are aliants and strangers from it haue been of opinion that if any of the faithfull seruants of God in his Church would pray for them that God would be mercifull vnto them for their sakes then how much more they that are the true members of the Church of God may verely beleeue that God will heare their fellow brethren for them For as in a familie if strangers can hope that if some seruant of speciall account doe speake to the master for them hee will doe some thing at their request then they that are of the same house may bee assured much more that the intreatie of their fellow seruants shall doe them much good So in the house of God Ephe. 2.12 if they that are strangers from the couenant of promise and haue no hope and are without God in the world yet thinke that his seruants shall be heard for them then how much more may they that are of the household of faith themselues beleeue that God will heare their fellow seruants for them seeing that he hath not onely giuen them leaue but commanded them to speake and intreate one for another and themselues are such alreadie as hee meaneth to doe good vnto And this is that that we reade of in the person of Pharaoh King of Egypt Pharaoh often desired Moses and Aaron to pray for him who though he could not abide Moses and Aaron yet when the hand of God was heauie vpon him hee was many times compelled to seeke to them for their prayers and his owne conscience did tell him that the Lord might happely heare them for him though himselfe was vnworthie once to bee regarded of him As when himselfe and his land was punished with frogs hee called for them and said Pray yee vnto the Lord Exod. 8.8 that hee may take away the frogges from me and from my people and afterwards when they were punished with great swarmes of flyes so that the earth was corrupt with them he said I will let you goe Vers 28. that yee may sacrifice vnto the Lord your God in the wildernesse but goe not farre away pray for me and thirdly when the Lord sent thunder and haile and lightning so that the fire was mingled with the haile he sent and called for them and said vnto them Chap. 9.27 I haue now sinned the Lord is righteous but I and my people are wicked Pray ye vnto the Lord for it is enough that there be no more mightie thunders and haile and I will let you goe and ye shall tarie no longer Where at the last hee confesseth himselfe and all his people to bee wicked and to haue deserued these plagues but he prayeth these his seruants to pray to God for them and they doe so and at their prayers the Lord remoueth these seuerall plagues Thus this wicked man when he was in the middest of his deserued punishments and had no heart in them to goe to God himselfe yet sought to others that he was well perswaded of and receiued great good often by their prayers Ieroboam desired the Prophet to pray for him when his hand was withered So did that wicked man Ieroboam King of Israel of whom it is often said to his shame that hee caused Israel to sinne when the man of God came out of Iudah at the commandement of the Lord vnto Bethâ—el where hee stood by his idolatrous altar to offer incense and reproued for his idolatrie and cried out against the altar he hearing it stretched out his hand and said Lay hold on him but his hand which he put out against him dried vp and he could not pull it in againe to him Then the King said vnto the man of God 1. King 13.6 I beseech thee pray vnto the Lord thy God and make intercession for me that mine hand may be restored vnto me And the man of God besought the Lord and the Kings hand was restored and became as it was afore So though he could not pray himself and say I beseech thee my God with hope that God would heare him yet hee desireth the Prophet to pray to his God and thought that another might be heard for him and so he was Thus did Zedekiah King of Iudah though neither himselfe nor the Princes could abide Ieremy the Prophet Zedekiah desired the prayers of Ieremy neither did they reuerence him or the doctrine that he deliuered vnto them for they would not obey the words of the Lord which he spake vnto them yet when they were in great distresse Jerem. 37.3 because the Chaldeans did besiege the citie hee sent certaine men vnto him saying Pray now vnto the Lord our God for vs. Behold how the most vngodly are driuen to iustifie this holie ordinance of prayer in such wise that they are compelled to seeke to those sometimes for their prayers whom otherwise they doe not loue neither haue any good opinion of but rather hate them and account them their enemies Euen as those in our time who though they neuer cared for the ministerie of the word nor for the assemblies of Gods people nor for his seruants yet when they are in any great miserie or feare and lie at the point of death are inforced to send to them whom they neuer cared for in their life and to intreate them to pray for them whom they would neuer intreate for any thing before Lastly Simon Magus the Sorcerer heard Peter the Apostle iustlie denounce the fearefull iudgement of God against him for his sinne he fearing it Act. 8.24 desired Peter to pray for him saying Pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye haue spoken may come vpon me This wicked man who of a long time had bewitched the Samaritanes with his sorceries And Simon