Murder bent At me their Bows are bent Their Malice doth encrease They say no good I meant When I did seek their Peace When I speak fair And straight the Swarm I them all-arm Their Stings prepare Corollarium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which may be used or omitted It being another Repetition Return Recollection of the Sence Musick Psalm Ver. 3 4. BUT though the Sland'rers sting Like Lightning pierc'd and burn'd The Stones which he did sling Heav'n in his Face return'd Live Coals from Hell By his bad Tongue And Javelings flung On his Head fell Ver. 2 7. Therefore no more will I Be of such Bruits afraid No more I 'll sigh Ver. 5 6. or cry Though I 'm in Deserts stay'd In all my Ways Who dost afford I 'll Bless Thee Ver. 1 2. Lord Such cause of Praise Though I 'm in Deserts stay'd No more I 'll sigh or cry Or be of Bruits afraid No longer now will I. Such cause of Praise We 'll Bless Thee Lord Thou dost afford In all our Ways Gloria Patri c. Glory be to our King Who shall be was and is Loud Hallelujahs sing To God the God of Peace The Lord of Hosts The Father Son The Three in One And Holy Ghost AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE First PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXX PSALM O Lord our Redeemer a very present help in trouble as I have found thee heretofore blessed be thy powerful Compassion so I desire to approve thee whensoever as at this time I cry unto thee to deliver my Soul O God! I see that I am fallen into a dangerous Condition by the Lies of the Serpent the Treacheries of my own Flesh and the Falshoods of the World which I have sought and served listened and trusted to and so am justly appay'd with Cousenage and Disgrace with Calumnies and Accusation For what can be had from the Accuser of the Brethren from the deceitfulness of Riches and from the Cheats of all things here below but disappointments and vexation for such as follow lying Vanities forsaking thy Mercies and their own Alas then woe is me that I have heaped up such Coals of Vengeance on my own Head and pierced my Heart through with so many Darts of Sorrow by not delighting in the Tents of the Righteous nor in the Tabernacles of thy Holiness but in the Dwellings of Ungodliness and in the House of the Accursed so that I have deserved indeed to be made a Vagabond like Cain and a Slave like Cham in a perpetual Banishment from Comfort and in a Captivity unto Sin by having my Conversation according to the evil fashion of this Age. But Lord how long how long shall I sojourn either amongst the Enemies of thy Grace or of my Peace Amongst the Superstitious or Idolatrous Amongst those who are after the way of Mesech Or those who dwell in the black aboads of Kedar O! prolong not my Danger and Unhappiness any more among them nor protract my Wandrings with a backsliding People for I seek Peace Peace with Thee with my own Conscience and with all the World But can the Egyptian change his Skin Had Zimri Peace who slew his Master No Lord. There is no Peace thou hast said it to the Wicked who are at defiance with thee and with themselves and make War in the face of Heaven Therefore that I may find Peace I seek thy Pardon and my Soul's Purity and desire thee to preserve me from the Pollutions and Snares of a perverse Generation that dissemble as strange Children that so having no fellowship with the workers of Iniquity I might live in the sweet Communion of thy Saints and to be furthered by their Examples and Conversation in the way of Peace and Holiness For Lord I would be a pacifick Jacob and dwell under the shadow of thy Wings there accounting my self secure though I have no other Covering Thou art the best place to hide me in and 't is not my Sword or Bow shall settle or secure me but thy Mercy thy Grace and thy Spirit No strange Arms here can give me a certain or safe Abode unless thou be on my side Therefore dear God! whilst many rise up against me to trouble me in saying Where is thy God seeking to destroy me with their own quiet be thou a God nigh at hand to deliver me from Treachery Malice Turbulence and Hypocrisie And while my Foes heap Coals of Fire on their own Heads by unjust Actions and hard Speeches let my Mouth be touched with a Coal from thine Altar that I may know how to keep the Door of my Lips from all Cursing and Bitterness Lying and Blasphemies fraudulent and filthy Communication and how to open it in Praying to thee that I may find the Blessings of Peace within above abroad about me by Repentance of my Sins Reformation of my Life Regeneration of my Nature and Reconciliation to thy Love O! let it suffice that I have stayed so long in their Habitations where the Instruments of Cruelty remain where I might have been drawn either unto base Earthly Sorrow and Distraction or to foul Hellish Guilt and Desperation and so to inevitable Destruction both of Soul and Body Let it pity thee to see my poor Soul in such a Sink such a Gaol and Mill in such a nasty vile and slavish State as it hath endured And do thou cover my Head while my Foes make them ready to Battel Then shall I be guarded from the strife of Tongues from the contradiction of Sinners from the reproach that I fear and from Satan that is come forth against me with great wrath because I have called on thy Name while thou art not angry that I cry unto thee Our Father c. THE SECOND Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXI PSALM Is an Act of Acquiescence and Trust in God's Power and Presence made by David as it is thought when hunted like a Partridg on the Mountains and pursued by Saul when he made the 54th 55th and 57th Psalm And this being much used by the Jews in Babylon as most suitable for times of Persecution or Sickness was at their going up from thence appointed to be one of their Psalms of Ascents and therefore to be sung frequently loudly and by Responses which occasioned this Composing it like an Anthem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Stanza's being so pointed and divided as to answer alternately by Disticks if it may better suit the Musick The Title of it hath a difference from the rest as the Rabbins observe being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not as in others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It may be stiled David ' s March made by him or some other considerable Person while he kept the Field either for the safety of his Flocks as Jacob did or of his Friends as Abram Thus did the Royal Shepherd and sweet Singer of Israel exercise and employ his Mind in the grateful Memory of the Divine Goodness Well might he then here
any other I had rather be a Door-keeper in thy Tabernacle than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Help us then to joyn with the blessed Choir both of the Church Militant and Triumphant in a Lesson of the best Service even Love and Charity which is the compleatest Religion the fulfiller of the Law the filler full of Heaven For see the Jerusalem that comes down thence as well as that which is above agrees in all its Parts and Graces and by its lovely Symmetry makes up the sweetest Harmony of Heaven and Earth declaring Charity the bond of Peace as Peace the breeder of Felicity Therefore while we see the present Concord and Conformity thou hast afforded our Nation we look with joy upon an Emblem of that glorious Day when thou shalt gather thy Children from the four Winds and bring then together in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and to live with him for ever Lord 'till that time come preserve thy Church among us from Rent and Spot from Breach and Blemish and meet with us graciously as thou didst with Elijah in the soft mild Voice of thy Gospel in the savoury Breath of thy Spirit in the sweet Airs of our pious and public Services wherein make us to consent to Pray for the Peace of our Souls and of thy People as also for the Plenty of our Land for the Piety of our Governours for the Prosperity of their Government and Persons for the Purity of Religion for the Perpetuity of thy Church among us as also for Unanimity and Uniformity in the way of thy Worship that we may endeavour as well as desire the most durable Good here and an eternal Good hereafter to our selves and ours and all thine Which we beseech thee grant for Jesus Christ 's sake who is of the Stock and Lineage of David to whom belongs the Seat of Judgment for ever and ever Amen THE FOURTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIII PSALM Is agreeable to the condition of David in the third Psalm as also to the sad State of the Israelites Composed perhaps by Ezra at Babylon and from that time frequent in use being Calculated for the Times of Trouble and Tyranny Wherein the Church as under Antiochus or some such insulting Oppressor prayeth complaineth and trusts to God The Priest beginning as it were with an Oremus to the People in the first Verse and then the whole Congregation joyning and going on with him to the end of the Psalm TO thee who dost a bide a bove the Starry Spheres yet hast our Griefs with Pi ty ey'd to thee we send our Tears To Heav'n this Spring of Tears From hence doth bubling rise Psal 121.1 Which from low Grounds our Passion rears To thee that hast our Eyes By Hand in the Text is understood help strength or protection by those who take the words of this Verse to imply the Servant's repairing to his Lord for succour and defence from Foreign injuries It also signifies bounty direction and correction to those who take the meaning as I apprehend it Nor do we need an Eye But to observe thy Hands Which way for Blessing us they lye By Chast'nings or Commands Since oft Gen. 48.14 19. like Israel's Hands Thine as a-cross are spread For God not Man best understands How to Crown Ephraim's Head Therefore we raise our Heads Not to repine but pray To mark how our chief Joshua leads And how we him obey As Soldiers still obey Their Leader's Staff and Rod And at their Becks do go or stay So wait we on our God Thy Smile or Frowns O God Like humblest Handmaids we Do bear and from our Lord's aboad Gen. 21.14 Do not like Hagar flee Jon. 1.3 No Jonas here will fly From thee Jon. 4.8 though Chasten'd thus We 2 King 5.2 as meek Servants carefully Stay 'till thou pity us Thy Mercy we implore Multum saturata est Anima subsannatione As if play'd upon and scossed at by the Soldiery while led in Triumph according to the expression in Psal 137.3 Thy speedy Mercy Lord For now our Lives are scorn'd nay more Our very Souls abhorr'd By those we are abhorr'd As we do loath their Pride Who can with Insolence afford To wrong us and deride But God shall them deride Whose Scorns o're-charge our Hearts When these are full and can abide No more God takes our parts And since God takes our parts To him our Tears shall glide To him we 'll lift our Looks and Hearts Who doth in Heav'n abide Now since God takes our part To him our Tears shall glide To him we 'll lift our Looks and Hearts Who doth in Heav'n abide Gloria Patri c. All Glory Praise and Bliss To th' Three in Unity Who as at first was God now is And evermore shall be CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIII PSALM O Thou great Lord and King that dwellest in the Heavens David hath taught me to lift up mine Eyes to thee and the Son of David hath better instructed me to call thee by thy Spirit Abba Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. That gracious Name of Our Father invites us Lord to call upon thee in the needful time of Trouble For though thou dwellest in the highest Heavens thou art not contained by them but from that thy Throne vouchsafest to look down upon what is done and suffered upon Earth So that in the deepest evils of our Sufferance as in all the good of our Enjoyment here we may still look up and see thy doing and be satisfied in the Wonder that thou dost so much for our advantage Ah! how marvellous is it in our Eyes that when Hope and Help both fail on Earth we can seek much higher for them and even then too when we are justly corrected because thou art a merciful King and behold we are thy Servants for all that thou hast afforded us We submit to thee with humble Fear and wait on thee with Thanksgiving and Praise thee for smiting and subduing us thy People under thee For thou dost as the King of Israel did to Benhadad thou beatest that thou mayest bring us to thy self thou conquerest that thou mayest be kind taking away a little that thou mightest give a better Kingdom Wherefore we beg and trust that when thou hast convinced us how worthy we all are of Hate Death and Disgrace that then thou wilt restore us to Life Favour and Prosperity Well may we be watchful Suppliants and Expectants for some Token of thy Pity when thy left Hand some sinister Providence is laid upon us because thou hast still thy right Hand the Man of thy right Hand to embrace thy Spouse when thy afflicting Hand is never so heavy upon her either by the Tyranny of Oppressors or by the Rod of Tribulation Let us rightly hearken to this Rod and see the Hand which hath appointed it and not look
