wandering on such a Mountain or in such a Wilderness To behold him persecuted not onely from one place to another but from one Nation to another People you would not expect a Crown to be set upon his head but his head sooner or later to be taken from his shoulders His own expectations ebbed so low that he said in his heart 1 Sam. xxvii 1. I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul In the like hasty fit he giveth all men the lie Psal cxvi 11. Samuel and all that ever had said word of his advancement to the Kingdom After Sauls death David knowing that he had Sons enough to succeed him Soldiers enough to defend him in it durst not set a foot within the Kingdom 2 Sam. ii 1. till he had first enquired of the Lord So improbable it was that ever he should be set as head over it But God who perfecteth strength in weakness and whose counsels must stand yet setteth his King up and setteth him up by those hands which had been most active to pull him down Abner who had been Captain-General to Saul the Father and Ishbosheth the Son and was the very Man to make Ishbosheth King in Sauls stead 2 Sam. ii 8 9. is now also the Man to bring about all Israel unto David 2 Sam. iii. 12 c. I have led you thorow the words as they relate immediately to David and his advancement to the Kingdom and spent some time upon this as being the clew to all the rest But as S. Austin in another case said of Doeg Vnus homo est Doeg Enar. in Psa LI. sed genus hominum est Doeg So may I say of David in this David in himself is one Man but in figure and representation a great many Not meerly Persona Regis the Person of a King but Persona Regum the Pourtraicture of Kings one that beareth the Person of them all and in this Text more especially You must therefore give me leave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to transfer it in a figure to all Christian Kings and they will appear to be so many correct copies of it And First For the Person exalting the I of the Text looks directly upon them all Soveraignty is a ray of Divinity and Kings Humani Joves so many Earthly Gods represent Gods Person hold his place have the impress of his Power Psal lxxxii 6. Dixi Dii estis I have said ye are gods saith God himself of such Men and none but God could give them the character If they are Gods they cannot be of mans making Tertul. Apol. No inde Potestas unde Spiritus Thence cometh their Power whence their Life and Breath cometh They are Kings Dei gratiâ by the Grace of God The Pagan Attribute of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Jove-born God hath adopted into the Family of Religion and made Canonical ye are all the children of the most High Psal lxxxii 6. His own stile written upon his thigh is King of Kings Now as S. Austin asks the question Aug. Tom. 4. qu. in Gen. 6◠alibi Quid Deus coeli ad femur Abrahae What Relation hath the God of Heaven to Abrahams thigh So here Quid Reges terrae ad femur Dei What Relation have the Kings of the Earth to the thigh of the God of Heaven But that E femore descendunt they have their descent thence and derive their pedigree from it The emblem of old was an hand out of a Cloud setting the Crown on And though sometime it is the right hand when God giveth good and gracious Kings Sometime the left when he giveth evil and oppressive ones yet both are dispensed by his hand Thus is the I of the Text upon them all and all they have or are his His to set up his to pull down and his onely Then Secondly For the Exaltation it self He setteth Kings seateth them in their Kingdoms and setleth them there Their tenure is not onely Per me Reges By me Kings are Prov. viii 15. but Per me regnant By me they Reign i. e. Enjoy their place exercise their power are upheld in both In all this his hand is established with them Psal lxxx 17. and his arm also strengthens them His hand of providence is over all for their good but they are viri dexterae the men of his right hand Great deliverance giveth he unto his King Psal xviii 50. and sheweth mercy i. e. Special mercy to his Anointed and to his seed for evermore Solomons Throne was built with stays the word is hands on either side 1 Kings x. 19. And if God had not established the throne and him in it with his own hands his Twelve Lion supporters on the one side and on the other could not have done it Was it not for this Divine Manutenency Kings would never be set up or so soon as up they would be thrown down again and he is careless or wilful who seeth not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 somewhat divine in this The Heathens did and shall Christians be blinde to it They wondered to behold whole Nations and in them such varieties of humors and interests at the beck of one man perhaps a woman perhaps a childe to have Estates Lives Liberties all at his disposal and yet to hug