Magus of Peter saying that himselfe was some great man hoped that al that euill which his sinnes had deserued and which God had threatned against him might by the prayers of his seruants be turned from him and so hee escape them Shall not wee then much more who haue a desire to please God and to walke in his waies hope that the prayers of others shall be auaileable to turne from vs al those euils which our own consciences tell vs we haue iust cause to feare if wee seeke vnto them for them Let vs then in the feare of God and as we loue our owne wealth determine to practise this Christian dutie much more than we haue done and let vs be heartely sorie that for want of it we haue neglected our own good too much What good we might haue gotten if we had sought to others for their prayers For many great things might wee haue obtained many fearefull troubles might wee soone haue been deliuered out of yea some grieuous things that haue befallen vs might haue bin by the grace of God wisely preuented if we had sought vnto others who might haue intreated the Lord for vs. In which
lawful and is lawfully called thereunto as hauing gifts sit for it and comming vnto it by all ordinarie good meanes that God will maintaine them in the same and they should be assured of it in themselues because they are the Lords annointed that is placed in those roomes by him And thus did all the Apostles and the Prophets also before them comfort themselues in those callings of the Church which were full of labor and trouble that they were persuaded that the Lord had set them aworke and they did not come before they were sent otherwise they might haue fainted many times vnder their great burdens And namely thus did the Prophet Ieremie comfort himselfe before the Lord And so did the Prophet Jeremie against the mocks and taunts of his enemies who said that destruction should not come to Ierusalem as he had prophecied because it was still deferred Ierem. 17.15 and so derided the threatnings of God in his mouth saying Where is the word of the Lord let it come now But hee answereth them thus first That the Lord had called him vnto that office of being a Prophet and that he had not thrust in himselfe and then That he had faithfully executed the same therfore prayed God to defend him in the next words Vers 16. But I haue not thrust in my selfe a Pastour after thee neither haue I desired the day of miserie thou knowest that which came out of my lips was right before thee Be not terrible vnto me c. And God heard his prayer for when the citie was destroyed hee was saued and had libertie to goe whether hee would and during the siege God kept him out of the hands of the princes who sought to kill him and though he was once cast into a dungeon yet he was taken out of it againe And thus also when God appeared vnto Moses in the wildernesse in a bush when he was keeping sheep and sent him to deliuer the children of Israel out of their grieuous bondage he doing his message vnto Pharoah the king doth not onely not let them goe but oppresseth them a great deale more whereupon the officers of the children of Israel meeting with Moses and Aaron Exod. 4.20 as they came from the king like men in a great passion brake out into bitter and vnseemely words against them and prayed God to looke vpon them and iudge them for they had made their sauour stinke before Pharoah and before his seruants And Moses the man of God VVhereupon Moses prayeth vnto God and somewhat comforteth himselfe in this trouble with hope of some good successe from his calling that he was the Lords annointed and that hee had sent him to doe that that he did For it is said That hee returned vnto the Lord Verse 22. and said Lord why hast thou afflicted this people Wherefore hast thou sent me for since I came to Pharoah to speake in thy name he hath vexed this people and yet thou hast not deliuered thy people VVhere the ground of his prayer both for himselfe and for the people is this That the Lord had sent him to doe that that he did and therefore he desireth to see some better successe And so may all faithfull ministers of the word of God who are assured that they are called vnto that office place where they are So may all faithfull ministers of Gods word called I say by God and not by men only and so doe deliuer the message of God faithfully vnto them out of his word if all things fall not out with them at the first and they see not that successe of their labours that they desire yea if things seeme to be a great deale worse than they were before they came and themselues are vniustly blamed for it as Moses was here they may with a good conscience goe vnto God in their prayers and seeke redresse saying That he hath sent them to do that they doe and therefore desire the Lord that hee would assist them and blesse them with better successe and then they shall see that the Lord will not forsake them but stand by them and defend them in their calling as it is said here in this Psalme I know that the Lord will helpe his annointed And as he then gaue this answere vnto Moses That it should appeare that he had not called him to that office in vaine but would defend him in it Exod. 6.1 and giue good successe vnto his labours For in the next chapter it is thus written The Lord said vnto Moses Now thou shalt see what