but not without them for though Mercy bee heer set in the first place yet is it coupled with Iudgement as milk and blood that mingled stood Iudgement like another Iacob layes hould upon Mercie 's heel and though Mercy like Pharez bee first borne yet instantly followes Iudgement like Zarah with his red thread about his arme Nay without Iudgement Mercy caÌ„not subsist in as much as by due execution of Iustice upon particular members Mercy is shewed in preserving the whole body And as filiall Feare is procured by Mercy so is unfained Love by such Iustice. As Mercy then is the more beautiful the more comely and amiable Vertue so is Iustice at times the more necessary It hath long been and still is a Question controversed between Physicians and Philosophers whether the Braine or the Heart be the more principal member in as much as the one is the fountain of life the other of sense so mee thinks when I compare these two Vertues together Mercy is like the Brain qualifying the immoderate heat of those spirits that are bred in the heart but Iustice like the heart it self the fountain of those spirits Now because I am to speake of the administration heerof in handling the last verse of this Psalme I will pass to my third and last part proposed in my Text the Person to whom this Song and this Vow are addressed and that is the Lord Tibi O Iehova psallam to thee O Iehovah will I sing This Name Iehovah anciently tearmed Nomen tetragrammaton the name of foure letters was to the Iewes so venerable that they never durst pronounce it as fearing to pollute it with their lips but Adonai which also signifieth Lord in stead thereof Of all the Appellations given to God in holy Scripture it is alone reserved as peculiar to himself and never imparted to any Creature neither doo we finde it given to God till hee had created man thereby to teach us that as man was by him made a subordinate Lord of the other Creatures so was he the independent and absolute LORD both of him and them To this great Iehovah then this most Soveraigne Lord this Lord of lords it is that David addresseth his Song and his Vow Hee was himselfe a great Lord the grand Commander of a mighty and populous Nation yet he acknowledgeth this Lord to bee by infinite degrees higher and greater than himself and himself to be but a worm in comparison of Him First then of his singing to this Lord then of his vowing unto him and lastly of his vowing and singing unto him Mercy and Iustice. Wee ought in our singing nâ—t so much to respect the delighting of our selves or others with the sweet tuneablenesse of the voice as to do worship to God by it and to edifie our consciences It is both ryme and reason Non Vox sed Votum non chordula Musica sed Cor Non Clamans sed Amans cantat in aure Dei The Heart not Harp Devotion not the Voice The Lover not the Lowd GOD's ears rejoice Not so much the Lute-string as the Heart-string nor so much the shrill Voice as the zealous Affection sounds in the ears of God And heerunto accords the Apostle Singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts Eph. 5. 19. And againe Singing with a grace in your hearts to the Lord Colos. 3. 16 not to your selves but to the Lord or at leastwise rather to the Lord than to your selves Now as hee addresseth his Song so doth he his Vow unto the same Lord according to his owne Counsell Vow perform to the Lord your God Psal. 76. 11. The reason is because all Invocation is due unto God and a Vow is alwaies joyned with invocation either for the obtaining the good wee desire or the avoiding the evill wee fear Besides it is God only that knows the secret motions of the heart As then in that regard we pray unto him alone so unto him alone are wee to direct our Vows who alone is able either to punish us if wee break them or to reward us if wee keep them Lastly a Vow beeing nothing else but a promissory oath as wee are to swear by none but God so are wee to vow to none but God And as the properties of an oath are Truth Iudgement and Iustice so are they also of a Vow Iudgement for the avoiding of rash vows Iustice for the avoiding of wicked vowes and Truth for the performance of such as are neither wicked nor rash but are made upon good advice and tend to good ends Finally our Prophet both sings and vows Mercy and Iudgement to the Lord thereby acknowledging GOD as his guide both in the entrance and accomplishment of all actions so in speciall of Mercy and Iustice and that he would exercise these imperiall Vertues not so much to content himself or to gratifie men as to please and glorifie God not so much because men expected it or commended it as because God commanded it and would take account of it Concerning actions of like nature done for humane respects the Lord hath said they have their reward Mat. 6. 