Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	david_n	king_n	saul_n	6,232	5	10.0779	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89892	England's royal stone at the head of the corner, through the wonderful working of almighty God. Set forth in a sermon preached in the Cathedral church at Gloucester, the 28th day of June, being a day of publick and solemn thanksgiving for His Majesties happy restauration. By Joh. Nelme, M.A. and Pastor of S. Michaels in the said city.	Nelme, John, b. 1618 or 19.	1660 (1660)	Wing N415; Thomason E1034_9; ESTC R209037	19,061	28

fitter Stone to be found in all the heap to make the chief-corner-stone of in the building of Israel's Commonwealth then he But Saul and his Counsellours and the great men of Israel who are here compared to Builders would not so much as let him lie in the building not suffer him to have any place of abode in the Lords inheritance but hunted him up and down as a Partridge is hunted in the mountains laid him utterly aside made him the Common Enemy And when after Saul's death David was crowned King in Hebron over Judah the Elders of the rest of the Tribes would not hear of his being King over them no not they Till at length God takes the building in hand himself and by his over-ruling providence sets this stone at the head of the corner beyond all expectation seats him in the throne of Israel and Judah both Both the walls of this politick Structure now met in David as the head-corner-stone that kept them together The meaning of the words as applicable unto King Christ the Antitype is briefly this Jesus was the Messiah that was to come anointed of the Father to be the Saviour of his People the King and Head of the Church Now the chief Priests and Elders of the Jews who are compared to builders instead of giving him that honour in the building that he ought to have had utterly laid him aside persecuted him to the death as unfit to live thrust him out of the world in a most shameful manner But yet for all this whether they would or no God takes the building into his own hands raises Jesus up again from the dead takes this pretious Stone out of the rubbish and sets it in the head of the Corner even at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come c. The words are under consideration at this time as applicable to Davids Case which is the prime import of the Psalm and they being thus briefly but truly opened your thoughts cannot but out-run my words to the making a pertinent application thereof They are urged by David as an Argument of his resolution to praise God I shall urge this for the same end upon you to quicken you to this days Duty For which end I beseech you to consider with me 1. Englands late Misery 2. Englands present Mercy First Englands late Misery by falling into the hands of foolish Builders who took upon them to set fast the Fabrick of our tottering State that was ready to fall asunder by the unhappy Divisions that fell out between His late Majesty and his two Houses of Parliament of which three Estates the goodly Structure of the English Government is composed The two walls of the building unhappily fell from the chief-corner-stone which before held them together and then there was no likelihood but that all would tumble except some skilful hands might interpose to cement them together This was hopefully endeavoured until some busie Sword-men presuming they could handle the State-Trowel as well as the Martial Sword took the matter in their own hands and in stead of building destroyed and pulled down to the ground that most excellent Structure which our wise Ancestors left framed and fitted to our hands and beautified with all the Ornaments of a most flourishing Kingdom and all the most desirable Immunities of the freest People They left scarce a Pillar standing that was any ways useful to support it And the stones of the best use and worth they all flung out of the building Onely one crackt piece of that politick Fabrick they left in being which by a strange Synechdoche still retained the name of the whole and these they made no further use of neither then to pelt the Head of the Corner quite down withal Which was done on that fatal day of the execrable Murther of the Lords Anointed the saddest Day that ever England saw it being an Act of the most abominablest Treachery and Vnfaithfulness that ever the Sun beheld Well this desperate Turn being served our foolish builders in a while began to see a necessity of pulling down all that they had left standing and to enter upon fresh counsels of building all anew again And here to see our misery so much the more consider First what a loss we were at After a tedious contest on pretence for King and Parliament religion laws and liberty we had fairly sought our selves out of all having neither the one nor the other left unto us But all swallowed up by the all-devouring sword There was only a name of religion left and owned by these dovourers But it proved but a name in the issue A form a vizor of Godliness But it was not thick enough to cover the covetousness pride blasphemy ingratitude wickedness and treachery of those in power who went under that mask Secondly consider what an advantage there was of settling all again and setting up the old and best frame of Goverment on firm foundations and yet how foolishly this advantage was not laid hold of but slighted neglected and scorned Our Royal Soverain that now is was a stone fittest to make the head of the Corner of all that were to be found in the heap as being by the Law of God and of this Nation the undoubted heir of the Crown and being endued by God with such regal abilities as are not every where to be parallel'd But alas our foolish builders would have none of him And yet rather then not be building they assayed to build without a foundation setting up a linsey-woolsey Tent upon sticks sirnamed a Parliament and the supreme authority But that was quickly weather-beaten and fell asunder of it self A Fabrick somewhat like the old was at length resolved on But him whom God had fitted to be the head of the Corner they would none of And therefore by a new devised Instrument they clap in a piece of Iron instead of the true-corner-stone And now the Government was rather forcibly crampt then orderly joyned together This Iron-piece held it by force a while But it rusted at last and all came down again And now our builders might have had him whom God had fitted to be the head of the Corner But they rejected him still and put in a piece of soft clay in the room thereof and pull'd it out again as unserviceable almost as soon as they put it in And yet him whom God had fitted to be the head of the Corner they would none of All the skilful and conscientious workmen that knew none would serve but He cryed shame upon these bungling builders Yet so foolish were they as to let none meddle with the work but themselves And though they did they knew not what yet they would not give over Like besotted builders they fall to building without a foundation again but yet with some