their chains with a chearful freedom The depraved nature of Man inclineth him otherwise Singuli regnum in pectore gerimus Each man carrieth a Kingdom in his bosom and would admit no Sovereign but himself They had rather be miserable in place and power then live in an humble though happy subjection The vilest bramble would not willingly stoop to the Royal Oak but is more ready to say Judg. ix 15. Let fire come out of the Bramble and devour the glory of Lebanon Onely God by a miracle of Power and Providence uniteth all these petty Kings for such they affect to be under one and delivereth him from the strivings of his people That for the Exaltation it self Then Thirdly For the State of Exaltation that of a King God setteth not up a Democracy wherein the popular equality of the many nor yet an Aristocracy wherein the factious ambition of a few beareth all the swey Much less an Anarchy or lawless confusion where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No body heareth nothing of no body but he setteth his King one and that one invested with the Regal Office and Authority up This Government God dedicated in himself Psal xlvii 7. and in his own administration of the World For God is the King of all the Earth and he consigned many myriads of Angels to everlasting flames for but a thought of competition with him in this his Monarchical Honor. He hath settled the Church as well as the World in the very same way under Jesus Christ the King of Saints Revel xv 3. and other Kings the Christian more especially are his Vice-roys This he set and
Duke of York and the rest of that Royal Family And may there never want a Man of that Race to sway the Scepter of these Kingdoms so long as the Sun and the Moon endureth Pray we for the Ministers of Gods holy Word and Sacraments for the most Reverend the Archbishops the Right Reverend the Bishops and other inferior Priests and Deacons For the Lords of His Majesties most Honorable Privy Council for the whole Nobility for the Judges and Magistracy that All and every of these in their several places and callings may serve truly and painfully to the honor and glory of God the edifying and well governing of his people committed to their charge the setling and securing the interest of his Church and the establishing of Peace with Truth and Righteousness in these Kingdoms remembring the severe accompt which they must all one day make Pray we for all Schools of Religion and good Learning for the two famous Vniversities of this Land Cambridge and Oxford For all the Commons of these Realms that they may live in the true Faith and Fear of God in humble and loyal Obedience to His Majesty and in Brotherly Love and Charity one towards another Finally Bless and Praise we God for all his Mercies and Blessings National and Personal Temporal and Spiritual for the happy Restoration of our Dread Soveraign to His Kingdoms and therein of the Kingdoms to themselves to their Religion Laws Liberties Proprieties again For all those that have departed this life in Gods holy Faith and Fear beseeching God to give us grace so to direct our life after their good example that we together with them may be made partakers of his everlasting Kingdom For these and all needful Mercies and Blessings pray and praise we God in the Name and Words of his dear Son our alone Saviour and Intercessor saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. The first Prospect of the Words is as they relate immediately to David and his advancement to the Kingdom wherein not one Iota or title of them failed And 1 For the Person exalting David to the Kingdom it was God and God with his right hand Psa lxxviii 71. He took him from following the Ews great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance Not the diffusive not the collective Body of the people could pretend an interest to whom God left nothing but to admit and accept him â— Sam. i. 10. Lest any Man of Israel should put in for a share he brought Sauls Crown and Bracelet the Ensigns of his Majesty to him by the hand of an Amalekite And as he was Gods King not theirs so of Gods making not his own He might once and again have made way for himself by dispatching Saul out of it and necessity and providence the late great pleas and pretences amongst us might seem to lead him to it as it were by the hand Yet David would neither do it himself nor suffer those whose fingers itched to be doing The Kingdom of Heaven may suffer violence from him but this earthly one never shall May Saul live long and enjoy it to himself he will be content with the reversion Then 2 For the Exaltation it self God by these steps carried him up to the height of of it First he ordained and appointed him to it when there was no intention no imagination of him otherwise Psa lxxxix 19. till God spake of it in vision to his