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
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
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
State according to thy Will CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Twelfth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXXI PSALM O Thou Son of David of whom we ought to learn to be Meek and Lowly let us see what kind of Disciples we are by regarding our dear Master and find what Proficients in thy School by minding the Copy thou hast set us There appeared not the least glance of Pride Arrogance or Self-love in thy Behaviour there was not the least Roof of Bitterness in thy Breast for thou camest to Attone the first Sin of our first Parents and so for all thou wert exalted far above all that are here called Gods yet thy Spirit was not haughty as Lucifer's not thine Eyes lift up to the forbidden Fruit. Mark 13 32 Thou wert willing to be ignorant as Man of those things which did not befit Men to pry nicely into that thou mightest stoop to the weaknesses of thy Body the Church and comply more absolutely with the divine Will and Compassionate more sensibly the Infirmities or Ignorances of Mankind O most gracious condescending Jesus how were thy Delights among the Children of Men while thou didst not behave thy self like a Simon Magus like an Impostor that would be admired for some God below but like thy Servant Moses didst vail thy self that thou mightest be conversed withall and didst not walk too much obscured by thine own Lustre and Transcendency but didst leave the Doctors and Learned Jews to go down with thy humble Mother into Galilee and to be subject unto her as a weaned Child And though thou wouldest not exercise thy self in things too high for thee yet O! how low wouldest thou appear in thy Employments How plain in thy Countenance how easie and affable in thy Conversation that Publicans and Sinners and little Children might come unto thee and hear thy excellent Discourses and taste thy miraculous Provisions while thou wentest about doing good and telling Men that they should follow thy steps in being meek humble quiet and contented doing Good readily suffering Evil patiently as dear Children Lord How then should we abhor our selves when we either think of thee or of our selves How unlike are we become to thee if we claim any Kindred with thee For do we not still continue like Leviathan among the Sons of Pride Do we seem little in our own Eyes as thy Servant David did when thou didst make him a great King Or rather do we not lift up our Wills and Understandings and walk with a stiff Neck of Perversness in opposition to thee as it were aiming even at Heaven it self like the Tail of the old Serpent So far are we from receiving the Kingdom of Heaven like little Children But O! when then shall it once be that we shall not be High-minded but fear and love and own thee to be Lord over us Then shall we not rashly venture with Uzzal to meddle with those things which are unmeet for us or forbidden to us but we shall be weaned from our Mother Earth from the love of this dirty World and from loving its foul Inclinations and we shall cast our Cares and Affairs on thee renouncing all Self-Trusts or Conceits to level the face of our Souls before the feet of the holy Jesus that when thou comest O most holy Spirit to prepare the way of the Lord in us he may find no Rock nor Mountain nothing too hard or haughty in us nothing untractable or inaccessible to obstruct or oppose his Progress But O! let the too mighty Elevations of my vain Thoughts be brought down and the crooked ways of my Heart be made strait and the rough ways of my Condition be made smooth that my Soul may be still quiet with me and still'd and quietted by thee Rebuke the tempestuous Motions of a froward Mind that I may repose my self sweetly and safely on thy Promises on thy Provisions and resign my self wholly to thy Inspirations And God grant that all thine Israel may like Jacob wrastle with Principalities and Powers even in the highest and most heavenly Things and though never so much in a Night of Cares and darkest perplexities or to encounter with enraged Enemies yet let them wait and hope on the Lord and stay and strengthen themselves on their God as David did at Ziklag for he is a sure Reward and a constant Reward a Pillar of Fire and a Pillar of a Cloud a Sun and a Shield in whose Name we ought to trust denying our own Conjectures Affections and Desires rather than an absolute Dependance on him for ever and ever AMEN THE THIRTEENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXXII PSALM Is a Narration of David's Devotion and of God's Promises and Appointment as to David and his Seed and the setling of the Ark on Sion which was a Type of the stability of Christ's Kingdom and of the future Felicities of his Servants in the Reign of the Son of David the Messiah the Horn spoken of here in Verse 17 as the Rabbins agree which the Apostle proves Acts 2.30 Therefore it was solemnly used at the Rebuilding of Jerusalem 2 Chron. 