our Hearts to the last Harvest of our Lives and be able to bless many others as Boaz did in the Name of thee Our Father c. TO thee dear God! be all the Dominion the Power and Glory of my Being for thou hast prepared it from the fury of my Adversaries ever since the first motions of that evil Figment in my Heart which hath broke out often into evil Concupiscences and endeavoured to plough with my Heifer to plot with my naughty Flesh to bind and to deliver me a Prisoner unto Satan but my Lusts have not led me Captive nor plough'd upon my Back as they conspired to do for thou O Lord most just and holy wouldest not suffer them to Tyrannize or Triumph too long over me but hast broke those Bands of Wickedness and cast their Cords from me that I might be thy Servant and you the Lord my Righteousness So that I trust they shall be confounded that contend with thee for my Soul and I shall not be ashamed while I wait on thee though my Flesh be as Grass that withers away Thou art my Strength O Lord and my Portion for ever who wilt I trust give a Blessing to my Seed to my Harvest to my House to my Endeavours and Encrease that my Work and thine may prosper in my hand and bring fulness of Joy and Satisfaction to my Breast while all the vain Thoughts and viler Suggestions of my Heart I desire so to hate as to wish like the Grass upon the House tops withered and faded away that they may never grow up to a Crop lest sowing the Wind I Reap the Whirlwind and have my Recompence in vanity according to my delight or trust and come to nothing before my time But O Lord I wait on thee for a Blessing in this my day and for thine Eternity that I may be like a Field whom God hath enriched if he be not on my side I cannot prosper and I know him whom thou blessest is Blessed Bless me therefore even me O! Our Father c. THE ELEVENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXX PSALM 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De dolore Profundo ex imo corde and not as the Papists would have it De Profundis Purgatorii to be used for the Dead It is an Act and incitement of Hope under the most weighty Pressures from this Proof viz. That neither with the strongest Angels nor Saints departed much less with the greatest or best of Men upon Earth is any Pardon or Propitiation to be found but only with God who alloweth us here space and place for Repentance that he may be feared not so slavishly as to be fled from or hated that he may be sued unto adored and attended on in the holy Duties of Prayer Praise and Trust which are comprized in this Psalm to be used sedulously and constantly night and day according to that which the Repetition of the comparison in the sixth Verse doth infer which is thus gloss'd on by Kimchi My Soul waiteth in the Night for the Lord that it may be in the number of those who rise in the Morning-Watch to pray And this sense being most comprehensive of the Times and Method both of Jewish and the greatest of Devotion I follow it in my Version and desire to do so in my Practice This Psalm was made as some think in the time of the Captivity for Redemption from it as may be judged by the last Verse But others ascribe it to David giving it the same Date with the 51st and is reckon'd the sixth of the Penitentials i. e. of those which were used when public Pentents were brought and reconciled to the Church who might well say Because there is Pardon as saith the Text or Propitiation as the 72d with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared i. e. obeyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the mildness of his Laws and meekness of his Dealings were strong Motives for Repentance Anthema Hocce à me usitatum est ut primò factum in Secundum Octobris OUT of the Deep wherein like Jo nas I was try'd out of the mire of Sin my Clay to God hath cry'd Lord hear my Voice give what I crave O! let me have thy Love Heav'ns Joys Too oft we chuse false Joys And should'st thou be severe To chasten our ill Choice What Man his Ills can bear But we have prov'd That thou may'st be Pardon 's with thee Both fear'd and lov'd I 'le fear lest thou art lov'd Too little and I 'le flee When Fear my Heart hath mov'd Unto thy Sanctuary Early and late Grace to afford There waits the Lord Therefore I 'le wait My Soul on high shall wait Like those who watch the rise Of Day to Officiate At Morning Sacrifice Nay like the Guard Remove the Night Who long 'till Light And them reward 'Till Jacob's Star reward Your Hopes and on you rise Wait Isr'el on your Lord With wakeful wishing Eyes Look 'till the Sun Doth heal and bless Of Righteousness And brings God's Son O! shield ye with his Sun God's People trust his Word Since full Salvation Attends our gracious Lord There 's Pity seen Who will Redeem And Pow'r in him Us from all Sin Gloria Patri c. Glory be to our King Who shall be was and is Loud Hallelujahs Sing To God the God of Peace The Lord of Hosts The Father Son The Three in One And Holy-Ghost AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eleventh PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXX PSALM ODearest Jesu when I consider thee crying with strong Cries to thy Father for me out of the depths of thine Agony and of thy Sufferings both in Gethsemane and in Golgotha how am I swallowed up in the Abysses both of thy Passion and Compassion for us Ah! what fathomless Depths indeed O! what unmeasurable Dimensions both of Grief and Goodness are there for us to be immersed in and since they who are conversant among great Waters see the Wonders of the Lord O! how may we behold these in the drops of thine Eyes and of thy Wounds in the Rivers of thy Tears and of thy wonderful Sweat in the Ocean of thy Love and Sorrows for Mankind When thy Soul was heavy and sunk down even unto Death and all the Cataracts of Shame and Fury passed over thy Head O King of Righteousness and Glory yet out of the deep and horrible Pit of God's Wrath into which thy condition was plunged for our sakes how didst thou reach up thy very Sighs and Groans thy Pains and Sadness thy Prayers and all thy Passions unto Heaven it self to reach us thence a Medicine and a Remedy more certain Health and a more happy Life than the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderness ever brought to its beholders I will therefore look unto thee and be enlighten'd even while thou seemest Eclipsed I will stay my self on the Tree of thy Cross and secure my self under the Shadows of thy
Crucifixion when I am most cast down or overwhelmed with the Seas of my Anxieties and Trials for the Lord hath been deeply sensible of our Infirmities and touched to the quick with humane Miseries that he might not be fled from as he was formerly both while he stood on Sinai and on Golgotha but that he might be feared and approached unto with Reverence because there is a Propitiation with him for us there is an Attonement made by him our High-Priest Therefore O God! hear my Voice though my Sins cry aloud for Vengeance and thou mayst be more strict than thou wert formerly under the more imperfect Light of Nature or of the Irish Law to mark the failings and stumblings of Mankind now in the lightsom day-time of the Gospel yet do thou my Father Jeremiah and my Prince pity me in the Dungeon of my Corruptions and draw my Feet out of the Mire of my Lusts out of the Clay of my earthly Mindedness out of the Waters of my worldly Sorrows and bring me to the desired Shore of thy sure Mercies in Christ Jesus set my feet on the Rock and order my Goings that my Foot-steps may not slip but that I may walk in the Land of the Living unto the Land of Promise and when I go down to the bottom of the Mountains and the Weeds are wrapt about my Head Jonas and the Earth with her Bars enclose me on every side that then I may not be cast out of thy sight nor into the Bonds of mine Iniquities nor into the Belly of the lowest Hell O our Father since thou hast not left thy Son there grant that my Life may be brought up from Corruption I know Salvation is from thee alone and with thee infinite abundance of Bowels of the tenderest Compassions why thou shouldest be reverenced and repaired unto there is a Jesus in thy Bosom to redeem from all Sins from Dangers Enemies and Troubles and to represent us cover'd with his Righteousness otherwise shouldest thou view us in our Original Nakedness or actual Filthiness we could not stand before thee in Judgment But since there is Forgiveness with thee O God! there is cause enough why we should fly unto thee trust in thee wait on thee and watch for thee more than they who watch for the Morning for if Light be so grateful to those who walk in Darkness how amiable is thy Countenance to us in the gloominess of thy present State And how much more lovely will it be when we lie down in the Night of Death that the Day-spring from on high may visit us and bring the joyful Morning of a Resurrection both from Sin and the Grave O! do thou make hast my beloved Saviour and be as a Roe and a young Hart Cant. 2. on the Mountain of Spices Thou that art the Hart of the Morning who out of the midst of thy deepest Woes and dying Pangs didst cry unto God for us do thou send us timely help for we would seek thee early in the prime of our Age hastening from the very dawn of our Lives to prevent the Night-Watches and like thy Spouse or beloved Mary to see the Sun of Righteousness risen on the Earth before we get to our Zoar. O! that our Prayers might ascend like Incense by the meritorious lifting up of thy Body for us Dear Lord impute no Guilt to us but cleanse us from all that we may be blessed and holy and happy as we beg to be for thy own sake O gracious Saviour to whom be Glory c. THE TWELFTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXXI PSALM Was composed by David in the life-time of Saul when most humble innocent and distant from the Succession to the Crown though then suspected envied and accused It was appointed to be used at the Jews Return because no temper better qualifies us for God's Mercy nor more becomes us under the greatest Mercies such as those we have enjoyed than that Humility Self-denial Resignation and Affiance in God's Will which are here exemplified in the first and second Verses and exhorted unto in the last While the Psalmist with that frequent Elegancy in the holy Tongue suppresseth the Imprecation and imposeth a kind of Silence upon himself after his Attestation proceeding to an Asseveration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If I have not c. viz. still'd and pacifi'd my Soul as the Waves levell'd and smooth'd my Brow like the face of the Ground and have put my Hand upon my Mouth viz. I have ceased from crying and throbbing as at the Mother's command the Child doth who although weaned can without Sollicitude yield and conform to the Mother's Direction and Provision Thus the Comparison is fitly squared As a Child is in quiet and order with its Mother so is my Soul with me As the Jewish Arab. notes the Repetition to import I have weaned it from Transgressions Non arrogavi mihi magna mirabilia inconcessa inhonesta as the first Verse intimates and this whole Psalm saith Grotius savours much of a Gospel Spirit as of that gracious and modest Disposition with which David was endowed eminently so as to make him be stiled After God's own Heart For Innocents day NO Lord I do not look too high tho to this lof ty pitch I fly to seek thy Throne and Ma je sty No Earthly Crown do I de sign nor as my Sov'raign's Son to shine my sole Am bi tion's to be thine Like Bethshemites I dare not pry In things for me too Great too High My Heart is humble as mine Eye But the proud Foe my Heart mistook Whilst I his Frowns did fairly brook Without returning one Ill look I soon lay quiet to control The froward Passions that did roll Like Waves about to move my Soul My Soul is hush't like a wean'd Child That from the Mother's sight exil'd To any thing 's strait reconcil'd And surely I my self behave Like a wise Man while thus I crave Like a weak Child what I would have May Isr'el do as I have done To all things here indiff'rent grown Trust always But in God alone May Isr'el do as we c. Gloria Patri c. Give Glory Praise Dominion To God the Father with the Son And Spirit thrice Bless'd Three in One. Sicut erat in Principio c. Now let us all the Lord adore Who is the same as heretofore And shall be King for evermore HOSANNA Another VERSION of Psalm CXXXI To be sung as Mr. George Sandys Paraphrase Psal 1. LORD 2 Sam. 6.21 22. Acts 13.22 I 'le prelude to my Lord's humblest part That I may be the Man after thine Heart I hate proud Looks and glance not up an Eye At things too hard too hidden or too high But as a Child whom its kind Mother weans Loving the Breast yet on her Bosom leans I hold me at thy Hand nor once repine But quietly repose receive resign Wishing our Isr'el thus may trust God still And frame their
