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
know it well enough yea their children kneele downe and aske them blessing and put them in minde of it and notwithstanding al this many doe forget it and though they cast out certaine words of course yet they doe not thereupon determine seriously to pray for them what would they doe then if their children by asking them their daily blessing should not put them in minde of it at all Therefore euery manner of way we see what great reason there is of this to desire others to pray for vs and so much for this present THE SECOND SERMON vpon the inscription To him that excelleth A Psalme of Dauid THat I might prosecute that argument which I began the last day as you heard wee want not examples in the Scripture for the practise of this dutie Example of those that haue desired others to pray for them 1. Sam. 1.6 in the faithful seruants of God men and women of al sorts who haue wel seene in how great need they haue stood of the prayers of others and haue accordingly desired the same Hannah the wife of Elkanah a very godlie woman as appeareth in her storie being barren and thereby being vpbraided of her aduersarie was troubled in her minde and prayed vnto the Lord and wept sore and she prayed for a manchild not so much for her self as for the glory of God for she vowed him vnto God in her prayer Hannah desired Hely to pray for her Hely the Priest sitting in the Temple before her and perceiuing her lips onely to moue but not hearing a word thought she had been drunken and told her so but she said no and told him what she did then Hely prayed God to heare her prayers Vers 17. saying Goe in peace and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him Then she said againe Let thine handmaid finde grace in thy sight that is I beseech thee pray for me still as now thou hast done that God would grant me my petition for what grace or fauour else could she meane seeing that in other things as for the ill opinion hee had conceiued of her she had satisfied him before and so God heard them both as appeareth in the sequell of that storie The Israelites also being in feare of the Philistims So did the Israelites desire Samuel to pray for them Chap. 7.8 came to Samuel the Prophet and desired him that as hee had prayed for them alreadie so hee would not cease to doe it still saying Cease not to crie vnto the Lord our God for vs that hee may saue vs out of the hand of the Philistims and he did so and the Lord heard him Vers 10. and thundred with a great thunder that day vpon the Philistims and scattered them so they were slaine before Israel Here many seeke to one for his prayers then much more may one seeke to many for theirs When Rabshakeh was sent by the King of Ashur with a great hoast against Ierusalem and came vp to the walles of the citie and spake blasphemously against the Lord and against his annointed Hezekiah the King came into the house of the Lord and prayed 2. King 19.1 Hezekiah desired the prayers of Isaiah and sent messengers vnto the Prophet Isaiah desiring him that he would pray for them saying Lift thou vp thy prayer for the remnant that are left and he did so and God heard him for them and the same night the Angell of the Lord went out Vers 35. and smote in the campe of the Assyrians an hundreth fourescore and fiue thousand Paul also the Apostle as we haue heard alreadie desireth the Romanes to pray for him saying Brethren I beseech you for our Lord Iesus Christs sake Rom. 15.30 And Paul of the Romanes and Corinthians 2. Cor. 1.10 and for the loue of the Spirit that yee would striue with mee by prayer to God for me And so doth he to that end intreate the Corinthians with these words God hath deliuered vs from a great death in whom we trust that yet hereafter hee will deliuer vs so that yee labour together in prayer for vs. This holy man who was often in prayer for himselfe and for all Churches desireth others to pray for him Thus the best seruants of God as they haue not neglected this benefit of prayer from their brethren so they had the fruit and comfort of it in great measure and truly if wee beleeue rightly the Communion of Saints and that God hath appointed one to doe good to another by the graces that hee hath bestowed vpon them why should wee not thinke that part of the communion consisteth in this that wee communicate in the spirit of prayer as well as in the spirit of counsell or of comfort and that this way we may giue and receiue helpe one from another as well as any other way Hester that noble and vertuous Queene who as it seemeth had vsed often to pray her selfe Hester desireth the Iewes to fast and pray for her and with her maides else she could not haue promised that for them which she did in a matter that greatly concerned the glorie of God and the good of his Church doth not onely pray her selfe with her seruants three daies and three nights Hest 4.16 and that with fasting but doth desire that all the Iewes that were in that citie would doe the like for her So that sometimes wee had need not onely to desire others to pray for vs but euen to fast and pray for vs. The wicked haue bin constrained to desire the prayers of others and haue gotten great good by them And truly the vertue and power of the prayer of one man is so auaileable for another that the very wicked haue seene it and been driuen to acknowledge it and so haue desired the seruants of God to pray for them and haue had great benefit thereby Then if the vngodly and prophane men of the world who are not at all acquainted with prayer yet haue thought that the prayers of others might doe them good then they that know what prayer doth meane and that haue accustomed themselues to prayer and haue obserued the fruite of it in themselues may bee assured that the prayers of others shall be of like or a great deale more force for them If they whose consciences tels them that for their vngodlinesse they are altogether out of Gods fauour and so they had no heart to pray to him themselues neither had any hope that hee would heare them yet haue had some hope that God might heare some others for them and so haue sought vnto them for their prayers then how much more they who liuing in a good course haue hope that God is wel pleased with them in Christ may be perswaded that God will most willingly heare others for them and so in great faith desire their prayers And to conclude if they that are not of the Church of God but
heard them and one of them for another as the people of Ierusalem for Dauid their King the Prophet Isaiah for Hezekiah and the rest of the people and the captiued Iewes for Hester the Queene and her for them so will hee doe one of vs for another So that if we daily giue our selues to prayer and make conscience to vse that holy ordinance of God our selues wee may in great faith and hope desire the prayers of others And thus much for him that made the prayer whose name is prefixed in the title of it now for them that vsed it which was the Church of God at Ierusalem which is to be gathered out of the discourse of the whole Psalme but I cannot enter into it at this present I will reserue it vntill the next day THE THIRD SERMON vpon the first verse The Lord heare thee in the day of trouble the name of the God of Iacob defend thee The people pray for the King as they were desired THese are the words of the people which they spake vnto God in the behalfe of their King and so they did as Dauid desired them namely pray for him If they did thus pray for him being desired thereunto and it was their bound dutie so to doe and they knew it to be so and therefore did make conscience of it and it had bin a very great fault for them to haue failed in it then by consequence it followeth of necessitie that whensoeuer any of our brethren or sisters in Christ shall desire this dutie at our hands So must we do for all those that desire our prayers wee must bee carefull to performe it and it were a fault not to be excused in vs both against God and them to faile in it Therefore wee must not thinke that when godly men and women at their parting or otherwise desire our prayers and say I pray you pray for me or remember me in your prayers that these are words of course though I doe not denie but that many doe so vse them and so doing they take the name of God in vaine but wee should be perswaded that out of the abundance of their feeling of their owne wants they speake vnto vs and so be willing by our prayers to helpe to supplie them Especially when they shall make their estate known vnto vs And especially wee should doe it when they shall make knowne their estate vnto vs as here Dauid did to the people giuing them to vnderstand that he should or might be in great daunger of his enemies and so it was a time of trouble vnto him as he called it and as the Apostle S. Iames speaketh Acknowledge your faults one to another and pray one for another Jam. 5.16 that ye may be healed that when the sicke should send for godly and graue men and so they should not onely see their estate for bodily health but they should also for their owne further comfort confesse vnto them their speciall sinnes which they finde to haue been the cause of them that then they would bee most willing to pray for them being sent for to that end especially So then if we see plainly that they haue cause to desire our prayers and that they doe it with earnestnes then most of all should we thinke vpon them and vpon their estate to pray for them and it must needes bee a great fault to forget them For as if any should bee in distresse or want and should stand in neede of our helpe for meate and drinke and cloathing or other things and should come and make their moane vnto vs and desire reliefe from vs if we seeing their estate to be so pitifull as indeede it is should not be mooued in compassion to helpe them according to our abilitie it were a token of great hardnes of heart in vs So much more when any shall make knowne their wants vnto vs to that end that we might pray to God for them if wee should forget it or neglect to doe it it should bewray too great want of fellow-feeling and brotherly compassion in vs. Most of all this dutie of prayer ought to bee carefullie performed And most of al when thereupon we haue promised to pray for them Psal 15.4 when wee haue promised it vnto any vpon such notice of their estate for as all promises made to our brethren ought to be kept yea though it bee to our owne hindrance so those most of all that so neerely concerne them And as if when any should desire vs to speak to some great man for them and wee promise to doe it and they trust to it hoping that we will be as good as our words it were a great deceit in vs to faile them and so to frustrate their expectation For all lawfull promises must be kept So when any haue desired vs to speake to God for them and vpon our promise they would comfort themselues ouer it if we should by negligence deceiue them it were a great fault in vs and that which the Lord would require at our hands though they should neuer know of it Therefore as we ought dâ—â—y to pray one for another vnasked as our Sauiour Christ hath taught vs O our Father which art in heauen giue vs this day and forgiue vs our trespasses and leade vs not into temptation c so more specially and by name should we do it for them that haue desired it of vs. And so parents especially should not forget their children in their prayers which daily aske their blessing and hope to be blessed of God by their prayers Secondarily if wee should neglect to pray for them that haue desired it at our hands Els they that we trust vnto shal neglect to pray for vs. how could we haue any hope that others whom we haue desired to pray for vs should performe that dutie vnto vs Nay might not wee iustly feare that they would altogether neglect it seeing we doe neglect them and should it not be iust with God so to punish vs according to the saying of our Sauiour Christ Matth. 7.2 Looke with what measure you meat vnto others it shal be met vnto you againe And I remember that this was the saying of a reuerend father in the Church who is now fallen asleepe in the Lord when any desired him to pray for them as many did and more then any that I haue knowne he would say vnto them I pray you pray for me and pray that I may remember you and then I hope I shall not forget you Therefore if we would haue others pray for vs let vs pray for them for wee can neuer haue greater assurance that they will doe it for vs than that we are carefull to doe it for them and the more that we doe it for them the more may we hope that they will do it for vs. For the spirit of God that mooueth vs pray and knoweth much more that we doe so it being
the searcher and the mouer of the hearts shall also moue them to doe the like for vs that this promise 〈◊〉 be verified vnto vs. Which if it be true very often of them that are not desired at all that by the secret operation of the spirit of God which quickeneth the whole bodie of Christ and euery part of it then much more of them that are desired and know the estate one of another Therefore if the King would haue his subiects to pray for him he must pray for them Therfore if we would haue others pray vs let vs pray for them if Noblemen would haue their Chaplens pray for them of conscience they must pray for them also if the Bishops would haue the Ministers remember theÌ„ in their prayers they must not forget them in theirs and so these great personages must not thinke that all should remember them and yet forget all and that it should be a great fault in their inferiours if at any time they should but once forget them in their publike prayers and yet it should bee no fault in themselues though they doe continually forget them So if the Minister would haue his people to pray for him as the Apostle often willeth the Church of God to pray for him then he must remember publikely and priuately to pray for them so must children doe for their parents if they would haue their blessing and the benefit of their prayers so must the husband do for the wife and one neighbour and friend for another For the more wee pray for them the more shall they pray for vs yea though they know not at all that we pray for them and if they should neglect it yet no doubt some or other shall doe it for this saying of him that is truth it selfe must needs be true Looke with what measure you mete vnto others Luk. 6.36 with the same it shall be mete vnto you euen heaped vp pressed downe and running ouer into your bosome Prou. 11.17 Therefore as he that is mercifull rewardeth his owne soule so hee that performeth this worke of mercie to pray for others in their neede rewardeth himselfe and shall haue others pray for him in his greatest need And as hee that soweth plentifully 2 Cor. 6.6 shall reape plentifully so he that soweth this dutie of prayers plentifully for others shall reape againe so many and more from others The knowledge of this should make vs willing to pray for others especially being desired thereunto fâ—â—â—ee shall lose nothing thereby but gaine greatly Therefore if not for the good of others yet for our owne let vs be willing to pray for others and herein let vs fulfill the saying of Christ Whatsoeuer you would haue men doe vnto you Matth. 7.12 euen so doe you vnto them If we doe not pray for others we shall the lesse reioyce in all blessings of God vpon them Thirdly seeing the end of our prayers for others is that we might thereby obtaine such things for them as they neede when God shall lbesse them in soule and body and euery way else according to their owne desire and in these things we shall haue prayed for them also we shall haue so much the more cause to reioyce with them and to be thankefull to God for them when we not onely see that God hath blessed them but blessed them at our prayers and so we haue our part in those benefits Whereas if we should neglect it God might heare them selues or others for them or both but we shall haue little comfort in those benefits because by neglecting to pray for them we haue had no hand in them Nay we shall be the more sory that so great things are befallen them and we haue not furthered them therein as we might and as we were desired Rom. 12.15 For as if our friend haue a suite to some noble man and we by some meanes haue furthered them therein and they haue obtained it as it were partly by our meanes wee then speake and thinke of it with the more ioy and comfort but if they preuailed therein by themselues or by others without vs it will grieue vs that we haue not yeelded them that helpe that we might so is it in the suites that men make in their prayers vnto the Lord. For if we should as the Apostle saith be so affectioned one to another that we should reioyce with them that reioyce and be heartily glad of any good that God bestoweth vpon others and be thankefull to him for it seeing we are brethren nay members one of another then most of all should we doe it when such benefits are bestowed vpon them partly by our meanes Therefore that we might continually reioyce in all the good that God bestoweth vpon others let vs be willing and carefull to pray to him for a supplie of all such wants as they shall make knowne vnto vs. In which respect euery one should be mindfull to pray for the Church of God in their time especially for that part of it wherein they liue and for the common-wealth and for our gouernours in both Therefore we should pray for the church and common-wealth in our time that so wee might reioyce with others and bee thankefull to God with them for all the common benefits of our time As for example if wee haue and doe pray for the life and honour of our most gracious King how glad may we be to heare of his miraculous deliuerance from most notable treasons as they professe verse 5 And if we doe pray for the staying of the Pestilence euery where how may wee reioyce to heare that the Lorde diminisheth his heauy hand in any place So if we pray for seasonable weather with others wee may haue the more comfort in it when the Lord shall send it And to conclude if we pray for the blessing of God vpon the ministerie of the word 2. Thessal 3.1 that it may haue free passage and bee glorified as the Apostle willeth and that the Lord would giue an increase to that that is planted and watered from time to time then how may it reioyce our hearts to see sinners conuerted vnto the Lord or any good to be done thereby Otherwise as Mordochey said to Hester If she did not helpe Hest. 4.14 God could send deliuerance to his Church from some other place so if wee refuse to pray for these things God may send helpe by the prayers of others but we shall haue so much the lesse comfort in them Fourthly and last of all We must beleeue that our prayers may doe much good to others that wee might bee the more willing to pray for others wee must bee perswaded that God will heare vs for them and that this way we shall be beneficiall vnto them for the Lord will bestowe such and such blessings vpon them and deliuer them from the miseries that they bee in both of soule and body at our prayers
so farre forth as may make for his glory and their good And so wee must not thinke alas our poore prayers can doe them no good as the diuell is ready to put this into our heads to discourage vs from prayer for the Lord who hath commaunded vs to aske one for another hath also promised to giue Therefore if we cannot otherwise profit our friends and those whom we wish well vnto yet this way by our prayers we may be beneficiall vnto them and this way alwaies euen the meanest of vs when we want opportunitie or abilitie to doe it otherwise And thus Dauid in this Psalme teacheth them to pray for him beleeuing that God would heare them for him Vers 6. when they say Now know I that the Lord will helpe his annoynted and wil heare him from his Sanctuarie by the mighty helpe of his right hand where he sets downe this part of the prayer in the singular number though many did vse it together to shew them that euery one particularly should beleeue that God would heare them for their King and would at their prayers defend him against his enemies and so they should not pray for him in vaine And the Apostle exhorteth men in their sicknesse to send for the Elders of the Church to pray for them and that both the one and the other might doe it in faith the one send for them and the other be willing to come he maketh a gracious promise in the name of the Lord vnto their prayers and saith that they shall thus obtaine for the sicke both health of body and forgiuenesse of sinne Is any sicke among you Jam. 5.15 Let him send for the Elders of the Church and let them pray for him and annoynt him with oyle in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall saue the sicke and the Lorde shall raise him vp and if hee hath committed sinnes they shall be forgiuen him And in the next words he willeth vs all to confesse our sinnes one to another and pray one for another that so wee might receiue health for the prayer of a righteous man auaileth much euery way when it is feruent And for whom Not only for himselfe but for another as he proueth by the example of Helias in whose dayes though that godly man Obadiah and the hundreth Prophets whom hee hid in caues from the persecution of Iezabel did pray for raine in that great drought as we must needs presume of them yet he only by his prayers obtained that benefit for himselfe and for them and for all the rest of the people of that time Helias saith he was a man subiect to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not raine Vers 17. and it rained not on the earth for three yeeres and sixe moneths And he prayed againe and the heauen gaue raine and the earth brought forth her fruite And here if vpon this occasion I should enter in this treatise What great benefits men haue gotten by the prayer of others to shew what great benefits men haue obtained by their prayers not for themselues but for others the time would not be sufficient the examples both in the old and new Testament are so many to declare it As how the Lord heard Abraham for his sonne Ishmael when he said Oh that Ishmael might liue in thy sight Gen. 7.18 so that he became a great man in the world and was multiplied exceedingly so that not onely twelue Princes came of him but a great nation And how Izhak prayed for his wife because shee was barren Chapt. 25.21 and the Lord was intreated of him and she conceiued and brought forth twinnes twentie yeeres after they had liued together in marriage before And what Moses obtained for the Israelites by his prayer at the red sea and oftentimes in the wildernes Exod. 14.15 And how Elias raised vp from dead by his prayers the sonne of the widow of Sarepta with whom he soiorned 1. King 17.28 And Elisha did the like for the good woman of Shunam who gaue intertainement vnto him as he passed that way 2. King 4.33 and many such things else might be shewed to haue been obtained by prayer All which are written for our instruction to teach vs that we should be willing to pray for others not doubting but that God will heare vs for them and this way we may doe them good if we can doe it no other waies As for example if in the loue and loyalty we owe to our soueraigne King hearing of the treasonable practises malitiously intended against his royall person and noble progeny we would be willing to doe him the best seruice for his defence that we could what shall we doe Counsell can we giue none neither are we in place to doe it we haue no strength to resist his enemies of our owne selues yet we may pray for him that Christ Iesus who ruleth in the middest of his enemies would bring things to light and confound them in their diuelish deuices and not doubt but that God will heare vs as they say confidently here Vers 6. I know that the Lord will helpe his annointed and will heare him from his Sanctuarie This should moue vs to pray for the Church of God vniuersally dispersed ouer the face of the whole earth This way euery one may be beneficiall to the Church of God and more particularly for that part of it wherein we liue and for all our gouernours in the same high and lowe and for others also not doubting but that the Lord will heare vs in all things for them agreeable vnto his holy will and so this way wee may in all callings bee profitable vnto them in our time So that no man can iustly complaine that God hath so disabled him that he can do no good vnto others for if we were as poore as Iob if as full of sores as Lazarus if we lay sicke in our beds and in great weakenes of body yet by our feruent and godly prayers we might doe much good vnto many And thus I remember a godly wise Father did comfort his weake brother who continuing a great while in a lingering sicknesse and weakenesse of body complained vnto him that there he spent away his time vnprofitably and was able to doe no good yes saith he very much for you may pray for the Church of God and that was true though he did not then see it For whatsoeuer wee aske in the name of Christ according to the will of God shall be graunted vnto vs which is true whether we aske for our selues or for others We may bee perswaded that God will heare vs for others by the largenes of his promises And the rather that wee might bee confirmed in this faith namely that the Lord of his bountifull goodnes will heare vs when we pray for others let vs first of all consider the promises that God hath