2 that is acceptance honour and reverence from men because they are done to men but the Iustice Mercy that have God for their object and are referred to his glory and set him before them who is the searcher of hearts they I say receive their recompence from God Many times it falleth out that the Prince causeth a wicked person to bee executed the deed is good but perhaps he is moved thereunto rather with desire of revenge or importunity of suters then with the detestation and vileness of the fact this work I say in it selfe is just for the malefactour by his sinne deserved the punishment yet hee that doth it is notwithstanding unjust So much doth vertue desire to be cherished for her own sake or rather so much is God the fountain of all vertue jealous of his honour and jealous also of our love that hee will have every thing to the end it may bee good indeed referred unto himselfe and to the ends that he hath appointed as indeed all is taken and cometh from him alone and therefore should be referred to him and his glory onely as the rivers derived from the sea by secret veins chanels disburden themselves with full mouth into the same again Eccles. 1. 7. To bee short the Prince above all should referre and approve his actions to God seeing that God alone and not man hath set him up and seeing also that hee is not to bee judged by men but by God And now to conclude this point great and excellent things as wee see are comprehended under these two tearms Mercy and Iudgement which are indeed the very summe and abridgement of all that Kings should either learn or doo And seeing they are of so deep reach and extend so far as they doo wee may thereby plainely perceive that it is no light charge To be
must first bee remooved before health can bee restored and darknesse first chased away before the light break forth In the Verse immediately going before hee professed hee hated the work of those that fall away or lepart from God Now the best way to provide that himself might not bee found faulty in that which hee hated in others was to strive that a froward heart should depart from him For the more this frowardnes decreaseth in us the neerer wee draw to God and the closer it sticks unto us the farther we wander from God True indeed it is that it can never utterly depart our soules till our soules depart our bodies and both body and soule depart this vale of tears While the heart lives its naturall life it will also live in our hearts and as the heart is among the bodily members the first that lives and the last that dies so is this amongst all the corrupt affections of the heart yet must wee still labour to mortisie it that though it remaine yet it raigne not in vs though it live yet the strength of it be broken and the head of it crushed Againe in that hee speakes of parting with a froward heart hee freely acknowledges that though hee were by grace a man after Gods owne hart yet by nature beeing without God as well as others hee could not bee without this froward heart neither his Calling nor his Crowne could priviledge him in that Case unless in becomming a King hee should leaue to be a man and being advanced in dignity he should shake-off nature which being voyde of grace rather serves to deprave nature farther than any way to correct it Once in this Psalme hee promised a reformation of his eyes twice of his heart therefore a double watch is to be set over the heart in regard of any other member Salomon begins with it Prov. 4. 23 Keepe thy heart with all diligence or as the Originall reades aboâ—e all keeping as a man would say with double diligence for out of it are the issues of life And from the heart he comes to the mouth ver 24. Put away from thee a froward moâ—th and from the mouth to the eyes ver 25. Let thine eyes looke right on and from the eyes to the feet ver 26. Ponder the path of thy feet and from the feet to the hand ver 27. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left thereby shewing us that the heart is as the first wheele of the Clock if this bee either righâ— or disordered so are the rest For as out of the aboundance of the heart the mouth speaketh so the eyes looke the feet walke the hand moves As the heart is the shop of the vitall spirits and they againe the food of the naturall life so is it likewise the fountain of new birth and That the beginning of our spirituall life Those sacrifices in which no heart was found were by the Heathen counted ominous Their conceit therein might bee superstitious but I am sure t is true that those religious exercises in which the heart is wanting cannot be acceptable unto God Hear then with thine â—â—res but with thy heart too pray â—â—th thy lips but with thy heart too receive theâ— Sacrament with thine hand but with thy heart too otherwise thy hearing thy praying thy receiving being heartless will in the end proove fâ—uitless Therefore doth our â—ropheâ— so often beat upon this heart-string A froward heart shall depart from mee Frowardnes is sometimes universally extended to the whole corruption of the heart as Psal. 58. 3 The ungodly are froward even from their mothers wombe and so it includes both Ieremies deceitfull heart 17. 