hear How glorious all his Goings were Up to the Mountains from the Plain Cant. 2.8 Rev. 14.1 Psal 114.4 And while God comes with the glad Throng In ev'ry place we hear this Song See see where our Beloved goes That he may stand on Sion still Look how he leaps from Hill to Hill And makes us skip for joy like Roes Come John 2.22 let 's to Sion march along In order lest we Worship wrong Numb 10.33 35 36. After the Ark our Course is bent We 'll worship with the solemn Cries Rise Lord unto thy Rest arise Rise to a Temple from a Tent. The Train shall shout 1 Chr. 15.27 and so will I The Choir shall raise their Voices high The Priests shall shew the Sanctity Both of thy Person and their Place 2 Chr. 6.12 13. By being cloath'd with Righteousness And thine Anointed thou shalt bless Nor from thy * Or Favour See Gregory's Notes on the word Presence turn his Face Oh! 2 Sam. 6.21 never turn from us thy Face For David's sake love David's Race Do not his Stock as Saul's disown Since if his Sons thy Laws obey Thou 2 Chr. 9.17 Lord hast sworn his * De fructu Ventris tui quoniam uterus Vxeris cum omni suo fructu ad Maritum pertinet Seed shall sway And here for ever have a Throne 2 Sam. 6.12.13 For here hath God his Favour shown And chose our Dwellings for his own He will not stay with Edom * Neither with Edom whom he hated nor Obed Edom whom he blessed still But his Provisions shall bless ours Since on the Rich he dainty's show'rs And can with Bread the Hungry fill Here will I sit 2 Chr. 6.41 saith God Viâ—tum eis non viduam lenedicam and Carve To each poor Soul Significare vult apertam manifestam salutem quae omnibus pateat cum sacerdotes salute quasi veste circumdarentur qui nunquam deerint gratiarum repetendarum Officio that none may starve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the 72 Interp. will render it which properly signifies Venison a dainty indeed but it implies more largely any Victuals or Prosions All Wants I will so far supply That a large Alb of Thankfulness Shall be my Priest's perpetual Dress And Saints shall set their Joys on high On high shall David see my Love As here in Sion so above Like Aaron's Rod shall bud his * His Royal Dignity Power and Off spring 1 King 11.36 Horn †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which mystically refers to Christ Psal 4.2 Glory 's own Lamp lights up his Line And on his Head my Crown shall shine But on his Foes I 'le ‖ Haud secus ac Retiarii ut supra in comment throw my Scorn Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost the Three in One Whom as one Being we adore Tho ev'ry Person of the Three For ever was shall ever be And is God Blessed evermore AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Thirteenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXXII PSALM O Lord God! that thou mayest the more graciously consider us and our Affairs Remember our Lord Jesus we beseech thee and all his Afflictions all his Humblings all his Troubles his Cares and Loves and Passions for us look how through the whole Volume of thy Book it is written of him That he should fulfill thy Will O God! and therefore he begger'd himself so far as to be born of the Stock and Lineage of David that he might perform the Promise he had made not to fail his People but to become their Righteousness and their Redemption and so though the Foxes had holes and the Birds of the Air nests he would not have where to lay his Head Neither would he give sleep to his Eyes but would be walking and watching and praying whole Nights together that he might be doing good to us for us in us and with us that here again in this base Earth and World of ours he might find out an Habitation for the Mighty God and a place where his holy Dove might rest Grant then O glorious Lord that all his Labours and Desires his Endeavours and good Will concerning us may not be frustrated but let us be built up a Spiritual House upon him and be blest in our Undertakings through him unto thy Glory that as we have been directed so we may go on not stand still to see thy Salvation and to worship thy Goodness which doth arise with healing under its Wings for us as a Hen and as an Eagle to cure to carry to secure and feed us to make our Natures thy Abode our Hearts thy Sanctuary our Souls the resting Place both for thee and the Ark of thy Strength and all this to what purpose but for our Advantage not thine that we might be a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood cloathed with Christ's Righteousness and cover'd with thy Comeliness which invests us with all Peace and Joy through the Holy Ghost O therefore let us lift up our Hearts with Love and Praise and Comfort in believing trusting and begging for thy Son's sake that neither our Faces may be turned from thee to go a Whoring after other things that are not God nor indeed good nor let the face of thine Anointed be turned so away from us as not to know us at the last Day No blessed Lord grant us such an interest in our dear Redeemer as that we may have a Title to thy Favour and be able to put thee in mind how thou hast sworn and wilt not fail unto thy well-beloved Son that of the Fruit of his Body thou wilt set upon the Throne and hast promised to all true Believers his Servants that if they keep thy Covenant they and their Children shall Reign with thee for ever and find new cause of rejoycing in thee who hast chosen the Sons of Men for thy Zion and desired their enlarged Souls for thy restful Habitation and chief Delight But when shall we come to this Joy unspeakable and full of Glory When we have with patience waited on thy good pleasure and not fainted in our expectation of thy faithfulness then for certain we shall see thee abundantly blessing and rewarding the small Provisions made here to serve thee withall and thou wilt satisfie such as hunger and thirst after thy Kingdom with the Bread of Life and with the Wells of Salvation and they shall be array'd like thy Priests with Holiness and shine like Lamps in thy Presence for evermore Amen HElp us O Mighty God of Jacob to sing no Requiems to our Souls or Conditions here 'till we have not only heard of thee with the hearing of the Ear but hearkened unto thee with the attention of the Mind and come unto thee with the obedience of the Will finding out a place in our Affections and Understandings where thou mayest dwell that thou mayest hereafter prepare a
pray and hope like a Souldier that God would be his Shade as well as his Shield as near to him as his shadow that the Sun might not hurt him by Day nor the Moon by Night as Absalom and Achitophel the one by Day and the other by Night intended to have done And if we look on David as he went up the Ascent of Mount Olivet This Psalm was very proper for his Condition then as it is for any Person 's now in the interval of War the Phrases being throughout the whole Psalm Military and allusive to Souldiers besieged as in the first Verse relieved as in the second all-arm'd as in the third secured watched and guarded as in the fourth shielded and surrounded as in the fifth and sixth in the seventh and eighth hemm'd in and convoy'd out for Victory and Triumph For the Second of September and October Here shall I seek for aid where shall I set mine Eyes mine Eyes and Pray'rs like Birds afraid up to the Hills would rise But whither would they rise un to some dangerous height O no this Quarry thither flies whence springs our help and light Nor hath our Health and Light From things below their Birth But from the highest Rock of Might Who made both Heav'n and Earth Therefore though false foul Earth Thy Soul with Foes surround Shall it be mov'd from holy Mirth Shall Cares run it on Ground Gen. 8.11 Christ is the Ark to ground Thy Heart on when distrest From head to foot he 'll make thee sound Gen. 28.11 On him did Jacob rest Non dormitabit multo minù◠dormiet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quamvis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex impatientiâ lugentis Deus obdormire dicitut Psal 44.24 But he doth never rest From doing good nor sleeps Gen. 32.2 That with such Guards thou may'st be blest As he his Israel keeps Psal 22.1 4. Good Shepherd he doth keep His Flock ev'n in Death's shade See then if thou art of his Sheep How on thy side he 's laid Though Dangers have way-laid Thy going out or in See how thy Husband's Arm 's display'd Isa 54.5 To save thy very Skin Dan. 3.27 Like the three Children's Skin Thine shall be scorch'd by none Whatever Heat thou may'st be in Whatever Star hath shown Nor shall the Moon nor Sun Hurt thee by Night or Day No Mischief seen nor closely done Shall touch thee any way God shall preserve thy Ways And Mind from all that 's ill In Youth And when thy Life decays Blessed thou shalt be still Then trust and bless him still Who endless Safety sends God through this Vale of Sorrows will Guide us to joyful ends The Entrance Progress Ends Public and private Pow'rs Labours and Studies of his Friends God blesses at all hours Then trust and bless him still Who still did us defend God doth and ever will Antistrophe Give Blessings without end Give Blessings without end God doth and ever will He still did us defend Then trust and bless him still The Entrance Progress Ends Public and private Pow'rs And Works of all his Friends God blesses Lord bless Ours Gloria Patri c. To God the Father and the Son And to the Holy-Ghost Be Glory And let ev'ry one Strive who shall praise God most CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Second PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXI PSALM I Will lift up my Heart to thee O Lord And though it be cast down with the dangers and diffidence I am in while mine Afflictions and mine Enemies have cast a Mount about me to hinder me from the sight and hope of Succour yet have I God's Hill to fly unto and from thy House I can survey the end of the Wicked the Redemption of thy Captives and the height of thy Power that is higher than the highest But O the depth of thy Love What a pleasant Vale is this under it How doth this smile and sing and stand full of Corn that strengthens Man's Heart So that although I remain in the Valley of the shadow of Death if I can but look up to the Rock that is higher than I to Christ the Shecinah the true Mercy Seat that is placed above the Cherubims all Types and Symbols of his Presence I shall neither lose my Faith nor my Life I shall not be discomfitted nor enslaved like a surprized Zedekiah I shall not be famished nor broken up like a long besieged Jerusalem Though mine Enemies hem me in on every side and carnal Fear cause me to cry out as the Prophet's Servant What shall we do Yet if I can but lift up