made vnto prayer which are infinit in number and vnmeasurable in greatnesse but take one for an example Christ saith in the Gospell Aske and it shall be giuen you seeke and yee shall finde knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Matth. 7.7 which hee deliuereth without limitation that we might know that it is not to be restrained to our selues but if wee aske for others wee shall receiue for them Then let vs set before our eyes the manifold and happie experience of the truth of these promises in all the seruants of God And by the experience of them in others who by their prayers haue obtained great things for others as we haue heard alreadie that when wee shall finde this way Gods word and all his promises pure and most certainly to be trusted vnto as siluer that is tried in a fornace of earth Psal 12.6 and fined seuen fold we might relie vpon them and so be willing to pray for others knowing that we shall not lose our labor Thirdly to these wee must adde the consideration of our owne experience But most of in our selues and remember for whom wee haue prayed and how often and what hath been the successe of our prayers As how wee haue prayed heretofore for the life and preseruation of our gouernours and namely of our late Soueraigne Ladie of famous memorie Queen Elizabeth and how God hath often deliuered her from many great treasons intended against her by the Iesuites and other Papists how we haue prayed for others as for the life health and prosperitie of our parents husbands wiues children neighbours and friends in their seuerall griefes of minde and infirmities of bodie and other distresses and what hath followed thereupon as how they haue been recouered and comforted and otherwise holpen and relieued how here in the Church we haue sometimes prayed for those that haue been very sicke euen at deaths doore who haue receiued the sentence of death in themselues and yet they haue recouered and some of them are aliue still that so as Dauid said vpon his former triall The Lord that deliuered me out of the paw of the lion 1. Sam. 17.37 and out of the paw of the beare hee will deliuer me out of the hand of this Philistim so wee might vpon our former experience boldly say God that of his mercie and goodnes hath vouchsafed to heare me for such and such wil heare me also at this time for these To this end also wee must wisely obserue and diligently marke for our owne comfort and the good of others what hath followed vpon our prayers and what God hath wrought or done for them Yea all they that desire the prayers of others for any speciall cause whether of the Church generally or of priuate men particularly should signifie vnto them afterwards which few or none doe and it is a great vnthankfulnes in them vnto God and man not to doe it what blessings they haue found vpō themselues by such prayers not onely that they might bee thankfull to God for them as they prayed for them before but that being confirmed by such experience they might the more willingly and boldly pray for them and for others at some other time as there shall be neede and for want of this they cannot doe it so cheerefully and so confidently as otherwise they might doe To conclude the summe of all that hath been said in one word How greatly men faile in neglecting to pray for others we see what is here required of vs euen that we bee mindfull to pray for others and what good reason there is for it both in respect of our owne comfort and of their good let vs examine our selues to see whether wee haue been so carefull to performe this dutie vnto them as we should How often haue wee and doe we pray for the good estate of the Church of God in other countries as in France the Netherlands Geneua and such like that God would defend them from their enemies and inlarge the kingdome of Christ among them Nay how often doe wee pray for the Church of God in this land and in the kingdomes vnited How often for the Kings Maiestie the right honourable Councellors Iudges and Magistrates not onely of this land but more specially of our owne countrey How often for our neighbours yea particularly and by name for them of our owne family as for al our children and seruants Yea let vs call into our minds how often wee haue prayed seriously and in good earnest for those that haue desired our prayers and haue as it were made a couenant of prayer with vs by promising that they would pray for vs if we would remember thē whether we haue carefully kept this promise and couenant or no and when we shall finde that wee haue greatly failed this way let vs be sorie that wee haue not done that good this way that we might and that hath been looked for at our hands and therefore that wee cannot haue that comfort in the common blessings of God in church and common wealth and vpon priuate men that others haue And let vs determine for the time to come to be more mindful of others in our prayers and let vs be so indeede especially of all the Church of God and of all those that we haue made this promise vnto and so haue bound our selues to it by a couenant in the Lord that so the Lord may also reward vs with the prayers of others and with the fruit of the same in our greatest neede when wee shall haue carefully performed this dutie vnto them before Especially let vs remember to pray for the King and for all our gouernours as wee are bound thereunto both by the word of God and the lawes of the realme as if wee had made a certaine promise to them for it THE FOVRTH SERMON vpon the first verse The Lord heare thee in the day of trouble THus the people doe speake vnto God in the behalfe of their King and so they pray for him The people pray for king Dauid that God would heare him and defend him This practise of theirs must be our imitation for it is the dutie of all subiects likewise to pray for their Princes and gouernours and as wee doe owe vnto them tribute custome feare and honour as the Apostle saith Rom. 13.7 so this dutie of prayer also and most of all and therefore it is a great fault in any to neglect it let vs therefore doe it So should we all doe for our King and that of conscience publikely and priuately Men for the most part are addicted to themselues or to their friends in prayer the King they think is a great way off and so the prouerbe with them is too true Out of sight out of minde or they thinke he is well enough and hath all things at will therfore he needeth not so greatly to be prayed for especially of vs. Surely we cannot
rebellions attempted at home Therefore wee haue great cause to pray for the life of our King and the rather for that wee see how his life hath been desperatly sought by diuers as appeareth by the confession of some who are in prison at the least for suspition of treason Now if they begin thus malitiously and impudently so soone what will they not dare to doe hereafter if God and good lawes doe not suppresse them And truly by this experience that we haue that euill things thus determined in secret are wonderfully disclosed and brought to light before hand and the malefactors apprehended and taken we may see the fruit of our former prayers for his Maiestie and that should incourage vs with good hope to pray for him still Nay we haue longer experience of the fruite of our prayers for our Princes in the time of good Queen Elizabeth whose life was so often sought and so desperatly that she might truly say with the Psalmist They haue often times afflicted mee from my youth Psal 129.2 but they could not preuaile against me for she went to her graue with peace full of daies threescore and nine which is a great age for a Prince when she had happily and peaceably raigned fiue and fortie yeeres Let vs labour then as much as in vs lieth to draw out by our prayers the life of our most gracious Soueraigne as an euen thred to the full for as the Lord God hath ordained the thing so also the meanes which we for our part must not neglect And let vs pray not onely for his royall person but also for his gouernment that vnder him wee may leade a quiet and a peaceable life in al godlinesse and honestie 1. Tim. 2.2 as the Apostle speaketh vnto Timothy and namely that at the next Parliament good lawes may be made for the reformation of all things that are amisse in the Church common-wealth This sermon fell out vpon that day which caused this digression And seeing that we are commanded to keepe the memory of this day with publike thanksgiuing for a famous and memorable deliuerance bestowed vpon his Maiestie in his Realme of Scotland from the treasonable conspiracie of the Earle of Gowry and his complices of whom in that respect we may say as it is in the Psalme If the Lord had not been on his side Psal 124.2 3 4 c. when men rose vp against him they had then swallowed him vp quick when their wrath was kindled against him then the water had drowned him and the streames had gone ouer his soule But praised be the Lord which hath not giuen him as a pray vnto their teeth his soule is escaped out of the snare of the fowlers the snare is broken and he is deliuered it falleth out not vnfitly with the argument that out of this text we haue in hand For as Dauid in this Psalme teacheth the people to pray for him and in the next to giue thankes so it is our bound dutie not onely to pray to God for him but to giue thankes for him as the Apostle also speaking of the duties of the people to their kings which he exhorteth Timothy to teach and to practise ioyneth these two together saying I exhort that supplications prayers intercessions 1. Tim. 2.1 and giuing of thankes be made for Kings and for all that are in authoritie And there is great reason that wee should thus doe What cause we haue to giue thankes to God for our King for if wee ought to bee thankfull vnto God for other common benefits as peace libertie the Gospell and such like then also for him by whom wee hold them Therefore among other benefits let vs continually remember this and see how wee faile therein and in our thanksgiuing remember other priuate benefits and not this great one or not so much as we should And though we must needes confesse that we haue great cause to be sorie for the death of our late Queene Elizabeth by whose wise gouernment we inioyed so many great benefits that we might much more truly say of her than Dauid did of Saul in his lamentation 2. Sam. 1.24 that she cloathed vs in skarlet with pleasures and hanged ornaments of gold vpon our apparel yet we must see and confesse to the praise of God as the truth is that we haue great cause to reioice that the Lord hath prouided one to succeed in her roome when her time was expired that it might not bee said of vs as it was of the Iewes in the daies of the Iudges Iudg. 18.1 that there was then no King in Israel and so we should haue bin as sheepe without a shepheard scattered here and there as it is said of the Israelites when King Ahab was slaine in the battell These haue no master let them returne euery man to his house in peace 2. Chron. 18.16 Then haue we much more cause to be thankfull that God hath raised vp him for vs In respect that he is right heire to the Crowne euen the right heire to the Crowne both by father and mother they two being the lawfull grand-children of the Ladie Margarite sometimes Queene of Scots by mariage and eldest daughter to King Henry the seuenth where if the Nobilitie had set vp some other of the bloud royall further off there must needes haue been great ciuill warres to the spilling of many thousand English mens blood and some of them should haue died in an ill cause ignorantly or against their wils as when the two houses of Yorke and Lancaster were a long time diuided in this land And then also some forrainer might easily by their owne power and by the helpe of the Papists and other mutinous and malecontented persons haue soon set footing into this Isle which would not so easily haue been driuen out againe And besides all this wee haue great cause to bee thankfull And so rarely qualited for the kingdome that he being the right heire is so wonderfully qualited for the kingdome that as the Queene lately deceased was a rare woman fit for the Crowne by election if not by inheritance so he a very rare man for all parts of soule and bodie and that the Lord did so fit him for this place and then sent him vnto vs that he came not as Saul in Gods wrath who was a cruell tyrant but as Dauid in Gods mercie to feede his people in Iacob Psal 78.71 and his inheritance in Israel And for his royall posteritie Act. 13.36 And this is no small benefit that he hath a royall posteritie to succeed in the throne of the kingdom least when he should haue serued his time by the counsel of God and so fall asleepe and be laid with his fathers we should be in a new feare And what should we say of this that he came to the Crowne so vnlooked for For though it was his inheritance yet such was the wisedome of
our gouernours that for certaine causes best knowne vnto themselues which it is not meete for vs to inquire into it was not lawfull for any of the common sort to haue discourses of the heire apparant and so few of them thought of him that we haue now or of any other But this is most of all to be wondred at And for his peaceable entrance that he came to the kingdome so peaceably and with so great approbation of all sorts of men and trauelled through the length of the whole land almost euen at the first for meaner men haue not come to their inheritances and taken vp the possession of them so quietly For truly by the grace of God to his praise bee it spoken there is no more alteration in the land in any estate or in priuate mens condition for the most part than if the Queene were still aliue And this benefit is the greater because we feared the contrarie and none could haue looked for after her death such times as we haue now And if there be any change at all And that in this short time since his comming things are bettered it is from worse to better so that since his comming many things are better in the Church commonwealth For by the gracious proclamations of his Maiestie many abuses of Playes and Interludes with Bearebaitings and Bulbaitings vpon the Sabbath day are put downe with Monopolies and ingrossings of wares into the hands of a few men many worthy men are aduanced to greater honour and worship the Papists in lesse hope of any toleration for their Popish idolatrie than before And vnto all these benefits this is none of the least And all things very cheape that God hath added this plentie of all things euen at this time whereby victuals and other things are resonable cheape least by scarcitie there might be occasion of dislike Therefore in respect of them all let vs be thankfull vnto God and yet againe let vs consider that all these come not without some punishment as this plague which is so scattered in many parts of this land especially the chief cities wherein wee must also acknowledge the great mercie of God But we are fallen into Gods hand by reason of the plague that wee haue escaped that which wee had deserued and had most cause to feare euen to fall into the hands of our enemies that they might make a pray of vs and of al that wee haue which Dauid accounted a great mercie and chose it when both of them were offered vnto him saying Let vs fall now into the hands of the Lord for his mercies are great and let me not fall into the hands of men 2. Sam. 24 14. therfore let vs be thankfull vnto God for this mercie also and so ioyning thanksgiuing vnto prayer for these causes that wee haue heard let vs pray vnto God for the preseruation and honour of our Lord and King Iames whom the Lord at this time with so many great benefits hath sent vnto vs and let vs take these words of the Psalme into our mouthes from which I haue a little vpon this occasion that you haue heard of digressed and say The Lord heare thee in the day of trouble c. The Lord heare thee These are the words of the prayer of the people for Dauid their King but as Ioab taught the woman of Tekoah what she should say to the King Chap. 14.19 and did put those words into her mouth which she spake before him so Dauid made this prayer for them and taught them what they should say vnto God in his owne behalfe and did as it were put these words into their mouthes when they should come before him And so hee not onely as a King taught his subiects what dutie they did owe vnto him but as a Prophet also speaking by the inspiration of the spirit of God 2. Pet. 1.21 as other holy men that wrote the Scriptures informeth the Church of God what duties they owe to him and to their superiours Dauid teacheth the people their dutie to himselfe So that he doth not in teaching them this duty of prayer for him ambitiously seeke himselfe and stand vpon his own prerogatiue to say Oh I am your King you ought to pray for me and to doe so and so but he knew it to bee his owne dutie to informe them that were committed vnto his charge in all duties to God and men euen to himselfe and therefore doth thus discharge it knowing also that in his owne safetie did consist their welfare and therefore in praying for him which hee taught them to doe they should benefit themselues So may and ought all superiours do to their inferiours So that by his example it is lawfull for all publike persons in the Church and commonwealth to teach those that are vnder them what duties they should doe to them and to require them at their hands without all suspition of ambition vainglorie or any waies seeking themselues Yea they ought to doe it and no man to finde fault with them for it not only because all superiours must teach their inferiours but also and especially because the inferiours in doing such duties vnto them shall greatly profit themselues Thus may and ought all the Ministers of Gods word in wisedome teach the people and flocke that is committed vnto them As the Minister to their people and flocke what duties they owe not onely to God and other men but euen to themselues and in so doing not to be thought of any ambitious proud c or their doctrine any waies disliked or suspected and to shew vnto them whether for reuerence of their persons to haue thē in singular estimation for their workes sake or for obedience of their doctrine 1. Thess 5.13 Heb. 13.17 to obey it that they may goe on with cheerefulnes or for maintenance or recompence of their labours in worldly things 1. Tim. 5.17 to giue them double honour or in any thing els what they should do vnto them Not only because they be faithfull in Gods house as Moses was Heb. 3.2 and so deliuer vnto them the whole counsell of God Act. 20.27 as Paul did and so teach them all-things and therefore of necessitie there must bee a time for them but also because the people in doing these duties to them they benefit themselues For in preseruing the authoritie of the ministery of the word inuiolable in their consciences and in the consciences of others consisteth the peoples welfare So that as this people was not to except against this prayer when it came to them from Dauid for it came not by the way of intreatie as an indifferent thing but by a princely iniunction or propheticall instruction and so as a necessarie dutie of theirs and therefore they were to thinke that they were bound vnto it and that hee did necessarily require it at their hands and not to make
sheweth what hee would then doe namely flee to God for succour pray to him and call vpon his name that he might heare him and defend him He would vse all good meanes fit for that purpose but he would not neglect this knowing that all they were nothing without this for they must haue their successe and blessing from God by prayer For he knew that though he had men and horses and munition fit for war yet as he saith in another Psalme I trust not in my bow Psal 44.6 33 16. neither can my sword saue me and againe The King is not saued by the multitude of an hoste neither is the mightie man deliuered by much strength An horse is a vaine helpe and shall not deliuer any by his great strength for as Salomon saith when the horse is prepared against the battell Prou. 21.31 yet then saluation is of the Lord who is truly and properly called the Lord of hostes because hee is aboue all and commandeth al and therefore as King Asa confesseth in his prayer it is nothing with him to helpe with many or with no power 2. Chron. 14.11 Therefore he was determined especially to pray to God in all his troubles that he might saue him and so he did as appeareth by Psalm 21. So did King Hezekiah when the hoste of the King of Ashur came vp to Ierusalem against him Jsai 37.16 So haue other good Kings done saying O Lord of hosts God of Israel which dwellest betweene the Cherubims thou art very God alone ouer all the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made the heauē the earth incline thine eare O Lord and heare open thine eyes O Lord and see c. Saue thou vs out of the hands of Sanecherib that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou only art the Lord. Thus also did good King Iehosaphat one of his predecessors when the Ammonites came to battell against him and did not onely seeke to the Lord by prayer but proclaimed a fast 2. Chron. 20.3 that he might pray the more feruently and the forme of his prayer is set downe there And in thus doing hee followeth the example of his good father King Asa Chap. 14.9 who when Zerah of Aethopia came out against him with an hoste of ten hundreth thousand chariots hee went out also before him and set the battell in aray but then hee cried vnto the Lord his God saying Helpe vs O Lord our God for wee rest on thee and in thy name are wee come foorth against this multitude O Lord thou art our God let not man preuaile against thee So that it appeareth that this which Dauid did now hath been the common practise of all the godly Kings when they haue been in feare of their enemies and so it hath been a day of trouble with them as it was now with him So must all men seeke to God in all kinde of troubles Now that that is said of this kinde of trouble and of these kind of men is true of al other both sorts of trouble and degrees of men that whatsoeuer troubles or daungers not onely Kings but al others shall fall into at any time great or small if they will haue comfort in them or looke for any deliuerance out of them they must seeke for it at the hand of God by supplication and prayer who onely can giue it of whom alone commeth al the means of our deliuerance and the whole disposition and wise vsing of them and the whole successe and blessing vpon them from whom also may come that that we seeke for without all meanes and without whose aide all things will doe vs no good For as it is said man liueth not by bread onely Deut. 8.3 but by euery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God and as Christ saith in the Gospel no mans life consisteth in the abundance of that that he possesseth Luk. 12.15 that is in all things it is not the meanes but the blessing of God vpon them that must doe vs good So that in all troubles wee must put that in practise which the Lord speaketh of Call vpon me in the day of trouble Psal 50.15 so will I deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me We are readie to seeke to this bodie and to that and to call vpon them for help but God saith Call vpon me and that we might doe it he hath bound himselfe with a promise that he will heare vs and deliuer vs. And this Dauid beleeued when he saith in the words following Vers 6. Now know I that the Lord will heare c. And vnto this agreeth that which the Apostle Saint Iames setteth downe Is any among you afflicted Jam. 5.13 let him pray where he speaketh vnto all and in what kind of affliction soeuer they be Therefore as prayer is alwaies requisite and necessary according to the doctrine of the Apostle who saith 1. Thessal 5.17 Pray continually and in another place Pray alwaies with all manner prayer and supplication in the spirit Ephes 6.18 and watch thereunto with all perseuerance so most of all in the time of trouble For as Peter when he walked on the water to go to Iesus and saw a mightie winde so that hee was afraide and began to sinke cried saying Master saue me Matth. 14.29 The time of trouble is the speciall time of prayer so all men the more euident and dangerous their trouble is the more earnestly should they pray vnto God for helpe For the lesse able that they are to helpe themselues or others to doe any thing for them the more should they seeke for help from God who is able sufficiently to affoord it And truly many times God doth of purpose bring vs into trouble that wee might call vpon him and so hee might heare vs in the day of our trouble So that no trouble should so dismay vs that it should hinder vs from prayer but rather quicken vs vp vnto it and to a greater feruency in it Psal 10.1 For when the Church saith Why hidest thou thy selfe O Lord in due time euen in affliction it sheweth that as that is the fittest time for the Lord to heare and helpe vs so for vs to pray vnto him and to seeke for helpe at his hands Therefore let vs not onely not thinke that trouble doth exempt vs from prayer or that it is so great that we cannot pray and if wee were out of it and so might haue our mindes quiet we would pray as that we beleeue rather that God at no time looketh for so much prayer at our hands as when hee laieth affliction and trouble vpon vs. Both publike and priuate So that if our troubles bee priuate wee must often and earnestly pray priuately and if they be publike wee must haue publike prayer thereafter that so God may heare vs euery way in the day of our troubles which he cannot doe