6.41 42. Deut. 12.11 1 Chron. 17.11 12. and most probably as Grotius thinks a composition of Solomon's at his raising of the Temple for the Honour of God and the Place containing in it part of Solomon's Prayer part of God's Promise to the Jews and to David But Kimchi and others think it made by David at that very time 1 Chron. 21.26 1 Chron. 22.1 when the scituation of the future Temple was miraculously shewn unto him as it is hinted in the word Invenimus by the Sign from Heaven For as David was absolutely forbidden the building of a Temple so 'till the Prophet Gad came to him with a Divine Command That he should build an Altar in the Threshing-Floor of Araunah For all his great desire like Abraham's 1 Chron. 17.12 to see such a glorious Day and notwithstanding his Devotion like Jacob to the Service of God yet he knew not the place that God would chuse as his Heaven upon Earth for his most eminent and suitable Habitation Therefore his Care and Concern chiefly reflecting on his Vows here made were the more considerable and might well be stiled Afflictions worthy to be Commemorated as well as his former Persecutions His constant Humility Meekness pious Sollicitude and Affection for God's Service demonstrated in 2 Sam. 7.2 and 1 Chron. 17.16 and all these senses the word Afflictions will bear as I have shewn in my Version Hic versus plurimum Hebraeos fatigat inquit clarius Where also I have endeavoured to be as clear as I could in the Exposition of that dark place of the sixth Verse which by some Commentators like the Jewish Arab. here is render'd much more shady and obscure so that the Elegant Castalio was forced to confess That he understood not the meaning of the Text viz. Verse 6. Therefore herein as all along by the help of the Critics
trouble whole Nations even at Midnight at a time when we least think of Disturbance or Remove as we have great Examples in the People of Israel Egypt and Assyria for there is not any Darkness no not the shadows of Death where the workers of Iniquity can hide themselves from thine Eyes though all the Mountains of the World should cover them thou beholdest all our Goings though thy Foot-steps are too little regarded by us Therefore let us not think to do mischief or wrong like the Evil one who sowed Tares while other Men slept nor to commit Violence or Robbery 1 King 3.20 nor to Defraud or Deceive like the Harlot at Midnight but even at that Season be Chast and Pious and Charitable like Boaz denying our selves and mastering our Concupiscences and like Sampson in Gaza disappoint the malice of that implacable Adversary who hunts after our Souls and ceases not like a Dog to go about seeking whom he may devour Lord deliver thou my Darling from his Power as thou didst St. Paul even at such a dismal time when I may seem in his very Jaws then let my Soul escape and get away and find a way to serve thee as that chosen Vessel did who could Pray and sing Praises unto thee even at Midnight so let us endeavour to worship the Lord with holy Worship with clean Hands and a pure Heart that we may stand on his holy Hill and remember in all the Formalities of outward Cleanness to keep our Spirits pure and in all our Approaches to thee to keep our selves unspotted of the World to this end give us inward Holiness and the Sanctifications both of Heart and Life that in the darkest hour of Temptation in the deadest time of Distress in the cloudiest night of Trouble or of Agonies we may lift up our Praises and Adorations unto thee who canst send thine Angel as thou didst once thy Son at such a time to comfort and recover our vile Natures and to command Deliverances unto thy People even from thy most holy Place O! that we may be of the number of those who qualifie