mine Eyes to thee which indeed are naturally as heavy as Moses his Hand I shall perceive somewhat else besides Perils and Foes on every side I shall find the Mountains full of Chariots of Fire and more for me than can be against me For an Host of Angels shall pitch their Tents about me to secure me and those mighty Ministers of thy good pleasure shall keep me like Daniel from the power of the Lyon So that my most Savage Enemies shall lack and suffer hunger while I want nothing that is good For though my way be hedged up that I cannot pass which way I would nor follow the Lusts of my Heart and the desires of mine Eyes as many do yet I may look up with joy and confidence as I trust I shall at the last day because my Salvation is drawing nigh My Hope my Help cometh from the Lord not from the Angels in his Presence but from the Angel of his Presence and of his Covenant the Blessed JESUS who having taken our Nature that he might be sensible of our Infirmities ever abides with Humanity at thy right Hand making Intercession for us And as he made the Heavens and the Earth for us so he makes a new Heaven and a new Earth of us by justifying and sanctifying both our Souls and Bodies through the mighty Work of his Spirit in his Word and Sacraments For these are the Mountains of the Lord wherein he is apparently seen Glorious in Holiness Fearful in Praises doing Wonders and abounding in Goodness and Truth If we Worship him as our Fathers did in these Mountains in the heights of Sincerity and Devotion we may expect to hear God promising us graciously as he did Abraham that he will be a God to us and to our Seed after us And we may hope to see him as Manoah and his Wife did in the Zealous performances of his holy Worship in the Flame arising from the Altar of our Hearts from whence God would not accept a Service if he desired the Death of Sinners Therefore we may be assured that if we keep in his ways he will keep us in ours as he did his Israel both by the Pillar of Fire and by the Pillar of a Cloud by the flame of Affliction as well as by the light of Prosperity And while we lay hold on these as Sampson did
Fruit of the Womb unto his Friend Abraham whose Children we are if we believe as he Lord we believe help our unbelief that we might not throw away our loved sleep much less our best beloved Souls in carking after the things of this Life whether they be Pleasures Profits Power Posterity Preferments or vain Past-times for what are these in respect of a Soul But giving up our Souls Estates and Concernments into the hands of a faithful Creator who is able to keep them and us to the very uttermost let us be preserved not only in perfect Peace and Prosperity in this Life but also in a happy and safe Repose even in Death it self when we expect to rest from our Labours and to sleep in Jesus Amen THE NINTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXVIII PSALM Is a Description of the Felicities of such Good Men as fear the Lord that is say the Rabbins who cease to do evil and learn to do well who walk in the ways of God and are not only negatively good but positively making their own hands minister to their Necessities as the Apostle did knowing that he who will not labour shall not eat But such as labour honestly either to obtain a lively-hood and subsistance here or a better Life hereafter shall find the fruit of their Pains to be Peace and Plenty Not the Apples of Sodom or Clusters of Gomorrah but those of Mercies Temporal Spiritual Eternal Such as are here enumerated from the 2d Verse to the end far better than by any other Poet. Amongst which Blessings as to this World the greatest are esteemed Vitam quae faciunt Beatiorem c. Martial lib. 10. Epig. 47. 1. A Fruitful Meet Companion neither barren in good Works nor Off-spring And therefore compared to a Vine or because saith Kimchi she can live well and plentifully within Doors and only desires that her Branches may go abroad As a Vine saith he will grow and flourish though rooted within a House so the spreading Limbes be carried into the Air. 2. Then a chearful Table decently replenisht with Legitimate Pious and Healthful Children Likened to Olive Plants either because they are hopeful and flourishing as the Olive Tree is always green or useful and Ornamental as those Trees are to Entertainments in the East or Emblems of unfading Happiness as Olive Branches were to Victors or not a shameful and spurious Off-spring For it is reported of the Olive Stock that it will nourish no Grafts but of its own Kind These Blessings being described by two such admirable sweet Comparisons that strive to chear and refresh the Laborious and Prosperous Man the Author breaks off his Apostrophe by a short Epiphonema in the 5th Ver. but who the Author of this Psalm was appears not and then in the 6th and 7th Ver. goes on to pray for other Joys for the good Man towards the compleating those promis'd in the 2.3.4 Verses Which indced so fed nay feasted my eager Thoughts with that most excellent Scripture Abundance exprest by Corn and Oyl Judg. 9.9 13. that which Chears and Honours God and Man that I could not withhold from enlarging my delight in ruminating thus far upon it Like the fat Olive and the fruitful Vine Chearful to make Man's Heart his Face to shine Are well bred Children and fruitful Wife In this World's Paradise those Trees of Life They wander not afar but still abide By their own lucky Boards or House's fide At Home they Live and Thrive fix and Encrease The Prosperous Signs of Plenty Mirth and Peace Pax feu Pacem super Israel concludes the Psalm as the 125. This seems proper for a Wedding day or any such time of Festivity and therefore used thus Solemnly to be Sung after the Captivity by the Levites among the other Psalm of Degrees And it is intended by me for St. Lucy's day and New-year's Tide BLest is the Man that fears the Lord and walks in ways taught by God's word while such a Joseph Vice refrains to Prison Walls tho bound he be he spreads like Egypt's patient Tree and bears more Fruit by wearing Chains Who e're thou art that fear'st the Lord Fearing to sin in work or word Plenty with Ease shall crown thy Pain Thy Hands shall get Wealth that will last The Sweets of which thy Lips shall tast Doubling by relishing thy Gain Ruth â— 11 1â— Thy Wife shall like a fruitful Vine Deck thy House-side as well as thine And see thine Off-spring shade thy Board As pleasant Olive-Plants are set To grace and guard thee at thy Meat Thus art thou Blest that fear'st the Lord In heav'n thrice happy shalt thou be As here below 't is well with thee Thy Joys from Sion still encrease Thine Age to three Descents shall see Thine Issue fair thy Nation free And what is best on Israel Peace As here below 't is well with thee In Heav'n thrice happy shalt thou be From Sion's shall thy Joys encrease Thou shalt out-live one Age to see Good on thy Land and Family And which is best on IsraelPeace Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost the Three in One Whose Deity we shall adore Since ev'ry Person of the Three For ever was shall ever be And is God Blessed evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Ninth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXVIII PSALM O Most glorious and gracious Lord God who art fit to be feared and worthy to be loved grant that I may not only serve thee out of filial Reverence and sense of Duty but also and chiefly out of most passionate Affection and Delight walking in thy ways as well as learning them and doing thy Will as well as knowing it from a principle of entire and true Love and of full and absolute Choice Grant that whether I am born unto Trouble and Care or to eat and reap the Fruit of others Pains both by my own and others Labours my Repose may be afterwards more sweet and nourishing and my Enjoyments more solid as my Endeavours successful while I have Religion though not Riches and that which with Content is great Gain notwithstanding the shortness and loss of worldly Treasures If I partake of the true Vine and of the travel of his Soul who was full as God and made full as Man that of his fulness we might receive and feast for evermore then how well shall it be with me here How much better hereafter Come what can come I shall have comfort enough in this World and a Crown in the next Nay I shall be a Crown to my dear Bridegroom a Glory to my Redeemer as the wise Spouse is to her Husband for in this good and true is the Word of the Lord which he hath spoken not only in the Literal but also in the Spiritual sense and so shall his Work be as to the Head so to the Members He will make the Church Christ's Wife and she shall be a Vine as well as
he and so great a Bearer as that she hall cover and adorn all the sides of his House and bring him clusters of Eshcol Grapes of Sion Loads of Comfort and Satisfactions Tokens of Plenty and Delight for having trodden the Wine Press alone And then O beloved Husbandman when thou shalt visit this Vine and behold the Off-spring which thou hast brought her with transports of Joy and Contentation O! then look upon me and mine and see us grafted into the right Olive though we be sprung from that which is wild by nature that we may grow up as Plants of thy own planting and flourish round about thy Table For this hath God promised unto thee O Christ and we beseech thee to make it good unto us by making us thy Children O Lord how should we praise honour and serve thee Were we like David such Olive Trees as might be fixed in thy House and framed into more holy Uses to be farther instrumental to thy Glory Behold a greater than Solomon is here to make us fit to attend thy Oracles and with the Cherubs to be near thy Mercy Seat Dear God! prepare us for such high places there however thou cut and strike us here that we might be the better formed and wrought out of the World's glory for our own into thine even by the beauty of Holiness that New Jerusalem that comes down from above Then shall we admire the good of Sanctity and wish the good of thy People all the days of our life and rejoyce in the happiness of thy Chosen all the days of Eternity For as we are Blest in serving thee out of thy House and Sanctuary so we hope to be Blessed with thee in thy holy Hill of Sion where we shall see the glorious Harvest of all Ages the eternal Happiness of our Generations and the never-fading Peace of thy chosen Israel AMEN THE TENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIX PSALM Is a Commemoration not unlike that Solemn one which every true Israelite was to make at the Offering of the First-Fruits Deut. 26.35 36 37. and Secondly a Prognostication of the cursed End and Ruine of the Church her Enemies from the Consideration of the wonderful Deliverance which God had wrought and reiterated for his People a Juventute both from theirs and the World's Infancy so that at length their Adversaries according to their Prayers shall be but weak few like the Grass on the House top 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not growing up there being formerly a Meter or gatherer of Grass as we have now of Grain most in fashion about those fertile Countries where Grass is of an excessive length even at this day as modern Travellers affirm that wither before it's pulling But Zion 's Foes saith Ezra or whosoever it was who in his Time compiled this Prophetical Psalm and Prayer shall one Day be so inconsiderable that as they shall have no Eulogies to encourage their Growth or Harvest so they shall need no Weapon to cut them down for they shall drop away shamefully of their own accord without a Dominus Vobiscum said unto them 1 Cor. 14.25 For all they may say though not of a Truth what once a Sennacherib and a Rabshakeh falsly affirmed That God is with us Quà de causâ à me Selectus est hic Hymnus in Tertium Septembris Propter M. O. C. nec non in Quintum Novembris IF Ja cob did in E gypt tell what Troubles in his time be fell how few and e vil were his Days How hard Life's travel in rough ways In Ca naan well may Is rael say From my Youth up God was my stay From my Youth up I met with Foes Gen 28 â—6 17. But to God's House I ' scap'd from those Many a time was I assail'd But I as many times prevail'd