I will doe vnto Pharoah for by a strong hand hee shall let them goe and euen bee constrained to driue them out of his land that is he shall feele the Lords hand so heauie vpon him that he should not onely be willing to let them goe though he obstinatly refused it but should by force driue them out as indeed afterwardes hee did as appeareth in the rest of that story Exod. 12.33 And this assurance of our calling must not onely a little comfort vs at the first but in the whole course and ministerie of the same and in all things that shall befall vs in the execution of it that we may with a good conscience pray vnto God that as wee haue not intruded our selues neither haue had our calling onely from men but from him so he would heare vs and helpe vs in all things that we doe according to the same And as no doubt there is great comfort in this that a man is thus assured of his calling and without this he may often be dismaid so in that respect it is requisit It is requisit therefore that euery one should be fully persuaded of the lawfulnesse of his calling that not onely they but all others in their seuerall places should be assured that they haue their callings of God that so they may in faith pray for his defence For this cause we see how immediatly from God the Prophets had their callings to whom God spake and appeared in visions as to Moses to Ezekiel and to Ieremie and the rest how the Iudges were raysed vp extraordinarily that in their great attempts they might be assured that God had called them to that place Iudg. 6.37 and especially how carefull Gedeon was of it by making triall twise in a fleece of woll And how Paule and all the rest of the Apostles were called immediatly by Christ that when they should meet with so many incomberances as they did they might not doubt of their calling and so of Gods protection And so againe what order was set downe by God both for the succession of the Priests and Leuits and for their seuerall offices and places and what for the succession of the kings and what in the new Testament is for the choise of ministers and what in the scripture for magistrates that so all might thereby be assured that they haue their callings from
respect wee haue great cause to be sorie The great losse when the good die whose prayers we had whē the Lord taketh away any good mā or woman for then we want so many that might stil haue prayed for vs and for the Church and so wee are left the more destitute of helpe And if wee ought to lament the death of those who haue been beneficial to vs for worldly things whose helpe wee see now that wee want to our great hindrance then especially should wee be grieued that wee are depriued of the comfortable presence of those to whom in all distresses of bodie or minde wee might resort and communicate our whole estate as Dauid did to Ionathan and might boldly haue desired their prayers and might with great facilitie haue obtained them for vs. Thus much for this part of the title that this Psalme being a prayer of the Church for Dauid hee made it for them and committed it to the singer that he might take order that it should be vsed publikly and so by vertue of it did require that thus they should pray for him One thing more of Dauid is to bee obserued out of the title and the discourse of the whole Psalme namely with what minde and purpose or to what end he desired their prayers Not as purposing to neglect prayer himselfe Dauid in desiring their prayers did not purpose to neglect prayer himself or to grow any whit more slacke in it because of that and so to put off this as a burden from himselfe as one that had other great matters in hand and so to commit it to them that should haue leisure enough As if hee should haue said you know that I must goe out to battell against the Ammonites and in warre wee shall haue our hands full and our mindes taken vp euery way I shall haue no leisure to pray to God there though I know it to be necessarie and would faine doe it I would haue you therefore to pray for me and so trusting to them should neglect this dutie himselfe and so they might haue prayed very doubtingly for him but that they might be the more willing to pray for him in this case hee telleth them and professeth it openly that he would pray to God himselfe and as he should be in any speciall trouble so he would doe it much more earnestly and therefore he would haue them pray to God for him that he would heare those prayers of his So then in requiring this of them hee did not leaue them in suspense to thinke thus he willeth vs to pray for him indeede and so it is our bound dutie to doe and wee will doe it but wee cannot tell whether hee will vse any prayer himselfe which if hee doe not ours shall doe him the lesse good But as hee required their prayers so hee bound himselfe to the like practise No more must kings when their subiects doe pray for them and would haue them also to know it before hand that so they might pray accordingly that God would heare his prayers So that first of all Kings and Princes be they neuer so great must not so require their subiects to pray for them that they shuld thinke it were not needfull for themselues to pray at all for they had enow that daily did it for them euery where And all others that desire the prayers of their brethren must