Prophet Having thus appointed Psa lxxxix 20. God anointed him in token of it anointed him with his own holy Oyl and that far above his fellows When he had thus prevented him with the Blessings of Goodness Psal xxi 3. he at length put a Crown of pure Gold upon his head And he that had been hunted as a Partridge upon the Mountains is in the end set and settled upon Gods holy Hill of Sion Set I say and setled also as fast as Gods own hand and arm could settle him Psa lxxxix 21. and this not in his person onely but in his posterity too God as if he would exalt exaltation it self speaketh of his House for a great while to come His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the Sun before me Psal lxxxix 36. Thus also 3 For the state of Exaltation it was that of a King A King of a rich and populous Kingdom in which above Thirty Kings were accompted at the first conquest of it Josh xii and yet this as if too little eeked out with other Nations 2 Sam. lviii 11. whom the Lord made tributary to him A King with all his Royal Complements A Throne set up over Israel and Judah 2 Sam. iii. 10. from Dan to Beersheba Psal cxxxii 18. A Crown a flourishing Crown yea 2 Sam. xii 30. Crown upon Crown that of Ammon which weighed a Talent of Gold being added to that of Israel A Sword for suppressing Rebels at home Psal xviii 39. and subduing enemies abroad even all those that rose up against him Gen. xlix 10. A Scepter which should not depart from Judah till Shiloh came In short whatever might contribute to glory or safety make him venerable at home and terrible abroad met together in him as one whom God had made his First born Psal lxxxix 27. high above the Kings of the Earth That nothing might be wanting now followeth 4 The Seat of his Kingdom Sion the Mountain of Gods Holiness or Gods holy Hill of Sion And here we have two Suns shining in one Firmament The same sphere for God and the King In that very place Psal cxxxii 13 17. which God had chosen as an habitation for himself even there he maketh the Horn of David to bud Beds and Thrones we say admit no rivals yet in Mount Sion Psal cxxii 5. where God had pitched his own Throne upon Earth there are set Thrones of Judgment the Thrones of the House of David Psal cxxxv 2. and where God keeps his Courts Psal cxxxii 14. the King keeps his also This is my rest for ever here will I dwell saith God for I have desired it Howbeit he will not dwell alone but will have his King dwell there too as if he could not rest without him And though God of old had devoted this Hill for himself to set his Name there yet he reserveth the conquest of it for David that he and his King might take possession together and become as it were Joynt-tenants to it And now they are in peaceable possession of the Seat we will leave them there and go on to the last considerable 5 The irresistible Power of God in all this who notwithstanding all the resistances that were made and rubs that were laid in the way yet setteth his King upon his holy Hill of Sion To behold David one while cooped up in such a Cave another while lurking in such a Wood anon
A SERMON PREACHED AT WHITEHAL UPON The 29th day of May. 1670. Being the day of HIS MAJESTIES BIRTH AND HAPPY RESTORATION By JOHN LAKE D. D. Late Rector of S. Botolphs without Bishopsgate London Published by His Majesties Command SAVOY Printed by Tho. Newcomb for William Grantham at the sign of the Bear in S. Paul's Church-yard 1670. PSAL. II. 6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion UPon an Exaltation Time here is an Exaltation Text. The Text relateth to one person the Time to another But Kings both Gods own Kings both both resisted and rejected of Men yet both set by God upon his holy Hill of Sion This King taken literally no doubt was King David both the Author and subject matter of this Psalm Taken mystically it is Christ the King of Saints whose Father as David was according to the Flesh so he was a Figure of him in his Kingdom Analogically and in just proportion of Reason it extendeth to all other Kings duly constituted at least such as serve and worship the true God and submit their Scepter to that of Christ All Christian Kings this King compriseth then but some more especially such as have a more direct correspondence with David in the like occurrences and events Upon this peculiar accompt cometh in our King above most Kings that have been in the World since Davids time Set up and set up in the same manner by the same means or rather by the same immediate Hand of Providence that David was Never might God have said with greater emphasis or more apt signification Yet have I set my King upon my holy Hill of Sion And as the Text suteth the Person of our King so at this time more particularly Upon this very day he was born to the hopes and expectations of Three Kingdoms and upon this same day by a strange concurrence of Providences he was brought back after a long and tedious banishment to the possession and enjoyment of them Well therefore may this Time challenge an interest a double interest in the Text. This is the day which the Lord hath made which he hath twice made twice made memorable Together with the Regem Constitui of the Text Yet have I set my King c. Herein meets the Hodie genui of the next Verse Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee There is a somewhat strange expression Psal CX 3. The dew of thy birth is of the Womb of the Morning yet it findeth fit allusion here The birth of our King this day had a fruitful dew in it which hath made it teem with Mercies and Blessings to himself and in him to us His Kingdom was calculated in his Nativity and both his Person and Office have one date To set all this the better off and to set forth the honor of God and his King more in it and by it we have in the words these considerables I. The Person exalting in the Pronouns I and My. It is Ego Rex meus I and my King whereby as Kings acquire a just power so God a just propriety in them and by a peculiar title and interest they become his II. The Exaltation it self Have set i. e. Have ordained consecrated constituted not onely appointed and anointed him to the Kingdom but set and settled him in it Which maketh the Exaltation full and compleat III. The State of Exaltation and this like the Author of it most high and honorable even that of a King Then which God could finde nothing greater or better to grace David his servant or yet Christ his own Son with IV. The Seat of his Kingdm and that sutable and answerable to the State of Exaltation Even Gods holy Hill of Sion This as it relateth to David is to be taken literally for an Hill of that name on the North-side of Jerusalem which David having won out of the hands of the Jebusites who till his time held a strong Garrison upon it made the Seat of his Kingdom and erected his Royal Palace there As relating to Christ it is to be taken Figuratively for the Gospel Church and so it is set in opposition to Mount Sinai which typed out the Church under the administration of the Law As it may and doth relate to all Christian Kings and our King more especially it is to be taken Morally And so it denoteth 1 Their Soveraignty being an Hill 2 The Sacredness of their Person and Office being an holy Hill 3 Their Supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil being Gods own holy Hill of Sion V. Here is the irresistible power of God in all this who notwithstanding all the Consultations and Combinations of Men to the contrary still carrieth on his counsel to perfection and yet sets his King upon his holy Hill of Sion Of these in their order and that under a threefold aspect First As they relate immediately to David and his advancement to the Kingdom Secondly As they are applicable to other Kings by parity of Reason Thirdly As in respect of peculiar resemblance they concern our King and were this day accomplished in him For their mystical reference to Christ I wave as the work of another day viz. the day of Christ his Resurrection not this But before I descend to these particulars Let us Pray That God will be merciful unto us and bless us and lift up the Light of his countenance upon us and be merciful unto us That he will take away all iniquity and receive us graciously heal our back-slidings love us freely and crown the miraculous mercy of this day with that of a joyful and blissful eternity And that his way may be known upon earth and his saving health amongst all Nations Pray we for Christs holy Catholick Church for these Churches of Great Britain and Ireland that no weapon which is formed against the Church may prosper that every Tongue which shall rise up in judgment against her God would condemn Pray we herein more especially for our Dread Soveraign Lord Charles the Second by the especial Grace of God of England Scotland France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith and in all Causes and over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Civil within these His Majesties Realms and other His Dominions Supream Governor That God who hath set his King upon his holy Hill of Sion would settle Him there where the sons of wickedness and violence may repine at but never reach Him That he would keep Him safe under the shadow of his wings from the pride and malice of Men and from the strife of Tongues That His glory may be great in Gods Salvation and that He may reflect that glory back upon God again by doing Him honor and service till He shall change His corruptible for an incorruptible Crown and His transitory Kingdoms for one that cannot be shaken Pray we for His Royal Consort our Gracious Queen Catherine for the most illustrious Prince James