A SERMON Preached at the Meeting of Protestant Dissenters CALLED QUAKERS IN Turners-Hall LONDON On the 16th of the Second Month 1696. Being the Publick Day of Thanksgiving For the Deliverance of the King and Kingdom By GEORGE KEITH To which is added a Testimony of Fidelity and Subjection to King WILLIAM the III. from the aforesaid People on behalf of themselves and others of the same Perswasion with them LONDON Printed for B. Aylmer at the Three Pigeons in Cornhil 1696. Isaiah xxxviii xix The Living the Living he shall praise thee as I do this Day Compared with Psal 18. 46 c. IT is a certain Testimony which the Holy Scripture gives concerning those that praise God according to the Words of that good King Hezekiah a Faithful Servant of the Lord For the Grave cannot praise thee Death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the Pit cannot hope for thy Truth How is this to be understood Do not the Deceased Saints Praise God Yes certainly they do to wit their Souls and Spirits which die not Though their Bodies die their Souls Praise God Who then are these Dead which the Scripture testifies do not Praise God I Answer such as are dead in their Sins and Trespasses for Sin hath brought that Spiritual Death over Men and Women that they are not capable to Praise God nor serve him any manner of way acceptably till he breath upon them and quicken them by his Living Breathings and by that Living Vertue and Power which proceeds from him Now Holy David was very sensible of this when he saith in that excellent Psalm The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted That Man or Woman that can say this The Lord liveth from a true inward and Spiritual Sense of his Living Power and Presence that hath quickened them and made them alive made them sensible of his Power and Mercy of his great Deliverance and Preservation these are only fit to say Blessed be my Rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted But alas How few are there in comparison that can speak these words in sincerity of Heart and from true experience The Lord liveth Those that can speak it in an acceptable way from true experience they know the Revelation of Gods mighty Arm and living Power in their Hearts and Souls They know that the Lord is the only Living and True God There is no other God like to him The Idols of the Nations are false Gods The Psalmist speaks thus of them The Idols of the Heathen are silver and gold the work of mens hands They have mouths but they speak not eyes have they but they see not They have ears but they hear not neither is there any breath in their mouths They that make them are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them But David's God the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob he is the True and Living God Dead Idols can neither do good nor evil but God is a present Help in trouble God is the Living and True God they that have an Inward Sense and Experience of his Mighty Power that hath quickened them and made them alive they alone can praise him in an acceptable manner Those that are under the Power of Sin and under its Reign and Government they are under the Power of Death and the Dead cannot praise him Death reigneth over them Spiritual Death Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression Death began from Adam God made him upright and in Innocency Death reigned from his Fall and Transgression when he transgressed the Commandment of the Lord. So now I desire you well to ponder and consider this great and weighty Testimony of the Holy Scripture who these are that are capable to praise God for his Mercies Deliverances and Preservations Those that he hath made alive and quickened those that can say from true Experience The Lord liveth and can call him their Rock and can say with the Psalmist Blessed be my Rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted And as he speaks in the beginning of this Psalm The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer my God my strength in whom I will trust my Buckler the horn of my Salvation and my high Towre I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised so shall I be saved from mine Enemies And the Psalmist saith in another place Praise ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Praise is comely for the Righteous It is as a beautiful and comely Garment it is an Ornament to them but it is as improper for the Unrighteous and for Wicked and Ungodly Persons as it is to take a Dead Carcase full of Stench and Corruption and cloth it with a rich and beautiful Garment so improper and uncomely is Praise and Thanksgiving in the Mouth of a Wicked and ungodly Person The Scripture gives no Allowance to such as are altogether unfit to Rejoyce and Praise the Lord they are called to mourn and weep and to be humbled for their Sins But some may object and say Is it not an universal Duty of all Men to praise the Lord Yes if they will forsake their Sins and turn to the Lord as the Prophet speaks Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon Then the Lord will accept of a Sacrifice of Praise Wash ye make you clean put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil learn to do well seek judgment c. Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be as wooll Then he will allow them to come into his presence and to speak unto him and to offer him praise for his Mercies Now there is this thing further that I would recommend to your serious Consideration Look through the whole Scripture and you shall find it hath been the manner and way of Gods People to praise him not only in general daily and constantly for his Mercies Favours Preservations and Deliverances but upon every New Occasion upon the receiving of any Extraordinary Mercies Blessings Preservations or Deliverances from Dangers and from Violence designed and threatned to Praise and Solemnly bless the Lord with Cordial Thanksgiving and we are to set Time apart for this Work and to excite and stir up our selves to magnifie and praise the Lord. Thus Holy David excites and stirs up himself to praise the Lord and prays to the Lord to quicken him Great are thy tender mercies O Lord quicken me according to
