Christian man leaving his imagination knoweth that in Death there is true Life But thou wilt say He seeth and feeleth Death indeed but Life he cannot feel I Answer that because he resteth upon the Word and after it he judgeth and not after his own feeling therefore even in Death he seeth nothing but Life and in the midst of Darkness most clear light For like as God maketh all things of nothing and of darkness light so he worketh by his Word that in Death there is nothing but life The power of the Word Psal 33. They then which stick to the Word and Promise of God and follow the same do find it true which David saith He spake the Word and it was done c. But before we can come to this experience we must abide some trouble and therefore have need of such exhortation as this Psalm here setteth forth Verse 1. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but remaineth for ever The Prophet useth here a similitude of Mount Sion because Jerusalem wherein Sion stood when the Temple was builded had most ample and notable promises of God as appeareth in very many places of the Prophets that it should stand sure and invincible for ever against all troubles and Calamities for that the Lord had his abiding and dwelling there according to that promise where he saith Here is my rest here will I dwell c. And therefore David in another Psalm glorieth on this wise Lo the Kings were gathered and went together when they saw it they marvelled They were astonied and suddenly driven back As we may see it came to pass under Ezechias in the great Destruction of the Assyrians and other Kings as the stories witness which shew that Jerusalem remained safe in all dangers not by strength and Policy of the inhabitants but by the miraculous Work of God dwelling in it and thus mightily preserving and beautifying his own Common-wealth Now therefore saith he like as Mount Sion and our Holy City Jerusalem is never moved but remaineth sure and safe by the mighty protection of the Lord in all Extremities so he that trusteth in the Lord shall be defended against the furious Rage of the World and the Gates of Hell for ever Note how he commandeth no Work here to be done as in Popery in the time of trouble men were taught to enter into some kind of Religion to fast to go on Pilgrimage and to do such other foolish Works of Devotion which they devised as an high Service unto God and thereby thought to make Condigne Satisfaction for Sin To hope and trust in the Lord is tke greatest Service that we can do to him and merit Eternal Life but simply he leadeth us the plain Way unto God pronouncing this to be the chiefest Anchor of our Salvation only to hope and trust in the Lord and that this is the greatest Service that we can do unto God For this is the Nature of God as I have said to create all things of nothing Therefore he createth and bringeth forth in Death Life in Darkness The Nature of Faith Light And this to believe is the very Nature and most special Property of Faith When God then seeth such a one as agreeth with his own Nature that is which believeth to find in Danger Help in Poverty Riches in Sin Righteousness and that for Gods own Mercies sake in Christ alone him can God neither hate nor forsake For he serveth and worshipeth God truly which putteth his whole trust in the Mercy of God With this Service God is highly pleased because he delighteth of nothing to make something So he made the World of nothing so he raiseth up the Poor and Oppressed so he justifieth the Sinner so he raiseth the Dead and so he saveth the Damned Who so then consenteth to Gods Nature and obeyeth his Will there hoping sor something where nothing is he it is that pleaseth God and shall never be moved But thou must beware that thou imagine not to thy self a false Hope contrary to the Word of God and thy Vocation Whereof if thou be certain and abide in the same if troubles rise trust in the Lord and if he help not in his good time take me and David also for Lyars Satan will trouble vex and discomfort thee yea and peradventure make thee to believe that thou art utterly forsaken but if thou trust in the Lord thou shalt feel his help with joyful Victory So in the Council of Auspurge when the Princes were bent against us with one consent our cause seemed to be utterly overthrown Notwithstanding yet we live and enjoy such Peace and Liberty as we would wish maugre the Rage and Malice of the Pope and all the Adversaries of the World With such Conflicts we must be exercised least we be discouraged when we see our cause begin to quaile But the greater the danger is the more stedfastly we must trust So shall it come to pass that when we are overcome yet we shall overcome and the Conqueror shall yield unto us Triumph and Victory This is it that the Psalm here setteth forth They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but remaineth for ever And here we have a