therefore we must commend the care of al vnto God who saith Except the Lord build the house they labour in vaine that build it And Psal 127.1 It is in vaine for a man to rise early and to lie downe late and to eate the bread of sorrow but he will giue rest to his beloued Therefore wee must say and doe as Dauid did And 16.5.8 Thou wilt maintaine my lot And againe I haue set the Lord alwaies before me for he is at my right hand therefore I shall not slide Wherefore my heart is glad and my tongue reioyceth my flesh also doth rest in hope Where wee see how he commended the care of himselfe and of all that he had vnto the Lords protection whereupon it came to passe that he not only was defended but had a quiet minde and bodie as he saith also in another place I will lay me down And 4.8 and also sleepe in peace for thou Lord onely makest me dwell in safetie And so wee must ascribe all our defence for the time past to him The defence of our King is only of God and trust only to him for the time to come And now for the present state of our time we must beleeue that all the defence of our King from all daungers is and must come onely from God for though he be wise himselfe and hath a wise honourable Councel and there are many that watch and care for him besides yet if God did not defend him the diuel by his subtiltie might make his enemie wiser than all of them Therefore as Dauid saith of himselfe Psal 140.7 It was God that did couer his head in the day of battell that is though hee had an helmet and such like defence yet if God had not couered his head all that had been nothing so we must say it is God that hath couered not onely his head but his whole bodie from the strokes of his enemies yea wee must say as Paul saith of himselfe 2 Cor. 1.10 God hath deliuered him from so great a death and doth deliuer him daily in whom wee trust that yet hereafter he will deliuer him Therefore when wee heare of any daunger towards his person or towards the State we must not make small account of it and say Tush I but there are these and these meanes to defend vs the King and his Counsell are wise enough to preuent all but wee must say That good God and merciful father who of his infinit mercie hath defended him and vs hitherto will do so still and pray to him thereafter that it may bee so as this people doth here The name of the God of Iacob defend thee So is it in all sicknesse and namely in this great mortalitie of our time He onely can defend vs from the pestilence 1. Cor. 11.30 wherein many are sicke and many are weake and many fall asleepe none can defend vs in it but onely God and he is able to doe it In the Law God hath threatned great and incurable diseases to the disobedient for it is said The Lord will smite thee in the knees and in the thighes Deut. 28.35 with a sore botch that thou canst not bee hâ—â—led euen â—rom the sole of thy foote vnto the top of thine head And a little after in the same place The Lord will make thy plagues wonderfull Vers 59. and the plagues of thy seed euen great plagues and of long continuance and sore diseases and of long durance I will bring vpon thee all the diseases of Egypt whereof thou wast afraide and they shall cleaue vnto thee and euery sicknes and euery plague which is not written in the booke of this law will the Lord heape vpon thee vntill thou be destroyed And from them that walke in his waies he hath promised to keepe these diseases farre away If thou wilt diligently hearken O Israel vnto the voyce of the Lord thy God Exod. 15.26 and wilt doe that which is right in his sight and wilt giue eare vnto his commaundements and keepe all his ordinances then will I put none of these diseases vpon thee which I brought vpon the Egyptians for I am the Lord that healeth thee These threatnings and promises he only is able to verifie and doth who hath said to that end He will deliuer thee from the snare of the hunter and from the noysome pestilence Psal 91.3 he will couer thee vnder his wings and thou shalt be sure vnder his fethers his truth shall be thy shield and buckler thou shalt not be afraide of the feare of the night nor of the arrow that flieth by day nor of the pestilence that walketh in darknesse nor of the plague that destroyeth at noone day a thousand shall fall at thy side and tenne thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come neere thee There shall none euill come vnto thee neither shall any plague come neere thy tabernacle for he shall giue his Angels charge ouer thee to keepe thee in all thy waies they shall beare thee in their hands that thou hurt not thy foote against a stone Thus it is the Lord only that keepeth vs from plagues and diseases by the inuisible ministerie of his holie Angels which he vseth for the defence of his seruants and the punishment of the wicked For as when the Lord did send his Angell into the hoste of proud blasphemous Sanecherib he smote in one night an hundreth fourescore and fiue thousand 2. King 19.35 so that when they rose early in the morning behold they were all dead corpses And as in the time of Dauid 2. Sam. 24.15 the Lord by an Angel did destroy with the pestilence seuentie thousand men in three daies So in the middest of all pestilent diseases if the Lord bid his Angell cease punishing as hee did then when hee stretched out his hand vpon Ierusalem to destroy it hee said Vers 16. It is sufficient hold now thine hand or if he will them to keepe vs in the middest of it it shall bee so and then shall that be verified vpon vs Psalm 91.13 which is written Thou shalt walke vpon the lion and aspe the yong lion and the dragon shalt thou tread vnder feete that is his Angels shall preserue vs in the middest of great dangers harmelesse He onely defendeth in these cases therefore let vs trust in him and in him alone As he did recouer Hezekiah froÌ„ death He healed King Hezekiah when he was sicke of a most deadly disease euen when he lay sicke of a pestilent feuer and had a Carbunckle or Plague sore broken out in his body and before that had receiued the sentence of death in himselfe Isai 38.1 For the Prophet had said vnto him Thus saith the Lord put thine house in order for thou shalt dye and not liue that is this sicknesse of thine is deadly in it owne nature Then he turned his face vnto the wal
euill but these sheepe what haue they done O Lord my God I beseech thee let thine hand be on me and on my fathers house and not on thy people for their destruction Then the plague ceased and God commanded the Angell to stay his hand saying It is enough let thine hand cease So no doubt if all men could come thus to confesse their sins vnto God accusing themselues and not laying them vpon others yea to iudge themselues for thē worthie of death as hee did and accordingly be humbled before God and especially if wee could come to haue that feeling of the miserie of our brethren and pray for them in compassion then this example might minister vnto vs some comfort when we should thus say O God that diddest thus spare thy people in the daies of Dauid when they confessed their sinnes vnto thee spare vs also and our brethren who desire to humble our selues before thee Then also might we further consider how when the Lord sent the Pestilence into Egypt vpon Pharoh and his people according to that which he had threatned before saying I will smite thee and thy people with the Pestilence and thou shalt perish from the earth Exod. 9.15 it was a very great plague for it was in euery house in the land but it was in great mercy for but one onely in a house dyed And of the Israelites when the plague was in Egypt euen the first borne then they marked the doore of the Israelites by the appoyntment of Moses with the blood of a Lambe which was a representation of the blood of Christ that the destroyer might not enter in And by this we might see that as sinne is the cause of al plagues so in the middest of them God will be mercifull to those that are his though they be mingled with the rest In which respect wee must confesse that it is no maruaile if this plague be so vniuersal in the land seeing that sin hath so long abounded in all places nay it is Gods mercy that it is not in all places and in euery house for all haue grieuously sinned against him For if wee rightly consider the sins of our time we must needs say that they are many great For how hath this long patience of fiue and fortie yeeres of the Gospell bin abused of all sorts How little fruite of it is there in many places what great ignorance is there of the will of God euery where and lesse practise of that that men know How is the worship of God prophaned being placed of many in ceremony rather than in truth Whether we consider the Egyptians that were punished for their sinnes iustly for they content themselues with this outward comming to Church but neglect the power of the meanes there vsed and thus the name of God is dishonoured by their carnall profession and wicked liues The Lords Sabbaths haue bin most grieuously polluted by keeping of Faires on them and by Interludes Bearebaitings Bulbaitings and by other disorders of football and such like and men would not bee spoken to in these cases if they were they were readie to stand in the defence of them so farre were they from amending thē how haue these daies I say which wee should consecrate as glorious to the Lord Jsai 58.13 and call them our delight how haue they been abused by not comming to Church not bringing their whole families with them by sleeping and talking here and not spending the rest of the day in the seruice of God What great contempt is there euery where of superiours How vnruly the seruants and children How is the aged despised and the gray haires brought into contempt What little care is there in the gouernours to amend these by any good order in their houses either of priuate prayer reading the Scriptures and such like Who almost hath the care of Dauid to reforme his house who said I will walke in the vprightnes of mine heart in the middest of mine house Psal 101.2 Vers 7. and there shall no deceitfull person dwell within my house he that telleth lies shall not remaine in my sight Who doth determine and say with Ioshuah I and my house will serue the Lord let all the world besides doe what they will Josh 24.15 Of how few can it bee truly said as the Lord saith of Abraham I know him Gen. 18.19 that he will commaund his sonnes and his houshold after him that they keepe the way of the Lord to doe righteousnesse and iudgement that the Lord may bring vpon him that he hath spoken vnto him How few also haue any good orders in their houses for praiers at morning euening or other times That it might be said of them Dan. 6.10 as it is of Daniel that it was his manner three times a day to fall vpon his knees to pray vnto God and to praise his God yea then when hee could not doe it without danger of his life That so it might be said of them all as it was of Cornelius Act. 10.2 that worthie Christian souldier and Captain That he feared God all his houshold when his familie must needs be very great being of that place that hee was as it appeareth by the storie that indeed it was But to proceed though I doe it with an heauie heart what hatred rankor and malice is there among many that they are readie to kill one another if it were possible with a word though it be said that to call thy brother Raca or thou foole deserueth hell fire Matth. 5.22 Oh how many thousand adulteries and fornications without number haue bin and are still committed for which there fel in one day among the people of God three and twentie thousand 1. Cor. 10.8 In which kind of sinne aboue all others as the Apostle saith they sinne against their owne bodies Chapt. 6.18 therefore God many waies punisheth them in their bodies and if there were no sinne among vs but this it were sufficient to prouoke this great plague and it may iustly raigne in the bodies of a great many vnto death and in others with noysom and painfull vlcers and sores And I haue heard it obserued if it be true that is reported that in London this pestilence hath been most hot in that part of the citie that hath been most polluted this way as in Shoreditch and in the suburbs and such out-places where it hath swept them away by whole families and streetes like a deuouring fire as the holy man Iob doth fitly compare the iudgement of God against this sinne vnto that saying This is fire that shall consume to destruction Job 31.12 not onely of the goods whereof he speaketh but euen of the bodie also But there are more sins among vs than these though these be too many and enough to prouoke the Lords wrath against vs as the great hard dealing and iniustice that is among men whereby they
oppresse the poore both in lending to them vpon vsurie and when a man is vnder foot to exact the forfeiture vpon them what is this but to grinde the faces of the poore Jsai 3.15 and otherwise in bargaining with them besides that vnmercifulnes that there is little giuing to the poore no not at this time which is a time to receiue mercie from God yet they that should receiue it will shew little or none vnto men when the verie day of fasting doth require at their hands that they should giue something yet they are hard hearted and shut vp their compassion And what should I say of them that vnder the colour of the law haue taken away from the poore euen from the fatherlesse and the widowes all that they haue had whereby it hath come to passe that not onely they haue cried vnto the Lord against thē out of the abundance of their griefe but euen the very stones in the walles and the beames in the houses of these oppressors haue made an eccho Hab. 2.11 and answered vnto the same If the Prophet Amos prophecying against many nations did say That for three transgressions and for foure Amos 1.3 God would not spare them then when among vs not seuen but many though by seuen hee there meaneth many haue raigned long among vs and doe still no marueile if God doe not spare vs. Which sins are so much the greater among vs because God hath borne with vs so long in thē and giuen vs his word which they had not and many meanes besides to call vs from them as benefits vpon benefits fauours vpon fauours without number Therefore let vs iustifie the Lord in his righteous proceeding against vs and confesse as Daniel doth We haue sinned haue committed iniquitie and haue done wickedly yea wee haue rebelled Dan. 9.5 and haue departed from thy precepts and from thy iudgements for we would not obey thy seruāts thy Prophets which spake in thy name to our Kings and to our Princes and to our fathers and to all the people of the land O Lord righteousnes belongeth vnto thee and to vs open shame as appeareth this day to euery man of Iudah and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem yea vnto all Israel both neere and far off because of their offences that they haue committed against thee Which if we can come vnto thē we see in this storie of Exodus from which vpon occasion we haue somthing digressed what did preserue the Iewes in that plague what must preserue vs and all men Or the Israelites whom God spared of his mercie euen that the bloud of the Lambe bee sprinkled vpon the posts of our doores to keepe out the destroyer that is the bloud of Iesus Christ that immaculate Lambe of God that taketh away the sins of the world be sprinkled vpon our consciences by faith and that we earnestly repent vs of all our sinnes Iona. 3.8 and turne from all our euill waies as the Niniuites did and from the wickednesse of our hands and crie mightily vnto God that for Christ Iesus his sake whose most precious bloud was shed for our sinnes vpon the crosse he would spare vs and say Thou Lord who of thy great mercie for Christs sake didst commaund the destroyer to passe ouer the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when there was an vniuersall plague ouer the whole land set a marke now at the last vpon all places of this our land and countrey that thy destroying Angell might passe ouer them Thus also in this case might wee set before our eyes the example of Aaron the high Priest And when the plague was among the Iewes in the wildernes who when there was a plague begun in the hoste of Israel for their sinnes euen for their murmuring at the death of Core and his companie who iustly perished by the hand of God tooke a Censer and fire therein of the altar and put therein incense whereby the sweetnes of prayer was represented and offered vp his prayers with this incense vnto God for them Numb 16.47 and so made an attonement and when he was come among them for the plague began in one end of the campe and so spread it selfe further and further in the hoste after the manner of a plague and stood between the dead and the liuing the plague was staied A great mercie of God for it was a great plague for of it in a short time died fourteene thousand and seuen hundred The cause of it as of al others was their sinne but by the prayer of Aaron it ceased if God did heare one for so many then much more may we hope that God will heare many in his good time for the rest Let vs then looke vpon this example also and say Thou Lord who at the prayer of Aaron wast intreated to stay the pestilēce among thy people when there had died of it before foureteene thousand and more heare many and all of vs or some one among all the rest that this plague now at the last of which haue died already twenty thousand and more may be staied and so some may stand betweene the quick and the dead that is cause that the dead infect not the quicke and so it proceede no further Thus if we search the Scripture we shall both in this and all other calamities by patience and comfort of them haue hope as was said before The God of Iacob If by Iacob they meane him and his posteritie with whom God made a couenant The God of Iacob as with Abraham and Isaac that he would be their God and the God of their seede then they looke vnto this that they are of the posteritie of Iacob and so of that couenant that God made with him and his And thus the whole posteritie of the Iewes is sometimes called by his name both of Israel and Iacob as in the Psalme Often times from my youth vp may Israel now say they haue afflicted me from my youth but they could not preuaile against me Psal 129.1 And in another place Let Israel waite on the Lord Psal 130.7 and he will redeeme Israel from all his iniquities And when Balaam the false prophet was sent for to curse the Israelites in the wildernes vpon the borders of Moab he often speaketh of them by the name of Iacob as The King of Moab hath brought me from Aram saying Come Numb 23.7 curse Iacob for my sake and a little after Who can tell the dust of Iacob and lastly There is no sorcerie in Iacob Vers 10. 23. According to this sense they haue respect vnto the couenant that God made with Iacob and his posteritie for the blessing came from Isaac to him his which couenant included not only the promises of the life to come but much more of this life also as Dauid expoundeth it in the Psalm where he hauing spoken before of many great outward blessings concludeth
hath bin the cause that many euen for feare haue been ouercome much more when the thing hath bin vpon them haue they fallen into great impatiency and many lamentable outcries Euery one of vs is well acquainted with our owne weaknes this way and do find by experience how smal things we can beare and how the least thing doth ouercome vs yea the very feare of it many times therefore we had need to labour for strength And by that weakenes that is in our selues we may easily iudge what is in others and so see how requisit it is for them also that God should strengthen them Further it is to be considered God onely strengtheneth and weakneth the heart of man that as we haue seene how requisite it is for vs to haue strength according to the measure of our crosses temptations so of whom we shal haue it namely of God for they pray to him for it and say The Lord strengthen thee out of Sion he hath the hearts of all in his hands to order at his pleasure and if he giue strength then shall we be strong and if he withdraw his hand from vs and cast feare vpon vs if we were as stout as Lions before we shall be as weake as water And this truly as it is a great punishment to bee too feareful so God hath threatned to cast it vpoÌ„ them that breake his law and contrary to be of a good courage as it is a singular fruit of a good conscience so God hath promised to giue it to those that keepe his law Leuit. 26.7 For it is thus written If yee walke in mine ordinances and keepe my commandements to doe them fiue of you shall chase an hundreth Vers 36. and an hundreth of you shall put ten thousand to flight But if they will not obey me nor do all these commandements I will send a faintnes into their hearts in the land of their enemies and the sound of a leafe shaken shall chase them and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword and they shall fall no man pursuing them they shall also fall one vpon another as before a sword though none pursue them and ye shal not be able to stand before your enemies Deut. 28.66 And thy life shal hang before thee thou shalt feare both night and day and shalt haue none assurance of thy life in the morning thou shalt say would God it were euening and in the euening thou shalt say would God it were morning for the feare of thine hart which thou shalt feare for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see Thus strength courage in all troubles is the gift of God as fearefulnes is a punishment sent of God Iâ—sh 2.11 for it is said that the Lord cast a feare vpon the Cananites so that they durst not stirre Thus we see who is the giuer of al strength in al trials and temptations and that we haue it not of our selues Therefore no man must thus presumptuously think of himself that if trouble come he hopes he shal beare it out wel enough for he hath sufficient strength and courage for if he were of as great courage and valour as Dauid who slew a Lyon and a Beare yea Goliah himselfe yet when he commeth to a new trial he shal find himselfe altogether insufficient but as the Lord shall make a new supply of strength The Apostle S. Peter thought himself to be a stouter man a great deale then he was and that he would not shrinke for a little when he said if all men forsake thee yet will not I Matth. 26.33 but at the length God leauing him to himself for his triall he had no strength to stand but did both deny forsweare his Maister three times Thus wee must ascribe all our former strength vnto God he only it is that must strengthen vs still In troubles we must pray to God to strengthen vs. Iam. 1.5 Seeing it is so we must pray to him for it as Dauid doth here prayer is the meanes to obtaine all things from God therefore not only if we lack wisedome as the Apostle saith let vs aske it of God but if we lack any thing els as if we be faint-harted if we be weake in faith if wee lack patience if wee feare that wee shall not be able to beare things Therefore as in trouble wee must pray for other things according to our estate as for deliuerance or mitigation so especially for strength to beare whatsoeuer shall be laid vpon vs and wee may doe it in the greater faith because God hath promised it 1. Cor. 10.13 euen that hee will lay no more vpon vs than we shall be able to beare So then in all affliction let this be one part of our prayer for if God strengthen vs we shall be able to beare any thing And whereas they pray thus for Dauid it is our bound duty so to pray one for another as if we heare of any to be vnder any crosse pray vnto God for them that God would strengthen them And so strengthen those that are vnder the plague So did the Martyrs in persecution one for another and so must we do now for those that are or shal be visited with this pestilence that God would strengthen them with faith in his good prouidence with patience to beare all things with perseuerance vnto the end And as he looked for good by their prayers so God that hath commanded vs to pray one for another will not suffer vs to pray for them in vaine And thus though we cannot come one to an other by reason of the infection to minister any other comfort yet wee may pray vnto God to strengthen them and though wee cannot ease them of their paine yet God may strengthen them by our prayers to beare it patiently Out of Sion As before he had taught them to aske strength for him so here he doth shew from whence he did looke for it Out of Sion the place of Gods worship and from whence hee would haue them pray that it might come namely from Sion which was the place of Gods worship vnto which hee had respect in naming the place which there and there onely was to bee had without which that place did not differ from any other Whereas then these are the things that doe strengthen vs in trouble that we haue saith in the forgiuenes of our sinnes and in Gods prouidence hope that God will be with vs and defend vs and lay no more vpon vs than we shall be able to beare and patience that we may be quiet All these are wrought and increased in vs by the word Sacraments and prayer which 〈…〉 Sionâ— that is in the place appointed for Gods worship 〈…〉 willeth them to pray for him that God would so blesse these meanes that he had vsed there before and which now were and should be vsed for him that by them hee