one day or in a moment yet he doth it gradually in the space of ten Months God could make a Corn or Grain of Wheat to grow up in a moment but he hath appointed a season for it The Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome are such that she may well be called the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth She hath her Daughters that tho they profess to be different from her yet they are too much of her Spirit All that Worship Idols of Gold and Silver VVood and Stone And likewise those that although they do not Worship Images yet if they love Money more than God they are guilty of Idolatry and will be numbred among her Daughters at the great Day of Account As also all Persecuters and false Worshipers It was a mighty Work of God that hath broken the Ice in that that hath been already begun and brought to pass and is yet further to be carried on till it be compleated and accomplished It was a wonderful Discovery and Revelation that God made to the Apostle John who by the Light of Prophecy foresaw things to come many Hundred Years before they were fulfilled wonderful things respecting Worldly Governments relating to the State and Condition of the Church and People of God And there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman cloathed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet and upon her head a Crown of twelve Stars And she being with child cried travailing in birth and pained to be delivered And behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads And the Dragon stood before the woman that was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne And the woman fled into the Wilderness c. And the dragon was worth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony Jesus Christ The Apostle John by the Light of Divine Prophecy he foresaw how long the Woman should continue in the Wilderness and when the Scarlet Whore should be Judged that had made her self drunk with the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs And after these things saith the Apostle I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying Alleluja Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God For true and righteous are his Judgments for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne saying Amen Alleluja And the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the saints And they sang a new song saying Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them heard I saying Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever So that this I say by way of Testimony out of the Holy Scripture that it hath been the Work of Gods people to praise God for all his Mercies Blessings and Deliverances and this is that which God expects from us that we should Magnifie and praise him when he is pleased to work great Deliverances for us according to those Words of the Psalmist Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows unto the most high And call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me This is the just Tribute that God requires who is the Great Deliverer and Preserver of Men to glorifie and praise him and give him that honour that is due to his Great and Excellent Name and not only to praise him with our Tongues and Lips but with our Lives Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me saith the Lord and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God And our Saviour commandeth this and chargeth it upon us as our duty Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven Now as concerning the praises of God all Gods praises which are acceptable to him they are to be in Spirit and in Truth God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth The father seeketh such to worship him The praises of God are of a higher and lower degree We find there are in the Book of Psalms Songs of degrees so there are the high Praises of God when the Soul is raised up by Gods Power and Spirit from a deep and profound sense of his Mercies and great Deliverances to render Thanksgiving and Praise For thou hast delivered my soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling The Psalmist praised God for Spiritual and Temporal Blessings for Mercies both to his Soul and Body I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will sing praises unto my God while I have my being My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. When the Psalmist comes to utter the high Praises of God these words are going before Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth and let the wicked be no more bless thou the Lord O my soul Praise ye the Lord. When