Exod. 2.24.25 God broke my Cords which they did bind And made them Captive if not kind Exod. 5.19 Mark 15.15 Long did they with deep Furrows wound And Plow my Back as 't were their Ground But the good Husbandman now cracks John 15.1 The Ploughman's Whip on their own Backs The Righteous Lord stays not too long 1 Cor. 10.13 From resc'uing his who suffer wrong Therefore shall Zion's Enemy 2 Sam. 3.33 Psal 73.6 Prov. 16.18 Mat. 13.5 Like Fools wax faint like Cowards fly Whom Pride doth cloath Shame shall confound As Corn that grows in no good Ground 2 Sam. 11.4 Dan. 4.30 31. But stands with Kings on the House-Top Where comes a Blast and that 's its Crop Its Crop doth rot before 't is ripe Nor can it fill the Reapers gripe Nor joy his Heart For what is worse It bears no Burthen but a Curse 'T is no Man's comfort no Man's care No Man for such bids one short Pray'r None in God's Name give such good speed As Boaz to his Harvest did Gloria Patri But we to God will Glory give Who with the Son and Spirit doth live God Reigns and shall as heretofore Bless'd be his Name for evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Tenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIX PSALM O Dearest Jesu let me behold thee as an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile and yet how many a time even from Herod's persecution of thee in thy Youth wert thou afflicted Thou didst grow up as a Stem out of a dry Ground very poorly and despicably in the Eyes of the vain proud World who looked for another appearance and attendance than thou O King of Glory didst affect on Earth and therefore wert thou rejected as a Man of Sadness And well mightest thou be acquainted with much Grief when thou didst bear our greatest Sins even those whereby we did set thee at nought as did Herod and his Soldiers and even sought the holy Child the First-born of Grace in our Hearts to take away its Life O Lord we must confess how many a time too often we have betrayed and exposed thy Name and Body thy Word and Members to Shame and Reproach to Indignities and Sufferings We have smitten and pierced them through with many Sorrows we have knotted the Whip and lengthen'd out the Rods to plough thy Back as the Jews did by their lashing Taunts when thou wert dying on the Cross only to non-plus thy Love and patience if it were possible But the Lord is Righteous and the Lord is Merciful and therefore he hath cut asunder the Cords of the Wicked and by his Righteousness shall justifie many as also confound all such as have evil will towards his Zion Grant therefore dear Lord that we may not prove such a Crop as grows upon the House or among the Stones which withereth as soon as it is put forth But as from our Childoood we have been acquainted graciously with thy Mind and Gospel so grant that we may grow up in Grace and in the knowledge of a Saviour and have the Blessing of Almighty God from the very Ground of
wonderfully wisely and kindly seen to reconcile the World what is that but Vileness Vanity and Vexation Frailty and a Curse unto himself that Man might be far more able than he was by the Glasses and Laver of the Tabernacle both to see his Spots and Pollutions to get clean from them and that God might be consider'd and admired not so much in the broken Glass of Nature nor in the blotted Book of the Creature which shew us his power and greatness as in the Face of a Redeemer in the Testament of the holy Jesus which most plainly and yet most gloriously speaks thy Love and Goodness and calls for ours since if thou hast so loved this naughty World and us that help to make it worse how ought we to love thee and also to love one another O how good as well as how pleasant a thing it is to know Christ as our Head and we our selves his Members This is as sweet and useful as Life it self to make our short Lives here not tedious to our selves or others nay this is Life Eternal because Charity never fails We shall have that Grace for all if we are Christians we shall keep it always if we are Saints for it is Holiness and will be Happiness it is the Oyl that from our Head from our everlasting Aaron falls down to the very Skirts of his Clothing to revive and refresh the lowest and most humbled Sinner if believing and it is that Anointing from above which we must not want especially at the last Article of Life in the greatest extremities of Temptation but we must carry it along with us into our Father's presence then shall we be in his sight as a Field which the Lord hath blest then will he smell the Odour of our elder Brother's Vest upon us and we shall inherit the Promises and abide in his Love in the participation and in the propagation thereof Divine Love being the Dew of Heaven that causes the fruitfulness of the Earth it makes us high and white like Hermon pleasant and safe as Mount Sion it makes our Superiours and the great ones of the Earth not to be Rocks of Offence to us but to be rather as the shadows of a Rock in a dry Land needful Supports convenient Sanctuaries and Refreshments and it causes God to command a Blessing on us from all degrees of People above us and of conditions round about us Therefore Dear Lord help us to live in such Concord and brotherly Kindness as that we may be Blessed from all our Relations from our Superiours by having the Oyl of Spiritual Blessings and the Dew of Temporal Favours bestowed on us Love and good Will from Equals Prayers and good Wishes from Inferiours being so careful and affectionate both for thy Priests and for our Princes as that neither Moses nor Aaron may be murmured at but obeyed by us and we may be protected and guided by their Hands in the Spirit and Practice of all true Love and Charity for the honour of our Christian Profession and for the glory of thy holiest Name O Christ Jesus our Lord who livest and reignest c. THE FIFTEENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXXIV PSALM Was composed by David De Muys thinks as well as the former and appointed to put the People in mind of their more solemn Times of Meeting with that pious charitable and unspotted Souls with which they ought to approach God this being an Euge an incitement to all who are the Lord's Servants to be constant and pure in his Service as a particular hoc age to the Priests at the Canonical Hours of Prayer and stated Times of public Worship to lift up clean Hands and holy Hearts It is a proper Close to the preceding Hymns being often sung at Midnight at the end of the Nocturnal Offices by the Jews and design'd by me for the Eves of our greater Festivals It is an Exhortation generally directed not only to the Priests who kept the Watch in the Temple so to the People who watched their Days and Nights for many departed not as you may gather from Psal 92.2 and Luke 2.37 It seems to me most probable that this Psalm was composed by Ezra the Priest or some of his Time not only because it is the last of the Graduals which were accommodated for the Return from Captivity but because it is Dramatic chiefly concerning the Priests who stand by night in the House of the Lord or as the 72d in the Courts of the House which was not built in David's time and therefore it is not so likely a composition of David's but of Ezra when the holy manner of worshipping God was restored Ezra 8.6 and the Priests set in their Courses Vers 7. In the first Verse of this Psalm I should suppose the Choir joyning to the Music and then the Chief Priest for that Watch giving the rest Directions as in the second Verse and they again in the third Verse blessing him for it is Bless thee and not yee though in my version I use the Plural throughout A Nocturnis for Christmas Eve ALL ye whô God's Do me stics are see you with An gels wait and in your Courses like each Star by Night shine at Heav'ns Gate Look while ye stand Among the Jews the Choir stood the People kneeled the High-Priest sate and the washings of their Hands and Feet so frequent during the time of their officiating were call'd Sanctifications or kneel or sit Ye serve and bless the Lord Look that your Hands God's Altar fit And to his Praise accord Look ye be clean for Holiness Becomes God's holy Place Watch well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the 72. is short of the Original though it means in holy Things as well as Places for it signifies Holiness in the Abstract Christ typified by the Ark of the Covenant and such Holiness in Men as could adapt them for the discharge of their Duty which is hinted by the Apostle 1 Tim. 2.8 And this was signified by the Jews often washing their Hands and Feet before their Praying which was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sanctification Vt alibi indigitavi and Pray that Filthiness None of God's Works deface Then God who made the World and stays On Sion Grace shall send 'Till he shall Bless and we shall Praise From hence World without end Gloria Patri c. To God the Father God the Son And God the Holy-Ghost Be Glory giv'n by ev'ry one Who make the Lord their Boast AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifteenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXXIV PSALM O Thou that acceptest not the Persons of Princes nor regardest the Rich more than the Poor since they are all alike the Works of thy Hands grant that we may not be such Fools as to forget thee in any time of our quiet fulness or repose lest thou come at an Hour when thou art not look'd for by us and find us unfit for thy Appearance who canst
awry by Pride Uncharitableness Impenitence or Impatience on what thou dost because as thy provoked Justice is the Author so our Provocations are the just Original of our Sorrows and the Springs of our Sufferings And it is well for us in our Calamities when we are not thrown out but fall into the Hands of God who is no less pitiful than powerful to deliver us with David out of the Hands of all our Enemies and out of the Hands of Saul too From all our wicked Foes I mean and from our most wicked selves also from our own Unrighteousness as well as others which fills our Souls with Shame our State with Contempt and our Lives with Sorrow For is not proud Lucifer as it were at ease when we tumble our selves down by diffidence in God or self-deceit And vile Oppressors like the Devils themselves are in their proper and pleasant work when they are Lording it over thine Heritage Wherefore preserve us we beseech thee from our own Baseness and Falshood as well as from the Tyranny and Treachery of thine other Enemies And plead thou our Cause for us with others and with our selves for thy Son 's and for our Soul's sake And when we are driven by the Insolence of others or by the Demerits of our own Actings to implore thy Mercy and thy Pity with all the prostitute Submission humble Confidence and absolute Resignation of Obedient Servants O! let us not be slothful in our Duties or doubtful of thy Providence but diligent in all the Labour that thou callest us to thanking our selves for deserving Correction as thee our Lord for correcting us so Father-like and trusting by thy Chastisements to prove in us more of thy Love and of our Adoption THE FIFTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIV PSALM Is entituled David's according to the Tenor of that in Samuel Cap. 2. v. 22. being a Commemoration of his wonderful deliverance from great and many Dangers together with a thankful acknowledgment to God the sole Author of Safety and Success properly used at any time of eminent Preservation as on the Fifth of November or Third of June It may be called David's Triumphs for more than one Victory by God's special assistance as may be gathered from the repetition of the first words nisi quod Dominus which imply the iteration of God's Goodness and Man's gratitude for when he is pleased to manifest the largeness of Loving-kindness to us then especially ought we to make our return of Gratitude with a Non nobis This Divine Io Paean was composed probably after the Conquest of the Ammonites who had beset David on every side according to that expression of their force and inhumane Rage Tunc homines Adham per contemptum vivos deglutiissent nos or as the word Adham seems to hint to me upon his subduing of the Edomites