and not onely that I but that my glory may sing them and alas what glory have I doth not all glory belong to God Indeed so it is my glory then sings his Prayses when I ascribe to him all praise and glory my glory then sings his prayses when I praise him with all I have to glory in with all the faculties and powers of my soule and body those especially in which I was made after his Image for this is my Glory If this then bee the end that God intends shall I be so ungratefull to crosse his intentions if hee have given mee a Tongue and a Voyce to serve him shall I hold my peace and be silent in his service if he have turned my Mourning into Dauncing shall I bee sullen and slow to sing his Prayses Alas my Dauncing can never be kindly without Musick and what musick so fit for it as singing and what singing so fit as to the Ditty of his Prayses O my soule seeing God hath procured thee libertie to Daunce thou mayst well afford to find the musick and yet neither my Dauncing shall hearken to the musicke nor my singing shall looke toward the Dauncing but my Singing and my Dauncing both shall bee addressed and directed to God alone Shall my heart be so set upon my joy as to make me forget the Authour of my joy No O God my joy hath so sure a foundation that I can never be unmindfull of the Founder I will give thankes to thee O Lord my God for ever Not for a time which will cease Not as long as the Sunne and Moone endure which shall not alwayes endure not as long as I have breath in my body No my soule but as long as thou thy selfe hast Being which being breathed into mee by God shall never cease shall alwayes endure shall be forever When I extolled God I had relation to his Omnipotencie when I sung his Prayses to his Mercie and now that I give him thankes for ever to his Eternitie that now I may conclude and say O Almightie most Mercifull and ever-living God to thee be ascribed all Honour Prayse and Glory world without end THE THIRTIE FOVRTH PSALME OF DAVID 1I Will blesse the Lord at all times his Prayse shall continually bee in my mouth 2 My soule shall make her boast in the Lord The humble shall heare thereof and be glad 3 O magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together 4 I sought the Lord and hee heard me and delivered me from all my feares 5 They looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed 6 The poore man cryed and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles 7 The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that feare him and delivereth them 8 O tast and see how good the Lord is Blessed is the man that trusteth in him 9 O feare the Lord yee his Saints for there is no want to them that feare him 10 The young Lyons doe lacke and suffer hunger but they that seeke the Lord shall not want any good thing 11 Come yee children hearken unto me and I will teach you the feare of the Lord. 12 What man is he that desireth life and loveth many dayes that he may see good 13 Keepe thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile 14 Depart from evil and doe good seeke peace and pursue it 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry 16 The face of the Lord is against them that doe evil to cut off their remembrance from the earth 17 The righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles 18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all 20 Hee keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken 21 Evill shall slay the wicked and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate 22 The Lord redeemeth the soule of his servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXXIV PSALME OF DAVID ALas what a Vow is this that Verse 1 David makes here a Vow which hee is sure before hand he cannot keepe for is it possible for any man to blesse God at all times Is there not a time of paine and miserie in which Jobs Wife perswaded him to curse God and dye and can cursing of God stand with blessing of God O my soule I take not my measure of blessing God from the last of that wicked Woman it is not paine it is not miserie it is not extremitie of paine or miserie that shall make mee to breake my Vow in blessing of God but if it be thought so great a matter to blesse God inmisery I will stretch my Vow yet further for I will blesse him for miserie and I may truly say if it were not for paine and misery I should want one speciall Motive for blessing of God But yet there is a time of sleepe which is a tribute due to Nature and is it possible to pay the tribute of sleepe to Nature and the tribute of blessing to God both at once If then sleepe be of necessitie so oftentimes how can blessing of God be performed at all times O my soule when our waking is terminated with blessing of God that blessing is in force till we wake againe for as in what place the tree falleth there it lyeth so in what state the Soule goes to rest in that state it resteth If my soule say to God I will lay mee downe to sleepe for it is Thou Lord onely that sustainest me my soule shall have it returned from God Thus the Lord giveth his beloved sleepe But if thus perhaps be made good the continuance of Blessing God yet in what consists the worke of blessing him Is it onely in Thought or onely in a good intention No my soule his praise shall continually bee in my mouth for though the heart indeed bee the Fountaine of blessing him yet out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh and therefore it shall not be cloystered up in the Cells of silence but it shall have vent and bee brought into the light that if it bee not said that men seeing my good workes it may at least be said that men hearing my good words may glorifie our Father which is in Heaven But doe I not by this fall againe upon my old difficultie for if it seemed impossible before to blesse God at all times may it not justly seeme as impossible now that his Praise should continually be in my mouth It may perhaps be true of the Angels in whose mouthes wee know of nothing there is continually but Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath but to be verefied of the mouthes of men seemes a thing impossible for is