singular promise whereby we are assured that we shall stand and abide for ever If then we do not continue it is our own fault because we abide not firm and stable in our Faith For this promise must needs remain sure and infallible Yea as it is impossible that God should deny himself and not be God so is it impossible that he should forsake those that put their trust in him But we may not think the time long but patiently abide the Lords Leisure For Gods power taketh no place in us until we be utterly to speak after the manner of the Scripture exininated that is stript naked of all Worldly Hope and Helps that man hath in himself and brought to nothing like as when he saveth a ship from drowning now ready to perish and past all Remedy As the two Stories of the Gospel one of the Ship the other of the danger of Peter do testifie Verse 2. As the Mountains are about Jerusalem so is the Lord about his People from henceforth and for ever Where many hundred thousands of men are there are scarcely seven thousand which know God or believe in God and yet for their sakes the whole Multitude is called God s people Even so was it in Jerusalem Jerusalem called holy by the figure Synecdoche where a part is taken for the whole Albeit the greater part was Wicked and Godless yet was Jerusalem called Holy not only in Respect of a small Nnmber of the Godly but also because God had his abiding there So when there was not one just person in Sodom but Lot with his two Daughters yet could not the Angel destroy Sodom with fire so long as Lot was in
we may go over Thou hast layed thy Body as the ground and as the street to them that went over These afflictions we must needs suffer and by patience overcome them and withal we must beware that by these outward afflictions the inward man be not weakened or overcome resting in this assured hope and trust that the Lord will never forsake us but that we are in the bosom of the Father and are closed within most sure and strong holds So that now altho' our Goods our Wives our Children yea and our Lives also be taken from us yet we shall never be spoiled of our Christ by whom we are so surely defended that in the midst of all our Tentations he will make a way for us to escape or else give us strength to bear them Thus we see what Consolations the Holy Ghost setteth forth unto them which believe the Word For unto such as look for a better Life then this all things are here full of Calamities and Miseries Death followeth Death as Paul saith and we continually die One Tentation followeth another until at the length by the Death of the Flesh all miseries shall cease and have an end This verse therefore maketh much for our Comfort admonishing us that we must suffer many troubles yet so that at the length we shall be safe and set at Liberty from them all though not in this Life yet in the Life to come and in Eternal Life And why should we not thus boldly promise unto our selves remaining under this diligent Custody of the Angels yea of the Lord himself which is always round about his People But here as before I said we have need of Faith that we may judge herein not according to our present troubles and tentations but according to the Word of Promise And what should we need any promises if there were no tentations which tentations whether they be within in the Spirit or without in the flesh the time shall come when we through Christ shall have full victory hereof as this verse full of sweet Consolation doth promise unto us Notwithstanding this promise seemeth incredible both to us which suffer and also to them which persecute and afflict us For if we behold the same with our outward eyes what can be more false yea the contrary seemeth to be most true Behold our Saviour Christ was he not so forsaken hanging upon the Cross that the Rod or Scepter of the wicked rested upon him Did it not rest likewise upon the Prophets the Apostles and other holy Martyrs This matter then if we consider it with our outward eyes hath another meaning then the Words do import For they promise that the Scepter of the wicked shall have no power over the godly and yet all stories and examples do teftify the contrary Therefore the Holy Ghost calleth us back to the purpose and Cousel of God revealed in his Word and commandeth us to weigh and consider not what we suffer and with our outward eyes behold but what is decreed with the Lord in Heaven And he that can so sequester himself from the beholding of his afflictions and tentations and yield himself wholly over to the Will of God and there rest is a right Divine yea he that is ignorant hereof in true Divinity knoweth nothing at all For what knoweth he which is ignorant that God is such a God as will not suffer the godly to be oppressed of the wicked For seeing he hath said I am the Lord thy God he will never suffer that which is his own to be wrested either by the World or by the