request vnto them and haue not a present dispatch of our suites we are ready to think that they haue other waightier busines which haue put our matter out of their heads and so we and all our busines is forgotten So are we ready to iudge of God but it is not so But hee will shew in time that he hath remembred vs. Exod. 3.7 for he remembreth the prayers that al men make according to his will and all faithfull seruices done vnto him wil therfore blesse them in time to come Thus saith the Lord of himselfe I haue surely seene the trouble of my people which are in Egypt and haue heard their crie because of their taske-masters and know their sorrowes therefore I am come down to deliuer them out of the hand of the Egyptians c. They had been a long time in great trouble and had cried often vnto God he did not only heare them but remember them and came downe to deliuer them And this was that which the Angel that came vnto Cornelius said vnto him Act. 10.4 Thy prayers and thine almes are come vp into remembrance before God now therefore send men to Ioppa and call for Simon whose surname is Peter and he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do So al the seruice that he had done vnto God and duties of loue vnto men for Gods sake were not forgotten As he did to Cornelius but God did remember them and sent an Angell vnto him to tell him so and to reward him for them by sending Peter vnto him to instruct him and his family in the waies of their saluation and that I might vse the words of Peter himselfe to speake words vnto them Chapt. 11.14 whereby both hee and all his househoulde should be saued According to this doctrine Dauid teacheth them here to pray that God would remember what he had done The Lord remembreth whatsoeuer we haue done frō our birth good or euill and what seruice he had performed vnto him and that the very smell of it as it were might stil be before him From hence we may be assured that God remembreth what all of vs haue done from our birth vnto this day for he wil iudge vs al according to our workes and that that we haue done in this world and they are all written in his booke which at the last day shall be laid open be they good or bad If wee haue done euill and carelesly forgotten it and will not remember it to repent vs of it in due time God he doth and will remember it to punish vs for it in time If we haue done any thing well and haue prayed to him and serued him in a good conscience and done good to our brethren for his sake hee remembreth all those things also to blesse vs for them 2. Cor. 15.58 and we may be assured that our labours shall not be in vaine in the Lord. To come to this particular hand of God that is now very heauie vpō vs he doth sufficiently shew thereby to all that are not wilfully blind that hee remembreth all the sinnes wherewith a long time he hath been prouoked As the great ignorance and blindnes that is euery where in this cleere light of his glorious Gospell By this visitation of the plague hee sheweth that he remembreth all the sinnes of this land the little account that men make of it and care that is in them to profit by it How great the loue of the world and of themselues is in men and how little loue of God and of their owne saluation the intollerable pride voluptuousnes vncleannes drunkennes vnmercifulnes and such like hee remembreth all these things though men haue forgotten them And though by sparing them in them yea bestowing many blessings vpon them Rom. 2.4 he did lead them to repentance yet now wee see plainly that hee did not forget them And we must thus profit by this visitation of the Lord that as the widow of Sarepta where Elijah did soiorne in the famine when her sonne fell sick and died she said vnto him O thou man of God 1. King 17.18 art thou come to call my sinne to remembrance and to slay my sonne and thus by this punishment she did acknowledge and confesse And we ought so to profit by it that God had remembred her sinnes So must we all thus profit by this grieuous sicknes among vs which is vnto death to see how God remembreth all those sins euery where which men haue committed and forgotten long agoe and they thought that God had forgotten them also And so no doubt there will come a time for all men in the world wherein it shall appeare vnto them that God hath remembred their sinnes either in this world to their amendment and saluation if they be his or in the world to come to their euerlasting shame and confusion if they be his enemies And he remēbreth those that haue liued well in this wicked age So on the contrarie and more fitly for our purpose they amongst vs that haue liued well serued him in feare prayed vnto him in faith and in these euill daies haue not onely kept themselues vnspotted in the world but haue grieued at the abuses in others which they could not helpe God knoweth them all by name very well and remembreth what they haue done and wil put a difference betweene them and others in the day of his visitation and they must be comforted against it before hand that they haue thus serued God in truth and he doth remember it And this is that which the Prophet Ezekiel speaketh of to whom the destruction of Ierusalem was shewed in a vision after this manner He saw sixe men with weapons in their hands and one among them was clothed with linen Ezek. 9.3 with a writers ynkhorne by his side and the glorie of God appeared and called to the man clothed with linen And will blesse them for it when others shall be punished which had the writers ynkhorne by his side and said vnto him Goe through the middest of the the citie of Ierusalem and set a marke vpon the foreheards of them that mourne and crie for all the abominations that are done in the middest thereof and to the other he said Goe after him through the citie and smite let your eye spare none neither haue pitie destroy vtterly the old and the yong and the children and the women but touch no man vpon whom is the marke Thus wee see how in this great and vniuersall destruction wherein all sorts old and yong children and women were slaine God remembred the sorrow and griefe of those that mourned for the abuses of their time and did spare them for it And this blessing shall be vpon all those that desire vnfainedly to serue God according to his word when all the world besides forsake it they shall finde by experience that God will remember them and
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
Selah as when he saith The Lord is known by executing iudgement the wicked is snared in the worke of his owne hands Higgaion Selah This Psalme was made as a solemne thankesgiuing for the conquest he had ouer the proude Philistim Goliah as appeareth in the title therefore when hee commeth to this to shew how the Lord was knowne by executing iudgement vpon him and euen this iudgement that hee was snared in the worke of his owne hands as many other wicked men are for he was slaine in that combate by little Dauid and that without armour euen with a stone and a sling as it were with the hand of God miraculously in that combat I say whereunto he had proudly challenged all the hoast of the Israelites with blasphemous words tending to the dishonour of God he addeth these two notes Higgaion that is This is worthy to be meditated vpon and thought seriously on of all men that the wicked are snared in the workes of their owne hands Selah As if hee had said yea in deed this is worthy most seriously and with great affection to bee thought vpon But we shall make further vse of this doctrine hereafter THE ELEVENTH SERMON vpon the third verse Selah WE heard the last day the meaning of this word By Selah here they were stirred vp to the affections of Prayer namely that it serued to note out some speciall affection according to the matter where it was vsed Wee are then now to consider what speciall affections were in him and should be in the people here and so what is and was the vse of it in this place Generally it being ioyned vnto a prayer they were to haue the affections meet for prayer and for this thing that here they prayed for Therefore the speciall affections that ought to be in the people when they prayed thus were these or such like First when hee willeth them to pray that God would heare his prayers and shew that he did so and then addeth Selah a note of affection or stirring vp of the mind it was to teach them As namely to pray earnestly that he would haue them affected with it to pray for it earnestly And in requiring this earnestnes here his meaning was not that they should bee colde in the former and negligent but here he required a speciall feruency of the spirit that after a speciall manner they would pray that God would heare his prayers and declare it By which example wee learne that though we ought alwaies to pray from our hearts and neuer with the tongue onely as many doe and haue done not only in Popery when if they had said a certaine number of prayers it was thought sufficient though they knew not what they said it being in an vnknowne tongue and so could not possibly haue any desire at all vnto that which they prayed for and so that was verified of them that Christ speaketh of in the Gospell Matth. 15.8 This people draweth neere vnto me with their lippes but their heart is farre from me but also in these dayes when many though they say Amen at the end of prayers yet haue had their mind occupied about other matters and so though their tongue hath spoken yet their mindes haue desired nothing John 4.24 whereas God is a spirit and wil be worshipped in our spirits and he is the searcher of the hearts which when it is prepared then hee heareth as it is said thou preparest the heart Psalm 10.17 Psalm 57.7 and bendest thine eare thereto So that whensoeuer we pray we must say as the Prophet doth My heart is prepared my heart is prepared O God I will sing and giue thanks Therefore wee must not come rashly to prayer and vnaduisedly on the suddaine but prepare our hearts beforehand as Christ teacheth vs in that forme of his O our Father which art in Heauen c willing vs to consider of Gods fatherly loue and of his almighty power and so pray to him as to one whom wee are perswaded is most willing and able to heare and helpe vs. Greater earnestnes is requisite in some part of the prayer then of other Ephes 6.18 And though wee must alwaies thus pray if wee will bee heard yet we are to striue with our affections in prayer and as something shall be more materiall for vs and wee stand in more need of it so there and for that to pray more earnestly and as we must continually striue with our owne dulnesse in prayer and as the Apostle saith watch thereunto so wee must offer violence as it were to our selues in such things as doe most concerne vs. So that our prayers must not flowe from vs like a still streame which is alwaies like it selfe and neuer standeth still like a poole so wee must not haue alwaies the like desires in prayer yea though they be desires of the heart in deed and the heart bee truly moued with it and not stand still senselesse and dead in the affections of it like a lake which is without motion which yet it were well if all men could come vnto and it is a great worke of the spirit if wee can doe so but our hearts in prayer must bee working like the great Ocean Sea that sometimes commeth with great billowes so that it bringeth vp things that are at the bottome of it So we according to our speciall need and the necessitie of others that we pray for must stirre vp the least desire that we haue euen from the bottome of our hearts and though our hearts were moued before yet when wee come to such a thing they must bee mooued a great deale more that God may see how earnestly we desire them that so hee may fulfill them And this we must doe not onely in our priuat prayers And that is true not only of priuat prayer but of publike according to that that we stand in need of as we all finde that we need something more then other for that wee must bee most importunate though wee must alwaies pray earnestly But also in the publike prayers of the Church as these of the people were as wee must alwaies during the time of prayer marke diligently what is said and haue not onely our minde occupied about it but our desires going with his words that prayeth as it were step by step that thus they may all waite vpon him and as it were hang vpon his mouth as it is sayd the people did vpon our Sauiour Christ but when there is any speciall thing prayed for which concerneth vs neerely Luk. 19.48 or any of ours or the glory of God and Church of Christ there to stirre vp our minds with some more earnest desire to call vpon God for it and as it were to say Selah that is Oh that God would grant that so would it come to passe that God would giue vs our desire Luk. 1.53 as he hath promised to fill the hungry soule with
so vnlawfully none can striue with vs. Therefore let vs not haue such running lusts and wandering desires as the men of this world haue who desire earthly things and say as Dauid describeth them VVho wil shew vs any good But let vs pray as he teacheth vs there Lord lift vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs Psal 4.6 and let vs esteeme of that as he doth there aboue all worldy things saying I shall haue more ioy of heart thereby than they had when their wheat and their wine did abound And then we are sure that our desires be well ordered and so all good men will help vs in their prayers say of vs as the people do here of their King The Lord graunt thee according to thine heart If then at any time we haue asked any thing at the hand of God and haue not receiued it If we aske and haue not let vs examine and correct our desires 1. Pet. 3.9 let vs consider what it is and how we haue asked it if it be any thing that is euill as the destruction of our enemies the curse of God vpon our neighbours whereas we should rather blesse them as the Apostle saith knowing that we are called to be heires of the blessing of God then no maruaile if God do not giue vs our desires Or if it be a lawfull thing yet we desire it not lawfully that is not according to Gods will as for example If we desire earthly things aboue heauenly as most doe or as concerning this visitation of the plague if we more desire that it might be taken away than that we our selues and others might profit by it generally if we more desire health and wealth estimation and worldly prosperitie than faith and repentance and the true feare of God and such like then these desires of our hearts no marueile if God graunt not Or againe if we desire not these outward things so that we can be contented to want them if it be not Gods will to giue them and to say with the Apostle I can be abased and I can abound Phil. 4.12 euery where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry and to abound and to haue want and what state soeuer I am in therewith to be content For otherwise neither can we pray our selues How we shold pray concerning this plague if we will be heard nor other for vs That God would giue vs according to our heart because the desires of the same are not fashioned according to his will Therefore both for the remouing of this plague and for all other things we must be of that mind that Dauid was when by the conspiring of his sonne Absalom he was driuen out of Ierusalem who said 2. Sam. 15.25 Carie the Arke again into the citie if I shall find fauor in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me againe and shew me both it and the tabernacle thereof But if he say thus I haue no delight in thee behold here I am let him doe to me as seemeth good in his eyes Thus he resigned both his kingdome and life into Gods hands to haue them or loose them according to his will and then he receiued againe of God both the one and the other for Absolon was destroyed and he safely returned into Ierusalem So should we now much more receiue life and health in this great mortalitie if we did pray for them with these minds Heb. 11.17 19. that as Abraham was willing to offer vp his sonne Izaack vnto God and then he restored him vnto life as it were againe so we be willing to haue all if it be Gods will then will he restore all things vnto vs againe Therefore if God giue vs not that which we ask let vs thus profit to the examining and conuerting of our desires But to conclude for this time whereas all men generally desire that they might haue their heart satisfied and that whatsoeuer they haue a mind to they might haue it and this all sorts couet and seek after and therin consisteth great contentation and quietnesse of mind That we haue our desires in all things let vs nourish in vs continually none but good desires for those God wil fulfill The comfort of those that haue good desires and the vexation of them that haue euill But if we haue wicked and vngodly desires in our mind as the Lord will not fulfill them so this shall be no small crosse vnto vs that we are abridged of our desires So that all they that so liue that they make conscience euen of their desires and labour to keepe them within the compasse of Gods word and will their life is most pleasant and comfortable full of contentment for they shall soonest haue the desires of their heart from time to time But if we giue scope to our affections and suffer our desires to range beyond the bounds of Gods word and will as therein we displease him that they are so vnruly so we shall not be quiet for God will crosse them and not suffer vs to prosper in our wicked desires For though the wicked many times doe so for their further condemnation who often haue more than their hearts desire yet this is the ordinarie portion of Gods children that if their desires be good God will fulfill them as these of Dauids were and therefore God did so vnto him as he confesseth Psal 21.2 Thou hast giuen him his harts desire But if they be euill he will keepe them from them and we are to pray that he would doe so to that end that we might seeke to purge our hearts from all such sinfull desires And God graunt that we may thus profit by the not hauing of our desires to examine them whether they be good or ill and to amend whatsoeuer is amisse and so shall it be more profitable for vs to be hindered in such desires than to haue them fulfilled But we shall haue occasion to speake more of this the next day in the meane time let this be sufficient The thirteenth Sermon vpon the fourth verse And graunt thee according to thine heart c. COncerning these words besides that that hath ben obserued out of them alreadie it is further to be considered that whereas hee had willed them in the tenth verse to pray that God would heare his prayers and that he would euidently shew that he had done so and now that he would giue him according to his heart he declareth that as when he prayed vnto God he would doe it not with his lips only but from the bottome of his heart so hee would haue the Lord to take knowledge of his prayer from the desires of the same and giue him thereafter True ptayer is a desire of the heart and so to shew that he had heard his prayer by giuing him his hearts desire From whence we learne what is the nature of true
there was great sorrow among the Iewes and fasting and weeping and mourning and many lay in sackcloth and ashes but they all prayed vnto God and he deliuered them and saued them from their enemies Chap. 9.17 and turned the dayes of famine into the daies of feasting and ioy So let vs giue our selues vnto continuall prayer that the Lord may be entreated of vs at the last and so in his appointed time it may come to passe that whereas many of the chiefe cities and townes amongst vs haue beene a long time in great perplexitie by reason of this grieuous pestilence and contagious mortalititie and in all places of this realme besides whither tidings of their estate hath and doth weekely come they haue been in sorrow and great heauinesse and in weeping and mourning and fasting now there may be cause of reioysing and praysing God and these dayes of sorrow and fasting may bee turned into the dayes of great ioy and feasting That so we may as this people wish for themselues here reioyce when he shall fulfill all our petitions VVhich the Lord of his infinit mercie graunt for Iesus Christs sake Amen The sixteenth Sermon vpon the fifth verse That we may reioyce in thy saluation c. AS they bring this for a reason in their prayer to mooue the Lord to bestow vpon them this benefit so here they professe that if hee will vouchsafe so to doe they would reioyce indeed and bee glad and as they should haue cause From whence wee may learne how we ought to be affected with the common benefits of our time We ought to reioyce in the common benefits of our time as here they speake of publicke blessing namely victorie ouer their enemies and so of common peace and tranquilitie that should follow namely that we should take them from God as matter of great ioy And as when there is any common affliction and plague in the land of what kind soeuer wee should be affected with it and be sorrowfull for it and not haue that stoninesse and hardnesse of heart that is in too many whereby it should come to passe that wee should make light of such things and not be mooued with them as we ought So we should be touched with the consideration of the common benefits to reioice in them because we haue our part in them and the greater that those benefits be the more should we reioyce in them and the more should be our ioy for them or else we cannot be so thankefull vnto God for them as we ought VVee should not then be so carelesse that we should not marke the common benefits of our time nor so blockish and hard hearted that in marking of them we should not reioyce in them For we see that the seruants of God in their seuerall ages and times haue not onely greatly reioyced in the common benefits of the Church and Commonwealth wherein they haue had their part with the rest of their brethren but they haue openly professed it to the glorie of God and the good example of others As when they returned from the captiuitie of Babylon where they had beene long not onely in a strange countrey but vnder idolaters now when they come home and haue the freedome of their conscience in Gods seruice and that in their own countrey they were not onely filled with ioy but they speak of it among themselues to their mutuall comfort and as when they went out they wept and were touched with the common miserie of that time and put away all tokens of ioy from them Psal 137.2 For by the waters of Babylon they hanged their harpes vpon the willowes and said that they would not sing the Lords song in a strange land so in their returne they speake otherwise of themselues for as the benefit was so great and so vnlooked for of many Psal 126.1 That when the Lord brought againe the captiuitie of Sion they were like them that dreame so their ioy was so great that they say Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with ioy and they say The Lord hath done great things for vs whereof we reioyce The Lord hath vouchsafed vs and our forefathers the like mercie in deliuering vs long ago from the tyrannie of the Pope As that we are deliuered frō poperie and of his idolatrie and giuen vs this freedome of the gospell in our owne countrey we must so consider of it That as those holy men that wanted it so prayed for it that they might reioyce as this people doth here for another benefit so now we that haue it might reioyce in it indeed and not to be so sencelesse and void of feeling as many are not at all or very little to be mooued with so great cause of ioy The like may be said of all other common benefits whatsoeuer as when Salomon was appointed to be king in his father Dauids roome and this was done with the common consent of all the nobles and chiefe men of the realme it is said they gaue thankes vnto God and were exceedingly glad 1. Chron. 29.20 For Dauid said vnto them Now blesse the Lord your God and all the congregation blessed the Lord God of their fathers and bowed down their heads and worshipped the Lord and the king And they did eat and drinke before the Lord the same day with great ioy and they made Salomon the sonne of Dauid king the second time So this great benefit to haue one good prince to succeed another peaceably And then wee haue one good prince to succeed another was vnto them matters of great ioy In which respect we haue no lesse cause to reioyce than they that after the death of our late Soueraigne Queene Elizabeth of blessed memorie by whom we did enioy many great benefits who did restore religion and tooke order for the seruice seruants of the Lord as Dauid did we haue one in Gods great mercie to succeed that maintaineth the Gospell and that he is peaceably come to the Crowne as Salomon was then so that neither we are fallen into the hands of our enemies nor giuen vp vnto Popish idolatrie as both of them were greatly feared But as this benefit was greatly desired of many before and they thought that then they would reioice and otherwise they could not so we that enioy it must reioyce in it and so consider of the greatnesse of it that our hearts may be made glad with it and that wee may eat and drinke before the Lord and vse other of his benefits as in his presence with great ioy So is it said afterwards in the dayes of this Salomon when he had builded and made an end of the temple of the Lord and had with solemne prayers and sacrifices dedicated it vnto his seruice all the people of the land that came vp to Ierusalem to the dedication of that house when all things were finished The king sent away into their tents