themselves by thy Service for the better discharge of their Duty and thy Will that having the filthy Garments of our own evil Thoughts Words and Actions like Joshua's the High-Priest's taken off from us we may not have Satan left at our right Hands to accuse or command us but may see Jesus at thy right Hand interceding for us and being cloathed in the long Robes of his Righteousness we may lift up our Hands in thy Sanctuary and bless thee for evermore who hast made the Heavens as well as the Sea for thy Children to adore thee in O! Our Father c. THE FIFTEEN Psalms of Degrees OR ASCENTS Are so called because they were sung Anthem-wise by several Parts of the Choir with Elevation of Voice on some higher Ground or place of advantage perhaps on the Steps of the Temple which in Ezekiel's Vision are mentioned to be Fifteen in number Ca. 40. v. 22. 34. And just so many Stairs say the Talmudists were there mounting from the Women's Court to the Men's on which they fancy these PSALMS were sung and therefore thus termed Ὠδαί τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν καὶ ἀναβάσεων εἰς τὰς ἀναβάσεις as Aquila and Symachus But I think rather because they were much used by the Hebrews upon their coming up from Babylon and at the building of the second Temple as may be guessed from Nehemiah Cap. 8. at which time they might indeed begin very properly with the 120th Psalm by reason of the contempt and calumniation of their ill-willers at that time who were such as are there described Arabians crafty and cruel Adversaries who maliciously opposed both their unloosing the Chains of Captivity and the erection of their Buildings Need was there then of Songs of Education and Ascents to advance God's high Deliverances of them and exalt his Praise and Glory in the most excellent way of rejoycing which was in their eminent Music as the Title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rendered Cantica Dignitatum may likewise bear As also to revive their drooping Spirits by some pleasant kind of Melody or lofty Note well known to the Jews by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some suppose may here import no more than this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the front of other Psalms viz. to notifie that the Tune or Key these were to be sang in was the same with such other Psalms as were known to begin with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS
Majesty and Excellency of the first Pen-man it is more reasonable that we should submit our Endeavours as Publicola did his Fasces to the use and benefit of the most and meanest rather than make them Trophies of our own Arrogance and our Brethren's weakness Our continual work is Mark 9.49 50. to have about us that Salt of Charity which may season our Offerings both to God and Man while we thank the one or assist the other It it not double Superstition and worse than Folly to court the Prayers of Men in Heaven and the Praises of Men on Earth 'T is enough to have an Interest quite otherwise in Religion and to forward Man's Good with God's Glory more than with our own or God's Blessing with our own good Deeds rather than with others good Words So that I would not be thought Censorious nor Singular nor any other ways Pharisaical in my Entertainments here Though I bring several Courses of Devotion they are not worthy to be compared to the good piece of Flesh and Flagon of Wine wherewith our great Exemplar once treated the People yet let these be never such course Fare they are really designed for a Blessing to all as David's Banquet was in 1 Chron. 16.34 and I can conclude with his Royal word As for me 1 Chron. 29.17 18. in the uprightness of my Heart I have willingly offered all these things Noli altum sapere sed time More ERRATA's in the First Part. PAg. 11. l. 34. read off l. 42. r. holiest p. 14. l. 3. insert thou p. 15. l. 30. insert is the wickedness of Folly Eccles 7.25 l. 41. dele from p. 16. l. 2. for from them read for Women In Margin Psal 92.13 l. 32. r. my p. 21. l. 14. dele the. l. 20. r. were p. 25. l. 43. r. they will p. 27. l. 19. r. weep thus dele this l. 34. insert and thine dele and. p. 28. l. 28. r. thee p. 32. in Margin insert Dan. 4.31.32 Jer. 51.9 p. 38. l. 30. dele a. p. 40. l. 42. in Margin Deut. 32.4 l. 45. dele the. p. 43. l. 32. insert for p. 48. l. 12. in Margin 2 King 6.16 23. to l. 46. in Margin Dan. 4. 