not for that bee any one whit the more remisse and sparing in their owne prayers which is diligently to bee marked of vs because it is contrarie to the common practise of the Church of Rome and of diuers others For the Romish Synagogue maketh Emperours Kings The practise of the Papists is otherwise and great men to beleeue vpon their credit that prayer doth not so necessarily belong vnto them or to such kind of men that doth peculiarly belong to the Clergie and Church-men as they cal them they could pray enough for them and for al the world if they may be wel paid for their labours Therefore if such men as they will but giue some lands and reuenewes to an Abbey or erect a Monastery or some religious house there to be prayed for they shall haue so many continually to pray for them that it maketh no matter though themselues very seldome or not at al pray This kingly prophet or propheticall king was of another minde and so ought all godly and religious not onely Princes but men and women to be But to leaue these men And of some Gospellers and their religious practises to themselues we shall finde this corruption to be in some that are not of the worser sort that when they know that others doe pray for them in sicknesse or otherwise they can be contented to let passe their owne prayers now and then in hope of that and to become somewhat remisse themselues But as Dauids desire was here not onely that they would pray for him but after this manner euen that God would heare his prayers which hee had and would make euery day so doth the Apostle ioyne these two very fitly together and requireth them both of all men alike Jam. 5.13.14 saying Is any man among you afflicted Let him pray Is any sicke among you Let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray for him where he would haue al men to pray for themselues in their seuerall afflictions and to send for others that they might pray for them likewise We must not seuer our own prayers from the prayers of others And as he would not haue them in some cases to content themselues with their owne prayers but send for others to pray with them so hee would not haue them passe ouer their owne prayers in hope of that but begin with them first and pray themselues and if they cannot that way preuaile sufficiently then to call for the aide of others among whom it may come to passe that the prayer of some one righteous man or other might bee so feruent that it might auaile much for them Therefore those things which the Lord by precept and by the practise of his seruants hath ioyned together so neerely let no man put asunder Yet God heareth his seruants for those that neither doe nor can pray for themselues And yet we doe not denie but that such is the goodnes of God to all sorts of men to leaue them without excuse and that hee hath made so many gracious promises vnto the prayers of his seruants that hee often heareth them praying for those who neither pray for themselues at all neither can pray nor haue any purpose to doe it So did he diuers times as hath been declared before heare Moses and Aaron praying for Pharaoh King of Egypt for his Princes and for his people all which had no purpose at all to serue God themselues neither knew how to doe it but did hinder as much as lay in them his people from
and prayed vnto the Lord and then the Prophet was sent again vnto him with this message 2. King 20.7 Thus saith the Lord God of Dauid thy father I haue heard thy prayer and seene thy teares beholde I will adde vnto thy dayes fifteene yeeres and then hee had them take a lumpe of drie figs and they tooke it and laid it on the boyle and he recouered Thus though there were meanes vsed yet God did cure him who had promised life and health vnto him before 2. Chron. 16.12 King Asa was diseased in his feete and his disease grew to some extremitie yet he sought not to the Lord in his disease Asa died of his disease though he had all help of phisick but to the Phisitions and he died of that disease so though he had all meanes of phisicke in his sicknesse yet he dyed of it because the Lord did not heale him And this is the only cause that some fall into sicknesse and some do not and of them some recouer and some doe not euen that the Lord defendeth the one and not the other So that as when God sent his destroying Angell and at his commandement it went through the whole land of Egypt and all the first borne from the first borne of Pharaoh that sate on his throne Exod. 12.29 to the first borne of the captiue that was in prison and all the first borne of beasts so that there was no house where there was not one dead yet the houses of the Israelites were marked with the blood of the Lambe and so none dyed there and that was because that was a token that when the Angell should see the blood he might passe ouer them and so the Lord did not suffer the destroyer to enter into their houses nor the plague to come vpon them to destruction for if God had not kept him out according to his promise they might haue dyed also So then concerning all them that we wish well vnto as wee should doe to all our brethren and for our selues Whether we haue meanes or haue them not all defence from the pestilence is only from God wee see who must be ours and their onely defence and who hath defended vs and them hitherto