gates of Hell out of his hands If he then abide and continue they shall also continue for ever which are his Thus to believe and thus to lay hold on things invifible is true Divinity and true spiritual Wisdom indeed whereupon we may ground this Proposition out of the invisible Counsel of God God hateth the wicked and loveth the just ergo he will damn and destroy the wicked and will deliver and save the just And here we see that which is the chiefest thing in all the Psalms and Prophets to spring of the first Precept I am the Lord thy God Now have we to learn how we may apply this verse rightly and to our Comfort For true Divinity consisteth in use and practice We are vexed on every side with cruel Bishops wicked Princes and others which hate the Word of God and the doctrine which we profess But these are very trifles if ye compare them with those vexations which Satan Sin and our own infirmity raise up in our Consciences We must learn therefore thus to judge of all these things that they are the Rod and Scepter of the wicked and to set the Lord against them revealing his Will here in his Word and pronouncing that he will not suffer the Scepter of the wicked to rest upon the godly Seeing then the same Prince promiseth thus much unto us which hath all things in his hand what can we require more For the will of God is certain that though he suffer us to be afflicted yet will he not see us troden under foot or perish Thus must we apply these sweet Consolations What the rod signisieth in the Scripture it is well known Children when they are young are corrected with a rod and when they wax bigger with a Wand or Cudgel and if they will not so amend then followeth the Iron rod. Hereof it cometh that the rod signifieth all Power and Rule which is for the Amendment and Correction of such as do offend So it is taken in the 110 Psalm The Lord shall send forth the rod of thy Power out of Sion That is to say thy Kingdom For there he signifieth such a rod whereby Kingdoms and People are governed On this wise the holy Ghost permitteth here to the wicked Dominion and Tyranny over the godly which they are compelled to suffer Like as we are compelled not only to see but also to suffer the Tyranny of Antichrist and the Power of his Kingdom persecuting destroying and murthering the Christians and raging against them with all kind of Tyranny Yea we are Compelled moreover to suffer the Tyranny of Satan vexing and terrifying my Heart and the Hearts of the Brethren which believe in Christ This Dominion or Tyranny the Holy Ghost calleth the rod of the wicked and comforteth us that as the Lord liveth their Tyranny shall fall and shall not rest upon the Lot of the godly The lot of the just is as much to say as the Portion that is the Number or Congregation of the just Like as Christ calleth them the Little Flock and Paul The poor Saints Over these saith he although the Tyrants do rule yet shall not their power endure Although the Persecutors of the Church do oppress the faithful yet shall they not do so always neither shall their Counsels have the success which they desire For they think to root out this Doctrine for ever
do enter seven Spirits much more wicked then the first We must therefore patiently suffer and persevere in all tentations and rather abide all Extremities then once shrink from the Word of Life least we be possessed with seven Spirits more wicked then the first And moreover we must assuredly trust as we are taught it this verse that so long as we have a desire and purpose so to do the Lord will never for sake us or suffer us to fall into this impiety For here have we a manifest promise and a lively description of the Lords singular care and providence over us namely that he is mindful of the end of our tentations and afflictions so that we only continue constant and patient unto the end And if the Heathen Poet said Endure and reserve your selves for more happy things how much more should Christians diligently stir up themselves with mutual Exhortations to Patience and Perseverance whether they outwardly suffer in things pertaining to the Body and to this present life or inwardly in Conscience For we have a God which even in Death in Hell and in the midst of all our Sins can save and deliver us Verse 4. Do well O Lord unto them that be good and true of heart The Prophet saith not here Do well Lord to the perfect and such as offend in nothing but to the good and true of Heart The good and true of Heart are they which are of a single sincere and upright Heart For these are they which are most accepted of God altho they also through infirmity do sometimes offend Now where he prayeth that God will do well to the good and godly he meaneth also and secretly complaineth that the godly are in misery and affliction and that the ungodly do abound with all worldly felicity As we see at this day the Enemies of the Gospel to