there not a necessitie of speaking many things besides Gods praises yet nothing must bee spoken but either his Praise or to his praise or else wee breake our Vow And how then is this Riddle to bee expounded Is it not as Saint Paul expounds it Whither yee eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the praise and glory of God And if all wee doe may bee done to the praise of God then certainly all we speake may bee spoken to the praise of God and indeed seeing he never ceaseth to send forth continually his blessings with what reason can we cease to set forth continually his Praises But when I make this Vow to blesse God at all times I make it not presuming upon any abilitie in my selfe Alas I know my owne weaknesse and how unready I am to any goodnesse but my soule maketh her boast in the Lord Verse 2 My confidence is that he who hath given mee the resolution to will it will give mee also the power to performe it that Hee who hath begun the worke will also finish it and being so good an Architect as he is will not lay a foundation but will as well also set on the Roofe If I should boast in my selfe I should doe wrong to God but if I boast not in God I doe wrong to my selfe seeing God is a strength to none but to them that make him their strength and none make him their strength but they that make their boast of him It is a hard matter to bring Boasting and Humilitie to meet together in one subject betweene which there is so naturall an Antipathie yet here it is done for this I may say is the humble boasting where a vaine man may glory without vaine-glory where a weake Agent may presume without presumption Not like the boasting of the Pharisee so hatefull in the eyes of God so offensive in the eares of the humble For the Humble can heare this boasting and bee glad which they would never doe if it were not conformable to the rules of Humility Can any boasting be greater then to say I can doe all things yet in this boasting there is humilitie when I adde In him that comforteth mee For though God like not of boasting yet he likes of this boasting which arrogates nothing to our selves but ascribes all to him and seeing my soule boasteth her felfe of God I doubt not but as the humble heare it and bee glad so God sees it and is pleased and accepts my Boasting as a sacrifice of Humilitie But to what end is it that my Boasting tends Is it to set forth my owne worthinesse and to vaunt of my abilities Is it to tread in the steps of Lucifer or to walke in the way of the Pharisee God forbid the humble then would not be glad to heare my boasting No my soule it is to magnifie the Lord O therefore Verse 3 magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together for alas what am I to magnifie his Name my selfe alone if I have not company to helpe me All I can doe and all the humble can doe is but to say Not unto us Not unto us O Lord but to thy Name give the glory which is rather a vilifying of our selves then a magnifying of him they must be creatures of a better mettall that can serve and yet cannot serve to magnifie him as they should and it is not the worke of a few all the Millions of millions in Heaven and Earth have enough to doe and more then enough to exalt his Name O therefore yee Blessed Spirits of heaven doe you magnifie the Lord but take mee with you in your company that though I adde nothing to the weight of the worke yet I may adde one to the number of the worke-men in magnifying his Name We that are dwellers on the Earth can exalt his Name no higher then the Heavens and there you that be Inhabitants of Heaven must take it and exalt it higher and so betweene us all wee shall make a shift to exalt him to his true Elevation for his Glory is above the Heavens But if perhaps you thinke scorne of our company as being men of polluted lips and therefore not worthy to bee of your Consort yet the humble will make a consort by themselves and will not indeed cannot be kept from exalting his Name for our Humilitie is his Exaltation and then wee raise him up to the height of his Throne when we cast our selves downe as low as his Footstoole that it is but a diverse expressing of the same thing in substance whither we say Let us exalt the Name of the Lord Or let us fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker David is not wont to use Exclamations but upon speciall occasion if he use one here and say O magnifie the Lord we may know that to magnifie his Name is a thing of great importance indeed so great that all things besides it at least all things without it are nothing but vanitie O then all you that be exalted in Heaven and all you that bee humble in the earth and lest any be left out where all are too few O all ye workes of the Lord blesse yee the Lord Praise him and magnifie him Verse 4 forever For I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered mee from all my feares To seeke and upon seeking to be heard is a great favour but to bee heard and upon hearing to bee delivered from all feares is a favour that deserves Magnifying in the highest degree But why is it that I sought him is it not because I