Cron. 3.4 1 Chro 29.4 Silver and Gold in no small proportion ten thousand talents at least to overlay the walls of it besides the very beames and posts and doores o'respread with Gold Gold of Parvaim no other would serve the turne garnisht within with pretious stones and graved Cherubins 2 Chron 3. Cherubins of Gold too â—â—â—e Gold so sayes the Text vail'd over with blue and purple and crimson and fine Linnen nothing wanting for lustre or riches for beautie and magnificence for the house of a God the King would have it so Salomon the wise King and he would have it so for Ornament and not for Worship except for the worship of his God and that his God approves of with a fire from heaven 2 Chron. 7.1 And now my Brother what capitall offence in the Image of a Saint or Martyr historically or ornamentally done in the house of the Lord It invites not our knee but our eye not our Observance but our Observation or if perchance our Observance not our Devotion Though we honour Saints we doe them no worship and though sometimes wee sing of we sing not unto them wee sing of their Sufferings not of their Power and in so singing we sing unto God Sing first of his Power that he hath made them such Champions for Him and then Sing aloud of his Mercy that they were such Lights unto us And here what danger of Idolatry what colour for Offence what ground for Cavill or exception Our dayes of Ignorance and blind zeale are long since past by but it seemes not of Peevishnesse or Contradiction And certainely if Fancie or Spleene had not more to doe here than Judgement this Quarrell might be ended without Bloud We are so curious in Tything of Mynt and Cummin that we let goe the waightier matters of the Law and whilst we dispute the indifferencies of a painted roofe or window we sometimes let downe the very walls of a Church And I dare say if a Consistory did not more scarre some than a Conscience Temples would stand like those Aegyptian Monuments I know not whether a Modell of Antiquity or Desolation 'T is a misery when the life of Religion shall lye in the Tongues of men and not in their Hands or if in their Hands sometimes not in their Hearts The times are so loud for Faith Faith that the noyse thereof drownes sometimes the very Motion of good Workes and even there too where Faith is either begotten or at least strengthened in the House of the Lord That stands Naked and sometimes Bare-headed as if it begged for an Almes when our Mansions swell in pride of their Battlements the beauty of their Turrets and yet their Inhabitants still cry as the mad people did after the Floud Come Gen. 11.4 let us make Bricke let us Build But all this while No noise of an Axe or a Hammer about the House of the Lord Their project is to lift their Earth unto Heaven and it matters not though the Heaven here below lay levell with the Earth they sing of a City and a Tower to get them a Name They care not for a Temple to sing aloud in to the Name of their God And hence it is that this God makes that sometimes a way to their confusion which they intended a meanes to their Glory I have observ'd three speciall sorts of Builders in our Age and three sorts of singing by them Some build up Babel with the stones of Jerusalem Adorne their owne Mansions by demolishing of Churches and such sing onely Requiems to their owne name and are so farre from singing unto Gods that he cries out against them by his Prophet Though you build aloft Obad. 4. and nestle among the Cloudes yet I will bring you downe into the dust of the Earth Others build up Ierusalem with the stones of Ierusalem repaire one Church with the ruines of another Take from that Saint and Give unto this And in this they thinke they sing aloud unto God but hee heares not their voice or if hee heare he rebukes it Away with your sacrifices I will none of your burnt offerings Isa 1.13 they are abomination unto me saith the Lord God Others build up Ierusalem with the stones of their Babel Repaire the ruines of Gods house with their owne costs and materialls and not onely repaire but beautifie it as you see And such not onely sing unto God but sing Psalmes unto him Talke and doe to the Glory of his Name And blessed is the man that doth it doth it as it should be done without froth of ostentation or wind of Applause or pride of Singularity But from the uprightnesse and integrity of a sound heart Psa 69.9 can Sing aloud to his God 'T is my zeale to thy house that hath thus eaten me up And doubtlesse he that is so zealous for the house of the Lord the Lord also will be mercifull unto His and hee that so provides for the worship of Gods name God also will provide for the preservation of His Deut. 28. Blessed shall he be in the City and Blessed in the field Blessed in his comming in and Blessed in his going out Blessed in his basket and in his store Blessed in the fruit of his cattell and the fruit of his ground Gods speciall Providence shall pitch his Tents about him the dew of Heaven from above and the flowers of the Earth from below Before him his Enemies flying behind him Honours attending about him Angels intrenching on his right hand his fruitfull Vine on his left his Olive-branches without Health of body