euen the Lord from whom all things doe come both good and euill therefore to him be thankfull in him trust and to him still pray For what is the cause that this pestilence is so greatly in one part of the land and not in another and in the same citie and towne why is it in one part or in one house and not in another and in the same house why is it vpon one and not vpon all the rest when they all liue together and draw in the same breath and eate and drinke together and lodge in the same chamber yea sometimes in the same bed what is the cause of this but that it pleaseth the Lord in wisdom for some cause to defend some for a time and not the rest Therfore let vs beleeue that in these dangerous times God must bee our onely defence and the defence of all others There are ordinary means I grant to bring the plague into a place and meanes to keep it out by the blessing of God but who giueth those meanes but God and who blesseth them and maketh them effectuall but he or who worketh without them or aboue them but onely he Therefore let vs beleeue this that all defence both in this sicknesse and all other dangers for our selues and for others is only from God and so in that faith let vs pray as these doe here not only for our selues but for others that are in danger of the plague The name of the God of Iacob defend you Therefore when in any sicknes or otherwise we haue neuer so good meanes let vs not trust to them 1. Sam. 2.6 but to the Lord who onely killeth and reuiueth bringeth downe to hell and raiseth vp againe King Asa as wee haue heard trusted to the Phisitions Therefore we must not trust to the means for God can frustrate thē and sought vnto thē in his sicknes and so though he being a King had many about him the most skilfull that could bee gotten and all helpes that Art could affoord yet he died Wee ought then to vse all good means in this time of the pestilence but not trust to thē but in the liuing God for without him all Phisitions al Phisick shall doe vs no good For God can for a time infatuate the wisest Physitions that they shall not discerne of the nature of the diseases and to bee able to doe it alwaies is the speciall gift of God and when they haue found it out yet at that time they shall not wisely and according to art prescribe but commit some great error if they do al this well it may come too late when we are past helpe if it come in time we may dislike it and our heart goe against it if wee be desirous to take it the things cannot be had or not had in time conuenient and when all is readie wee shall be so weake that we are not able to take them if we do doe they brooke not with vs and we cannot beare them if we doe yet they haue lost their force and are not well compounded and if they be yet they shall not worke at all or to any purpose if they doe yet not as they should and so they shall doe vs no good though wisely prescribed and carefully taken Therefore as in the great famine that was in Samaria when a woman cried vnto him saying Helpe my Lord 2. King 6.27 O King he answered Seeing the Lord doth not succour thee how should I helpe thee with the barne or with the wine-presse He said that hee could not helpe her in this famine vnlesse the Lord did helpe by sending and blessing the meanes as afterwards he did So when wee seeke vnto the Physitions and crie to them for helpe they may answere or we for them that they cannot help vs vnlesse God help God can help vs and heale vs when all meanes doe faile vs. Deut. 9.9 1. King 19.8 But on the contrarie when all meanes faile vs God can defend vs if it please him from all danger for he made all of nothing therefore he can doe any thing without them He that preserued Moses and Helias fortie daies without meate and drinke can preserue vs when all meanes faile vs. Iesus Christ who in the daies of his flesh healed all diseases with his word and did but say to the dumme and deafe Be open and they could presently heare and speake Mar. 7.34 and that said to the leapers whose disease was deadly and infectiue as the plague is I will be thou cleane and they were immediatly healed euen somtimes many together Matth. 8.3 Luk. 17.14 is able by the same word of his now when all power is giuen vnto him in heauen
to the King and we haue one in the Court to follow it wee hope wee shall not be forgotten especially if wee haue the Prince the Kings eldest sonne to make suite for vs. So seeing Christ Iesus doth deale for vs in heauen wee may bee assured that God will remember all prayers made according to his will in repentance and faith Therefore if wee haue done any thing all this while God will remember vs if wee haue done nothing then God must needes forget to blesse vs for there is nothing done for which he might remember vs. This should make vs forward in prayer and in all good things This should make al men feruent in prayer forward in all duties that so they might leaue thē as it were with God and they might bee before him night and day for a remembrance of them And that as we haue many sinnes for which hee may remember to punish vs so our repentance faith prayer seruice done to his Maiestie obedience to his word of conscience in al his commaundements and that in secret and all the good that we haue done to our brethren might also speak for vs and put him in remembrance of vs for our good That as it is written of Nehemiah that worthie seruant of God who often in the testimonie of a good conscience prayeth Nehem. 