had lost him before and why should I seeke to get him againe and would not keepe him when I had him O my soule Carendo magis quam fruendo Wee know the goodnesse of things more by wanting them then by enjoying them though I could not see what happinesse it was to have him yet I see what miserie it is to want him and yet in this I account my selfe happy that I have sought him while he was within hearing for alas if I had stayed from seeking him till hee had beene out of hearing What hope could I have had of ever recovering him But O the tender mercies of God that hath not suffered me to put off my seeking him so long for O my soule it is no lesse his mercie that I seeke him then that hee heares me my desire is not more to have him then his to bee had for how else could he have heard mee as soone as I sought him but that hee stood listening as it were when I would seeke him and he heard me not as one that were indifferent whither he head me or no but he gave me audience with no lesse Intention to grant my suit then attention to know it for heare the successe of my seeking him see the fruit of his hearing me He delivered mee from all my feares To have delivered mee
of God Marke therefore how David speakes They will be still praysing him It is not enough to praise him it must bee a praising him still before it will make a Blessednesse and though to praise God be an easie matter yet to praise him still will be found a busie worke indeed to flesh and bloud a miserable worke for if I be still praising him what time shall I have for any pleasure O my soule if thou make it not thy pleasure thy chiefe thy onely pleasure to bee praysing him thou art not like in hast to come to Blessednesse And marvell not that David speakes thus under the Law When Saint Paul under the Gospell saith as much Whether ye eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the glory and praise of God And indeed how can I doubt of attaining to Blessednesse by praising of God when it is praising of God that makes the Angels in heaven Blessed for the seeing of God would never make them blessed if seeing him they did not praise him and praising him would never make them blessed if they did not praise him continually crying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath for as we praise God here on Earth with saying O Lord God of Hosts because here he fighteth for us against our enemies so wee shall praise him in heaven with saying O Lord God of Sabbath because there he will give us rest from our enemies Verse 5 But if it bee thought that praising of God will not be enough to make Blessednesse or not to make Blessednesse enough at least take this with it and it will surely be enough Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are For though our praising of God being our owne worke must needs be too weake to make a blessednesse yet when our strength is in God this makes it his worke and then our blessednesse hath a sure foundation When we trust to our owne strength for Blessednesse we are often deceived indeed as often as alwayes but when our strength is in God we may rest secure our blessednesse is upon a Rocke and cannot be shaken But then Gods wayes must be in our hearts for what way hath his strength to the heart if his wayes be not in the heart That 's their place if wee looke for strength from him Are we not in a continuall fight against Sin and have we any strength to fight but onely in him and will he take it well to be placed in a Wing No my soule he will strengthen us no longer then hee is placed in the heart of the Battell That 's his place if wee looke to bee strengthened in him It is not enough that Gods wayes bee knowne if they be not walked in nor walked in if not embraced and it is not enough to embrace them with the armes which is oftentimes feigned and but onely complimentall they must be embraced with the two armes of the heart Integritie and Sinceritie Integritie will embrace them all Sinceritie will embrace no other Though Gods wayes be many yet they must all goe into one Heart if any be left out the rest will not tarry though they must be in singlenesse of heart yet they must not be single in the heart They are fruites that grow in clusters not one by one There are many that have Gods wayes in their mouthes can talke holily and make Sermons of godlinesse though they bee no Preachers but because they draw neere to God with their lips and their hearts are farre from him they are like to have but the Pharisees entertainment not so well justified as the Publican There are many that have Gods wayes in their hands they give almes plentifully they distribute their bread to the Poore liberally but because their left hand knowes what their right hand doth they have their reward already They that have Gods wayes in their hearts they onely are in the right way to blessednesse and no rubbes of the world can turne them out of the way For when Gods wayes are in the heart together they lend assistance to Verse 6 one another For passing thorow the Valley of Baca they make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles That which