within Peace of Conscience and thus Psal 25.12 His Soule shall dwell at Ease and his Seed shall inherit the Land And whilst he sings unto Heaven Blessed be the Name of the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever Heaven shall rebound to the Earth and the Earth sing aloud unto him Blessed is he that putteth his trust in the Lord for Mercy shall incompasse him on every side And now O Lord it is thy Blessings which we want and thy Mercies which we beg Let thy Blessings and thy Mercies so fall upon us as we doe put our trust in Thee Lord in Thee have we trusted let us never be confounded Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo Amen FINIS The Christian Duell IN TWO SERMONS Ad Magistratum Preached at two severall ASSIZES held at TAUNTON in Sommerset Anno Domini 1634. 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham ROM 8.5 Qui secundum Carnem sunt quae Carnis sunt sapiunt Qui verò secundum Spiritum quae Spiritus sunt Vellem quidem et carnem meam esse in vita sed quia non potest sit vel Spiritus meus sit vel Anima mea D. Aug. Serm. 6. de Verbis Domini LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO THE TRVLY NOBLE BOTH BY BLOVD and VERTVE Sir IOHN POULETT KNIGHT Sonne and Heire
eye they coozen it Iustice no doubt is as visible as Mercy but that Flesh and Bloud is apt to turne the perspective the contrary way and so beholds Iustice in a small letter but turning it againe views Mercy in a large print In such a case I should rather chide than counsell did not the Sonne of Syrach put in his caveat here Ecclus. 5.5 6. concerning Propitiation Bee not without feare to adde sinne to sinne and say not His mercie is great he will be pacified for the multitude of my sinnes for mercy and wrath come from him and his Indignation resteth upon Sinners Ecclus. 5.5 6. 'T is true the Mercies of the Lord are infinite but his promises of them are for the most part conditionall and restrain'd like as a Father pittyeth his owne children so is the Lord mercifull Psal 103.13 but to whom Timentibus eum to those that feare him Psal 103.13 So againe the mercyes of the Lord are throughout all generations All generations How Timentibus eum to those that feare him throughout all generations Luke 1.50 No feare then no mercy But is there alwaies mercy where there is feare yes this Timentibus eum joyn'd with a Credentibus ineum if feare goe with beliefe and filiation with feare not else Yea but the Divells beleeve and tremble too is there not mercy for them Origen will say there is and after some expiration of yeeres Salvation too And for the better colouring of his tenet he hath as well text for the Divell as the Divell had for Christ Hath God forgotten to be gratious or will he in his anger shut up his tender mercyes for ever Psal 77. From which words he endeavours to lenifie those often breathings against the wicked Vt terribilus dicta quam verius as if they had more horrour in them than truth and us'd only to awe malefactors not to punish them But this wilde fancy of his the Church long since spewed out as erronious and interprets that anger of God which he formerly urg'd in the behalfe of the damned not any divine perturbation but their owne damnation which is frequently in scripture call'd anger and that anger endlesse and therefore the Psalmist sayes Inira sua non ad finiendam Lib. 4. dist 66. or post iram suam as the Master glosseth it And doubtlesse as the glory of Gods children is endlesse so is the destruction of his enemies The text oftentimes resembling their torments unto fire fire unquenchable everlasting fire Everlasting in respect of time though sometimes not of rigour And herein is mercy still though no salvation mercy in that there is a qualification of punishment not salvation because no termination of time for that punishment Hereupon Saint Augustine in his enarrations upon that of the Psalmist The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever Psal 106. From a double version of the word ever gathers a double observation of mercy The Septuagint reades it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum Saint Ierome whom the Father followes In seculum Now there is a mercy saith he Qua nemo sine Deo beatus esse potest by which no man can be blessed without God that is not injoying him And this he calls mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In aeternum There is a mercy besides Quae miscris exhibetur which is afforded to men in misery such a mercy as either involves barely a consolation or else such a mercy as presupposes freedome and this he calls mercy In seculum D. Aug. ad Psal 105. that is as he interprets himselfe In finem seculi in quo nòn decrunt miseri quibus misericordia praebeatur At the generall and dreadfull assize at the last day some shall not cease to be miserable to whom mercy is allowed and so to the Divell his Angells and the reprobated drove there is a mercy granted a mercy not of inlargement but relaxation and so that mercy may be said to be eternall on their eternall misery Non aeterno supplicio finem dando Lomb. lib. 4. dist 66. sed levamen adhibendo not by Ending but by Easing their everlasting torments And here D. Aug. ut sup