when he made the 60th Psalm or as others think after most of his Victories over the Philistines c. in Chron. when the Snare was broke by the Death of his Enemies as in the Prophecy the Jews Bondage was by the Persians breaking the Chaldean Monarchy And so the late and former the many and wonderful Deliverances of our Nation are to own the immediate effect of God's gracious interposition and as a signall Evidence of His all-swaying Power as the first Creation of the World was that we might not Sacrifice to our Nets and Bulwarks nor value our selves upon the store of deeper Waters like once Proud but now Desolate Tyre but that our Trust Succour and Defence may be founded on him the Supreme of all Beings on whom depends the whole Creation HAd not the Lord been on our side now may the wrastling Is rael say when E-sau did his Troops provide our Flocks had been the Ly ons prey Had not the Lord been on our side When Men against us rose like Waves The Surges of their Rage and Pride Had snatcht us quick into our Graves Jonas Like Whales upon Amittay's Son Death's Jaws on us they open'd wide Dathan's strange End Numb 16.29 how could we shun Had not the Lord been on our side When Seas of Rage swell'd to that height As on our Souls to whelm their Tyde Those Torrents had destroy'd us quite Had not the Lord been on our side Then had the Streams our strength o're-pow'r'd But we through Floods through Foes did wade And were not as a Prey devour'd Nor of their cursed Teeth afraid Blessed be God! our Life 's got free From all the Toyls their Mischief set As Birds out of a Snare so we 'Scape strangely through the Fowler 's Net Hell Snares are broke our Souls are freed For on God's help our Hearts are stay'd God's Word speaks Heav'n and Earth his Deed His Hands preserve the Works they made God keep us all as all he made From him the Heavens and Earth proceed Upon his Truth our Trust is stay'd Hell's Snares are broke and we are freed Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost whom we adore In Persons three in Essence one Who was is shall be evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIV PSALM O Thou Lyon of the Tribe of Judah thou Shepherd of Israel that leadest thy People like a Flock while we with thankfulness look up to thy strength for us to thy stay of us and thy staff over us let us look down with Humility on our own unworthiness We deserve not the least part of that care and watchfulness of thine which defends us daily from the ravenous Bear of this World's Temptations from the Uncircumcised Philistine our own Flesh and from the roaring Lyon of the Abyss that goes about seeking to devour to swallow us up quick as it were at a Morsel And yet blessed be the Lord he hath not given us up for a Prey to these Destroyers and if we give not up our selves by our sinful fears and easie submissions though Satan's rage be like his Hell enflamed he cannot have his will of us That Lyon may come out against us with great wrath and fright us by his vain Noises but cannot fall upon us at once as he desires He hath no part no power of us 'till we give it to him If therefore O Lord we are on thy side or thou on ours we need not fear what Devils or what Man can do unto us even when they rise never so proudly never so powerfully against us Let us but set the Lord our Righteousness at our right hands let us but have righteous Hands and innocent Hearts and we shall not be so greatly moved or terrified as to let the Enemy triumph over our Souls though yet we must confess with Grief that many Waters have gone over them The swelling Torrents of sinful Passions and Prosperity the mighty Floods of worldly Cares and Vanities the superfluities of naughty sensual Pleasures have not only tossed and endangered but even overwhelmed and swallowed up
our Lives So that we have been sinking into destruction like those that are howling in the Pit Alas the bitter Streams of our vile imaginations and transgressions have like a deadly draught or Poyson been suck'd in greedily and sent to our very Hearts so that we had been past all means of escape or hope of succour if thou hadst not stood by us as thou didst by thy Servant Paul and not only strengthened but saved us as thou didst the Prophet by drawing us forth as thou didst the Prophet of the dangerous Gulph of estrangement and infidelity into which our triple Enemies would have thrown us Their Power would be great like their Malice Didst not thou take our part O holy Spirit and plead our Cause O sweetest Jesus Blessed be thy omnipotent and most glorious Mercy that hath made our Souls as a Bird that may fly up to Heaven and be secure We praise and thank thee dearest Father for those Wings of Faith Prayer Love and Devotion whereby we can escape the Snare of the cunning Fowler and all his noysom Plagues and Temptations O! still cover us both with thy gracious Protection and with the lovely Wings of the Holy of Holies so that we may break the Bands of Satan asunder and cast away his Cords from us and neither have the Eyes of our Faith held from seeing thee nor the Feet of our Affections from seeking thee but like thy beloved and most loving Disciples Peter and John leave our Nets whereby we take others and all those Entanglements whereby we are so caught our selves and throw off every Impediment for the better following of our Master Christ under the Patronage of whose Love and Power we would roost and nestle our Beings for ever For it is he that hath made Heaven and Earth for us for our Habitation and will make a new Heaven and Earth about us for our Regeneration And since this is a greater Blessing than the first Creation of Man let our delivery from the Jaws of Hell bring him more Honour than all his other Dealings with us even Glory for evermore Amen THE SIXTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXV PSALM Like the 11th Psalm sheweth David 's Trust and Recourse to God not like Saul to the Witch of Endor or Wealth of Amalek but where Believers are established and secured in the Presence of the Almighty and perpetuity of the Church whereby they find the goodness of their Portion and the evil Lot of the Wicked whatsoever he be whether Hypocritical Profane or Backsliding It is applied by the Rabbins to the Days of the Messiah and so by us it may be appositely used on Sacramental Days or any such time of greater manifestation and experience of God's Integrity and the Faith of Man For S. John's day WHO on the Lord do build their Trust like Si on they command up in to Heav'n their Heads they thrust their Feet un mo-ved stand Right safe high strong they always stand Like God's most Holy ground The Rock of Ages on each hand Doth shade them and surround As Hills Jerusalem surround To deck her and defend So God encircles and hath crown'd His folk World without end As Hill c. For least in Sin their Suff'rings end Though an Egyptian * For the Rod or Scepter of Wickedness is the Tyranny of a Pharaonick Oppression over the lot of the Righteous that is the Church of God which he may lay on but will not leave nor suffer to lye still God having the Rod of their Portion in his hand alluding to the old way of Sortition by Staves whereof see Numb 17. and Josh 18. For the Reasons mentioned observe how aptly the Portions of the Wicked let them be never so fat or fair like Esau's here are termed Rods to plague oft-times both themselves and others as Divers's Portion did But the Portion of the Godly is stiled a Lot and a pleasant one as David's 16 Psal 6. or a Cup of Blessing indeed like Jacob's and of abundance like Benjamin's Gin. 33.11 Gen. 44.2 Rod To th' Goshen of the good extend 'T is thence remov'd by God Do good still to the Good O Lord To him whose Heart and Line Bend not to wrong whose Feet ne're trod Ways which to Hell encline Since such as crooked ways encline To do or cherish ill God shall drive from him but design Peace to his Israel For such c. Gloria Patri c. To Father Son and * The suddain change in the expression of God from the second Person to the third As it is an elegancy in the Original so it may note such shall not know God in the second Person of the Trinity as a Saviour but at a far greater distance as a Judge Hib. 10.38 39. who draw back and turn aside perverting their way which is already crooked Prov. 14.2 to more depraved Obliquities and desperate Apostacy after a profession of the right way But they shall be tortured with Hypocrites and Unbelievers while he shall be kept like Israel Gen. 32. in perfect Peace whose Mind is stayed on God Isa 26.3 to the greater vexation of those Edomites who perhaps sometime persecuted him Ghost we bow One glorious God w' adore As in beginning was is now And shall be evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Sixth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXV PSALM O Thou immutable Lord God most faithful Creator Redeemer and Comforter I desire not only to believe of thee in the world to credit what thou art in thy self but to trust to what thou sayest in thy Gospel to rely on thee for what thou dost at present and acquiesce in thee for what thou wilt do hereafter and stay my self on thee through thine everlasting good pleasure For thou art the Lord that dost not change and therefore we are not consumed but are converted from Creatures to thy Children confirmed from our weaknesses by thy Spirit and continued in thy service with thy self Ah the safety the assurance the steadiness the solace the sole and supernatural satisfaction that is in fulness of Faith upon thee the Messiah the Lamb of God who makest us thereby the Temples of the living God the City of the Lamb the New Jerusalem that shall ascend up above and be made illustrious with all the Jewels of the concord regularity and brightness of Spiritual Graces as with the eternal Riches of ineffable Love and heavenly Glory So that we shall never be removed from our Abode in Jesus Christ thou hast made our Rock so strong and if we believe surely we shall be establish'd for ever for the foundation of God stands sure As we shall here be surrounded with the munition of Rocks the Rock of Ages and all his Angels like Jerusalem the holy City so also we shall be wholly blest and saved to the very uttermost For neither the blasts of Temptation the Spirit that rules in the Children of Disobedience shall attack the corners of our Dwellings as
he did Job's Sons nor from the Wilderness assault us as he did our Saviour to spoil our Labours or our hopes Nor shall the storms of Tribulation be able to beat upon our House so as to make it shake or totter For though our building of Faith be raised high even unto the Heavens yet it is no Babel it is no Jericho but a Fabrick that the Lord will bless and defend and because it stands upright it shall stand fast for ever The strength of our confidence in God shall put to flight the Armies of those Aliens that would enter and destroy its strong holds for there are Mountains of Horses and Chariots of Fire round about the Faithful to secure them so that they cannot be immur'd or shut up when never so closely begirt by Adversaries They can still look up nay go up to the Hill of Sion from whence comes their help even to Jesus the Author and finisher of their Faith who not only pitched the forces of his Word and Miracles but the red Standard of his Cross and the first Camp of his Martyrs and Apostles upon the Hills of Jerusalem to Convoy all Comers to the City of our God and to draw all to him from the Center of the World Oh therefore let neither the Rod nor the Staff of the Wicked be laid or left upon my score or part lest I do or suffer the evil of Sinners but let thy Rod and thy Shepherds Staff both thy Cross and mine dear Jesu comfort and fill up my Cup and make mine Heritage and Lot like thine For then it shall be good and thou that art so ever wilt do good to me making and keeping me upright in Heart clean in my Hands single in mine Eye of Faith and sound in the Feet of mine Affections steady in the ways of thy Commandments Lord if thy hand be not graciously when most heavily upon me how soon may I put forth my hand unto wickedness like Cain Pharaoh Balaam Achan and Jeroboam and like Judas Ananias and Simon