wherewith they are kept from cold when others goe halfe naked quake for cold their food in aboundance and of the best both for necessitie and delight when others are pinched with hunger haue but bread and drinke and not ynough of that who themselues and their children do eat by measure and by weight to draw out their food at length their soft and warme lodging when others lie hard and cold and scarcely can be warme all night These and many things els can put them in mind from day to night and from night to day what great cause they haue to reioyce aboue many others Let them then in the name of God so consider of them that they may reioyce for God hath giuen them to them to that end as Salomon saith in the booke of the Preacher Eccle. 2.24 That this is the fruit of all that a man can haue of all that he hath to eat and to drinke and to reioyce in the blessings of God and yet that also is the gift of God as he confesseth there Therefore they aboue all others must confesse that God hath giuen them great cause of ioy and nothing can so befall them vnlesse God take all away from them as hee did from Iob but they must needs acknowledge that still they haue cause to reioice So that it is not onely lawfull for them in and for these to reioice but it is necessarie that they should doe so and it is required at their hands insomuch that if they were so blind that they would not confesse that they had great cause of ioy all men would by the benefits which they enioy in great number witnesse against them and if they were so froward that they would not reioice all men would condemne them for it And thus we see that all sorts in respect of Gods benefits which he hath bestowed vpon them haue cause to reioice The prayse of God must be the fruit of our ioy But what is to be done in this ioy and for all these causes of ioy it followeth in the next words of the text on this wise And set vp our banners in the name of our God that is praise God for them for we see here how they are ioyned together That we may reioice in thy saluation and set vp our banners in the name of the Lord our God So they say that this should be the fruit of their ioy they would praise God in it for the cause of it And this ought to be the fruit of true ioy in all men and for all things For as all good and godly sorrow should driue vs vnto prayer that God might turne that away from vs or remooue it for which we doe sorrow so on the contrarie all true and godly ioy should driue vs to thankesgiuing for that which is the cause of our ioy And as herein godly and wordly sorrow differ that the one many times driueth to despaire or causeth sicknesse and so death in the end 2. Cor. 7.10 the other causeth repentance neuer to bee repented of and so prayer to God for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes which haue iustly brought vpon vs that cause of sorrow So on the other side herein godly ioy differeth from worldly ioy the one maketh a man secure and to forget God and to rest in himselfe and sometimes to be prophane and to keep no measure in things but to abuse that that he hath but the other inlargeth the heart to praise God and maketh him to goe out of the things themselues the causes of his ioy vnto God the author of them And thus doth the Apostle very excellently by these fruits note out vnto vs true sorrow Iam. 5.13 and true ioy when he saith Is any among you afflicted let him pray Is any merrie let him sing where hee maketh prayer the fruit of sorrow in affliction and thankesgiuing the fruit of ioy in Gods benefits And S. Paule doth shew vs at large the difference betweene the worldly ioy of the wicked and the godly ioy of the righteous when he sayth to the Ephesians Ephe. 5.18 Be not drunke with wine wherein is excesse but be fulfilled with the spirit speaking vnto your selues in Psalmes and hymnes and spirituall songs singing and making melodie to the Lord in your hearts And therein true ioy differeth from all worldly ioy giuing thankes alwaies for all things vnto God euen the father in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ wherein one kind as in feasting which is lawfull and common to the good and bad and which is an honest means to make men merry and glad hee sheweth the diuersitie of the mirth of the one and of the other The men of this world they exceed and fall into the abuse of Gods creatures sometimes till they be drunken or haue surfeited and so also giue themselues vnto that mirth which is excessiue and immoderat and sometimes yea commonly ioyned with prophane scoffing or some wickednesse The children of God vsing his creatures soberly and in his presence euen at their feasts doe thereby prouoke one another to prayse God and make themselues merry in God and as in his sight VVee see then what should be the fruit of our ioy in Gods benefits namely the prayse of God and to what end also hee giueth to vs so many things wherein we may reioyce euen that he might haue the whole glorie and prayse of them So that whether we be poore or we be rich haue we more or haue we lesse to reioyce in this must be the fruit of all that we praise God for such things as make vs to reioyce And so as there is none in the world but hee hath some cause of ioy so the Lord looketh for continuall prayse at the hands of vs all but as many haue more cause to reioyce than others Thus all haue cause to praise God by reason of the manifold blessings which they enioy aboue them so he looketh for more prayse and thankes at their hands than of others as there is good cause For to whom much is giuen of them much shall be required VVhich if they doe not labour to performe and profit by Gods benefits and by their ioy in them to that end it may come to passe that the wicked may haue as much ioy in the things that they possesse as themselues yea the very vnreasonable creatures and the brute beasts in their kind for if our ioy end not in the prayse of God what are we better for it than they Therefore it is not ynough for a man to say I liue merrily and at my hearts ease I haue many causes of ioy I am void of sorrow and griefe I haue nothing that doth trouble me but am in continuall mirth it is not ynough I say to be in this estate and thus to boast and say but we must labour to be thankefull vnto God for it who is the cause of it let our ioy in these
the ease and release of the affliction of our brethren that we may reioyce Here then we haue another reason to persuade vs to pray for those that are and haue beene a long time visited with the pestilence and the grieuous hand of God Wee should pray that the plague might cease from our brethren that we might reioyce for which they are in great heauinesse and feare night and day entreating the Lord that when it hath wrought his good worke in the hearts of all for which it is sent to commaund it to cease and to take it cleane away not onely that their sorrowfull hearts might be cheered vp and comforted after this long sorrow and so some light might arise vnto them after this darknesse but that all we our selues and the rest of our brethren in all parts of this land might reioyce in their saluation That so we might take into our mouths the words of the Psalme which were vttered after a great deliuerance Others said of them Psal 126.2 The Lord hath done great things for them but they said The Lord hath done great things for vs whereof we reioyce So we should not count our selues strangers from our brethren and from their good and speake of them as it were aloofe off when we should heare how the plague is stayed in such and such a place The Lord hath done great things for them but as though it were our owne case say The Lord hath done great things for vs whereof we reioyce and so we to reioyce in their saluation we accounting the good that is done to them as done to our selues And truly if all men did thus it were to be hoped that God would soon heare vs. This affection was in Paule when he wrote vnto Philemon and entreated him for his seruant Onesimus who had stollen something from him and was come away and cast into prison for it and Paule had conuerted him and then desireth him to pardon him and to receiue him againe not onely that his poore seruant might bee comforted who was now greatly troubled for his sinne but that Paule himselfe might reioyce in this great blessing bestowed vpon him when he sayth thus yea brother let me obtaine this pleasure of thee in the Lord Phile. 20. comfort my bowels in the Lord where he entreateth him that in pardoning and receiuing his seruant againe he would bestow that great benefit vpon himselfe comfort him in the Lord for so he would account of it and thus he preuailed for it and so might we with God much more for our brethren VVhether then we looke to this visitation of the pestilence or to any other calamitie that our neighbors shall be in we in their preseruation or deliuerance must thinke our selues greatly comforted in the Lord and therefore in all things pray for their good that wee might reioyce so God may heare vs if not for their sakes yet for our owne And this is that which we haue to obserue out of the fifth verse it followeth in the next The interpretation of the sixt verse Vers 6. Now know I that the Lord will helpe his annointed and will heare him from his sanctuarie by the mightie power of his right hand In this verse Dauid professeth beforehand that he did beleeue that God would heare him and would defend him from his enemies according to his prayers for hee was the authour and penner of this Psalme And in teaching the people thus to pray for him he would haue them also beleeue that God would heare them concerning these requests which they made in his behalfe that so they likewise might pray in the same faith And this faith of them all is expressed and declared not onely when they say that they did know that God would heare and send helpe but especially and most significantly in changing the number For whereas in the former verse they spake as a multitude euen the whole Church together saying That wee may reioyce in thy saluation and set vp our banners in the name of our God where three times they speake in the person of many Here as though there were but one that prayed they say I know and this they doe according to the nature of true faith which is to applie Gods promises and his merciful deliuerances particularly to euery man and woman and so say as it is in our Creed I beleeue in God and not we beleeue that is I am persuaded that hee is the God not onely of others but of me And so here though many did vse this praier together yet euery one was to haue this faith in themselues that they did know that God would heare them And what doe they or should they beleeue That God will helpe his annointed that is their king Dauid so called because he was by the commaundement of God annointed by Samuel the Prophet vnto that office 1. Sam. 16.13 and that he would heare his prayers and graunt his requests from his sanctuarie that is from heauen And thus they beleeue that God would doe by or with his right hand that is by his great power that he hath in himselfe whereby hee is able to doe all things and by the mightie helpe thereof that is that great helpe which he shall and will giue which none is able to resist And thus for the further strengthening of their faith they set before their eyes the great power of God whereby hee is able to defend all those that put their trust in him in all dangers whatsoeuer as also in the verse following they doe by comparison of the confidence of their enemies more fully expresse it saying Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God that is whereas others did trust in outward meanes as chariots and such like they did trust onely in the power and grace of Almightie God This teacheth vs to come so prepared vnto prayer that wee beleeue beforehand that God will heare our prayers We must pray in faith beleeuing that God will heare vs. and that we shall not pray in vaine but he will giue vs the thing that we aske And this faith is so requisit and necessarie that without it neither are our prayers acceptable vnto God neither can wee looke to receiue any thing at his hand Heb. 11.6 For without faith it is impossible to please God as in no other duties that we doe so not in prayer And faith is requisit in all those that aske any thing of God euen as all they that came vnto Christ in the dayes of his flesh to receiue any thing of him hee required of thē this first That they should beleeue For as it is said of them of his owne countrey when he was among them Matth. 13.58 Marc. 6.5 He could not doe many great workes there for their vnbeleefe sake he could haue done ynough his diuine power was sufficient but they had not faith to
pray thee deliuer mee from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau for I feare him least he will come and smite me and the mother vpon the children For thou saidest I will surely doe thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbred for multitude So that when his brother Esau came against him with foure hundred men and he remembring his former inueterat mallice feared that he would destroy them all both young and old mother and children he prayeth vnto God for deliuerance and that he might doe it with assurance of being heard he looketh to Gods promises who had said that he would doe him good So must we doe in like maner I meane when we come to prayer we must throughly consider of Gods most gracious and mercifull promises which to that end are so infinit in number for the good both of our soules and bodies and for this life and the life to come and for our selues and others that I need not name any Our sauiour Christ speaketh thus vnto vs in the Gospell Matth. 7.7 Aske and it shall be giuen vnto you seeke and you shall find knocke and it shall be opened And againe thus the Lord speaketh in his owne person by the Prophet Psal 50.16 Call vpon me in the day of thy trouble and I will deliuer thee and thou shalt glorifie me and many such like we haue in the word of God Now these promises we must remember are not made vnto vs for our owne selues as for our owne worthinesse but for Christ Iesus sake Which are made vnto vs and fulfilled in Christ who hath sayd Iohn 16.22 That whatsoeuer we aske the father in his name he will graunt it vnto vs. For as the Apostle saith All the promises of God in Christ are Yea 2. Cor. 1.20 and in him they are Amen vnto the glory of God that is in him and for his sake shall most certainely be performed Therefore for the verifying and fulfilling of them vnto vs and for our assured hope of them in our prayers we must not stay in the consideration of our selues to say It is true in deed that God hath promised to heare me what cause is there in me that he should doe so for in our selues we shall find nothing but vnworthinesse and all causes to the contrary but we must looke only to the merits and worthinesse of Christ Iesus for whose sake they were first made and for whose sake they shall be all of them fulfilled And thus we may perceiue that one cause for our doubting and little assurance of being heard is the ignorance or not sufficient meditating vpon the truth of Gods promises Therefore when we come to prayer let vs thinke of them that by them we might know that God will heare vs for he that is faithfull hath so promised We must meditate vpon those promises specially which doe concerne our present estate And as we must thus generally meditate vpon the promises of God so because he of his infinit goodnesse hath made many promises vnto vs according to euery need of ours that we might be assured not onely generally that God will heare vs but particularly for that very thing that we stand in need of and haue prayed for we must specially giue our selues to the meditation of such promises as doe most neerely conceiue that case of ours And thus we haue alreadie seene how Iaakob did when he was returning from Laban to his fathers house at the commaundement of God and by the way was in great daunger as he thought of Esau he prayeth vnto God and though the Lord had made many other promises vnto him yet at this time he specially thinketh of that that God had sayd vnto him concerning that matter Gen. 32.9 and so beginneth his prayer thus Lord which saydest vnto me returne vnto thy countrey and to thy kindred and I will doe thee good deliuer me out of the hand of my brother Esau and then he returneth vnto the promise of God againe in these wordes For thou saydest I will doe thee good And so must we doe for the obtaining of this assurance As for example if we pray for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes and the assurance of the same let vs seriously thinke vpon such promises as God in his word hath made to that end Ezek. 18.21 As at what time so euer a sinner repenteth him of his sinne from the bottome of his heart I will put out all his wickednesse out of my remembrance saith the Lord by his Prophet and againe what our sauiour Christ saith in the Gospell Matth. 11.28 Come vnto me all yee that are wearie and laden and I will ease you where he calleth all without exception So that if we find the burden of our sinnes intollerable vnto vs as they are in themselues and we are weary of them as of an heauie burden able to presse vs downe vnto the bottome of hell and there to hold vs for euer and doe vnfainedly repent vs of them and haue a full purpose to leaue them then praying to God for the forgiuenesse of them we may know assuredly that God will heare vs for here we haue his promise for it And so must wee doe for any thing else that we need and pray for as for this visitation of the plague As this state of ours in this visitation of the plague if we would pray for our brethren that are vnder it in some good assurance that God in his good time will of his vnspeakeable mercy and louing kindnesse remooue it or mittigate it let vs meditate vpon that which God hath promised to such kind of prayers as when the Apostle S. Iames saith Is any sicke among you let him call for the Elders of the Church Jam. 5.14 and let them pray for him and the prayer of faith shall saue the sicke and the Lord shall raise him vp and if he haue committed sinne it shall be forgiuen him thefore he willeth them to acknowledge their sinnes one to another that they might be healed for the prayer of a righteous man auaileth much if it be feruent VVhere we see what is promised to some few of the Church praying for them that are visited with sicknesse and that iustly also for their sinnes and for their offences that such prayers shall not be in vaine but most auaileable through Gods goodnesse for the pardoning of their sinnes and for the remoouing of the punishment of the same if so be that they that pray be righteous and holy men and pray feruently Then from hence may we be assured in the like case that if an whole Church and Congregation of Gods people yea many Churches in diuers places doe pray feruently for them and they that are sicke and vnder Gods hand will confesse their sinnes vnto him and repent them of them and by this plague of God iudge themselues for them