Quis audeat dicere saith the Father who durst say this Easing is not Mercy or this Mercy not Eternall His mercie endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever His mercy endureth for ever 'T is the burden and under-song the Prophet useth thrice in one Psalme and 26. times in another Whither then O God shall wee flie from thy Power or whither so flying but to thy Mercy If wee climbe up to Heaven Mercy is there If we goe downe into Hell Mercy is there If we take the wings of the morne and flye to the uttermost parts of the Earth Mercy is there also 'T is in Glory Exile Torment Psal 118. Above beyond under us with thy Friends thine Aliens thine Enemies thy glorified thy dispersed Psal 13. thy condemned Mercy Before the world and Mercy After the world Mercy From everlasting and Mercy To everlasting Mercy when there was no Time and Mercy when there shall be Time no more Mercy from that immortality which hath No beginning and Mercy to that immortality which hath Noend Infinite Incorruptible Aeternall For his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever for his Mercy endureth for ever Well then Is God the God of Mercie And Christ the Christ of Mercie Are we Christs and Christ God's Let us then be the Sonnes of Mercy too being mercifull as our Father in Heaven is mercifull forgiving one another as God for Christs sake forgave us Let there not be a Nabal murmuring within us no heart of stone for the hammer of the Law to batter but hearts of Flesh soft and pliable to the miseries of others And as God hath powred out his bowells for us so let us powre out our bowells for our brethren our bowells of Pitty and Compassion Remember what the counsell of S. Ierom was to Demetriades the Virgin S. Hieron parte 3. Tract 5. Ep. Epist 17. Laudent te esurientium viscera non ructantium opulenta convivia Let the great mans Voyder be the poore mans Basket the emptying of his Abundance the Accommodation of the others wants Hunger will not be fed with Ayre nor misery with good words they must have a taste of the Meale in our barrell and of the Oyle in our Cruse Let 's abate somewhat of our superfluities to supply their necessities Sint tua supersiua pauperis necessaria Sen. ad Lucil. Ep. 51. Bleed this Plurisie of ours and Cordiall their Consumption Let the Naked be cloth'd the Hungry fed the Impotent provided for the Sicke visited Give not for Bread a Stone nor for a Fish a Scorpion But let our hands speake what our hearts meane our Almes tell that our thoughts are compassionate And not like those flinty professours which turne Gospell into Law Christianity into Barbarisme A poore widow
of Sion is a Song of Peace and he that keepes not time in the Hosannah below shall hardly sing his part in the Hallelujah above I could whisper something in your eare but being in part a stranger I may be thought to gloze and therefore I will tell 't abroad where I am conceiv'd to be a little blunt and therefore unapt to flatter You have besides your accurate speculations both in Divinity and Arts a way to sweeten them an humble and courteous affability by which you have given so much incouragement to those more canonically devoted in our commonly despised Tribe that you have made them even tributary and captive so that they equally study their owne thankefulnesse and your honour to which if these poore scriblings of mine may give either lustre or advancement you having beene formerly pleased to afford them not only the charity of your faire opinion but the approbation also I have done something to glory in and amongst the Troop of your other Honourers and Admirers shall persist as the most humble so The most Faithfull HVM SYDENHAM THE VVELL-TVNED CYMBALL The first Sermon PSAL. 59.16 I will sing of thy Power yea I will sing aloud of thy Mercy in the morning because thou hast been my defence and my refuge in the day of my trouble THe Text though but a verse is a compleat Psalme having in it all the properties of a spirituall Song where wee may finde the Parts the Ground the Descant the Authour or Setter of it the Time when 't was sung and the Occasion of the singing 1 The Parts two in two words Potentia and Misericordia Power and Mercy and these voic'd alost in a sacred and purer straine fitter for a Quire of Angels than of men and that in double Tue Tua potentia and Tua misericordia Thy Power and Thy Mercy Thine the God of men and Angels the God of all Power and Mercie 2 The ground likewise in two words Adiutorium and Refugium Defence and Refuge but these pitch'd lower in a double Meum Adjutorium meum and Refugium meum my Defence and my Refuge but Meum ATe and Adte Domine this My having Reference to and Dependance from Thee Thee the God of Defence and Refuge And therefore my Defence because of thy Power and my Refuge because of thy Mercy 3 The Descant likewise in two words Cantabo and Exaltabo I will sing and I will sing aloud Here is singing onely of Gods Power but there is singing aloud of his Mercy as if his Mercy were more exaltable than his Power and That reach'd the very Heavens This unto the Clouds 4 The Authour or Setter of it here singly expressed not like the rest in a naked Ego but an Ego with a double Office