olive shall fail and the Fields shall yield no meat the Flock shall be cut off from the Fold and there shall be no Herd in the Stalls that is all visible help and relief shall fail Yet will I rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like Hinds feet and He will make me to walk on my High-places There can be no possible want of provisions to this High-Tower or Garrison We see by the way what an utter Enemy the profess'd Atheist is to all publick Governments and the best security of Kings and Princes †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 D. Chrysost in Psal 143.2 10. who by denying God and Providence takes away this most Comfortable Refuge and Sanctuary which amidst all Perils and Dangers they are to betake themselves unto It is the Character of such profane ones That they call not upon God themselves Psal 14. and that is not all
who hath already done so great things for us wherein we rejoice and for which we praise him That he would yet continue to be Merciful and Gracious unto us and to our Land That He would shelter our most Religious and Gracious King Charles under the wings of his Good Providence and by the Guard of his Angels from the bloody hands of Ishmael Jer. 41. from the Sons of Violence from the Approach of all manner of Evil That he would manifest and bring to light the hidden works of Darkness that They and Their Religion and who are Abetters of them may be brought unto open shame and infamy That He who is never at a loss for ways and methods of bringing his counsel to pass and can make the most despised and contemptible means effectual to humble the proud and mighty would in This time of our need perplexity and trouble stand up and appear for our Rescue and Deliverance That He would disappoint the Devices of the Crafty Job 5. so that their hands may not be able to perform their enterprise That he would take the wise in their own Craftiness and carry the Counsel of the froward headlong Psal 64. That he would shoot at them with his arrows and make their own Tongue to fall upon themselves so that all who see them may fear and declare the work of God wisely considering of his doing That he would cause them to be ensnared in those very Traps they have laid for others and make them either the Executioners of their own Ruine as he did the Seditious and Rebellious Absalom or bring them to the Gibbets 2 Sam. 18. designed by them for the Innocent as he did the powerful and revengefull Haman That Esther 7. as of his preventing Grace and Goodness he hath mercifully begun to Discover and make them to Fall so he would vouchsafe to perfect This work of Mercy to us in their hearty Conversion and Repentance if it may be or in their utter Confusion And that we may succeed in these our Prayers unto God let us I beseech you Humble our selves deeply and sincerely in his presence for all our former Sins whereby we have provoked him to Anger and Displeasure against us Let us turn unto him with Fasting and Weeping and Supplication turning from all our Transgressions which we this Day make Confession of in particular our monstrous Ingratitude unto God Almighty for all the Miracles of his Mercy and Goodness towards us our ill Returns and Requitals of all his signal Benefits from time to time conferr'd upon us Unless we are thus truly Penitent for our Sins past and reconcil'd to Gods Favour we are not fit Mediators for our selves or others in this Trouble and Distress Nay instead of Atoning God Almighty and procuring Mercy from him we partake with the Enemy in bringing down his Curse upon us and the Society whereof we are Members They are therefore Rebels and Traitors so farr to their King and Country who refuse this Day to Humble themselves under God's mighty Hand and so to turn unto him and to seek his Face or who allow themselves in the Practice of that Wickedness whereby they may farther provoke Heaven against us or who Ahaz-like 2 Chron. 28.22 In the time of this Distress Trespass yet more against the Lord. But if we Confess and Forsake our Sins we are in the certain way to obtain Mercy Mercy for our selves and Mercy for the Land of our Nativity Mercy for this present Generation and Mercy for that which is to follow We may then be admitted to call upon God with grounded hopes of his grace and favour towards us We have then Encouragement to depend upon Him and expect a Blessing from Him as the success of this Days performance For all things are naked and open to his All-seeing Eye and none can dig so deep as to hide their Counsels from him and his Hand can reach them too wheresoever they are his Power is infinite He is never to seek for waies and means to blast and defeat the most Malitious and Politick and Secret and Combined Machinations of any in order to our Destruction Nay we may confidently rely upon his Word of Promise for it that He will Hear and Answer us and so we shall be safe from all our Enemies Which God of his Infinite Mercy grant for Christ his sake c. Amen THE END