how are mine aduersaries increased How many rise against mee Many say to my soule there is no helpe for him in God Afterwards he confirmeth his faith in the goodnesse of God by the consideration of his nature that he is a defence buckler to them that are vnarmed and without defence and he giueth glory to them that haue ignominie cast vpon them without a cause and he rayseth vp them that are falling Verse 3. saying But thou Lord art a buckler for me my glory and the lifter vp of my head And then he gathereth more strength of faith from former experience Verse 4. saying I did call vnto the Lord with my voyce and he heard me out of the holy mountaine and to this he addeth Shelah to shew how greatly it did affect him and what comfort he had in this to remember that God had heard his prayer in former times and then further addeth for the strengthening of his faith that the Lord in other great danger had defended him Verse 5. saying I laid me downe and slept and rose vp againe for the Lord sustained me And thereupon inferreth this confident speech Verse 6. full of assurance I will not be afraid for ten thousand of the people that should beset me round about VVhere he doth glory by faith that though his enemies were neuer so many and himselfe in neuer so great danger of them hee would not bee too much afraid of them but was assured that the Lord would defend him in the middest of them And this assurance of Gods defence hee obtaineth now at the last by continuing in prayer and by those meditations which he had in prayer of the goodnesse and mercie of God towards all his and now specially towards himselfe which he hath set down in the former verses and part of his prayer So falleth it out with others that the spirit of God in them which is the spirit of prayer and of all assurance as it stirreth them vp to pray and when they cannot tell of themselues what or how to pray as they ought the same spirit helpeth their infirmities Rom. 8.26 and stirreth vp in them sighes and grones and desires of the hart which are acceptable and which God alloweth of because they are according to his will so the same also helpeth their infirmities in this point that whereas they began to pray in great weakenesse and much doubting because of their temptations by calling into their minds more freshly than before the promises of God made in his word and the often performance of the same to others to themselues it causeth them to grow in faith doth giue thē some greater assurance of Gods fauours and of being gratiously heard than they had in the beginning they know then more fully that he doth heare them and will helpe them And so the spirit of God in prayer helpeth the infirmities of the rest of his seruants Hebr. 12.1 And though this may seeme strange to such as are not acquainted with prayer who vse it very seldome or not at all and make it but a matter of forme and custome yet I doubt not but that we haue a great cloud of faithfull witnesses who vsing prayer often of conscience and in the feeling of their wantes and making it a dayly exercise and therein deale with the Lord in good earnest as those that would obtaine some thing at his hand and rest not in the bare action of prayer as in a worke wrought or a certaine taske performed and done who doe and are able to subscribe most willingly vnto the truth of this by their owne practise So that as Dauid making this prayer when his sonne Absolom with Achitophell and many others raysed vp a rebellon against him in which for the safegard of his life he was compelled to flie out of Ierusalem as appeareth by the title of the Psalme did by continuance in feruent prayer obtaine this assurance That the Lord would defend him and confound them all and therefore he would not be afraid of them if there were ten thousand of them and they all should beset him round about that is if he were brought into great straits as indeed he was and truely it came to passe in the end for Achitophell did hang himselfe and Absalom was hanged by the haire of the head As I say Dauid then had assurance of this before hand so also others of Gods seruants in their daungers and troubles praying to God feruently as he did haue in some good measure to their owne comfort and the comfort of others that haue prayed with them obtaitained of God by his spirit an assurance that the Lord did heare them and would be mercifull vnto them and they by faith haue professed the same to others beforehand Dauid againe by continuing in feruent prayer groweth in assurance of being heard And this growing and increasing in the assured hope That the Lord will heare vs whereof we now speak Dauid againe setteth downe by his owne experience in the sixt Psalme as indeed I must needs confesse that he was a man of wonderfull great experience both of his owne infirmitie and of Gods mercifull dealing towards him which Psalme was made when he was grieuously sicke and like to die and did not onely feele the hand of God heauie vpon himselfe this way as appeareth by his grieuous complaints and outcries but he was troubled in his mind for his sinne and in this estate he prayeth vnto God To remoue from him this great token of his wrath and displeasure that was vpon him and to take away this grieuous scourge that he was then afflicted with and to giue him both health of bodie and quietnesse of mind of both which at the last hee obtaineth so great assurance by faith through the inward working of Gods spirit that he doth openly glory of it against all his enemies that reioyced at his fall And for the vnderstanding of this it is requisit especially for the simpler sort to whose capacitie I haue especially framed my selfe requisit I say to set down in order the words of the whole Psalme for otherwise neither the great confidence and reioycing of his faith which in the end with much striuing he attained vnto nor the feruencie of his prayer which was a meanes whereby Gods spirit wrought it in him can be so fully perceiued or made plaine vnto you Thus therfore he beginneth his prayer O Lord Psal 6.1 rebuke me not in thine anger neither chastise me in thy wrath haue mercie vpon me O Lord for I am needie heale me for my bones are vexed My soule is also sore troubled but Lord how long wilt thou delay Returne O Lord deliuer my soule saue me for thy mercies sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee in the graue who shall praise thee I fainted in my mourning I cause my bed euery night to swim and water my couch with teares Mine eyes is dimmed
betweene saying Surely thou wilt heare mee O God because God gaue him then to beleeue it more fully VVhich full persuasion if he had had before in that measure that he had then we may be assured that he would sooner haue professed it to the glory of God and his owne comfort A fourth example of it in Dauid I will conclude this point with that which is in the eight and thirtie Psalme which Psalme was made when he was in some great distresse of sickenesse as some think or some other at the least And the whole Psalme is full of grieuous complaints as may appeare to them that will but read it when he beginneth thus O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger Psal 38.1 neither chastise me in thy wrath for thine arrowes haue light vpon me and thine hand lieth vpon me there is nothing found in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there rest in my bones because of my sinne and so forth for the whole Psalme is too long to be set down yet it is necessarie for thē to read it ouer who desire to see the truth of this that we speak to be in the Prophet He first complaineth of the heauie wrath of God that was vpon him and of his sinnes which he acknowledgeth to be the cause of his punishment of the infirmitie and great weakenesse that he found in himselfe both of soule and bodie and of this also that he was forsaken of his friends and left desolat of the mallice of his wicked enemies all which made him as hee saith to poure out his whole desire before the Lord so that his sighing was not hid from him Vers 9. And then at the last he commeth to haue some good assurance that the Lord would heare him and doth openly professe it in these words On thee O Lord doe I wait Vers 15. thou wilt heare me O Lord my God and so from this assurance hee endeth the Psalme somewhat more comfortably than he began it saying Hast thee to helpe me O my Lord Vers 22. my saluation Thus we see how by continuing in feruent prayer and striuing against all things within him and without him that might discourage him the spirit of God did so encrease in him that hee gat some small assurance at the least and more than he had before that the Lord would heare him and so endeth with a more peaceable and quiet mind than he began And though I am not ignorant that some of the learned doe read that fifteenth verse somewhat otherwise yet they agree with me in this point for which it is brought That in the same he professeth his faith that the Lord would heare him All these examples doe not onely shew vs the truth of this doctrine namely that the seruants of God praying vnto him in their seuerall troubles as this people did here haue by little and little growne in a further assurance to their owne comfort and the glorie of God By this experience in another we see what assurāce God may worke in vs if we vse the same meanes that he will heare them but they shew vs the same by great experience which is the best tracts and able to instruct the most simple for wee haue heard how Dauid oftentimes professeth it of himselfe which sheweth vs what we may looke for that the Lord should worke in vs also for there is no respect of persons with him if we pray in that feeling of our wants and that humilitie vnder the crosse and that feruencie vnder hope and that continuance by patience that he did Therefore let vs labour after it euen that we may find the spirit of God so working in our hearts by prayer that it may certainly and comfortably witnesse to our spirits that the Lord doth heare vs and that the same testimonie of the spirit may encrease in vs aswe encrease in praying And it may come to passe that as in the morning we see the Sunne arise higher and higher whereby we haue a greater feeling of the heat of it as the day encreaseth so we might see the sonne of righteousnesse so arising in our hearts Malach. 4.2 dispersing all the mysts of ignorance and vnbeleefe that we may haue the comfortable feeling of the fauour of God in our hearts encreasing more and more to cheere them vp with the light and heat of it as it were as we shall continue longer in prayer Let vs labor after it I say because that few doe know what it doth meane because they doe not so much as once seeke and inquire after it Obiect The best seruants of God complaine that they haue no assurance that God heareth their prayer Now if any doe seeke this and cannot find it and so they still complaine as many of the best seruants of God haue done that he heareth not their prayers neither haue they any assurance of it for when as in their troubles they pray vnto God this grieueth them much that they haue no persuasion that God heareth and will helpe them for if they had this they could bee contented to wait vpon him and to tarry his leisure but they pray and pray and can haue no assurance that hee doth heare them Ans And a reason of the same To satisfie all those and to strengthen them in this weaknesse of theirs we must consider That they that haue had the greatest assurance at any time that the Lord did heare them haue had it but in time and in measure and not alwaies alike but sometimes more sometimes lesse and sometimes not at all as the spirit of faith or their owne vnbeleefe hath preuailed in them For in these forenamed places we see that in some of the Psalmes hee professeth greater assurance than in other and so is it with all men Euen as with the eyes of our bodie we sometimes see a thing more clearely than at other times and our eyesight is not alwayes alike no more is our faith whereby wee behold Christ and in him the fauour of God it is not alwaies in the same brightnesse Besides as the ayre is not alwaies alike for our sight but sometimes more troublesome and souring yea darke which hindereth vs from the sight of that that we looke vnto when our eyes are at the best so we haue sometimes in our mind greater and more violent temptations than at other as it were thick mystes or rather darke clouds in the aire to hinder our faith from beholding the cheerefull countenance of the Lord as it were the light of the Sunne which shineth alwayes alike though we by reason of these cannot alwaies see it alike So the Lords loue is alwaies one and the same but we are not alwaies alike disposed in our selues to behold it in that brightnesse that it shineth in it owne nature Therefore we must not be dismaied if we haue not alwaies this assurance in our prayer after the same manner but see what
is the cause of it and striue against that that so wee may come vnto it in time and in that measure that the Lord shall bestow it vpon vs. Secondly we must consider Another reason of it that this people doth pray very feruently and often for this That God would heare and helpe their king before they come to this assurance as appeareth by all the former wordes when they say The Lord heare thee the name of God defend thee send thee helpe and strengthen thee let him remember thine offerings and turne thy burnt offerings into ashes graunt thee according to thine heart fulfill all thy purpose c. VVhere there are many short and earnest petitions for the same thing which doubling of their words and of their requests in so great shortnesse doe sufficiently shew how feruently they prayed For wee must not thinke that they vse vaine babbling heaping vp a multitude of words without any sence feeling or desire of the thing answerable vnto the same as it is the manner of hypocrits and heathen to doe who vse repetitions and thinke to be heard for their much babling Matth. 6.7 against whom our Sauiour Christ speaketh in the Gospell But this prayer being first made by Dauid who had the spirit of God and for the Church which is ruled by the same spirit we may by their words very cleerely discerne see their spirit that they prayed with namely with great earnestnesse and feeling especially when this word Selah which noteth some great affection of the mind is added and thus doing they come to a greater assurance at the last I meane by this continuance in feruent prayer So in all the other Psalmes of Dauid which we alledged before wee see that he prayeth not coldly or in a word but very earnestly often and long before he professeth this assurance Therefore if we will come vnto it in our measure we must labour to haue the feeling of our want and to be troubled for it and so pray earnestly we must come also in the faith of Gods goodnesse and hope of being heard by considering the promises of his word and the fulfilling of the same we must continue in prayer and pray often for the same thing so shall it come to passe that we shall not onely beleeue beforehand generally that God will heare vs but more particularly in that very thing that we pray for find some assurance encreased in vs that he will helpe vs and we must wait vpon him also to haue a greater assurance of it wrought in vs afterwards Therefore let vs doe thus and see whether the Lord in many things that we pray for will not giue vs that assurance that he will helpe vs some way or other either by mitigating the thing that is vpon vs or deliuering vs cleane from it or giuing vs patience vnder it or encreasing our strength to beare it or turning it vnto our good so that wee shall see the more wee pray the more quiet shall we be in submitting our wils to the will of God and assuring our selues that some way or other the Lord will heare vs and helpe vs. And furthermore concerning this particular that they pray for euen for Dauid their king they had this assurance that God would heare him How we may be assured that God will hear vs for others and helpe him And so I doubt not but that many faithfull subiects and people in this land hauing in like maner prayed for their kings and queenes and gouernours God hath giuen them assurance that he hath heard them for them and the more that any haue done so the greater assurance haue they had As many praying for the life of our late Queene Elizabeth God did not onely preserue her person from a number of treasons intended against her but they had by their prayers comfort ouer it for the time to come that the Lord would do so still And so shal we now haue for his most excellent maiestie that now is though he be subiect to many perils as appeareth by the terrible murthers and treasons that haue already broken out against his royall person and whole progenie that if we vse to pray often for him publikely and priuatly and that feruently with all our desires and beleeue that he is the Lords anoynted that is that he is set ouer vs by the Lord in his iust title and inheritance As for the king that the Lord who is the defender of all right will not onely preserue him still maugre their heads as hitherto he hath done but will assure vs of it in some good measure that wee shall quietly submit our selues to his peaceable and gratious gouernment and not greatly feare the malitious attempts of his and our enemies But as hee is religious himselfe and vseth to pray for himselfe and putteth his trust in God so we praying often also and earnestly for him shall know more and more that the Lord will heare him and vs for him And this is true not onely of our gouernours but of all men so that if we vse to pray often for others and if they haue made knowne and commended their estate vnto vs to that end and we thereupon be feruent with the Lord for them And for them that are visited with the plague it will come to passe that not onely the Lord will heare vs for them but we shall haue good hope of it and so we shall haue comfort beforehand that God will doe good vnto them and the oftner that we pray for any in any distresse of theirs the more assurance shall we haue God in his good time will heare vs for them And I doubt not but that in this time of sicknesse and mortalitie many haue found this to be true by experience that by continuall and feruent prayer they haue not onely obtained this assurance for themselues that the Lord will helpe them but for others Let that experience mooue vs for the time to come to pray still for those that are in this visitation or in the feare of it that we may know at the last that the Lord will heare vs for them also and helpe them in his blessed time by the mightie power of his right hand which we beseech him that we may find at his mercifull hand for Iesus Christs sake our mediatour and redeemer Amen The twentieth Sermon vpon the sixt verse I know that the Lord will helpe his annointed and will heare him from c. Why the number is changed in these words of their prayer THis being the voyce of a multitude euen of the whole Church is set downe after this meanes not we know but I know in the singular number or person of one not onely for this cause that we haue alreadie heard of namely to teach them all that they should labour to pray in this faith That God would heare them all and euery one of them but also to shew that as Dauid the
Vers 22. to slay and destroy them when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir euery one helped to destroy another Here we see also in this common danger and feare when many prayed together there was one man at the least to whom God gaue this assurance to the great comfort of all the rest that he did openly say Now I know that the Lord will heare his anointed and helpe him from heauen by the mightie power of his right hand And though others in that companie could not say so yet God gaue it to him for all the rest who if he had beene wanting the rest might still haue languished in their feare vnlesse God had raised vp the spirit of some other In this respect we ought to make of the companie and presence of the godly And so wee see what a blessed thing it was to haue such a faithfull and zealous man in their companie to pray for them Therefore let vs make much of the company of the godly especially let vs be desirous to be partakers of their prayers that when as we be weake our selues and discomforted in our selues yet we may be strengthened and vpheld by them For as when one lyeth very sicke and like to die and all about him are in feare of it there may be a skilfull Phisition or some of great experience who may see great tokens of life in him more than all the rest so comfort them in hope of it when they are all discouraged So when many are in trouble and looke for no way but one as we say the Lord may so open the eyes of the mind of one who by faith after earnest prayer may see into that helpe that God hath promised in his word and comfort them with the hope of it And for want of this we are many times more dismayed in trouble than otherwise we might be Therefore in all affliction if wee desire comfort from God let vs desire those that are faithfull and godly to pray with vs and for vs. It followeth in the words of the text His annointed that is Dauid why so called that The Lord will helpe his annointed This is then further to be considered that Dauid prayeth himselfe and teacheth the people also so to doe That God would helpe his annointed by which word he meaneth himselfe and they meane Dauid their king VVho is so called because he was annointed with holy oyle to be king according to the custome of that time by which as by an outward visible ceremonie they that were made kings were seperated and put apart from the rest of the people and inuested into that office and high calling VVherby also they were taught to labour for those gifts of the holy ghost which were needfull for that function and to beleeue that if they did so God would bestow them vpon them in that measure that was most conuenient for them Now that Dauid was thus annointed to that office it is most euident in his storie where it is said that when Saule by disobeying of Gods commaundement in not killing the Amalekites was cast off from the right of the kingdome and Samuel was willed to goe tell him so 1. Sam. 15. Chap. 16.1 he still continued mourning for him vntill the Lord did reprooue him for it and bad him fill his horne with oyle and he would send him to Ishai the Bethleemite for hee had prouided a king among his sonnes and he did so and caused all his sonnes to come before him from the eldest to the youngest and when Dauid came the Lord said vnto him Arise and annoint him for this is he Vers 8. then Samuel tooke the horne of oyle and annointed him in the middest of his brethren and the spirit of the Lord came vpon Dauid from that day forward euen as it departed from Saule being cast off of God and an euill spirit was sent of the Lord to vex him Thus Dauid was annointed that is made king And because this was not onely ouer the people of God but specially by the commaundement of God therefore hee is called his annointed that is one appointed to be king ouer Gods people by the Lord himselfe euen as Dauid doth oftentimes call Saule in respect of his first annointing and calling The Lords annointed As when hee had Saule in a caue and his men persuaded him to kill him he said The Lord keepe me from doing that thing vnto my master 1. Sam. 24.7 The Lords annointed to lay mine hands vpon him for hee is the annointed of the Lord Chap 26.9 and at another time hee said to Abishai Destroy him not for who can lay his hands on the Lords annointed and be guiltlesse In this part of the prayer then hee doth assure himselfe that because hee had not intruded himselfe into that roome He confirmeth his faith in Gods defence by the lawfulnesse of his calling but was lawfully called thereunto by the Lord that therefore God would defend him in the same against his enemies and teacheth them to pray in that faith also That seeing God had set him ouer them to be their king and he was no tyrant or vsurper that therefore God would preserue him in that place whereunto he had called him and so from the lawfulnesse of his calling hee doth comfort himselfe and them that God would heare them for him and defend him And truly there was great reason of that for if an earthly king when he appointeth any to be iudges ouer his people doth also protect them in that office by his lawes and by all his subiects so that in their whole circuit they haue the Sherife of the Shire and all his men with the rest of the chiefe knights and gentlemen and other inferiour officers to attend vpon them because they represent the kings person and the Iudge he comforteth himselfe in all his lawfull affaires against all the desperat attempts of theeues witches murtherers and all malefactors that seeke to hurt him That the king who hath called him to that place will defend him in it and not suffer him to sustaine any dammage for the executing of his office then the Lord the king of kings appointing Dauid in this place and making him to be his vicegerent vpon earth ouer that people much more would defend him in it against his enemies And as this was true so he did beleeue it and taught them so to do and to pray in that faith that God would send helpe vnto him because he was his annointed And this that Dauid sayth here So may al lawfull princes is true not onely of his owne person but of all other kings and princes that are the Lords annointed that is who are come to their kingdomes lawfully either by free election or lineall discent and so are put in by God it is true I say that the Lord will defend them in all their lawfull attempts which they take in hand