12 13. p. 50. l. 25. for secured read soured p. 53. l. 38. read we may be ERRATA in the Second Part. PAg. 10. in Gloria Patri read To God to Father Son p. 21. l. 22. insert are given us p. 24. l. 20. dele as thou didst the Prophet which is twice repeated p. 26. l. 14. for O Lord read O God remove the * from l. 24. to l. 20. p. 35. l. 16. read establish his Kingdom p. 41. l. 32. read and a fruitful p. 45. l. 16. in Margin Isa 36.10 p. 48. l. 2. in Margin Ruth 2.4 p. 49. l. 17. read the Rods. l. 33. read preserved it p. 50. l. 4. read thou p. 55. l. 32. read Jewish l. 33. in Margin Jer. 38.12 13. p. 56. l. 2. in Margin Jonas 2.5 6. l. 17. read this present state p. 60. l. 6. for Loving read Leaving the Breast p. 61. l. 6. read Root p. 62. l. 3. read Uzzah l. 23. read Rereward p. 64. in Margin read Clarius in l. 23. read sedem innuit Aris. p. 68. in Marg. †read nictaturus sim p. 79. l. 13. read but to the people who watched there p. 84. l. 17. read Songs of Elevation And note This whole 84th Page should have been the first IN Psalmorum Laudem CHORUS 1. Angelorum 2. Hominum CHORUS THE PSALMS are Paradises Spring Streaming Refreshments every way They 1. Wine 2. Oyl 1. Milk 2. And Honey bring 1. To Cheer 2. To Cure 1. To Feed 2. T' Allay 1. When we are merry Psalms we sing 2. When we 're afflicted Psalms we say 1. They Heav'n's 2. And Earth's Devotions wing 1. While Angels Praise 2. Or Men do Pray CHORUS The PSALMS are Paradises Spring Streaming Refreshments every way c. THE FIRST Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXX PSALM It is a Complaint and Prayer against the falsness fraud and impious Designs rather than the force of inhumane Adversaries Because their Strength and Power may at least for a Time be from God's Will and Permission but Deceit and Perfidiousness owe their Birth to Men's Prevarications and the subtil Temptations of the Evil One And therefore ought the rather to be deprecated The Author of this Psalm is not known but supposed to be David and made by him upon the like occasion that the 7th the 34th and the 52d were Composed when he fled to Gath ob Aethiopem Jeminiensem as * In Psal 7. Castalio phraseth it or upon the implacable Fury of Saul truly and civilly as well as elegantly stiled A melancholy terrible Man Or else upon the malicious Information of a Cushite or Edomite against an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile which seems very probable from his Description of the Parties who were after the way of Mesech as the Aethiopians Cushites were and allied to the sordid Tents of Kedar or Arabia of which Country Doeg was a Native This Psalm likewise looks Prophetically at the sworn Enemies of Jerusalem 's Peace such as were the confederate Arabians and Asiaticks at the building the Temple and afterwards with Antiochus at the defacing of the same All which cruel and cunning Foes are expressed by * Ezek. 38.2 God and Magog For S. Steven's day or some time of Trial. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. IN my di stress and fear I cry'd unto the Lord who soon did help as hear when I this wish did word From Lips made foul by guile and wrongs and from false Tongues Lord save my Soul What Praise Quid tibi dabit aut quid addet tibi Spoken as to Saul perhaps by the Psalmist upon the account of Doeg what Profit shall The treachérous Tongue bring thee Poor Soul 't will scorch and Gall Thy self as well as me Having been streightned in my Verse I desire to observe in Prose the rare Elegancy of the Psalmist here who speaking of a desert state and place among the Sons of Ismael the great Archer he tells his savage Foes though Companions that they shall be struck with their own Weapons as Saul was and burnt with the Coals of the Wilderness where Juniper most abounds which was the most desolate and grievous Fire from the nature of the Wood and so proper fuel for the black Tents of Kedar and for Mesech the Asiaticks if taken for a People wild and wandering about in Wagons or living in Tents covered with Skins But if it referrs to a place it is well rendered by the LXXII whom I follow with Symachus and Aquila c 'T will doubly harm By Fire and Shot Like Darts made hot From some strong Arm. Why then O why so long Do I protract my Woes By wand'ring still among War's Friends and Peace's Foes I 'm in a Tent Who are on Theft Of Arabs left And
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