Magus This makes me yet pray more earnestly that Christ may still pray for me since he that Christ prays for shall believe aright and he that so believes shall not find upon his lot the Scepter of Unrighteousness the Rule of Satan the Domination of Sin the Rod of the Wicked the Guilt or Punishment of Reprobates Oh then that my lot and last end may be in the Righteousness of Jesus my Lord that I may not fall presumptuously nor fear greatly nor be driven forth with evil doers but be led forth into the Paths of Peace into the straight way that leads to life there to taste of the Brook in the way the quiet and sufficiency thou affordest thy Flock here and to drink of the Rivers of thy Pleasures hereafter to lye down like thy Sheep in the green Pastures of Hope in the never fading never failing enclosure of thine Arms and to rise in Glory with thine Inheritance for evermore Amen THE SEVENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXVI PSALM Is thought to be composed by Esdras or some of that time after the Babylonish Bondage because in the first part of the Psalm it joyfully Celebrates the Return of some as in the second part heartily wishes the Restoration of all the rest of the Captivity from the Land of the North as the Realm of Babylon is called Jer. 13.19 20. Jer. 16.15 in regard of its site to Judea making that apt and excellent resemblance of them to Streams running into the dry and desolate parts of the South which must needs be very welcome there and are said to flow thither as Torrents in great abundance upon the melting of the Snows and producing of Showers by the South Wind So that whether you take 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the South Wind or South part of the World the comparison may hold to either acceptation of the Word very full and elegant The Jews flocking Southwards home but not all together as the Spirit of God moved on the Waters in Babylon in the Days of Cyrus Darius and Xerxes stirring up Zerubbabel Ezra Nehemiah and others to bring back the Hebrews restore Religion rebuild the Temple and repair Jerusalem which had been demolished and burnt by Nebuzaradan in the fifth Month 2 Kin. 25.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in that same Month about Harvest time was the Return of the Jews with Ezra c. 7. v. 9. who had been led away Captive at their Sowing time Therefore the Simile of the Husbandman here was rarely apposite both to the occasion of their Joy and season of the Year and their manner of Exaltation This PSALM is very proper for our 23d of April and 29th of May or any such happy Time of recovery from Trouble Danger and Oppression AFTER the long Night of a State so dark as ours so de so late who could so much as Dream that we should wake out of Cap ti vi ty But when God took that Plague a way that E gypt which on Si on lay our Pangs like Dreams a way did fly and we had safe de li ve ry Pleas'd and transported with our Change By a Recovery so strange Acts 3.9 As Cripples cur'd by Wonders we Soon got both Strength and Liberty Soon we got well well home and found Grief did no Soul no Body wound But Hearts and Tongues in Psalms agree And they got Feet as well as we Then both our Chains and Silence broke Then Pagans too the Truth thus spoke The Lord hath done great things for ye The Lord hath done so answer'd we Therefore God's Works with joy we tell Which may convince the Infidel And call up Pray'rs for such as be Not yet return'd from Slavery O! were our Friends our Foes and all Redeem'd from their Egyptian Thrall From Satan and from Sin set free How welcome were their Liberty Welcom as Nilus in the South And sweet as Show'rs in days of Drouth For all with us we long to see Reap Mirth who plough'd in Misery Sure Lord thy Lab'rers 2 Thes 3.7 8 9. in the heat Who take the pains shall tast the Wheat And may with shouts receive from thee A Largess of Prosperity We who dropt little hopes in Tears When driven hence by Foes or Fears Now loaded back with Solace see Rich Incomes from Captivity Endo ibit flendo portans pretium seminis pretiosum ob caritatem Thus the poor Seeds-man sadly goes While on the ground his Wealth he strows But when the Harvest Crowns him he Veniendo veniet cum exuitatione Jogs home with Sheaves and jollity So they who shed a few small Tears I' th' Seed-time of their Hopes and Fears Shall glad Returns from Sadness see And shock up more Felicity Nay he that goes from hence and bears To Earth his Dust to Heav'n his Tears Shall find those precious Grains to be Vast Crops in blest Eternity Gloria Patri c. In the Lord's Praise
let none be dumb But Father Son and Ghost adore Who was and is and is to come Thrice Blessed God for evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Seventh PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXVI PSALM O Most dear Redeemer Jesus who wouldest be the Lord our Righteousness we must confess thou mightest justly become our Enemy as Joseph's Brethren became his Foes because of the multitude of our Dreams those vain conceits of Happiness which have been trusted and lean'd upon though but Egyptian Reeds have greatly merited thy Punishment and our farther deceptions We have deserved to be most terribly mistaken like the hungry wretch who dreams he eats but he awakes and behold he is faint and the more afamisht Thus are our Souls but the more starved by those Visions of the Night those short unsatisfying pleasures those shadows and fond imaginations in which we have been lull'd asleep by the Flesh the World and the Evil one leading us Captive by them at their pleasure But Lord if thou wilt teach us like thy self to lead Captivity Captive and to subdue their triple Band that lies in Ambush against us as Abimelech's against the Men of Shechem then shall we be like the Widow's Son raised even from the Dead We shall not only recover our strength wonderfully as did the Cripple before we go hence but be recalled with Lazarus to newness of Life and have our Wills and Faculties unbound our Mouths and Hearts opened our Hands and Feet loosed and enlarged to sing the Praises of the Lord to run the Paths of his Commands and to teach Transgressors his ways that so Sinners may be converted unto him admiring the great things which God hath done for us and we praise him for continually for as God's Praise must be ever in our Mouths upon the account of his miraculous Redemption of us who were conquered and taken enslaved and sold so ought we incessantly to pray for the Conversion of others remembring those that are in Bonds as bound with them and that thy Servants O Christ who are many may be made one Bread and they who sit in the darkness of Ignorance or in the shadows of Error may be delivered from the power of Satan into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Blessed Lord thou hast Brethren here that the World knows not nor thinks to be such O! that all the Sheep though they have gone astray may be reduced from their Wanderings and brought out of their Wilderness Condition and desert State by resting on the Shoulders of thy Power and leaning on the Bosom of thy Love O thou well-beloved and best loving Jesus how grateful gracious and desirable how profitable sweet and suitable will such a stream of Grace prove to thine Israel in their Pilgrimage It will be a Well springing up and raising thy poor Creatures unto Life it will be like drops upon the tender Herb like showers upon the thirsty Ground making the hard-hearted and barren Soul to rejoyce and to break forth into gladness and into fruitfulness For when thy Word distills like the Dew and thou sendest a gracious Rain upon thine Heritage it must needs be refresh'd and renew'd like the face of the good Ground which thou hast Bless'd for that which is sterile is nigh unto Cursing but that which kindly receives the Rain that comes oft upon it brings forth Food meet for him by whom it is dressed what kind of Husbandry soever he useth towards it So we beseech thee grant O thou good Husbandman that since thou dost so plentifully shower amongst us thy benefits and the good tidings of the Gospel we may bring forth the fruits of thy Spirit such as are proper for our places and conditions and for the Ages of our Lives and of the World what way soever thou takest with us whether thou break us up by the Plough of Afflictions or dig about us by forbearance and prosperities We know that he who Sows the good Seed of thy Grace in an honest Heart with the Tears of true Remorse although the Enemy should mingle Tares among the Wheat yet being a painful Labourer shall Reap a good Crop at the Harvest of the World and that with Joy and not with Grief for godly Sorrow worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented of Let us not therefore sorrow as do many for Temporal losses but rather let us rejoyce that thou pourest down plentifully of thy Grace upon us which is better than abundance of Corn and Wine And so even when we go forth with Peter weeping bitterly for our Sins if we hear with us the precious Seeds of Adoption and Regeneration and these abide with us although we may lye down in the dust of Death or go out of the Land of the Living here yet shall we come again with Bosoms full of Joy and with Arms full of a Jesus that went out before us bearing our Reproach and who with Tears and strong Cries pleaded for the handful that was given him out of the World and shall come again like a happy Reaper bringing Sheaves of Corn with him that the people whom he hath laboured for and united unto himself may be crowned with Victory Prosperity and Glory and compleated with Gladness with him for evermore Amen THE EIGHTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXVII PSALM Was complied by Solomon as a Compendium of his Ecclesiastes shewing the vanity and therein the vexation of all worldly Travel and Care without God's Blessing in the principal instances of this Life's concernment which are the building of our Houses by strength and safety as in the first Verse by Frugality and Wealth as in the second Verse and chiefly by Children and Heirs to make our Habitations Names and Inheritances to remain for ever as much as in us lieth as in the third And this I take to be the meaning here of building an House as it is the work of the Master of a Family in Oeconomy rather than that of the Mathematician in Architecture And in this sense the Phrase is taken oft in Scripture as we read Exod. 1.21 God gave the Midwives for their Faith Hope and Charity Protection Riches and Progeny to support their Families So likewise 1 Chron. 17.10 11. the promise of God's building David's House is explained by giving him Issue which should establing his Kingdom better than Solomon could do notwithstanding all his Wisdom Power and number of Women since we read but of one Son and he weak and infirm which that mighty Builder raised up to support the Royal State Crown and Dignity of the House of David Well then might the Author of this Psalm who hath inserted his Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the second Verse be a Type of the Messiah and begin to affirm and reiterate the Nisi Dominus here and infer that Except the Lord David 's Lord as well as Son did build his House Solomon and other Kings should but labour in vain This Psalm might be superscribed