and Appellation I a King and a Prophet and not barely so but I David a Singer too the sweetest Singer in Israel I will sing of thy Power and I will sing aloud of thy Mercy 5 The Time when 't was sung not Vespere or Post Meridiem as the custome of some Churches were and are no Afternoone or Evening-Antheme when spirits are dull and devotions sleepie and voyces flatted but in Matutinum in the morning when his Thoughts are brush'd and swept the pipes formerly obstructed cleane the Bellowes of his Zeale fill'd full with the breath of Gods Spirit Then comes he with his Cantabo and his Exaltabo then can he best sing of Gods Power then sing loudest of his Mercy 6 Lastly the occasion of the Singing open'd here in the Adverbe Quia Because and this Quia being the occasion looks narrowly to the Ground of the Song to Adjutorium and Refugium to God his Defence and his Refuge and because he was so and in the day of his Trouble too therefore he would sing of his Power and sing aloud of his Mercie Nay he will sing of his Mercy for ever With his mouth will hee make knowne his faithfulnesse to all generations for his Mercy shall be built up for ever and his faithfulnesse establisht in the very Heavens So he professes in his 89. Psalme 1. and 2. verses Thus I have shewed you a Modell of my Discourse where I shall not dwell punctually on each limbe and parcell of it the time will not give way no not to touch on some And seeing wee cannot well sunder the Descant from the Song or either from him that sings it let 's joyne all three together and so begin and so end I will sing and I will sing aloud T Is then most happy with the affaires of Gods people when Kings are not onely Patrons of the Church but Ornaments such as can no lesse beautifie Religion than propugne it And this David did in a double way of Majestie and knowledge being the prime piece in all Israel for Harmony and Eloquence exquisitely endowed with the perfections both of Poetry and Musicke In somuch that some of the Fathers either to cry downe the vaunts of Heathens in their rarities that way or else to rivall him with the fertile and richer Wits of their Times have beene pleased to stile him Simonides noster Alceus Catullus Flaccus S. Ierome ad Paulinum and Serenus let me adde the Divine Orpheus and Amphion one that made Woods and Beasts and Mountaines brutish stony and blockish dispositions to dance after his Harpe and sometimes to sing with it in a Laudate Dominum ipsi montes ipsi arbores ipsa jumenta Praise the Lord ye Mountaines and little Hills Trees and all Cedars Beasts and all Cattell V. 10. Psal 148. Herein personating Christ himselfe who was that Poeonius medicus as Clemens Alexandrinus stiles him the Spirituall Aesculapius Ille Sanctus aegrotae Animae In cantator The holy Inchanter of the sicke Soule who first transform'd Beasts into men reduc'd Savagenes and Barbarisme into civilitie Qui sevos ut Leones Clem. Alexan. paed lib. 1. cap. 2. ad mansuetudinem Fallaces ut Vulpes ad sinceritatem obscenes ut sues ad continentiam revocavit Cruelty Craft Obscaenitie Hieroglyphically shadowed under Lyons Foxes Swine he translated to meeknesse innocencie temperance causing the Wolfe to dwell with the Lambe and the Leopard to lye downe with the Kid and the young Lyon and the Fatling together Isai 11.6 and a little childe leading them Isai 11.6 And although there be no Analogie betweene Truth and Fiction in respect of substance let us make it up in respect of circumstance They * Nugivenduli Ethnicorum vates by their dexterity in Musicke and cunning on the Harpe redeem'd some of theirs from the Gates of Hell our Prophet though by his heavenly touch and warble that way caus'd not the Redemption of any from below yet on his ten-stringed Instrument hee sung sweetly the Resurrection For so Saint Ierome tells his Paulinus David Christum Lyra personat Ier. ut supra in Dechacordo Psalterio ab inferis excitat Resurgentem But le ts us not so resemble small things
owne Secretaries speake The registers and pen-men of Divine story How they sing of his Power How they blazon his Omnipotence Loe Isa 40.12 He metes out Heaven with a span measureth the waters in the hollow of his hand comprehends the dust of the Earth in a measure weigheth the Mountaines in Scales and the Hills in a Ballance Isa 40.12 Here is the whole world circled in one verse and yet not his whole Power in that Circle his Power is his Godhead and God himselfe hath been call'd a Circle It is he that sitteth upon the Circle of the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof are as Grassehoppers before him Marke He sits there he is not contained there There no that were above miracle the greater Circle contain'd in the lesse The Heathens themselves could tell us God was an intelligible Spheare Empedocles without Dimensions a Circle whose center was every where no where his Circumference no where not in the whole World not in the Earth not in the Waters not in the Heavens that circle both The Waters you heare he measures in the hollow of his hand the Earth in the same measure the Heavens that containe these in a Span Here is but a Span and Handfull of his Power and yet this Handfull graspes the Vniverse