of the old stones that before they had laid aside wherewith they reared up the old tottered wall of Democracie supporting it with a few rusty swords which withdrawing at their pleasure down it fell And yet he whom God and the Laws had fitted to be the head of the Corner would not serve their turn And yet who nor what to have they could not tell At length they only tack'd a government together for the present distress with instruments part of Iron and part of clay some easie enough to be wrought to any mould and some head-strong enough to carry all by their own wills This was such a piece of botchery as every one condemned and all cryed out of And the people began to grow weary of their Taskers or their Task-masters rather who would have pay too though they proved such sorry builders Whereupon some who thought themselves to be better builders of State then sword-men outwitted them outworked them over-powred them and rook the work out of their hands And now we were where we were twice before in as bad a labyrinth as ever For neither would these after so many succesless attempts in laying the foundation of a Democracie accept of him whom God had fitted to be the head of the Corner till God himself took the work in hand and by an unexpected providence sent in a supply of better builders only to undo what they had been doing so to make way for that mercy which we now injoy Thus you have heard a sad allegorical harangue of Englands late misery See we now in the second place what is Englands present mercy It is so Christians we are like men that dream when we speak of it as not knowing well how it should be so though we know it is so The stone which these foolish builders have rejected all this while is at the head of the Corner at firm and full agreement with both the honourable Houses of Parliament He whom they thought not fit to have any pottion with us is returned to the inheritance of the Lord. He whom they drave as much as lay in them upon temptations to embrace the abominations of Popery as being beholding to strangers to the Reformed religion for his Ziklag or place of abode is returned safe and sound from such pollutions and confirmed against them He whose life hath been sought after as was his Fathers He who was hunted from place to place as unworthy to rest any where He is verily he is at the head of the Corner He whose right it is He in whom alone under God we could look for an hopeful and happy and lasting settlement He is at the head of the Corner Not only King in Hebron but King in Jerusalem Not only King at Scone but King at Westminster All the tribes of England Scotland and Ireland are United in him The whole frame of our Antient Government is resettled and the topstone laid and all the people crying Grace grace unto it This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes This is the day which the Lord hath made we will be glad and rejoyce therein c. What must now be done beloved upon the income of such a mercy What! but resolve to joyn with your King and praise the Lord. Let Israel now say that his mercy endureth for ever let the House of Aaron now say that his mercy endureth for ever let them now that fear the Lord say that his mercy endureth for ever Let every one of you now fall in with your parts in the praises of God for this days mercy There be but four and all in the Text. I shall but briefly touch upon them and dismiss you The First thing observable in the peoples part is their acknowledgement of the hand of God in this providence and their admiration at the strangeness of it This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes The Psalmist brings the godly in acknowledging this exaltation of David to the throne of Israel to be the Lords doing And so must you concerning the exaltation of Our David to the throne of England Let all that fear the Lord say This is the Lords doing the singer of God is here This can be no other then the hand of God For though this was so desirable a mercy yet to humane reason it was next to impossible not many months ago Should one have prophesied of it you would have said with Nicodemus in another case How can these things be Powerful and fo●cible attempts to bring this mercy about have been in vain Our Armies by sea land abroad and at home were professedly engaged in buil●ing some of the Babels of conf●sion before mentione a great part of the land were sinfully engaged another way for fear of losing what they had unjustly gotten And yet all these powers are over-powred not by might not by power but by the Spirit of the Lord. T●e very hearts of all men are strangely subdued to this p●ovidence Surely this is the Lords doing And by good experience now we know that the hearts of all men are in the h●nd of God who can turn them whithersoever he pleaseth Further the Psalmist brings in the godly admiring at this strange providence To see all things work so to bring David in a man that had been so hated vilified and opposed this was strange to them And how can you but look on this return of our David as most marvellous considering First the unlikelyhood of the change in divers respects as in respect of the force that was kept upon his subjects at home so that the prudentest were fain to keep silence scarce daring for many years to impart their affections and desires to one another there was such treac●ery and unfaithfulness and such lurkings to sup●lant the innocent without a cause and to make them offenders for a word as also in respect of the long time of his Majesties exile He was kept twelve vears out of his royal City David but seven and an half out of ●erusalem His cause lay stark dead in a mann●r ●s a forgotten business There was scarce any life left in it His return is as a resurrection from the dead a making of dead bones to live Our David had no footing in the Kingdom he was by God designed unto whereas Is●l's David was King in Hebron all that 7 years in a nearer capacity to recover the Kingdom over all Israel in time 2. It is marvellous in respect of the suddenness of it It was but the other day that some few intemperate men were about to abjure the royal line But behold how quickly is the seoene changed Allegiance and Loyalty dates shew its face when Treason and Re●ellion flees into corners 3. It is marvelous in respect of the peaceableness of it all this is done without the effusion of blood some may be spilt by the sword of Justice the land will be defiled with blood else But we trust