the high Praises of the Lord are to be in our Mouths then all evil thoughts and wicked imaginations and sinful motions such as hinder Gods Praises are to be put far from us that we may worship God in Spirit and serve him with Sincerity and Purity of Heart O give thanks unto the Lord call upon his name and make known his deeds among the people Sing unto him sing psalms unto him talk ye of all his wonderous works Glory ye in his holy name let the heart of them rejoyce that seek the Lord. Seek ye the Lord and his strength seek his face evermore Remember his marvellous works that he hath done Let the saints be joyful in glory let the high praises of God be in their mouth c. Blessed are they that can witness to this Truth that upon receipt of great Mercies do render praises to God If real gratitude be in our Hearts and the high Praises of God in our mouths this is a token for good it is like the white stone and new
true Knowledge of God and his Son Jesus Christ which is Life Eternal The Psalmist concludes the Psalm I have been mentioning with these words Great deliverance giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy to his annointed to David and to his seed for evermore David as a Type of Christ stiles himself Gods King none are to be called Gods Kings equally and in all respects as David was thus he brings in God speaking in Psalm 2. 6. of Christ Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Great deliverance hath he given to his King David was called Gods King in a peculiar sense as a Type of Christ I know no King in the VVorld that in all respects may equal himself with David God sent the Prophet Samuel to anoint him King when he was keeping Sheep he was the least and lowest of all his Brethren but he was ruddy and withal of a beautiful countenance and goodly to look to Samuel Anointed him in the midst of his Brethren and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward and afterward the People chose him to be King It is my Belief and Perswasion that there have been and may be Kings in the World that may be said to be God's Kings God hath raised up some for some singular and eminent Work so God raised up Cyrus and stiled him his Anointed and his Shepherd I have raised him up in righteousness saith the Lord and I will direct all his ways he shall build my city and he shall let go my captives not for price not reward saith the Lord of hosts Whatsoever King or Prince God hath raised up it should be our earnest Desire and Prayer That the work of the Lord may Prosper in their Hands And let me tell you this Day here is matter for high Praises and Thanksgiving that God hath graciously and wonderfully Saved and Delivered the King from the Hands of bloody Men that designed his Destruction and the Ruin of these Nations We have abundant cause to be Thankful not only for his Personal Deliverance and Preservation but also to Pray that God would be pleased to make him an eminent Instrument in his Hand to serve and glorifie God in his Generation and promote the Christian Faith and the common Interest of all sincere Protestants against the Roman Papacy and barbarous Tyranny and Slavery I pray God the sense of this great Mercy and Deliverance may dwell upon all our Spirits It is not only a Deliverance as I hinted before of the King 's own Person but of us our Wives and little Ones our Cities Towns and Families If this Design had prospered and answered the expectation of our Enemies what Ruin and Confusion would it have brought upon these Nations What could we have expected in this Great and Populous City but Desolation and Ruin throughout the whole Island I speak in sincerity I feel joy to arise in my Heart and such a sense of this Mercy as doth excite me to Praise and Thanksgiving and to magnifie the Name of the Lord that hath done great Things for us if therebe any that flatteringly and hypocritically Praise God for this National Mercy they have their reward Let us all therefore Sincerely Cordially and in good ear-nest express our Thankfulness to God for that great Salvation he hath wrought for the King and these Kingdoms It is a signal Mercy and Universal Blessing Let us all excite and provoke one another to be truly Thankful to God not only with our Lips but with our Lives not only verbally but really in a Christian Life and Conversation without which our keeping a Day of Thanksgiving will not be acceptable to the Lord. For thus saith the Lord Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God A TESTIMONY OF OUR Faithful Obedience and Subjection TO King WILLIAM the III. And His GOVERNMENT AS We do sincerely believe and profess that Magistracy and Government in the World is an Ordinance of God and that it is the Duty of all Men to be subject to those in Authority whom God hath placed over them so most especially that it is the Duty of all Christians to be eminently exemplary to all others in giving and demonstrating all due subjection to the Government and Authority under which they live not only for Wrath but for Conscience sake and that they ought to pray for them and give thanks to God for the Blessings and Benefits received by them and their Government and for this cause Tribute is due unto them to support and maintain them in the necessary discharge thereof And in behalf of our selves and other Christian People who are of one Faith and Perswasion with us as true and sincere Christians