This made our Prophet often sing and in his song close as he began How wonderfull is thy Name in all the World Psal 8.1 9. How wonderfull in all the World A double wonder indeed in respect of Man though of God not so God could not be so wonderfully Great if man had ability to expresse him and therefore having none hee expresses himselfe by himselfe or at least himselfe by his Prophets to whom himselfe hee dictates who like men infus'd and intranc'd Speake aloft in sacred Allegories such as beseeme the Majesty and Greatnesse aswell of the Pen-man as Inspirer And here Psa 104.2 what sublimity both of power and language He clothes himselfe with light as with a garment Isa 40.22 stretcheth out the heavens like a curtaine and spreadeth them as a tent to dwell in by his spirit hath he garnished the skie Job 26.10 and fashioned it like a molten looking glasse In them hath he set a tabernacle for the Sun Psal 19.5 which as a Bridegroome commeth out of his chamber Psal 103. and rejoyceth as a Gyant to run his course He he hath appointed also the Moone for seasons and at his pleasure sealeth up the starres Job 9.7 He bindes the sweet influences of the Pleiades Iob. 9.7 and loses the bonds of Orion brings forth Mazaroth in his season and guides Arcturus with his Sons Iob. 38.31.32 Heere all bumane Eloquence is befool'd Non vox hominum sonut Oh Dei certe Such an expression of God none could frame but God himselfe and this made our Prophet finge againe Psal 104.24 O Lord of hosts how wonderfull are thy workes In wisedome hast thou made them all who is a strong Lord like unto thee or to thy power and faithfulnesse round about thee Psal 89.8 Let us now leave the firmament and the Lord bowing the heavens and comming downe see what empire and dominion he hath in the regions of the aire There Psal 104.3 he layeth the beames of his chamber in the waters maketh the cloudes his chariot and rideth upon the wings of the winde Through the brightnes of his presence are coales of fire kindled lightnings and hot thunderbolts Psal 18. There he hath made a decree for the raine Iob. 38.28 en 37.16 the ballancings of the cloudes as Iob styles them and there hath he begotten the drops of dewe Thence he giveth snowe like wooll Psal 147.17 18 and scattereth the hoare frosts like ashes casteth out his ice like morsells There Iob. 28.25 he maketh waight for the windes he bindeth up the waters in a cloude as in a bottell Iob. 26.8 and the cloude is not rent under them This made our Prophet sing aloft Praise the Lord in the heights praise him fire and haile snowe and vapours stor my winde sulfilling his worde Psal 108.1 and 8. verses Let us descend once more and amongst those proud heapes of earth which seeme to lift their heads even to the very starres observe what sway his power carries there or rather what terror He shall thresh the mountaines and beate them smal Isai 41.15.16 and make the hills as chaffe he shall fanne them and with his whirle winde shall he scatter them Iob 28.10 and shall overturne them by the rootes Isai 40.16 If he be angry Lebanon is not enough for incense nor the beasts thereof for a burnt sacrifice The foundations of the round world are discover'd at his chiding Psal 18.15 at the blasting of the breath of his displeasure This made our Prophet sing againe The Lord is a great God and a great King above all Gods in his hands are all the corners of the earth and the strength of the hills is his also Psal 95.3.4 Shall wee yet stoope lower and descending this mount see how he is a Lord of the valleys and the inhabitants thereof Iob 38.6 Loe the foundation of the earth he hath wonderfully set Iob 9.6 and laid the corner stone thereof at his pleasure againe hee shaketh it out of her hindges Psal 114.8 and the pillars thereof tremble He turnes the hard rocke into a standing water and the flint-stone into a springing well The Nations before him are lesse then nothing they are accounted as the drops of a bucket Psal 149.8 and as the small dust of the ballance He bindeth Kings in chaines and Nobles in fetters of iron Isai 41.2 he gives his enemies as dust to the sworde and as driven stubble to his bow He shal rise up as in mount Perazim Iosh 10.12 He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon that he may doe his worke his great worke Isai 28.21 and bring to passe his act his great act This made our Prophet sing againe The earth is the Lords and all that therein is the compasse of the whole world and all that dwell therein for he hath founded it upon the Seas and prepar'd it upon the floudes Psal 24.1 2. Shall wee now leave the earth and those that sojourne there and see the wonders of the Lord in the great deepe Psal 33.7 There he gathereth the waters of the Sea together and layes them up in store-houses At his commaund the flouds lift up their voyce the waves beginne to swell Iob 41.31 and he makes them boile like a pot of oyntment Againe he ruleth the raging of the Sea and the waters thereof he stilleth at his pleasure Psal 93.4 He bindeth the flouds from over flowing shuts up the Sea with doores when it breakes forth as if it issued out of the wombe makes the cloude a garment thereof and thicke darkenes a