seemed an impediment turnes to a furtherance at least no misery can be so great no estate so barren but a godly heart can make it a Well out of which to draw forth water of comfort either water to clense and make it a way to Repentance or water to coole and make it a way to Patience or water to moysten and make it a way of growing in grace and if the Well happen to bee dry and afford no water from below yet the raine shall fill their pooles and supply them with water from above If naturall forces bee not sufficient there shall bee supernaturall graces added to assist them that though troubles of the world seeme rubs in the way to blessednesse yet in truth they are none they hinder not arriving at the marke we ayme at they hinder us not from being made Members of Syon they hinder us not from approaching the presence of God No my soule they are rather helpes for by this meanes wee goe from strength to strength from strength of Patience to strength of Hope from strength of Hope to strength of Faith from strength of Faith to strength of Vision and then will be accomplished that which David speakes here Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are If my strength were not in God I should not dare to call upon him being Lord of Hosts but now that my strength is in him and that I know hee is Lord of Hosts for me and not against me a Shield to me a Sword onely to my enemies now I have confidence to say O Lord God of Hosts heare my prayer give eare Verse 7 O God of Jacob for as I doubt not but hee will heare me though he bee Lord of Hosts so I have much more confidenne he will give eare unto me being the God of Jacob for he hath made a Covenant with Jacob and with his posteritie for ever that he will be their God and they shall be his people of which number it is my happinesse that I am one not after the flesh which profiteth nothing but according to Faith the onely thing that makes the true Israelite But yet what good will it doe me that God heare my prayer and give eare unto it if he be still averse and turne away his Face O therefore Behold O Lord our shield and looke upon the face of thine anoynted For I shall never come to looke upon thy Face if thou vouchsafe not first to looke upon mine if thou afford me not as well the benefit of thine Eyes to looke upon me as the favour of thine Eares to heare me I shall be left onely to a bare expectation but never come to the happinesse of
made my mountaine to stand strong Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled 8 I cryed unto thee O Lord and unto the Lord I made supplication 9 What profit is there in my bloud when I goe downe into the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth 10 Heare O Lord have mercy upon mee Lord be thou my helper 11 Thou hast turned for mee my mourning into dauncing Thou hast put off my sack-cloath and girded mee with gladnesse 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee and not be silent O Lord my God I will give thankes unto thee for ever MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXX PSALME OF DAVID IT seemes to be a course in Nature Verse 1 for Hosanna's alwayes to precede Allelujahs and therefore the Exordiums of Davids Psalmes are commonly thus Have mercy upon mee O God heare my prayer O Lord rebuke mee not in thine anger or some such forme of Hosanna but in this Psalme contrary to his custome he makes his Exordium of an Allelujah I will extoll thee O God And why is this done is it out of Devotion that he might get before hand and begin with God in Praises before God should begin with him in Benefits O my soule the showres of Gods blessings are so continually poured downe upon us that it is impossible we should ever get before hand with God in Allelujahs Although therefore he begin with an Allelujah yet it is because God hath prevented him in his Hosanna Hee will extoll God but it is because God hath lifted him up Gods praise indeed is put in the Present Tense but it is because his benefit is in the Preterperfect Tense I will extoll thee O God for thou hast lifted mee up and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me But if David will extoll God how will he doe it for to doe it unworthily it were better to be left undone and who is able to extoll God worthily Hee will therefore perhaps call all the creatures of God to assist him and say Praise the Lord all yee his Angels Praise him all his Hosts praise yee him Sun and Moone praise him all yee starres of light Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. But if it be expected he must extoll him himselfe and not looke for helpe from others Hee will then extoll him in his exaltation and say Bee thou exalted O God above the heavens Or he will extoll him in his owne humilitie by kneeling and falling downe before him hee will extoll him in his singularitie and say There is no other God in heaven or in earth but onely thou O God or he will extoll him in his pluralitie and say Thou O God art wonderfull in thy Being Three Persons and one God blessed for ever And if to extoll him with sayings will not serve he will then extoll him with workes