and Protestants sincerely concerned in the common Interest of all true Protestants for the preservation of the true Christian Protestant Doctrin and Faith generally received and professed by all sincere Protestants against the great and manifold pernicious Errors of the Roman Papacy and for the true Christian Liberty that God in his great Mercy hath in general brought into these Three Nations as well as to other Protestant Countries against the Usurpation of the Papal Hierarchy By this our present Testimony we do sincerely and solemnly declare that we hold it to be our Christian Duty to give all due and faithful Subjection to King WILLIAM the present KING of England Scotland and Ireland c. with all Love Humility and due Honour and Respect and chearful ready and peaceable Obedience to Him as Supream acknowledging Him to be Rightful and Lawful KING of these Realms and to all under Him in Authority in their several Places and Stations giving thanks with our hearts to God for the many Blessings and Benefits we enjoy under His Reign and Government And we give Him Cordial Thanks for the Liberty and free Exercise of our Consciences which He hath Granted and is Establish'd by Law in Worshiping God according to our Faith and Perswasion And we utterly deny and disown the Authority of all Foreign Power to have any Jurisdiction over these Realms As also we give thanks to God for the late great Deliverance and Preservation that God hath given Him in Delivering Him and Preserving Him from the wicked Attempts and Designs of such as did intend to Assassinate Him in whose great Deliverance and Preservation the whole Body of all his Loving Subjects in all His Dominions have met with great Deliverance and Preservation to themselves and their Families of which singular Blessing of God to Him and in Him to all these Three Nations and all other His Dominions we desire that all may be deeply sensible and by Divine Grace and Assistance may be helped to be thankful unto God for the same not only by confession of the Mouth but by the good Works of a Christian Life and Conversation And we sincerely pray that God Almighty may still preserve and defend Him from all future Attempts and Designs of wicked Men prolong His Life and Reign make Him a great and eminent Instrument to promote True Christian Piety and the True Protestant Doctrin and Cause against the Papal Faction and Hierarchy Bless His Government more and more to Him and all his Faithful and Loving Subjects Establish His Throne in Righteousness during His Life-time in this World and in the World to come give him the Crown of Righteousness and of Eternal Life Given forth from our Meeting at Turners-Hall in London in behalf of our selves and other Christian People of the same Faith and Perswasion with us commonly called Quakers though differing from many that go under that Name in diverse weighty Things relating to Christian Faith and Doctrin The 26th of the Second Month called April 1696. FINIS Psal 18. 46. Psal 135. 15 16. Eph. 2. 1 4. Rom. 5. 14. Psal 18. 2. Psal 147. 1. Psal 33. 1. Isa 55. 7. Isa 1. 16 17. Psal 119. 156. Gen. 6. 7. Gen. 7. 1. Gen. 8. 20. Psal 106. 9 10. Exod. 15. 1. Psal 126. Psal 137. 1 2. Rev. 15. 2. 3. Rev. 13. 4 8. Rev. 12. 1 2 3 4 15 16. Rev. 19 1 2 4. Rev. 5. 8 9. Psal 50. 14 15. Psal 50. 23. Mat. 5. 16. John 4. 24. Psal 116. 8. Psal 104. 33 34 35. Psal 105. Psal 149 5 6. 1 John 2. 14. Heb. 12. 4. Psal 18 17 19. Psal 18. 23. Rom. 7. 18. Psal 119. 109. Luke 17. 20. Matth. 25. 13. Mat. 3. 3. John 7. 37. 38. Gen. 26. 18. 1 Cor. 10. 3. 4. Acts 15. 5 6 7 8. Eph. 2. 7. Psal 18. 43. 44. Psal 18. 50. 1 Sam. 16. 12. Isa 44. 28. Isa 45. 13. Psal 50. 23.
thy judgments Many are my persecutors and mine enemies yet do I not decline from thy testimonies Consider how I love thy precepts quicken me O Lord according to thy loving kindness Of this I might give many Instances from the Holy Scriptures When the Lord brought a Flood to drown the old World he said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and he commanded Noah to make him an Ark for the saving himself and his Family and when he had finished it the Lord said unto Noah Come thou and all thy house into the Ark For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation and that Ark was Instrumental for the preserving him and his Family from the Deluge We see what benefit Noah's Family received by and through him You that dwell in Families that serve and fear the Lord there is great benefit and advantage you may receive thereby but it is not that which intitles you to Eternal Salvation It is not the Righteousness of Parents that will save their Children but they must be changed and renewed in their own particulars But there is a great advantage in it for Chilrend and Servants to dwell in a Godly Family they enjoy many Spiritual Advantages and partake of Temporal Salvation and Deliverances as it appears by Noah's Family who were saved in the Ark. After the Flood Noah builded an Altar unto the Lord and in token of his Thanksgiving he took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl and offered burnt-offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour There was a sweet savour did ascend to the Lord it was the savour of his Faith And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him saying And I behold I establish my Covenant with you and with your seed after you And I will establish my Covenant with you neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth I shall give some further Instances of this great Truth of offering Praise and Thanksgiving to the Lord for Mercies and Deliverances Consider that great and wonderful Deliverance that God gave to the Children of Israel when he brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea as upon dry Land He rebuked the Red Sea also and it was dried up so he led them through the depths as through the wilderness And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy And the waters covered their enemies there was not one of them left Then believed they his words they sang his praise You have the words of Thanksgiving set down Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the Sea We have many Instances of this Duty of praising God in the Book of Psalms When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing then said they among the heathen the Lord hath done great things for them The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad And the Psalmist tells us By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down yea we wept when we remembred Zion We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song and they that wasted us required of us mirth saying Sing us one of the Songs of Zion How shall we sing the Lords song in a strange land But when they came back to their own Land when the Lord turned back their Captivity then they sang the Songs of Zion The Apostle John tells in the Book of Revelations how he saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire and them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name standing on the sea of glass having the harps of God And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb saying great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints Who are these may some say of whom this may be understood that they sung the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb I hope this is in part already fulfilled and it will be more abundantly fulfilled when the Lord shall be pleased to raise up many and make them Living Witnesses of this Victory over the Beast and over his Image and over his Mark and over the Number of his Name Those that shall be raised up with a Living Testimony and with a holy courage to withstand the gross Errors of the Church of Rome and all her false Doctrin and all the Papal Power by which they have brought into bondage so many Thousands and Millions of People Blessed be the Lord our God that hath begun to break off that Yoke and give a measure of Victory over this Beast this Beastly Power and this Beastly Raging Spirit that hath for many Hundred Years and Ages past prevailed over the Spirits and Consciences of Men and brought a Consternation upon them that the general cry was Who is able to make war with the Beast Yet still God hath had a number that would not Worship the Beast and they were Sealed with the Seal of God yet the greatest number Worshipped him whose Names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World whose Cry in those days was Who is like the Beast Who is able to make war with the Beast I hope none of us here are of that mind to slight and undervalue what God hath already done to make way and room for what is now brought to pass and will be more and more brought to pass and accomplished the great Work of God in raising up Men with a Noble and Undaunted Courage and great Resolution with their Lives in their Hands for many have laid down their Lives to give a faithful Testimony of the Truth and have sealed it with their Blood above One hundred and thirty Years ago The Work of God is to be owned the Arm of God was made bare and his Mighty Hand made known therein This which hath been done is a great preparation for what is to follow He that made not the World at once but by degrees as in the space of six days God that was before â—ime was is pleased to take time to bring forth his most wonderful Works in the World God could if he pleas'd form the Child in the Mothers Womb in
name which none know but them that have it It is a great folly in many Men that will argue so much about Perfection as if they had attained to Perfection and were already perfect when it may be they know little of it or are scarce advanced a few steps towards it It is as if a Child of three or four Years old should dispute and quarrel about the Perfection of a Man come to a full age and about the Wisdom and Strength of such a one as an Infant under age is not in a capacity to understand these things no more can many that talk so much of Perfection judge of the experiences of grown and eminent Christians The Apostle saith concerning such I have written unto you young men because ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one VVe cannot attain to this high degree of praising the Lord with a perfect heart and a raised and heavenly mind as becomes those that sing the high Praises of God till the body of Sin in a great measure be destroyed mortified and crucified in us that Sin may not have dominion but that as Sin hath reigned unto Death even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The motions of Sin in the Flesh are like a Rebel in a Country well governed There may be some Rebels in a Princes Country that is well governed and they may seek to do mischief so it is with some in whom a good work is begun he