with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as being sung with loud and frequent Responses by the Levites at the erecting and re-edifying of the Temple and therefore intended by me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as an Anthem for the Day of a Nativity or Baptism For Shrove-Tuesday or a Wedding TIL God the House doth build and Fa mily maintain Workmen tho' ne're so strong or skill'd La bour a las in vain Fa ther 's get Sons in vain in vain the Watchmen ward our Gates un less the Lord or dain his Host to be our Guard In vain a Life we keep Rise early late take Rest Fare hardly For I take it with the 72 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when others take pains with care to provide for their Families God's Beloved thrive better and yet do not so much as lose their sleep or rest in pursuit of thòse enjoyments which others incessantly toyl for This shews the vanity of our Solicitude as the other sence viz. so he gives speaks God's Blessing of honest Labour whereby he brings Rest and makes both it and what else got by Labour pleasant according to Eccless 5.11 lose our loved Sleep 'Till God our Stock hath blest But they whom God hath blest Like Job regain their Peace Nempe Dilectis Domini viz. Jedidiah's such as Solomon God gives his Jedidiahs Rest And with their Rest Encrease Look All Children are given as an Inheritance passing from the Father of Heaven to us not purchased by our own Ability but the Wise and Good are more than David's pleasant and goodly Heritage for they are also a Reward as here and a Crown especially such as are born to us in our stronger and youthful Age who may be grown up and able to give advice and assistance and ready at hand to help or adorn as Arrows in the Quiver of an Archer so that we may go in or out of the Gates of our House City or Lie with honour and safety and speak either with Friends or Foes strong or great the Judge or General Whether it be in public in the sight of all as Aben Ezra construes in Portâ or whether it be in the place where the People assemble where the Nobles meet where the Thrones are set the Prophets prophecy the Right is pleaded the Guards are kept the Soldiers stand and the Judges fit as they did formerly in the Gate Vide Ruth 4.1 1 King 22.10 2 King 7.20 Judg. 9.52 c. ev'n our best Encrease Ruth 4.13 Gen. 30.2 Children come from the Lord Those Fruits of th'Womb which some may guess Man's Work are God's Reward Children both give and Ward A blow for though but young To Parents they 're a double Guard Like Weapons to the Strong Those Shafts help against wrong Life against Death provide Like Jonathan's they home are flung To shield our threaten'd fide Happy the Man whose side Bears Quivers of such Arms For wheresoe're his Cause is try'd He 's quit of Shame and Harms Thus we whom God hath Blest Like Job regain our Peace Since God gives his Beloved Rest And with our Rest encrease Gloria Patri c. To God the Father Son And God the Holy-Ghost Be Glory and let every one Strive who shall praise God most HOSANNA CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eighth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The GXXVII PSALM GRacious Father who workest hitherto as thy Son also worketh look upon us thy Workmanship make us thy Building who as lively Stones well wrought and figured would be built up a Spiritual House unto thee And we know except thy Divine Wisdom thus frame and raise us bearing up the Pillars of our Strength hewing out the Stones of our hard Hearts to be polished Corners of thy Temple we shall prove but sorry Tabernacles but foolish Builders and Labourers in vain For who amongst us can say that he hath made his Heart clean Who can come to the Rock to lay a good Foundation except it be given him from above Or who can keep himself so clean as that the foul and wicked Spirit touch him not nor enter in again after he hath been cast out of a Man except thou O Lord who art stronger than the Enemy dost watch and defend the House of the poor Soul Thou must work all our Works in us and for us for without thee we can do nothing O therefore raise strengthen stablish and compleat us thou glorious Solomon thou who must edifie us by thy Apostles and Teachers and instruct us how to be Temples for thy holiest Spirit and the Heritage of the Lord for evermore We must acknowledge that our best Skill and carefullest Actions our Watchings and Fastings our Righteousness and Charities are as Stones which thou O Master Builder mightest refuse being fit for nothing but to debase and throw us down to Hell affording us no prop or safe reliance upon them 'T is thou alone O truest Jedidiah that foundest thy beloved Church upon the Corner-Stone of Faith which edifies with joy and peace with rest and firmness in believing So build us up we beseech thee and watch over our Souls that we may not be found to have watch'd or to have work'd to have instructed our Hearts to have cleansed our Hands in vain but to have done the Work and compleated the Task which thou hast appointed us to do by edifying both our selves and others in our most holy Faith We throw our selves Lord Jesus on thy gentlest Bosom of Compassions to be regarded and instructed by thee and trust that we are not Judas's whilst we eat of thy Bread and drink of thy Cup but shall be unto thee Sons and Daughters such an Inheritance as may be the Crown of thy Rejoycing the purchase of thy Labours the proof of thy Power the Arrows in thy Quiver with which thou mayest triumphantly come to the Almighty and say Behold me and the Children which thou hast given me Let not thine Arms be full or weary dear Lord 'till thou hast enclosed our Souls within them and made us so the Children of thy strength as that we may be able to come with boldness to the Throne of Grace and neither be affrighted when we meet with our Enemies in the Gate of Death nor when we shall speak with our Accuser and our Judge at the great Tribunal of the last day From the various Proofs of thy tenderness over thy Flock in giving them repose and comfort and blest content in the midst of their hard fare hard work and harder want O skilful Shepherd of our Souls let us learn to cast our Care upon thee for our protection and provision for thy presérvation of our Persons and propagation of our Families and if thou carest for us we need take no more care than Abraham did for God will provide for us for our Off-spring for our chief Good and for his Glory The Lord shall build his David a House and he will be an exceeding great Reward even above that of the
Mansion for us even in thy House O Father And with us be mindful of all Degrees amongst us from David upon the Throne to Job upon the Dunghill be good unto them in all their Cares Vows Prayers Devotions and Afflictions according to the multitude of thy most tender Mercies and comfortable Promises Let the King rejoyce in thy strength O Lord and do thou make his Power to flourish and his Righteousness to blossom like the Rod of Aaron ordain a lustre of Honour and Happiness for him and his House for evermore let not his Candle go out in obscurity nor quench the Light of Israel but let his Enemies be inveloped with disgrace and disappointments and cloath thy Priests and our Church of England with Honour Prosperity and perfect Redemption that the Horn of David may bud amongst us and the Power of Godliness shoot forth every where in our Land in the great City in Princes Courts and in thy House and ours so that thou mayest have Mercy on Zion and repair the breaches of thy Jerusalem while she that sate Disconsolate as a Widow may now be feasted with Bread from Heaven with the Manna of Divine Ordinances duly administred so that no Soul amongst us may go empty away but that even he who gathers least may have no lack Exod. 16.18 Lord thou canst make thy holy Viands like David's Provision at the Passover be dealt so plentifully to every one as that none shall be unprovided for or ashamed who depend like Ruth upon thy Bounty but they who despise thee shall be wrapt up in Confusion as in a Cloak Therefore let thy Servants joy in thy Salvation and all our People know the Lord acknowledging his Goodness and his Bounty that blesses the Abundance of the Rich and fills the Hungry with good things that both may have Bread enough and neither want nor repine but seek their Food of God while he makes those that depart wickedly from him to continue in shame and scarcity Ah! that we may stand in a we and not sin lest we inherit the promotion of Fools instead of the Kingdom and Crown of David so provide for us gracious Master in every state and condition as may seem best to thy God-like Wisdom and prove most to thine Eternal Glory if not to ours O! Our Father c. THE FOURTEENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXXIII PSALM Was composed by David as some think at his Coronation 2 Sam. 5. 1 Chr. â—1 2 Pet. 1.7 1 Sam. 17.29 after his eight years Civil War to exhort the People to Love and Amity according to the exhortation of the Apostle for those were the Graces which did most adorn his Life both when a public and a private Person and so this Psalm as the next 1 Sam. 18. 2 Sam. 1. 2 Sam. 3. 2 Sam. 10. 9. 18. c. was fitted for the most Solemn Times of Worship and the happy Return from Bondage and Captivity because it magnifies the pious Accord Uniformity and Blessed Communion of the Church of God in all Times It Celebrates the Excellencies of Love both in and towards God and Man it reflects much Joy from the Consideration of the Mystical Union between Christ and his Members whom he owns as Brethren who shall live and live together also with him though he is their High Priest Rock and Prince according to the most apt Comparisons of the holy Oyl and high-born Dew which Similies In Zorchabel and Joshua Types of the Messiah as well as the Subject were so well calculated to the Time when there was a Prince and an High Priest restored again to Israel that it is no wonder we find it placed among the Graduals Some apply it to all the Israelites Love one towards another who were Brethren of the same Stock as we are all in Adam and likewise to their Love of their Ruler who was higher than the rest as was shewn in Saul like Mount Hermon and Sion more advancing than other Hills Therefore to animate us with the like affections towards our Brethren Parents and Superiours they say the Priest's Blessing is compared to the Sacred Oyl and the Prince's Favour to the fruitful Dew according to that expression of the Wisest of Kings which descends from the highest to the lowest and is both pleasant and profitable to all Prov. 19.12 as the Heathen Poet Meander once quoted by St. Paul himself could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some of the Rabbins think it a particular Eulogy of the Concord and Conformity among the Priests in their Religious Exercises and therefore mention is made of Aaron the most Anointed of the Lord as he may be termed rather than chief Anointed because most Oyl was expended on him For Saint George's or All-Saints Day BE hold how plea sant ' t is how good But O! how rare and hard to find Brethren of the same House and Blood be-come of the same way and mind Like Sampson's Honey Judg. 14.14 strong and sweet 'T is thus to see Men's Hearts and Hands As Jonathan's and David's meet 1 Sam. 18.3 Twisting together in Love's Bands When Prince and People so are one As that the Oyl 2 Sam. 19.39.5.3.19.23 pour'd on his Head Down to the lowest Limb doth run In Grace and Peace and Pardon spread 'T is like the precious Ointment shed Levit. 8.12 Upon the High Priest's hallow'd Crown Which both perfum'd his Beard and Head And thence upon his Clothes fell down Thus have I seen Clouds big with Rain First give their Dews to all the Hills And then show'r Wealth on the low Plain As Friendship benefits distills On Friendship 's Fleece God's Love brings down Blessings Judg. 6.38 39. Vide Hammond as numberless as Drops Which from Mount Sion deck the Town And cloath the Fields from Hermon's Tops As to the Vale these Mountains are So to the Weak the Potent prove Useful and kind though distant far Yet center'd like the World by Love For all our Comforts come from Love By Love God gives the Happy Life That Blest below and best above There without end here without strife Gloria Patri Glory to him who makes our Bliss To the one God in Persons three As in beginning was now is And shall be to Eternity AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourteenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXXIII PSALM O Blessed Father who hast made many of us of one Blood and Kind O blessed Saviour who hast made us many of one Bread and one Lump O blessed Spirit who art the Love both of the Father and of the Son shed this abroad into all our Hearts abundantly look upon us graciously O thou only one most loving and pitying Lord God! that we may look upon thee better though it be but darkly at the best in that Sea of Glass before the Throne in that clearest mirror and reflection of thy favour to Mankind to wit in Christ incarnate in whom God is most