that men seeing his good workes may glorifie our Father which is in heaven And if neither words nor workes will be sufficient hoe will then extoll him with his silence and his wonder leaving that for Thought which cannot be exprest and leaving that for astonishment which cannot be conceived But why is it that David will thus extoll God Is it that hee may returne a thankfulnesse answerable to the benefit returne it in the same kind and answer it as it were in its owne language He will therefore extoll God which is a kind of lifting God up because God hath lifted him up which is a kind of extolling of him For as our extolling of God is the highest worke of our thankfulnesse so Gods lifting us up is the greatest benefit of his goodnesse We are thankfull to God and ought to be for his other benefits even for casting us downe but we use not to extoll him but for lifting us up For naturally indeed wee are all of us desirous to bee lifted up to be set aloft and to be high in the world for this pleaseth the eyes that they may see the more and pleaseth the whole body that it may the more bee seene but this is not the lifting up that David meanes but to be lifted up out of danger and out of the reach of the arme of his enemies O my soule let this bee thy comfort that although thy enemies be many and great yet they are not more thy enemies then they are Gods slaves and can goe no further then the length of their chaine which is seldome so long to reach to triumphing Sathan was a bitter enemie to Job and had certainly defeated him utterly if God had not held him short in his chaine and though linke after linke hee eetched out his chaine to a great length yet he could never make it reach so farre as to a Triumph For it is not properly a Triumph but when Dux Duci arma detrahit When one Generall disarmes another and this could never be done to Job for he kept on his Armour still his Helmet of Faith and his Brest-plate of Righteousnesse hee never let it goe off from him that there could be no cause for Sathan to triumph Men commonly are not satisfied unlesse themselves can triumph over their enemies but it is enough for me O Lord that thou suffer not my enemies to triumph over me for I aime not at glory but at safetie I might then ayme at glory if I were the assailant but now that I am onely the assailed what can I more desire then safetie and to bee out of the reach of all my enemies and such safetie without any glory may well give contentment seeing of all the miseries that can befall a man in this wretched world there is none greater none so great as to fall into the hands of enemies whose Malice like the fire of Hell is commonly unquenchable Let a friend strike me and it shall be a Balme to my head but to be strucken by an enemie who can endure it The striking of a friend is out of love and intends amendment but the blowes of an enemie are out of malice and tend to ruine It troubles mee not that my enemies rejoyce so their rejoycing have no relation to mee It troubled not Samson so much to have his eyes put out as to bee brought out before his enemies to be the laughing-stock for them to rejoyce at But why will David speake thus Thou hast not made my enemies to rejoyce over me as though it were God that made our enemies to rejoyce over us and not their owne spitefulnesse and malice Is it that permission is in God a kind of action and therefore he may justly be said to doe that which he suffers to be done Or is it that in his anger he makes our enemies the Executioners of his justice and punisheth our neglect of rejoycing in him with giving them power to rejoyce over us and so their rejoycing is not more in us his judgement then it is in them his act and operation But what enemies do
a transitorie thing and wert not to continue thou mightst justly then looke after transitorie pleasures and such as have no continuance but seeing thou art a substance perpetuall and immortall O therefore looke after pleasures like thy selfe pleasures that may last and never come to the last that may last and be durable and not leave thee to the miserie of Fuit Ilium ingens gloria teucrorum for Fuisse foelicem miserrimum est To have beene happy and not to bee to have flourished and now to bee withered is the greatest miserie in the world And the greater for that once pluckt off from his stalke Once taken from the Earth the Earth will never know him any more Alas it will scarce take notice that ever such a one there was and the Verse 16 notice it takes but in specie neither not in Individuo some perhaps as of a man None as of this man or rather some as of a Name None as of a man Or is it rather that Man turned once to Dust his place will know him no more for how should it know one from another when they are all so like How know Dives from Lazarus when they have both the same face seeing Death hath but one copie to draw all her pictures by Or is it rather that Man once turn'd to Dust is blowne about with every wind from place to place and what knowes the place when Dust falls upon it whether it be the Dust of a Prince or of a Peasant whether of a Man or of a