hath a Law in his Members that wars against the Law of his Mind to bring him into Captivity to the Law of Sin yet there is in him something that is good so that the Reign and Government of Sin is opposed and resisted and Sin hath not Dominion over him It is a good and blessed State a Man is in when he resists and strives against Sin to get the Blood of Sin he will resist Sin unto Blood to get the Blood of Sin Ye have not yet resisted unto blood saith the Apostle striving against sin There have been those that have resisted unto Blood not to shed the Blood of Mankind but have laid down their Lives in the Cause of God and have Sealed their Testimony with their own Blood and have witnessed against Popery and the damnable Heresies of the Church of Rome with the expence of their own Blood VVe have cause to bless God for those that are gone before us that have broke the Ice and prepared our way for us VVe have cause to bless the Lord that hath the hearts of Kings in his hands and turneth them as the Rivers of VVater Blessed be God that so inclined the Heart of the King and those in Authority that all in this Nation and all the three Nations that are Sober and Godly and of tender Consciences may enjoy the happy Freedom and Liberty to serve and VVorship God according to their Faith and Perswasion This is that God hath graciously vouchsafed to us which is a Marvellous and Signal Mercy never to be forgotten O how would we have prized this Mercy and Liberty some Years since when we could not meet and assemble together without great hazard and suffering when many were haled to Prison and many knocked down and had their Blood shed when they came together for the VVorship of God O that we could truly apply to our selves the Words of Holy David and say The Lord delivered us because he delighted in us He delivered me from my strong enemy and from them which hated me for they were too strong for me He brough me forth also into a large place he delivered me because he delighted in me O that we could say that God hath delivered the KING and the whole Nation because he delighted in us and hath taken pleasure in us It may be said so concerning some I would to the Lord it might be so said concerning many among us David saith further in the following words The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine iniquity This is a very high strain of David he mentions his Innocency with respect to Saul we have it thus expressed in the title of the Psalm David the Servant of the Lord spake unto the Lord the words of this Song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his Enemies and from the hand of Saul David was proclaimed by Saul a Traytor and a Rebel Poor David Little David when he was a Shepherd little thought that he should be the King of that great Kingdom and after he was anointed King he did not conspire against Saul that pursued him for his Life as a Rebel but David was innocent with reference to him therefore he saith The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness and according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me This is not to be understood as if David relied upon his own Works or Merits but he had a Testimony in his own heart and the Lords Spirit bare him witness that he was Innocent with respect to Saul and the Lord accounted him Innocent he suffered for his sake The Lord chose him to be King without any Plotting or Contriving and David was tender of Saul he did not take the opportunity to slay Saul when some would have perswaded him But then there is an observable word which David speaks I was also upright before him and I kept my self from mine Iniquity A strange word may some say How did he keep himself from his Iniquity The opening of this may be of use and service to some here It is thus to be understood David tho he was a good Man yet he did find and was conscious to himself that there was a Principle of Iniquity which lay very near to him to tempt him to Sin and to some particular Sin more than to others which he calls mine Iniquity he was not so careful and watchful afterwards when he came to be settled in the Kingdom He was not so watchful over his Heart as to keep himself from that principle of Lust that was remaining in him you know what appeared and brake out in the case of Bathsheba he walked upon the top of his Palace and was gazing abroad he was not upon his Guard did not keep his Watch and his Iniquity got Victory over him but before this happened when he was vigilant and jealous over himself with a godly Jealousie he could say I have kept my self from mine Iniquity this Expression declares to us thus much that he had some particular Sin that he had need to watch against he had some particular Enemy near to him according to those words of our Blessed Lord A Man's