enjoy great Riches and Dignities whereby they vex and oppress the godly This is a great offence and stumbling-block to the godly and therefore the Church hath need of this Prayer That God would do well unto the godly which trust in him and seek his Glory with their whole Heart that they by stumbling at this offence do not fall away to impiety This Prayer containeth in it a Prophecy with a promise that like as he prayeth for the Blessing Welfare and Prosperity of the just so at the length it shall also come to pass Verse 5. But those that turn aside by their crooked ways the Lord shall lead with the workers of Iniquity but peace shall be upon Israel He saith not simply such as turn aside but such as turn aside by their own Wickedness For to give place to tentations by infirmity of the Flesh or weakness of Mind or else of Faith and so to decline from the right way which cometh to pass sometimes even in the Saints as the Example of Peter teacheth is one thing and to fall away through wickedness and perversness of Heart is another which cannot be in the children of God but properly belongeth to the wicked and godless This sort of men hath ever corrupted the Church from the Apostles time and with a shew of holiness hath deceived the simple which because God punisheth them not but spareth them and suffereth them to prosper in this World become so proud that they will be counted amongst the holiest and of the World are so commonly taken We see that not only the godly are mixed with the wicked in this World but in the Lords floore also the Wheat lyeth hidden under the Chasse We must pray therefore that God would bring these Hypocrites to light and give unto them their just Punishment with the workers of Iniquity Then shall peace ensue to the Church of God For whilst the Lord poureth forth his vengeance upon the wicked which vex and persecute his true members he gathered together the good and upright of Heart and openly declareth his fatherly good will and tender love towards them The Commentary of Dr. Martin Luther upon the CXXIX Psalm They have oftentimes afflicted c. THis Psalm consisteth of two parts The Argument of the Psalm In the former he giveth thanks to God for the defence and continual deliverance of the People of God In the latter part he maketh his Prayer against the Adversaries and in praying he prophesieth withal Both these serve for our instruction and also contain an Exhortation to patience under the Cross which pertaineth not to one age or time but as the continual History of the Church doth shew to all times and to the whole life of man Moreover we do here comprehend both Churches of the Jews and of the Gentiles as Paul also in a manner joyneth them both together when he saith First to the Jew and then to the Grecian For as touching the Church or People of the Jews it appeareth by the Histories that they were placed in the midst of their Enemies as a goodly Rose in the midst of Thornes On the East side the Ismaelites the Arabians and other cruel People vexed them On the South part the Egyptians the Ethiopians the Troglodites the Philistines and other like On the North side the Assyrians c. So the Church after the destruction of the Synagogue is compassed every way with Enemies and Christ according to the Psalm reigneth in the midst of his Enemies Thus were they oftentimes and many ways afflicted But herewithal God shewed this miracle that when they were so afflicted he always delivered them And thus was the Kingdom of Israel a miraculous Kingdom in that the Lord when he would correct and chastise them suffered the Philistines Edomites Moabites Assyrians and Babylonians to have victory over them Again when they seemed to be utterly oppressed they victoriously prevailed against their Enemies So continued this Kingdom in despite of the cruel Nations round about it and of Satan himself as is to be seen in the Books of the Kings and also of the Chronicles Now because this People had both threatnings and promises set before them as touching their afflictions and deliverance this was unto them a great Consolation even when they were afflicted and spoiled that they knew that all these things came to pass not by the Will or Power of their Enemies and much-less by their Righteousness or Deserts but only by the Will of God thus punishing and chastising his People yea threatning and forewarning them by the Prophets that he would so punish the disobedient This is no small Consolation that in thy Affliction and Calamity thou mayest be able to say This is the scourge of God thus correcting me and visiting my Sins It is not the Wrath of God or the merit and deserving of my Adversary These things must we apply unto our selves also to the end that when we be oppressed we may comfort our selves that we are not oppressed by the power of Death Sin Hell or any creature but by the will of God our Creator afflicting us