13.14 Remember me O my God and wipe not out my kindnes that I haue shewed on the house of God and on the officers thereof Vers 31. And againe Remember me O my God in goodnes So wee may pray for our selues and others in faith for vs that God would remember vs and them according to al the seruice wee haue done to him This I say should make all forward and zealous in Gods seruice both as they be Christians and in their seuerall callings that there might bee something for which they might pray themselues and others for them that God would remember them And whereas they pray for the King that God would remember all his prayers and seruices we see that we may not onely pray to God that hee would remember what wee haue done and that we now doe and what we haue done before the staying of this visitation and hope that he will remember all nay be assured of it Pray for them vnder the Plague that God would remember their former seruices though now they can doe none But pray also for all our brethren in al places that God would remember what they haue prayed and done and the fasts that haue beene in all places and are still and that all our prayers together may still speake for vs. Yea we may pray that God would heare them that are visited with his hand and not only that which they now pray but that that they haue done before when they were in health and though they cannot do as they would nay it may be for paine speake one word as hee requireth yet if they haue done any thing in truth before that he would now in this time of their neede remember that and them for it and so no doubt he will And this is a singular fruite of those that neglect not the time of prayer and of Gods seruice when they may that they shall bee remembred for it hereafter and for that which they haue done before when for the time present they shall be able to doe nothing as Dauid when he was fighting could not alwaies pray as he would and as his need required but hee desireth them to pray that God would remember that which hee had prayed before when he was able to doe it It followeth And turne thy burnt offerings into ashes The second part of this verse This is the second part of the verse where they pray that God would turne his burnt offerings into ashes that is that God would some waies declare that he had heard his prayer and receiued his seruices for where hee speaketh of sacrifices it was according to the manner of Gods seruice in those dayes where they did so offer but these were not without prayer as we see in the fourth verse in this Psalme By which prayer they sought to God that those sins for which they did offer sacrifices might be pardoned in the death of Christ whereof those sacrifices especially whole burnt offerings were a type and figure to shew that Christ should wholy offer vp himselfe to God for vs. Therfore it is said that the Priest when they brought their sacrifices Leuit. 4.20.26.31.35 should make an atonement for them that is pray to God for them to forgiue them So that though he nameth only sacrifices yet he meaneth prayer and other seruices done according to the word And when they pray that God would turne them into burnt ashes that is consume them with fire as it were sent from heauen God turned the sacrifices of Aaron into ashes he hath respect to that that God had done before thereby testifying that he did accept of their sacrifices and prayers For thus did he to Aaron when he was first consecrated to the office of the Priesthood That the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people Leuit. 9.23 and there came a fire out from the Lord and consumed vpon the alter the burnt offering and the fat which when the people saw they gaue thankes and fell on their faces Thus when the sacrifice was laid vpon the altar fire came from the Lord and consumed it and so the people when they saw it gaue thanks for by this signe they did see that God did alow of the sacrifice of Aaron and of his Priesthood So they desire of God that he would some way shew that he had heard the prayer of the King And of Salomon So again when Salomon dedicated the temple had made a long and zealous prayer for all those that should pray in that house 2. Chron. 7.1 and had prepared a sacrifice to be offred Fire came from heauen and consumed the burnt offering and the glory of the Lord filled the temple so that by this signe God did shew to them all that hee had heard the prayer of Salomon for the hallowing of that house to be the house of prayer for al nations And to conclude this poynt And of Elijah when the Prophet Elijah in the dayes of king Ahab in great zeale to call the people from their idolatry caused all the Priests of Baal to be gathered together 1. King 18.20 and they had two bullocks to be offered one for them and another for himselfe and there should be no fire put to the offerings but that God that should send fire from heauen vpō them should bee taken to bee the true God and worshipped of them The Priests of Baal because they were many began first and continued crying to him for fire vntill noone and could not bee heard Elijah at the time of the euening sacrifice prepared his and caused ditches