Beast And must not Man then bee needes very miserable when Time and place the two best helpes of life doe both forsake him for what helpe can hee have of Time when his dayes are but as Grasse What help of Place when his place denyes him and will not know him But O how vaine a thing is Man to forget not onely the very matter of which he is made but the very condition under which hee is made and so to forget it that God must bee faine to remember him of it but much the vainer that being remembred of it never so often yet hee regards it never the more but contenting himselfe to be fading grasse at most a fading flowre never seekes to improve his Dust to that true solidnesse which nothing but the feare of God is able to procure nothing but the pitty in God is able to effect But now at last if neither the Distances of Place nor the Affection of Nature can make you sufficiently conceive the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take an expressing in plaine tearmes and this will certainly make you conceive it For his mercy is from everlasting Verse 17 to everlasting upon them that feare him It is from everlasting for it began to be before the Foundations of the world were laid and it is to everlasting for it will continue to be when the Frame of the World shall bee dissolved that now O my soule there can bee no feare of the greatnesse of Gods mercy all the feare now is of thine owne feare for although Verse 18 Gods mercy bee so Everlasting yet it is so but to them that feare him for if thou feare him not and keepe not his Commandements then his mercy to thee is neither from Everlasting nor to Everlasting but if thou feare him and keepe his Commandements then his mercy to thee is both and not onely to Thee as though Gods mercy were onely a Personall benefit and should end with thy selfe but it shall be continued to thy childrens children Et natis natorum qui nascentur ab illis to thy whole Posteritie O my soule what an Inheritance is this to purchase to our children at least if it bee not an absolute Inheritance yet it is so sure an Entayle that nothing but the want of fearing God can cut it off And indeed why else hath God prepared Verse 19 his Throne in Heaven but to the end the godly may bee assured that though they bee now oppressed on earth yet thither they shall come at last to bee with him in Joy to bee there in Joy for having obeyed him when the wicked shall bee left behind to bewayle their miseries for not obeying him For though his Throne be prepared onely in Heaven Yet his kingdome ruleth over all Over All both Man and Beast both the Godly and the Wicked both blessed Angells and damned Spirits and because his Kingdome ruleth over all therefore All shall serve him and shall serve him indeed with feare yet there shall be a difference for the godly shall serve him with feare and joy where the wicked shall serve him with feare and trembling And now seeing God hath prepared his Throne in heaven Therefore O yee his Angells inhabitants of Heaven that obey his Commandements by the freedome of your will Doe you begin first and prayse his Name for you excell in strength and are best able to doe it And seeing his Kingdome ruleth overall Therefore all ye his Hosts his other Creatures that obey his Commandement too though not by will yet by instinct Doe you second the Angels in praising his Name And then thou my soule that partakest of both the Natures Doe thou also and with thee also the Soules of all the godly joyne with them in his Prayses that so at least there may bee a Consort of Three to Blesse and Praise him who is a Trinitie in Unitie Three Persons and one God to be Blessed and praised for ever and ever But to be blessed and praised as by all the persons of his Kingdome so in all the places of his Dominion which are Heaven and Earth and Hell a Triplicitie too for even Hell is a place within his Dominion And for praising him in Heaven the Angells will be sure enough to looke to that and for praising him in Hell let the wicked and the damned spirits looke to that at their perill but for praising him on Earth Thou my soule and the soules of all the godly will undertake to doe that at least will pray continually to him that sitteth upon the Throne to be enabled to doe it and when all these shall faile or lest they should faile when Heaven and Earth shall passe away when Time and Place shall bee no more yet his Prayse shall bee continued still by his owne Workes which are his Glory and his Power his Infinitenesse and his Eternitie but above all which is above all his Workes the Workes of his infinite and Everlasting Mercie THE HVNDRED AND SIXTEENTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Love the Lord because hee hath heard my voyce and my supplication 2 Because hee hath inclined his eare unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live 3 The sorrowes of death compassed me and the paines of hell got hold upon mee I found trouble and sorrow 4 Then called I upon the Name of the Lord O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soule 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous