inflamed with charitie so he inflameth that he with an hot cole taken from the Altar may touch my mouth Isa c. 6 and purge my lippes from all filth of sinne See S. Thom. Lyra. Hector Pintus and SaÌ„ctius on the sixt chap. of Isaiâ— that is that he vvith the burning cole of charitie taken from the Altar of the crosse or CHRIST his passion endured on the crosse for that is the source of all grace and charitie may purge my hart and lippes as gold in the fornace from all drosse of sinne that my hart may thinke nothing my mouth and lippes may speake nothing which is not pure chast and holie For then my mouth vvill be apt to shew forth thy praise Or else send ô Lord one of thy Priestes who by office is a Seraphin instituted and ordained to illuminate and inflame the heartes of the people by preaching and administration of the Sacramentes And let him either by the burning cole of thy word for thy word is fired exceedinglie or by that sacred burning cole of CHRISTS holie bodie in the Eucharist burning continuallie vvith the Diuinitie Ps 118. yet not consumed taken from the holie Altar vvhere it is offered daylie in the Church of God may inflame my heart purge first it and then my lippes vvhich are the interpreters of the heart from all filth of sinne Or else ô my svveet God send vnto me one of thy Seraphins one of thy Priests vvho ministeriallie by meanes of the SacrameÌ„ts vvhich he ministreth giueth the Holie Ghost that he by the hot cole of this holie Spirit proceeding as ardent loue from God the father and God the sonne coequall and consubstantiall vnto them vvho in the day of Pentecoste descending fom heauen in the forme of fierie tongues inflamed purged th' Apostles and first Christians may inflame purge my heart lippes from all filth of sinne and so may make me fitt to shew forth thy praise for vntill I be purged from sinne Ps 49. I am a sinner to the sinner thou sayst why doest thou declare my iustices and takst my Testament by thy mouth And Ecclesiasticus telleth me Eccleisastici 15. that praise is not comelie in the mouth of a sinner 3. But open my mouth ô Lord stopped by sinne and purge my lippes polluted by sinne and then not onelie my mouth shall be the trumpet to sound forth thy prayses vvhich thou ô penitent sinner must say after him but my soule shall say to her selfe Ps 102. My soule blesse thou our Lord and all the thinges that are within me my vnderstanding my vvill my memorie my heart and all that is in me shall blesse and prayse God yea my body and all the senses and partes of it as myne eyes myne eares the rest of my senses my heade my haÌ„des my feete in imploying theÌ„selues in thy seruice shall be so many trumpets to sound forth thy praise 4. And not onelie vvith bodie and soule I vvill praise thee but I vvill coniure all people and natioÌ„s to ioyne vvith me in thy praise for I vvill crye vnto them Ps 1â—6 Praise our Lord all the Gentiles praise him all the peoples yea I vvill coniure all thy creatures asvvell reasonable as vnreasonable sensible as vnsensible to praise thee and confesse thee to be their Creatour and to say as they doe say euerie day to those that haue intelligence He made vs Psa 99. and not we our selues I vvil vvith Sidrach Dan. 3. Misach Abdenago call vpon all creatures to praise thee I will sing daylie their Canticle and Benedicite All workes of our Lord blesse our Lord ye Angels of our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer ye Heauens blesse our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer All waters that are aboue the heauens blesse ye our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer Sunne and Moone blesse ye our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer In the like manner I vvill inuite the starres planets the showers and dewes the vvindes and tempests fire heate frost and cold yce and snovv and the rest vvhich are inuited to the praise of God in this Canticle for that all those creatures though many of them be deuoide of reason many also of sense doe praise God in exciting men by consideration and contemplation of these admirable vvorkes of God to the praise of him 5. For as vvhen vve see a picture vvell dravvne or a statue cunninglie carued we by and by commend not onelie the picture statue but also and especiallie the painter and Caruer so vvhen vve looke vpon the Heauens and those euer shining lights vvhich may be ouershadovved but neuer are put out and the goodlie order and disposition of the Heauens elemeÌ„tes and creatures in theÌ„ vve praise not onelie them but much more the Creatour And in this fence the HeaueÌ„s though they haue neither reason nor sence are sayd to shew forth the glorie of God Ps 18. vvherefore hence forth with thy grace ô Lord all my actions shall be directed to thy honour glorie euerie morning so soone as I rise or awake both they and all I am haue shall be offered designed for thy honour and so by vvord and worke I will euer shew forth thy praise and I vvill neuer cease froÌ„ singing praises vnto thee till I come to sing Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Holie Holie Holie vvith the quire of thy Heauenlie musicians thy Saintes and Angels Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium dedissem vtique Holocaustis non delectaberis Because if thou wouldest haue had sacrifice I had verilie giuen it with holocaustes thou wilt not be pleased 1. I Promised thee ô Lord saith Dauid that my mouth should shew forth thy praise Ps 4â— because I take the sacrifice of praise to be more pleasing vnto thee otherwise if thou wouldst haue had sacrifice to vvit the materiall corporall sacrifice of brute beastes I would verilie haue giuen it And thou knovvest ô Lord that in such sacrifices I haue not beene vvanting but I know they are not pleasing to thee nay vvith Holocaustes vvhich were the best kind of externall sacrifices as being wholie burnt and consumed to thy honour thou art not delighted as they are taken in themselues vvithout the internall sacrifice of the minde Salomon in the dedication of the Temple 3. Reg. 2. offered of oxen tvvo tvventie thousand of sheepe an hundred tvventie thousand and yet all these sacrifices taken nakedlie in theÌ„selues without the inward sacrifices of the minde were not pleasing to God Mich. 6. For as Micheas sayth Nunquid placaripotest Dominus in millibus arietum can our Lord be pacified with thousaÌ„ds of Rammes Or as thou ô Lord thy selfe sayst will I eate the flesh of oxeÌ„ Ps 49. ibid. or will I drinke the blood of buckgoats Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise and pay thy vovve to the highest 2. And vvhat
it running it selfe may suffer shipvvrack nor Pirates to bord it and spoile it And to this port hauen of Heauen eternall blisse felicitie bring me ô Lord through the vvaters of contrition and if it shall so please thee through the vvaters also of tribulation and aduersitie vvhatsouer Benignè fac Domine in bona voluntate tua Sion vt aedificentur muri Hierusalem Deale fauourablie ô Lord in thy good will with Sion that the walles of Hierusalem may be built vp Tunc acceptabis sacrificium iustitiae oblationes holocausta tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos Then shalt thou accept sacrifice of iustice oblations and holocaustes then shall they lay calues vpon thyne Altars These tvvo verses are explicated to gether by reason of their connexion the second yeelding a reason of the first 1. THe first thing that a sinner must aske of God Almightie is pardon for his sinnes committed and by it God his grace fauour for till that be obtained the sinner is an enemie to God and odious to his sight so not like to be heard but pardon for his sinnes and consequentlie grace and fauour beeing once purchased then he may be bold to be a suter and a begger for other benefites Dauid as we haue seene in the former verses of this Psalme hath oftē prayed for mercie forgiuenes for his sinnes now hoping yea knowing by reuelatiō from the Prophet Nathan that by his pennance remissiō of his sinnes is obtayned and he now in grace and fauour he taketh the heart to pray to God for other benefits and because the common good is to be preferred before ones priuate commoditie he asketh God neither health nor wealth nor lōg life nor any such priuat benefite but being zealous of the common good and especially of the publique worship and honour of God which bringeth with it many blessings to a countrie he desireth God to deale fauorablie with Sion that the walles of Hierusalem may be built vp 2. He alwayes shewed a great zeale for Hierusalem because it vvas the Metropolitan and head Citie as also because there God was religiouslie serued and vvas afterwards whē the Temple should be built much more to be honoured by the many sacrifices which there were to be offered and especiallie because the Messias CHRIST IESVS was to teach preach and worke miracles in that Citie and Temple and was to sanctifie and honour both by his sacred presence all vvhich he forsaw in spirit by faith and the guift of Prophecie Psalm 136. 3. And therefore saith he If I shall forgeth thee ô Hierusalem let my right hand be forgotten let my tōgue cleaue to my iawes if I doe not remember thee if I shall not set Hierusalsm in the beginning of my ioye The like or greater zeale shevved tovvards the Arke and temple though this as then vvas not bult Behold 1. Par. 17. saith he I dwell in an house of Cedar and the arke of the couenant of our Lord is vnder skinnes that is vnder a tabernacle or pauillon And againe If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house If I shall ascend into the bed of my couch Psal 131. If I shall giue sleepe to myne eyes and slumbring to myne eye liddes rest to my tēples vntill I find a place for our Lord a tabernacle for the God of Iacob O the zeale of Dauid He would not he could not sleepe nor rest till an house and temple for God vvas built he had rather to haue lyen out of the doores then that God should want his temple and house of prayer and sacrifice wherein to dwell therefore he would haue built the temple in his owne dayes if that God had not tould him by Nathan the Prophet that not he 2. Reg. 7. but his sonne Salomon should build it 4. But although he built not the Temple yet such vvas his zeale that he prouided the materialles and almost all that vvas necessarie for the building of it and besides stones tymber brasse iron such like 2. Paral 29. he gaue three thousand talentes of Gold of Ophir and seuen thousand talentes of Siluer tovvards the building of it and besides all this he gaue vnto Salomon a description of the temple and tould him the order of the Musicians and Leuites vvhich were to sing and serue in the tēple and he composed the psalmes and sonnettes and prouided the musicall instrumentēs which were to be vsed in it as aboue vve haue seene and so it maybe called in a manner asvvell Dauids as Salomons temple 5. He desireth then that Hierusalem may be builded that is accōplished for although he speaketh onelie of the walles of Hierusalem yet he taketh the parte for the whole and by the vvalles of Hierusalem he vnderstandeth Hierusalem And although the citie of Hierusalem for the greatest part vvas then built yet he desireth that it may be augmented and perfected especiallie vvith the addition of the Temple the greatest strength and ornament of the Citie beeing the house of God in vvhich he dwelling the Citie could not be vvithout defence or guard 6. And although he knevv by reuelation frō God that this temple would infalliblie be builded by Salomon yet partlie to shevv his zeale and desire partlie because he foresavve that this temple vvas to be one of the cheefe wonders and miracles of the vvorld and therefore could not be brought to passe without God his cooperation nor succeede prosperouslie vnlesse God as it vvere did lay the first stone second this statelie building and Master-peece of masonrie he prayeth to God for the building hastening of it 7. And why ô Royall Prophet doest thou so earnestlie desire that Hierusalem should be built That it may be an honour to thee and thy sonne Salomon the principall Authours of it or that it may be a perpetuall monument of thy riches or magnificence or that it may be an ornament to the Citie and a vvonder to the vvorld No no thy thoughts vvere leuelled to an higher marke Thou desiredst that God thereby might be glorified that his name might thereby be honoured praysed for thou foresavvest by the guift of Prophecie the light of faith that the holie Arke vvith great pompe and solēnitie to the great glorie of God should be transported and translated in to the temple Thou knewest that in that temple God should be highlie praysed by Hymnes Psalmes Canticles and all manner of musicall instrumētes Thou didst foresee the great goodlie sacrifices vvhich by liuelie faith deuotiō of the Priestes should be offered to God his honour thou didst foresee that after this temple should be sacked by Nabuchodonosor raised and reared vp again Nehē 3. Agg. 2. as it vvas in the time of Nehemias and after by Herode the Messias should honour it by his sacred presence preaching teaching and miracles Whereby as Aggeus prophecied Agg. 2. Great should be the glorie
Church of Christ more then of the first 10. Dauid therefore fore-seeing by faith the glorie of this temple Hierusalem and Church of Christ desireth almightie God that it may be built And why Dauid ô saith he then and not before thou shalt accept the sacrifice of iustice And what is that the sacrifice of the Crosse to wit of Christ Iesus offered by death on the crosse This sacrifice is the fountaine of all grace receiued euer since Adams fall this sacrifice appeaseth God his wrath and satisfieth his iustice in paying the great price of our Redemption by this sacrifice God vvas more honoured then by all the sacrifices that euer before were offered by this sacrifice vve were reconciled to God and his Angels By this sinne vvas cancelled the Deuill vanquished Hell that is limhus Patrum was ransacked and all those prisonners enioyed a iayle deliuerie death vvas despoiled of his sting yea vvas put to death finallie by which onelie hoste once onelie offered our redemption was consummated Hebr. 9 10. for as S. Paul saith by one oblation hath he consummated for euer them that are sanctifyed 11. And peraduenture Dauid beeing a Prophet and hauing a more explicite faith then the other Ievves had Matth. 26. alludeth also to the sacrifice which Christ instituted and offered at his last supper which is repeated by the Priest daylie in the Church And this in respect of the thing offered which is Christ differeth not from the sacrifice of the crosse because in both sacrifices the same Christ the same bodie and blood of his is offered though in other respectes they differ because that of the crosse was a bloodie sacrifice this vnbloodie that was offered in it's owne forme this in the likenes of bread wine that was a reall mactation and killing of Christ this mysticall onelie that was our Redemption this an application onelie of it that was an vniuersall cause of all grace and remissiō of sinnes this is a particular cause as Baptisme is vvhich determineth the vniuersall cause to determinate effectes that impetrated grace by its ovvne vertue this by vertue from that that because it vvas a bloodie sacrifice and contained the full price of our Redemption vvas offered but once because a bloodie sacrifice is but once killed a ransome or Redemption is but once payed this because it is a mysticall mactation and an application onelie of that price of our Redemption is oftentimes offered That vvas offered immediatlie by Christ this novv immediatlie by his Priest at the holy Altar 12. This veritie of the vnbloodie sacrifice Catholique vvriters doe prooue by all those kind of arguments as I my selfe haue in some bookes of myne by vvhich the greatest mysteries and articles of our faith are prooued as by Scriptures Councels fathers and practice of the Church but because I intend in this my Paraphrase to abstaine from controuersies and onelie to stirre vp sinners to repentance I vvill omit all such argumentes and vvill returne to our penitent king and Prophet And vvhy Dauid doest thou so much desire that the vvalles of this Hierusalem and the temple of the Church of Christ should be built out of my zeale saith he of God his greater glorie and saluation of others for then saith he shalt thou accept sacrifice of iustice then and not before shalt thou accept the bloodie and vnbloodie sacrifices of the sonne of God the true sacrifices of iustice because the bloodie sacrifice satisfied thy iustice in paying the price of our redēption the vnbloodie applieth the price then by these sacrifices thou shalt be infinitlie more honoured then by all the sacrifices of the old lawe then thousands more both of Ievves and Gētils shall be saued then vvere in the old lavv then shall be layd on thy Altar not calues and oxen but the sacrifices of thy sacred bodie and blood the verities of those figures 13. In a tropicall or morall sēse Hierusalem the temple doe signifie the soule of man and in this sence Dauid desireth that the walles of his Hierusalem the forces of his soule lost by sinne may by grace be repaired Desire thou also ô penitent sinner vvith this penitent king and Prophet that the forces of thy ruinous Hierusalem of thy soule cast downe by sinne may be repayred that faith the foundatiō of this spirituall temple may be renewed if it be lost or strengthned if it be not lost that the walles of thy hopes by which this Hierusalem and tēple riseth and is raised may be erected fortified that Charitie the toppe and roofe may couer it that this temple may be cleansed from all sinne and that by all Christian vertues it may be adorned by God his grace and guiftes of the holie Ghost embellished and that in it daylie spirituall sacrifices of prayer praise thankesgiuing of a contrite heart of all good workes may be offered to God his honour glorie 14. Lastlie in the Anagogicall sense Dauid desireth that the walles of the celestiall Hierusalem may be built that is that the Heauēlie Hierusalē ruined in part by the falle of Lucifer and his rebellious followers may be repayred and their seates filled For he knew by faith that there vvas a Hierusalem in Heauen farre more glorious then that in earth Apoc. 21. and vvhich by S Iohn his description is built of no vvorse materialls then pearles gold and pretious stones thereby signifying the splendour riches and maiestie of it S. Paul calleth it a mount Sion Heb. 12. the Citie of the liuing God Heauenlie Hierusalem and the assemblie of many thousand Angels the Church of the first borne vvhich are vvritten in the Heauēs This is the true Hierusalem that is the true vision of peace vvhere all seeing God face to face doe all peaceablie aggre in louing praising honouring and seruing him 15. In this Hierusalem euerie Saint and Angell is a liuing stone which cōposeth buildeth vp this Citie euerie Saint and Angell is a courtier of this Court euerie Saint and Angell is a miniō and fauorit of the Heauenlie king euerie Saint and Angell is a Quirester of God his Chappell euerie Saint Angell is a king of a kingdome of no lesse extent then the Kingdome of Heauen 16. In this Heauenlie Hierusalem there is peace vvithout vvarre securitie vvithout feare contentement vvithout disgust satietie without glutting ioy vvithout sorrow rest with without labour light vvithout darkenes morning without euening day vvithout night spring without the falle of the leafe summer vvithout vvinter youth vvithout old age health vvithout sicknes life without death happines vvithout miserie and one happier then an other vvithout all enuie because euery one reioyceth in an others happines as if it vvere his ovvne no sinne against God all iointlie louing him no falling out vvith one an other because all in God doe loue one another and no end of this felicitie but a perseuerance in all this for all eternitie O vvorld