by vertue of their office so farre as may make for his glorie and the good of his Church And in that respect all people that haue such set ouer them to raigne may with great freedome and comfort pray for them That the Lord would defend them in all dangers euen as hee hath set them ouer them at the first Therfore seeing the Lord hath vouchsafed vs this mercie to giue vs such a worthie king to raigne ouer vs who is his annointed that is one that commeth to the crowne not by vsurpation by murthering the right heires as some haue done not by tyrannicall inuasion and conquest but by inheritance lineally descending from his auntient progenitors the noble kings of this realme therefore I say we may with great assurance pray to God for him In this respect we may with great hope pray for the life of our king Prouerb 28.2 that as hee hath hetherto ouerthrowne the plots of traytors in his owne countrey of Scotland and in this kingdom also of England both of them his iust inheritance so it would please him to doe still and so he will doe if our sinnes doe not deserue the contrarie For many times because of the sinnes of the people a land often changeth her princes as the VViseman saith and as we see in the kingdome of Israel falling vnto idolatrie 1. King 16.8 that in the space of one yeare they had three or foure kings successiuely to raigne ouer them Therefore seeing it is our bounden dutie to pray for him 1. Tim. 2.1 according to the doctrine of the Apostle who willeth That supplications and prayers intercessions and giuing of thankes be made for all men and namely for kings and all that are in authoritie let vs be willing to doe it the rather because he is the Lords annointed that is come to the crowne by all lawfull and peaceable meanes approoued in the law of God that so wee may say from thence I know that the Lord will helpe his annointed So that though we could haue no comfort from our selues that we should be found worthie of such a prince yet seeing it hath pleased the Lord in the riches of his mercie to set him ouer vs for the good of this land wee may hope that he will haue respect vnto his annointed and not to suffer men to put downe him whom he himselfe hath set vp Euen as we had great experience of this in the dayes of our late Soueraigne the Queene how the Lord did miraculously preserue her out of the hands of the Papists her enemies when she was cast into prison and as she then said of her selfe Tanquam eius as a sheepe euery houre readie to be carried to the slaughter and at the last brought her to the kingdome so in the same he did as wonderfully preserue her in many dangers and conspiracies because shee was his annointed Dauid in many troubles prayeth in hope of Gods defence because he was his annointed And thus Dauid doth often comfort himselfe in his prayers when hee was in great trouble and in feare of the losse sometimes both of his kingdome and life and that both before he came to the crowne and after he comforteth himselfe with this That he was the Lords annointed that is that Samuel did annoint him to bee king by the commaundement of God and that that was not done vnto him in vaine but that the Lord who had called him vnto it would both bring him to it in time and defend him in it to the end As when hee was kept from the publicke assemblies by Saule and his great crueltie who neuer left seeking after his life but hunted after him continually 1. Sam. 26.20 as a man would after a Partridge as he sayth of himselfe whereupon he was driuen sometimes to hide himselfe and sometimes to flie out of the land and very seldome durst be seene openly he prayeth thus O Lord God of hostes heare my prayer Psal 84.8 hearken O God of Iaakob behold O God our shield and looke vpon the face of thine annointed that is not onely and principally vpon thy sonne Iesus Christ the Messiah who is appointed to be king and sauiour of the Church and for his sake doe it but looke vpon me whom thou hast appointed to be king and as thou knowest I haue not thrust in my selfe for then I might well thinke that all this were iustly come vpon mee And thus may all lawfull kings comfort themselues in all their lawfull proceedings against all the malitious attempts of their desperat enemies That God will defend them because of their calling and place that they be in and people that he hath set them ouer and say Looke vpon the face of thine annointed that is consider good Lord the place that I am in And so doth Dauid againe in the second Psalme where he doth with great admiration complaine of the multitude and maliciousnesse of his enemies saying Psal 2.1 Why doe the Heathen rage and the people murmure in vaine the kings of the earth band themselues and the princes are assembled together against the Lord against his Christ or annointed saying Let vs breake their bands and cast their cords from vs. VVhere because he was a figure of Christ therefore he speaketh of himselfe vnder that name calling himselfe the Lords Christ or the Lords annointed as wee see how afterwards it was verified in the person of Christ himselfe Act. 4.27 as the Apostles expound it in their prayer and say Doubtlesse against thine holy sonne Iesus whom thou haddest annointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel gathered themselues together But afterwards Dauid comforteth himselfe in the same Psalme with hope of Gods defence Psal 2.5 because of his calling and bringeth in the Lord speaking thus of him Then he shall speake vnto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure saying Euen I haue set my king vpon Sion mine holy mountaine as if hee had said he is my king and I haue set him vp therefore I will defend him VVhereas if he had set vp himselfe he could not haue had this comfort But I see that I cannot finish this doctrine at this present but must leaue it vnperfect vntill the next day The one and twentieth Sermon vpon the sixt verse The Lord will helpe his annointed and will heare him from his Sanctuarie by the mightie helpe of his right hand Euery man may comfort himselfe in the lawfulnesse of his calling COncerning the doctrine of faith in Gods prouidence and defence that we ought to haue from the lawfulnesse of our callings which out of these words we began to entreat of the last day it is further to be obserued that it is true not onely of kings and princes of whom it is here directly spoken but of all inferiour callings in the Church and commonwealth That whosoeuer is in any such place which is
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
God when they are so qualited for them as he hath required in his word and when they came to them by such lawfull choise as he hath appointed That so euery one doing that which God requireth of them in the same they might as any trouble shall come vpon them or any difficultie shall befall them they might I say with comfort and in faith pray that God would heare and helpe them they being his anointed that is come to those places by his appointment Euen vnto the meanest calling as of being a seruant And this as it is requisit in euery calling or state of life that one is in euen vnto the meanest to be persuaded That they are placed in them by God so there is great comfort therein whatsoeuer shall befall them in the same As the Apostle speaketh of the calling of a seruant 1. Cor. 7.17 and of being called vnto the estate of marriage and saith of them and of all others generally That as God hath distributed to euery man and as the Lord hath called euery one so let him walke and so ordaine I in all Churches VVhere he warneth euery man generally to liue with a contented mind in the Lord what state or condition of life so euer he be in and therfore he telleth him that it is that trade of life which God hath distributed vnto them which he hath called them vnto So that a seruant must be persuaded Ephe. 6.6 that God hath called him to that place and therefore as he must make conscience of doing faithfull seruice not to the eye as men pleasers but as the seruants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will seruing the Lord and not men as he writeth to the Ephesians So also from this persuasion of his calling hee may pray vnto God to defend him against all wrongs Vers 8. and to assist him in all things euen as Saint Paule in the same place biddeth to that end know That whatsoeuer good thing any man doth the same shall he receiue of the Lord whether he be bond or free So that seruants being persuaded of the lawfulnesse of their calling and of their owne fidelitie in the same may pray to God to reward them for their good seruice and to defend them in a good cause against any abuses that their master shall offer vnto them And so for the other estate of life And of being called to the state of marriage that he speaketh of there if any be called vnto mariage they must not onely be persuaded of the lawfulnesse of it and that God hath called them vnto it but also that he hath ioyned them together this man to this woman as Eue in paradise was ioyned to Adam by the immediat hand of God and so that they came not together by fortune or chance or by the will and consent of their friends or by their own choice only but by God that their marriage was first made in heauen before it was solemnised vpon earth and therfore that they are in that place that God hath called them vnto Then may they with comfort pray for all such gifts as are needfull for those places as in doing of their duties that the Lord would preserue them from all crosses that might befall them and assist them in them and generally that he would heare their prayers and send them helpe from heauen as the people doe here And to conclude this point In all actions of our life we ought to be persuaded that God hath called vs vnto them we must all of vs be persuaded in the whole course of our liues that whatso-we doe we haue a calling to it from God and so therein we are his anointed that is appointed of God for it VVhich we shall ordinarily know by this that the thing it selfe is good in it owne nature and agreeable to the word of God and commanded there and then that by vertue of our places that we be in God requireth them of vs and that that time and place doth also require them for all things are not required of all men alike nor at all times and in all places Then hauing this persuasion from the word of God though they be dangerous and full of trouble and such as might discourage vs we may confidently pray vnto God to assist vs and defend vs therein and to helpe vs in all affliction that shall befall vs for the same And thus Dauid here being a king was to defend his subiects and therefore their enemies comming against them to battell he goeth forth and aduentureth himselfe to the warre and thus prayeth vnto God and willeth the people to pray for him in this good action whereunto he was lawfully called and God did heare their prayers and gaue them good successe In like manner that famous and worthy Queene Hester after that Mordecai had sent vnto her the copie of the kings letter that was sent abroad by postes for the rooting out of the Iewes in one day and willed her to goe in to the king and make request for the life of her people at the first she like a fearefull woman drew backe and excused her selfe saying All the kings seruants and all the people of the prouinces know Hester 4.11 that whosoeuer man or woman Then may we haue bouldnesse in them though they be neuer so dangerous that commeth to the king into the inner court which is not called there is a law of his that he shall die except to him whom the king holdeth out the golden rod that he may liue now I haue not beene called to come to the king these thirtie dayes Then Mordecai sent her word againe that she must not thinke to escape in the kings house more than all the Iewes but if she did hould her peace at this time deliuerance should appeare to the Iewes out of another place but she and her fathers house should perish and who knew whether she was come to the kingdome for such a time Thus when he had persuaded her by good reason that God did require it at her hands and that she was raysed vp out of a meane place to such an high dignitie by the Lord for such a purpose and that God would require it at her hands if she failed in it shee aduentureth her selfe though it was very dangerous with this resolution that seeing God had called her vnto it he would defend her in it but howsoeuer it should fall out shee would commit her selfe in this cause to his blessed prouidence contented to be ordered by his will I will goe in to the king which is not according to the law and if I perish I perish But in the meane season hauing this faith in this action she prayeth to God to assist her to guide her to direct her and to blesse her and willeth all the people to doe so likewise saying Goe Verse 16. and assemble all the Iewes that
are found in Shushan and fast yee for me and eate not nor drinke in three dayes day nor night I also and my maids will fast likewise And so they did and God heard their prayer and did not forsake her in this thing whereunto he had called her Thus in a matter of great moment which was full also of great difficultie and wherein she did hazard her life being persuaded that God had called her vnto it she prayeth for her selfe and others also for her that God would helpe her and heare her in heauen and he did so Thus did Iaakob cōfort himselfe in a dangerous voyage whereunto God had called him VVhich is written for our instruction and comfort to shew vs what wee should doe and in doing what we may looke for from God in the like case And from hence also did Iaakob comfort himselfe in the like danger and this was the ground of his prayer who in his retunrne from Laban did heare that his brother Esau came against him with foure hundred men then he remembring his former threats was greatly afraid and sore troubled and after other things that he did for the defence and safegard of his companie he prayeth vnto God after this manner O God of my father Abraham Gen 32.9 and God of my father Izaack Lord which saydest vnto me returne vnto thy countrey and to thy kindred and I will doe thee good I pray thee deliuer me from the hand of my brother c. VVhere we see that as it appeareth in the former part of this story as he did not vndertake this iourney to Laban at the first of his owne head neither did voluntarily forsake his fathers house without cause like some roiotous children who cannot tell when they are well and as the prodigall sonne did but went away with his fathers liking and leaue and with his blessing for Izaack blessed Iaakob and sayd Get thee to Padan Aram to the house of Bethuel Gen. 28.1 thy mothers father and thence take thee a wife of the daughters of Laban thy mothers brother c. So hee returned from thence Chap. 31.3 not of his owne priuat motion but by the commaundement of God who said vnto him Turne againe into the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred and I will bee with thee And therefore when this great danger did befall him in the way hee remembreth that hee had a calling from God to this voyage and so prayeth to God that hee that had called him would defend him and as he had commaunded him to goe and hee did it at his commaundement so he would not forsake him in it or suffer him to perish in the mid way by the crueltie of his brother Esau saying Lord which saidest vnto me Returne into thy countrey and to thy kindred and I will doe thee good I pray thee deliuer me from the hand of my brother c. And so the Lord did not onely heare his prayer and defend him but assure him of it beforehand by a vision of an Angell that wrestled with him all night Chap. 32.24 and could not preuaile against him and by the change of his name from Iaakob to Israel to teach him that which was then said vnto him For God hath promised to defend vs in all our lawfull wayes Psal 91.10 Because thou hast had power with God thou shalt also preuaile with men And this is that which is generally promised to all those that in their callings follow the wayes of God namely that he will defend them in all dangers that may befall them in the same when as it is said There shall none euill come vnto thee neither shall any plague come neere thy tabernacle for he shall giue his Angels charge ouer thee to keepe thee in all thy wayes they shall beare thee in their hands that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone thou shalt walke vpon the Lion and Aspe the yong lyon and the dragon shalt thou tread vnder feet that is Gods Angels shall keepe vs in all those wayes that are most dangerous when we keepe our selues within the compasse of our callings And thus much for these words It followeth in the text By the mightie helpe of his right hand As in the former words hee did strengthen his owne faith and the faith of the people by the consideration of his calling that he was the annointed of the Lord The mightie helpe of Gods right hand so in these words he doth the same by the meditation of the omnipotent power of God who was able to giue great helpe aboue all power of man For in a figuratiue speech by the right hand of God is meant the strength and power of God because that as man commonly hath most strength in his right hand so to our capacitie and vnderstanding though the Lord be a spirit and hath no bodie and so consequently no hand yet the Scripture attributeth vnto him an arme an hand and a right hand as when it is said in the Psalme Psal 44.3 They inherited not the land by their owne sword neither did their owne arme saue them but thy right hand and thine arme and the light of thy countenance because thou fauouredst them And thus Moses with the rest of the people in their song of thankesgiuing for the destruction of Pharoah and his hoast in the red sea doe speake of the power of God Exod. 15.6 Thy right hand O Lord is glorious in power thy right hand O Lord hath brused the enemie that is as men by the strength of their right hand doe bruse a thing in pieces so the Lord by his great power had vtterly destroyed and brought to nought Pharoah and his great hoast which like enemies pursued them euen into the sea They confirm their faith by the consideration of Gods omnipotent power Now this great power of his they set before their eyes to this end that though their enemies were manie and mightie yet the Lord was greater than all and stronger than they and had power aboue them and so as they had prayed to him for his defence so they beleeue that he would heare them and helpe them according to the same power of his As Elisha said vnto his seruant who when he saw the chariots and horses and great hoast which the king of Aram had sent to Dotham to take them cried out for feare 2. King 6.15 Alas master how shall we doe Feare not sayd he they that be with vs are moe than they that be with them hee meaneth that God was with them whose power to defend them was greater than all the power of their aduersaries to hurt them And that the power of God in all things is so infinit that he is alwayes able to defend his seruants against all the power of their enemies be it neuer so great is most euident both in the Scripture and by daily experence so that there need not any great
proofe of it The great power of God in bringing hard things to passe For he is euery where called God Almighty and All sufficient and Lord of hoasts and Lord of lords King of kings maker of all things and preseruer of them in whom we and all things else liue mooue and haue our being c. And in a matter that seemed impossible to Sarah as that she should haue a child when she was so old and all naturall strength fayled her for it ceased to be with her after the manner of women the Lord sayd to Abraham Gen. 18.14 Shall any thing be hard to the Lord as if he had sayd Nothing at all is hard to him but he by his power is able to ouercome all difficulties be they neuer so many and so great And to Moses also in the lik case when he doubted how the Israelites should haue flesh ynough in the wildernesse according to their owne desire Num. 11.23 and as the Lord hath promised he sayd Is the Lords hand shortened Iob. 9.19 that is is his power so weake that he is not able to bring that to passe No. Therefore we may say of him and of his power as Iob doth if we speake of strength Behold he is strong and not onely confesse as the angell did to the virgin Marie when she inquired how she being a virgin should bring forth a child and know no man With God shall nothing be impossible Luke 1.37 Chap. 18.27 but with our Saujour Christ in the same Gospell The things that are impossible with men are possible with God And indeed the great power of God against his aduersaries and for the defence of his seruants might be shewed by infinit examples in the Scriptures as how Pharaoh and his great host was drowned in the red sea when his owne people had a passage through it on drie foot which we spake of euen now Ioshu 6.20 how he caused the walles of Iericho when the Israelites layd siege to it to fall flat downe without any batterie onely at the sound of trumpets how he ouerthrew in the hoast of proud Saneherib one hundred fourescore and fiue thousand in one night and by many such like things But this is or should be well knowne vnto vs for this is the first article of our faith That wee beleeue in God the father almightie maker of heauen and earth that is who by his mightie power hath made all things in heauen and in earth of nothing and therefore he can bring them all to nought againe and without him they can doe nothing How by the consideration of it we ought to strengthen our faith as hee without them and against them can doe all things Onely we had need to be put in mind to make that good vse of it in the time of our trouble that Dauid doth here namely that thereby we labour to strengthen our faith in the defence of God and that we beleeue that as he doth heare vs so he can and will helpe vs. And the more that any thing is against vs to weaken our faith the more must we by the meditation of the mightie power of God indeuour to strengthen the same knowing that his power shall be made perfect and more cleerely be seene in our weakenesse 2. Cor. 12.9 And thus did Abraham the father of all the faithfull when the Lord had promised vnto him that his wife Sarah should haue a sonne when they were both old and stricken in yeares and was past hope of any by the course of nature For the spirit of God beareth witnesse of him That aboue hope he beleeued vnder hope Rom. 4.18 that he should be the father of many nations as it was said vnto him And hee did not by vnbeleefe reason against this by considering the deadnesse of his owne bodie being almost an hundred yeare old nor the deadnesse of Saraes wombe but gaue glorie to God That he that had promised As the seruāts of God haue done was able to performe it Thus hee considered of the mightie helpe of Gods right hand and stayed his faith vpon that and so must we doe in all things that God hath promised Matth. 9 29. and then wee shall find That as Christ sayth in the Gospell it shall be vnto vs according to our faith But more fitly for this purpose may wee consider what great vse that good king Hezekiah made of the knowledge that hee had of Gods omnipotent power euen that it did maruellously strengthen his faith in prayer against the mightie power of the great hoast of Saneherib which was come vp against him and against all the desperat and blasphemous threats which he gaue out against him Jsai 37.16 as it is set downe by the Prophet Isaiah where hee thus prayeth O Lord of hostes thou are very God alone ouer all the kingdomes of the earth thou hast made the heauen and the earth Incline thine eare O Lord and heare open thine eyes O Lord and see and heare all the words of Saneherib who hath sent to blaspheme the liuing God Truth it is O Lord that the kings of Asshur haue destroyed all lands and their countrey and haue cast the gods in the fire for they were no gods but the worke of mens hands euen wood and stone therefore they destroyed them Now therefore O Lord our God saue thou vs out of his hand that all the kingdomes of the earth may know that thou onely art the Lord. Thus the serious consideration of Gods great power did make him not onely not to be daunted by the power of his aduersarie but caused him with great hope of preuailing to pray earnestly vnto God against it And vnto this may bee ioyned the example of that worthie king Asa one of his predecessours who in like case to vphold his faith against the feare of his mightie and many enemies did meditate vpon the omnipotent power of Gods right hand 2. Chron. 14 9. For when the king of Aethyopia came out against him with ten hundred thousand men besides chariots and horses he went out also against him and did meet with him and did set the battell in array and then cried vnto the Lord his God Considering Gods power not so much in himselfe as for their owne defence that is prayed earnestly and in faith saying Lord it is nothing with thee to helpe with many or with no power helpe vs O Lord our God for we rest in thee and in thy name are we come against this great multitude O Lord thou art our God let not man preuaile against thee VVhere we see how he doth not consider of the power of God as shut vp in himselfe but as that which was readie to be shewed in their defence against their enemies as Dauid doth here And indeed therein cōsisteth true faith in the power of God That we beleeue that he is almightie to helpe vs and therefore that we