9 The heart is deceitfull above all things who can know it and Ezekiels stony heart 11. 19. I will take from them their stony heart and give them a heart of flesh and Saint Stephens uncircumcised heart Acts 7. 51. Yee stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and eares and Saint Pauls foolish heart Rom. 1. 21. They became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish heart was full of darkness And thus our froward heart is both stony and uncircumcised hard anâ— impure in regard of it selfe deceitfuâ—â— full of windings and turnings in regard of men and lastly foolish voyd of all true knowledge and understanding in regard of God Now to this hard wee must oppose a tender heart compassionating the miseries of men relentinâ— at the threatnings of God and bleeding in the consideration of its owne naturall hardness To this impure wee must oppose a cleane heart Create in me O God a cleane heart cleane though not from all stain yet froÌ„ the foule blots of gross sinnes though not from all impuritie yet from hypocrisie To this deceitfull we must oppose a simple heart sine plicis without pleits and foldes speaking as we thinke and doing as we speake and lastly to this foolish wee must oppose a wise heart wise I meane in things appertaining to saluation and the mysteries of godliness More specially frowardness against God in holy Scripture is contracted either to stubbornness and rebellion in not submitting our necks to the yoke of his law or to repining and murmuring in not submitting our backs to the rod of his chastisement The first is peruersnesse and obstinacy and it shewes it selfe either in preferring the traditions of men before or equalling them to the Oracles of holy Scripture and the ordinances of Christ or which is as bad if not worse in preferring the devices and desires of our hearts before the express injunction or inhibition of Gods commandements faire pretenses may be made for the former but for the later no colour no excuse at all I will instance onely in the two last precepts of the first table because they immediately concerne the honour of God Thou shalt not take my name in vaine saith God if then I speake of him jestingly or inconsiderately or sweare by him rashly or falsly knowing what he commands and my selfe practice Doth not this argue a froward heart Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day saith God If then I spend it in gaming or idleness in gluttony and drunkenness in chambering wantonness knowing what he commands and my selfe practice Doth not this argue a froward heart This froward heart it is that our Prophet doth heer promise to put away And surely not without great cause since hee had learned no doubt out of the 26. of Levit. ver 24 If yee will not be reformed but wil walk stubbornly against me I will also vvalke stubbornly against you I will punish you yet seuen times that is in the highest degree Neither could he be ignorant or forgetfull of the message of Samuel to Saul yet fresh in memory To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams but rebellion is as the sinne of witch-craft and stubbornness as idolatry Because thou hast reiected the word of the Lord he hath also reiected thee from beeing
revenge as zeal of justice For the wrath of max worketh not the righteousnes of God Iames 1. 20. And as hee which hath no skill in Physick cannot with reason controule a skilfull Physician because hee draweth blood from his Patient rather to morrow than to day so neither ought men to censure the proceedings of God whose judgemēts are many times secret but alwaies right having feet of lead but hands of iron and though hee bee long a-striking yet he strikes home at last tarditatem gravitate compensat he makes amends for his sloweness with the waightiness of his blow Nor among men ought inferiours too farre to censure the proceedings of their superiours who many times stop the execution of Iustice for causes just and reasonable in themselves though unknowne to us The Heaven for height the earth for depth and the heart of the king is unsearchable Pro. 25. 3. The Law enacted by Theodosius at the instance of S. Ambrose cannot bee misliked that because being transported with choler hee had caused many Innocents of Thessalonica to be put to the sword from thenceforth thirtie daies should passe betwixt the sentence of death and the execution thereof in as much as the guilty though spared for a time might notwithstanding afterwards bee executed but the guiltlesse beeing once executed could not again bee restored Yet can it not bee denied but upon evident proofe and a fair triall so way bee not given to rash unadvised anger for many waighty reasons already touched it were for the most part better that expedition in punishing great offenses and cutting off notorious malefactours were rather used than slacknes Some others there are who by this Betimes heer mentioned in my Text understand our Prophet