Heart of Stone None but those which know themselves to be of the New Creation of God have experience of a Heart of Flesh given them and a Heart of Stone taken away It is they only that have the Law written upon the fleshly Tables of their Hearts that are washed and purified though I cannot say there is a Well of Living Water in any that do not believe yet there is something placed by God in every one towards it like the Ministry of John the Baptist which was a preparing the way of the Lord he was spoken of by the Prophet Isaias saying the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord make his paths straight Our Saviour said to the Woman of Samaria if thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee Give me to drink thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water And in another place it is said In the last day that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drinke He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water but this he spake of the spirit which that believe on him should receive not Unbelievers You that sincerely and truly Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ without all peradventure you have something of this Well of Living Water within you you have the gift of God O give thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord for this great and unspeakable Gift Some may say if I have a Well of Living Water in me what is the reason I feel so little comfort my soul thirst and I want this Living water to drink O that I had some drops of it to cool and quench my thirsty Soul I Answer Thou dost not diligently watch thy Heart thou sufferest thy Sins those Philistins to prevail over thee and stop up thy Well When Abimelech's Servants had stopped the Wells which were digged in the days of Abraham Isaac digged them again I say unto you throw away the Rubbish and Earth and Dirt that is got into your own Hearts and every thing that the Light in your own Consciences tells you in evil and then the Waters will spring forth Then you will experience a Well of Living Water springing up in you unto Everlasting Life The Prophets of Old David and Samuel Isaiah and Jeremy and Daniel and all other Holy Men of God they had experience of this Well within them springing up unto Everlasting Life and all true Believers before Christ came in the Flesh they did all eat the same spiritual meat and drink the same spiritual drink For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ and they had all those Spiritual Blessings we enjoy upon the account of Christ his most Holy Obedience and Death There was this difference between us and them We believe in Christ that is already come and they saw Christ in the Promises and in Shadows Types and Figures and believed in Christ that was to come Under the Law they were under a Yoke of Bondage but we have cause to bless the Lord that hath taken that Yoke from off our Necks that neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear We Read in Act. 15. 5. There rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed saying That it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter And when there had been much disputing Peter rose up and said unto them Men and Brethren ye know how that a good while a go God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the Gospel and believe And God which knoweth the hearts bear them witness giving them the holy Ghost even as he did unto us And put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Blessed be God that hath delivered us from that burden of Ceremonies and multitudes of Rites and Observations that were continued till the clearer times of the Gospel when all the Males before that time went every Year up to Jerusalem to worship which was many Miles distant from many of their Habitations The Lord hath been pleased to make the Christian Service under the Gospel much more easie to us upon an outward account and likewise more advantagious as well as more easie and Delightful upon a Spiritual Account God hath given us more of his Spirit in these times of the Gospel not that God hath given us a greater Measure of his Holy Spirit than he gave unto the Prophets for they had greater gifts of the Spirit but there is now generally given more abundant measures of the Spirit to Gods Poople under this Dispensation of the Gospel there were then in general but lower and lesser Measures and as it were some droppings of the Spirit upon them that lived in former Ages but in the latter days after Christs ascension there hath been the powring out of the Spirit that as the Apostle speaks God might in ages to come shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus And if any do not now witness the powring forth of the Spirit they may find the cause in themselves they are not careful and diligent to improve the Means and Advantages that God hath given to them and that is the reason of it In the close of the 18th Psalm David speaks some things concerning himself and other things relating to Christ speaking of himself as he was a Type of Christ Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people and thou hast made me the head of the heathen a people whom I have not known shall serve me Assoon as they hear of me they shall obey me the strangers shall submit themselves to me This was but little fulfilled in David the Type but was largely fulfilled many hundred years after in Christ the Antitype VVhen the Apostles came to Preach Christ Crucified then very many that heard believed in Christ and obeyed him submitted themselves to him and many afterwards laid down their Lives for him My Friends ought not we be very Thankful when we consider and call to mind what a sad condition England was in many Hundred Years ago when the Inhabitants worshipped Diana and other Idols and false Gods Jerom saith the Britains were so Savage and Barbarous that they did eat Mans Flesh Blessed be God for his abundant mercy and kindness to us that hath brought many in this Nation to the