pray to him accordingly as Dauid teacheth the people here to doe and to say Now know I that the Lord will helpe his annointed by the mightie power of his right hand And thus wee perceiue what vse wee should make of that which wee read euery where in the Scriptures of the great power of God namely that wee might depend vpon him in all troubles and pray vnto him in faith not doubting but as he doth heare vs so he will helpe vs by his great power But let vs examine our selues I pray you and wee shall see how farre wee are from this great measure of faith that so wee might labour to grow therein for how hardly or not at all do we come to this Few in trouble do rest vpon the power of God so weake is their faith To rest in the inuisible power of God Let a man bee in trouble and come and tell him of the great power of God and how he is able to helpe him and so bid him be of good comfort and pray vnto God and depend vpon him and we shall find that he can be contented to doe so so farre foorth as hee can see how and which way God should helpe him But for a man when he hath no meanes at all or very few to doe himselfe good by then to say as Asa did It is all one with God to helpe with many or with no power and so to pray as earnestly and as confidently as though he had all the meanes in the world as it is said of him that he then cried vnto the Lord his God that is prayed with great feruencie This I say is not to bee found in euery one that boasteth of faith Nay which is a great thing when we shall see more to be against vs than with vs and more meanes to discourage vs from the hope of that that we desire than to giue vs comfort in it then to passe by them all and not to stand reasoning from them against our selues by vnbeleefe and not to say I cannot bee holpen because I haue these and these things against mee but to breake through them all and to giue this glorie to God as Abraham did that he that promised Psal 50.15 That if we call vpon him in the time of our trouble he will heare vs and deliuer vs is able to performe it and so to say as Dauid doth here I know that hee will helpe me by the mightie strength of his right hand is that faith which as it will vphold vs in all troubles so it is to bee found in very few But let vs remember for the helping of vs this way Hebr. 11.1 That faith as the Apostle sayth is of things that are hoped for and not seene and therefore as we beleeue God to be present euery where though we see him not so must we beleeue that God is able to helpe vs though wee cannot see how or which way and so pray to him in all wants and say I know that though I am weake and cannot helpe my selfe yet hee will helpe me by his mightie power and this the more we can doe it in truth though in great weakenesse the more shall wee glorifie God and the more will hee helpe vs. The great power of God in raysing vp them that are sicke Therefore let them know that are visited with sickenesse either of the pestilence or otherwise that if they were brought so low that they were at deaths doore God is able to recouer them and to raise them vp again by his great power as Elihu sayth vnto Iob when hee was so full of sores in his bodie that he desired not life neither had any hope of it sayth he Iob. 33.19 If a man be stricken with sorrow vpon his head and the griefe of his bones is sore so that his life causeth him to abhorre bread and his soule daintie meat his flesh faileth that it cannot be seene and his bones which were not seene clatter so his soule draweth to the graue and his life to the buriers if there be a messenger of God with him an interpreter of his word who is as one of a thousand to declare vnto man his righteousnesse then will he haue mercie vpon him and say Deliuer him that he goe not downe into the pit for I haue receiued a reconciliation then shall his flesh bee as fresh as a childs and shall returne as in the dayes of his youth Thus wee see that if a man bee readie to giue vp the ghost and the bell be rong for him and they begin to prepare things for his buriall if the Lord do but speake the word he shall bee restored to life and health John 11.39 For Christ Iesus who when he was vpon the earth by his word cured men and women of long and incurable diseases yea raised some from the dead euen Lazarus when he had beene dead foure daies and put into the graue who shall also raise vp these bodies of ours out of corruption Phil. 3.21 and fashion them like to his owne glorious bodie according vnto the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himselfe He I say can much more by the same power of his renew our strength when we are in great weaknesse by what meanes it pleaseth him euen by the smallest helpe in the world or without any at all Confirmed by dayly experience As we by dayly experience see some to bee restored to life and health both from the pestilence which is most deadly and from other mortall diseases when in the iudgement of men they were past all hope and the Physitians had giuen them ouer That we might be confirmed by that which we see and heare in the faith of Gods promises towards vs. Iob. 33.28 And this is that which Elihu sayth God will deliuer his soule from going into the pit and his life shall see the light loe all these things will God worke twice or thrice with a man that he may turne backe his soule from the pit to be illuminate in the light of the liuing VVhere he sayth That God doth not onely thus shew his power now and then in raising vp men from the brinke of death but he sometimes dealeth thus twice or thrice with the same man so that in their life time and euen in sickenesse they haue great experience diuers times of the power of God in their strange recoueries from dangers yea deadly and incurable sicknesses And in relieuing men in their pouertie And to conclude this point in a word if by pouertie or otherwise we be brought to a low ebbe as the patient man Iob was yet ought wee to beleeue that as the Lord turned his captiuitie Chap. 42.10 and gaue him twice so much as he had before so is he able to relieue vs also in our greatest need and to make our estate better than it was before and therefore in such cases let vs pray to him earnestly to helpe by the mightie power of his right hand VVhich that we might doe the rather in faith let vs consider how the Apostle setteth before our eyes the example of Iob to this end and applieth it vnto vs Iam. 5.11 saying Behold we count them blessed which indure yea haue heard of the patience of Iob Which must make vs in all difficultie to depend vpon him and haue knowne what end the Lord made for the Lord is verie pittifull and mercifull As if hee had said God is able to restore you as hee did Iob and to make as good an end with you as he did with him and therefore you ought by this example of Gods dealing with him patiently to wait vpon God considering his mightie power and what great changes he is able to worke in men And thus you see what we haue to obserue out of these wordes where hee speaketh of the power of God and what out of the whole verse God graunt that these things and whatsoeuer else we heare out of his holy word from time to time may so fall into our hearts as seed into good ground that wee keeping the same in good and honest hearts may bring forth the fruit thereof in our liues and conuersations an hundred threescore or thirtie fold at the least to the praise of his blessed name the comfort and saluation of our owne soules the benefit and good example of all that doe know vs and the leauing of the wicked world without excuse that will not follow vs through Iesus Christ our onely Lord and sauiour Amen FINIS
and in earth to heale vs by his word of most incurable diseases when wee can get nothing to helpe vs. Matth. 28.18 And he that said to the Centurion Goe thy way Matth. 8.13 thy seruant liueth and it was so yea he that said not one word and yet healed the woman of her bloudie issue Mar. 5.29 whereof she had been sick twelue yeeres and had spent al that she had vpon the Physitions and found no helpe and he that said to the man that lay sick of the palsie eight and thirtie yeere Arise take vp thy bed and walke Ioh. 5.5 and presently he was able to doe it and he that spake to Lazarus when hee had been dead foure daies and was laid in his graue so that in the opinion of diuers his carkasse was rotten and began to stinke and said vnto him with a lowd and effectuall voyce Lazarus come foorth and he did so in the sight of all the beholders Joh. 11.43 is able also much more to send his word and heale vs also as the Psalmist speaketh that is Psal 107.20 heale vs without all meanes Or when wee are brought so low that we lie vpon our beds as Elihu speaketh in the booke of Iob and the griefe of our bones is sore Job 33.19 so that our life causeth vs to abhorre bread and our soule daintie meate so that our flesh faileth that it cannot bee seene and the bones which were not seene doe clatter so that our soules drawe to the graue and our life to the buriers Though our estate be neuer so desperate if then there come a messenger of God vnto vs an interpreter of his holy word who in that case is to be esteemed as one of a thousand and declare vnto vs that righteousnes of God whereby we may be saued and pray vnto God for vs then will he haue mercie vpon vs and will say Deliuer him that hee goe not downe into the pit for I haue receiued a reconciliation And if he doe but thus say then shall our flesh bee as fresh as a childes and shall returne as in the daies of our youth and he will deliuer vs from going into the pit and our liues shal see the light And thus is he able to doe twice or thrice with a man Vers 29. as he speaketh in the same place as all experience sheweth to be true So that when wee haue receiued the sentence of death in our selues as the Apostle Paul had 2 Cor. 1.9 that we might not trust in our selues but in God who raiseth the dead he is able to deliuer vs from so great a death 2. Tim. 4.17 and to take vs as it were out of the lions mouth as he did him Seeing then that God alone bringeth al euill vpon me and he onely keepeth it away commanding the destroyer not so much as to enter into our houses and if he doe giuing his Angels a charge ouer vs to keepe vs in all his waies though we walk vpon the lion and aspe yea and tread vnder our feete the yong lion and the dragon that is though we be in the extreamest danger let vs beleeue that he only can defend vs as they doe professe here when they say The name of the God of Iacob defend thee And truly there is great comfort in this that we beleeue that in the greatest trouble that may befall vs God is able to defend vs Faith in Gods defence giueth great comfort in trouble and without him nothing can doe it For whereas others that haue not this faith are very vnquiet vntill they haue the meanes of their deliuerance according to their own desire and then also vse them with great perplexitie and great doubtings and feares This will make vs quiet whether we haue the meanes or wee haue them not for if we haue them we vse thē with cheerefulnes but trust not to them if we haue them not we are still comfortable knowing that Gods power is not tied to them and so he is able to helpe vs without them And so if any thing fall out beyond our expectation wee burst not out into impatient outcries and say Oh I wanted such a thing to haue done me good if I had had this or that it might haue done mee great good what ill hap was it that I should now want it in my greatest need Or oh that I had had it a little sooner now it came too late when it could doe me no good or oh that I had had so good lucke as to haue vsed it after a better manner and a thousand things els which the diuell and our own vnbeleef will put into out minds But let vs by faith know assuredly that it is Gods will that it should bee so at this time with vs as it is if it had pleased him hee could still haue defended mee as in times past but now I see it is his blessed will to trie me I will take it patiently and put my trust in him and say with Iob Job 2.10 Shall we receiue good at the hand of God and not receiue euil He that is faithfull hath promised that he will lay no more vpon me than I shall be able to beare and that though this depart not away from me yet his grace shall be sufficient for me 2. Cor. 12.8.9 and his power shall be made perfect in my weakenes for his holy spirit shall helpe me in al mine infirmities yea he hath promised that all things shall fall out for the best to me Rom. 8.28 so long as I feare him though not in the beginning yet in the end and so I will say againe with Iob that if he kill me Iob. 13.15 yet I will put my trust in him for nothing shall be able to separate me from the loue of God in Christ Iesus my Lord and Sauiour neither angels nor principalities nor powers Rom. 8.38 nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature nor life nor death Rom. 14.9 For Christ therefore died and rose againe that hee might be Lord of the quick and dead so that whether I liue or die I am not mine owne but his who gaue himselfe for me to that end And therefore I beleeue that I being Christs 1. Cor. 3.22 all things are mine to bring me to him not only Paul and Apollos and Cephas the rest of his ministers but the world euen life death as the Apostle most confidently and comfortably speaketh yea things present and things to come all are mine and I am Christs and Christ is Gods And therefore if I die I beleeue that blessed are the dead that die in the Lord Apoc. 14.13 and therefore if it be his good will to take me away I am not only readie to say with old Simeon Luc. 2.29 Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace and with our Sauiour
Christ Father into thy hands I commend my spirit but also with S. Paul Luc. 23.46 Philip. 1.23 21. I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ for that is best of al for me for hee is vnto me euen in death aduantage And thus wee see what comfort wee may haue in this vncomfortable time of the pestilence if wee rightly beleeue that God is our defender as they professe here of themselues and of their King in saying The name of the God of Iacob defend thee The name of God Now for these words whereas they say The name of the God of Iacob therby they meane God himself but they thus speak of God because al the knowledge that we haue of God ariseth of the knowledge of his name and as to that end he hath giuen himselfe in the Scriptures sundrie names that thereby we might know not only what he is in himselfe so far as it is meet for vs to know but especially what he is to vs so by them by them principally we know him to be as he is not onely in himselfe but vnto vs. As when hee calleth himselfe a spirit we are not bodily to conceiue of him as the Papists doe By it we know what God is vnto vs. Jsai 26.4 and when he saith of himselfe I am that I am and calleth his owne name Iah and Iehoua that is hee that so is of himselfe alone that all other things haue their being of him and for him and as the Apostle expoundeth it in the Epistle to the Romanes Rom. 11.36 Of him and through him and for him are all things to him be glorie for euer Amen And when he is called God almightie Gen. 17.1 Nehem. 9.6 2. Cor. 1.3 and all sufficient Creator of heauen and earth the preseruer of all things most mercifull the God of all comfort and father of all consolation euen our father and our God who hath made a sure couenant with vs in Christ Ierem. 33.20 more sure than that of the day and of the night which cannot bee broken as to that end hee calleth himselfe the God of Abraham and of Isaack and of their seede and here the God of Iacob c. So wee by all these and the rest of his names and titles giuen vnto him know certainly what he is and will be vnto vs and what we are to look for from him And from this knowledge of the name of God ariseth confidence in prayer as when they know him From hence ariseth confidence in prayer and here call him the God of Iacob that is hee that hath made a couenant of mercie with him and with his posteritie that he will be their God and they shall be his people they may be bold to flee to him for succour and confidently call vpon him in the day of their trouble to heare them and to helpe them as they doe And the more that they know of his name that is of his goodnesse mercie truth power wisedome iustice c so may they the more boldly pray vnto him not doubting but that hee will be answerable to his name For if a mortall man stand so vpon the credit of his name that he will do many things to those that seeke him to preserue it then God will much more shew himself to vs to be such as he hath manifested himself vnto vs by his name And thus our Sauiour Christ to incourage vs to call vpon God hath in that forme of prayer that he hath taught vs to vse set before it the name of God and willeth vs to begin thus O our Father which art in heauen that we beleeuing him to be a father in affection to vs and almightie that is to haue all power in his hand to help ruling not only in earth but in heauen we might be bold to pray vnto him and to aske not doubting but that of his fatherly goodnes infinit power he will heare vs help vs. For as among men according to the good name that they haue for liberalitie and pitie As men that haue a good name are most sought vnto so will men bee readie to come vnto them in their neede and the poore will say I will goe to such an house for they haue a good name and are counted good to the poore and mercifull al men speak well of them for their liberalitie and this name of theirs giueth thē incouragement to come boldly often So when wee know God thus by his name it will make vs bold to come vnto him in prayer But if a man haue an ill name in the countrie and be accounted hard-hearted couetous a miserable wretch and one that will part from nothing vnmercifull like the rich glutton in the Gospell Luc. 16.19 1 Sam. 25.20 and euen a very churle as Nabal was then few or none will come vnto him for his very name driueth them away they know by the report that goeth of him what he is The ignorāce of Gods name hindreth men from prayer and what they may looke for from him before they come Or if a man be neuer so mercifull and others know it not and so they are ignorant of his good name that hee hath and that hee is worthie of they cannot with any good hope come vnto him for they know not what he is they haue heard nothing of him at all So when by vnbeleefe we hardly conceiue of God of his goodnes or for wāt of knowledge are ignorant of his good name euen of al his mercie of his truth pitie Deut. 28.58 and compassion that is in him and so know not his great and glorious name we can haue little or no hart at al to come vnto him in trouble and seek vnto him for help by prayer as these did here And this maketh some so forward vnto prayer they are so well acquainted with the name of God that they doubt not of speeding and others again are so backward vnto it they are so wholy ignorāt of his name Therefore as if wee had any dealing by the way of petition and supplication with a great man wee would inquire after his name and what report hee had in the countrie and according to that wee would proceede or stay So that wee might come to God in our neede with confidence as Dauid and the people doe here let vs inquire after his name that is let vs in the Scripture see how he is called mercifull yea the God of all mercie and the father of all consolation Psal 65.2 the hearer of prayers our father and our God and all good is spoken of him there that so we may come boldly hoping that wee shall finde him as good as his name and so pray Exod. 32.11.12 Numb 14.13.14.15.16.17.18.19 as Moses doth often in the wildernes for the people of Israel that God would heare him and be mercifull vnto them euen for the glorie of
faith in Gods promises prayeth hypocritically that is more with his tongue than with his heart Seeing then that Gods promise is sure and certaine he would not haue vs so to pray as that we should doubt and call into question whether wee should bee heard or no. And this he sheweth by an excellent and very fit comparison for as the waues of the sea are tossed and carried away so they that beleeue not both are vnquiet alwaies in their minds yea though they haue prayed and are altogether vnworthie to receiue any thing Therefore when wee come to God in our prayers let vs beforehand beleeue that hee will heare vs and so pray in faith and say as this people doth here I know that God will heare and helpe so shall our prayers be acceptable vnto God so shall we receiue that that we aske of him and so shall our minds bee pacified and quiet Few pray in any assurance that God doth heare them Let vs then examine our selues and see whether alwaies when we haue come to prayer we haue had this faith and assurance that God would heare vs and helpe vs and then we shall find that some haue beene so farre from it that they haue neuer once thought of it but they haue come to prayer neither knowing any such thing nor regarding it And thus haue they done not only in the dayes of ignorance superstition whē they held it an error for a mā to think that he might be assured of any thing from God though he prayed for it neuer so earnestly and when they prayed in an vnknowne tongue and so knew not themselues what they said and therefore could not by prayer haue any assurance that they were heard but also in this cleare light of the gospell many haue and do still both in their priuat prayers and in these publicke come so coldly to God and as it were for fashion that they neither know nor desire to know nor thinke it possible to know that God will hear them And so these wauering minded men being vncertaine in their minds and tossed too and fro like the waues of the sea may be assured That they shall obtaine nothing of God Iam. 1.7 And so obtain nothing of God as the Apostle saith But let vs endeuour to put that in practise which the people did here that euery one of vs may say I know that God will heare so shall we obtaine such things as we aske Matth 17.17 For if the disciples of our Sauiour Christ could doe nothing for the fathers child possessed with a deuill when there was most need because of their vnbeleefe then shall wee also for the same vnbeleefe of ours obtaine nothing neither for our selues nor for others when there is most need And as on the other side hee said againe vnto them That all things were possible to him that beleeueth so shall we find it to bee true in our selues then when wee pray in faith it shall be possible for vs to obtaine all things according to Gods will euen those that vnto the vnbeleeuers shall seeme impossible Now though this place of Scripture doth not so properly require to shew how wee shall come to this faith and assurance in prayer that God will heare it but rather onely that wee ought to haue it and not to pray without it yet that I might not leaue this doctrine vnperfect it is necessarie to say somewhat of it First therefore as euery good and perfect gift is of the spirit of God Iam. 1.17 and commeth from aboue euen from the father of lights so doth this most of all Act. 16.14 And as the Lord by his spirit opened the heart of Lydia that she beleeued that which Paule preached so Christ Iesus is he vpon whose shoulders as the Prophet speaketh is laid the key of the house of Dauid that is Isai 22.22 of the whole Church of God so that he onely openeth and no man can shut and he shutteth and no man can open that is he onely by his holy spirit openeth our hearts that we may beleeue and giueth vs assurance in all things of the fauour of God How this assurance of being heard is wrought in vs. therefore we must pray to him that hee would giue vs that assurance and so open our hearts that we may beleeue that he doth heare our prayers But because this is wrought in vs by meanes and our faith is grounded specially and onely vpon the promises of God and all assurance of being heard ariseth from thence we must know and beleeue and meditate vpon them before we pray that so by them we may be assured that he will heare vs according to the vndoubted truth of the same And the more that wee can doe thus the greater assurance of being heard shall we haue when we pray vnto God And besides this we must know that the same assurance is confirmed and encreased by our former experience dayly so that when we haue marked how God hath at other times and in other things heard vs we may assure our selues from thence that he will doe so now also For as among men when we haue oftentimes made triall of a friend in the time of our need wee goe to them afterwards as any necessitie shall be vpon vs with great confidence and doubt not before wee come to them but we shall speed if they haue it so vpon our former experience with the Lord we ought much more boldly to come vnto him in times of need who hath not onely promised and so is willing but being almightie is also able and being true and iust in his promises will helpe vs. And according to experience of former times some doe read this text that we haue in hand although I approoue of the other rather which I haue followed after this manner Now know I that the Lord hath saued his annointed and will heare him from his Sanctuarie and so they confirme their hope by the time past in that they haue marked the goodnesse of God towards their king in sauing him before in other dangers as he was in many and so doubt not but that hee will heare them for him now and still saue him But to returne to that that we spake of before namely How we shal come to this assurance of being heard First of all we are to consider of the promises of God First by meditating vpon Gods promises vpon which our faith must be grounded and which must giue vs assured knowledge of being heard we may see how to this end the holy Patriarch Iacob did meditate vpon them to strengthen his faith and in his prayer did as it were put God in mind of them and comfort himselfe in hope of them when he prayed thus O God of my father Abraham Gen. 32 9. and God of my father Izaack Lord which saidest vnto me Returne vnto thy countrey and to thy kindred and I will doe thee good I