as vowing the execution of Iustice at his first entrance to the Crowne in the morning of his raign Like a cleane soule comming out of the hands of the Creator placed in a Kingdom left by Saul as in a body altogether unclean hee promiseth not to draw pollution from it as the soule doth from the body but rather to endeavour to cleanse it from those foule impieties wherewith it swarmed heerin resembling the Sun in the Heavens which as soon as it riseth or before it appear chaseth the darknes before it and is clothed with glory as with a robe Heer reason of State objecteth the danger of sudden innovation feare of the multitude and I knowe not what a number of doubts and difficulties it forecasts but our Prophet though doubtlesse not ignorant of these yet in a holy resolution casts them behinde him as well knowing that the principles of humane policy are as uncertain as the braine wherein they are forged beeing perswaded in conscience and his heart telling him The action it self was good the throng and thickness of difficulties should not discourage him but rather make him the more stoutly to plucke up his spirits and to buckle himself more roundly to the businesse It was a sore task he had in hand a long journey hee had to goe and therefore hee had need to set forth betime if hee meant to arrive at the end thereof before the night of death should overtake him They were memorable peeces of justice which Salomon did as soon as God had put the scepter into his hand Iehu at his first entrance into the Kingdom roots out the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal Iosiah when hee was now but twelve yeeres old beganne to purge Iudah and Ierusalem 2. Chro. 34 that men might knowe what they were to trust unto in the succeeding course of his government Yet I take not our Prophets meaning to bee that the Prince at his first entrance should unwisely and without advice destroy and cut off for so perhaps by seeking to make a way for godliness and vertue and to banish impietie and vice he might chance to fall into a mischief more intolerable thā the present condition the remedy might proove worse than the disease In nature wee see that such a body there may bee in which all the blood shall bee so corrupted that before a man should find any good blood therin hee might if he would use phlebotomy draw out take away both the life and last drop together in such a case when the corruption is so grosse and infinite a skilfull Physician will use Epicrasis as they call it labouring to bring the body to a better tēperature He will draw from it at diverse times and by diverse means but yet hee will take no more but what is needfull to unburthen nature which beeing discharged gathereth vigour to it selfe again and evacuateth by sweating and other good meanes the malignant humours at length cleanseth the blood it self so may ◠Prince in these abundant and superfluous humours of the State not presently open a vein lest so perhappes the spirits depart with the blood and the life goe away with the strength but by degrees as hee may displace corrupt Officers and Iudges and substitute better in their roomes and by this discretion and Gods blessing upon it he shall see in a short time a conversion of the body of the Common-wealth without any subversion or trouble to it or in it a new Kingdome and yet without any great novelty or change The shippe of Delos so renowned in antiquity for lasting many years and ages without renewing whence got it that fame but because as soone as a plank was in danger or beganne to rot they presently provided a new sound one in the room thereof And the safest way to restore a decayed State is To proceed by the same course but then there needs constancy and perseverance singalis matutinis morning after morning every morning It is not one mornings work but as Speed is required for such a work without delay and Diligence without remisnes so is Constancy without intermission It is a common saying that A new besome sweepsclean but it is a true one that The end crowns the work for to begin well and then to give over or to go on by starts and not with a constant hand is the next way to draw on a relapse which many times proves more dangerous than the originall sicknesse Many to win applause or the better to settle themselves in their regall or imperiall Thrones have begunne with wholesome Lawes and strict execution of them but within a while they have growne weary either by despairing the event would answer their purposes or by giving themselves over to ease and pleasure and so have lost both their honour with men and their reward with God But as naturall motions gather strength in moving so a reformation begun aright out of a conscience of duty and a zeal of goodnes though it finde some rubs and oppositions at first yet the farther it wades the more easie it findes the passage and the means more ready for the compassing of what it intends Had our King Henry the last of that name