there not a necessitie of speaking many things besides Gods praises yet nothing must bee spoken but either his Praise or to his praise or else wee breake our Vow And how then is this Riddle to bee expounded Is it not as Saint Paul expounds it Whither yee eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the praise and glory of God And if all wee doe may bee done to the praise of God then certainly all we speake may bee spoken to the praise of God and indeed seeing he never ceaseth to send forth continually his blessings with what reason can we cease to set forth continually his Praises But when I make this Vow to blesse God at all times I make it not presuming upon any abilitie in my selfe Alas I know my owne weaknesse and how unready I am to any goodnesse but my soule maketh her boast in the Lord Verse 2 My confidence is that he who hath given mee the resolution to will it will give mee also the power to performe it that Hee who hath begun the worke will also finish it and being so good an Architect as he is will not lay a foundation but will as well also set on the Roofe If I should boast in my selfe I should doe wrong to God but if I boast not in God I doe wrong to my selfe seeing God is a strength to none but to them that make him their strength and none make him their strength but they that make their boast of him It is a hard matter to bring Boasting and Humilitie to meet together in one subject betweene which there is so naturall an Antipathie yet here it is done for this I may say is the humble boasting where a vaine man may glory without vaine-glory where a weake Agent may presume without presumption Not like the boasting of the Pharisee so hatefull in the eyes of God so offensive in the eares of the humble For the Humble can heare this boasting and bee glad which they would never doe if it were not conformable to the rules of Humility Can any boasting be greater then to say I can doe all things yet in this boasting there is humilitie when I adde In him that comforteth mee For though God like not of boasting yet he likes of this boasting which arrogates nothing to our selves but ascribes all to him and seeing my soule boasteth her felfe of God I doubt not but as the humble heare it and bee glad so God sees it and is pleased and accepts my Boasting as a sacrifice of Humilitie But to what end is it that my Boasting tends Is it to set forth my owne worthinesse and to vaunt of my abilities Is it to tread in the steps of Lucifer or to walke in the way of the Pharisee God forbid the humble then would not be glad to heare my boasting No my soule it is to magnifie the Lord O therefore Verse 3 magnifie the Lord with mee and let us exalt his Name together for alas what am I to magnifie his Name my selfe alone if I have not company to helpe me All I can doe and all the humble can doe is but to say Not unto us Not unto us O Lord but to thy Name give the glory which is rather a vilifying of our selves then a magnifying of him they must be creatures of a better mettall that can serve and yet cannot serve to magnifie him as they should and it is not the worke of a few all the Millions of millions in Heaven and Earth have enough to doe and more then enough to exalt his Name O therefore yee Blessed Spirits of heaven doe you magnifie the Lord but take mee with you in your company that though I adde nothing to the weight of the worke yet I may adde one to the number of the worke-men in magnifying his Name We that are dwellers on the Earth can exalt his Name no higher then the Heavens and there you that be Inhabitants of Heaven must take it and exalt it higher and so betweene us all wee shall make a shift to exalt him to his true Elevation for his Glory is above the Heavens But if perhaps you thinke scorne of our company as being men of polluted lips and therefore not worthy to bee of your Consort yet the humble will make a consort by themselves and will not indeed cannot be kept from exalting his Name for our Humilitie is his Exaltation and then wee raise him up to the height of his Throne when we cast our selves downe as low as his Footstoole that it is but a diverse expressing of the same thing in substance whither we say Let us exalt the Name of the Lord Or let us fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker David is not wont to use Exclamations but upon speciall occasion if he use one here and say O magnifie the Lord we may know that to magnifie his Name is a thing of great importance indeed so great that all things besides it at least all things without it are nothing but vanitie O then all you that be exalted in Heaven and all you that bee humble in the earth and lest any be left out where all are too few O all ye workes of the Lord blesse yee the Lord Praise him and magnifie him Verse 4 forever For I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered mee from all my feares To seeke and upon seeking to be heard is a great favour but to bee heard and upon hearing to bee delivered from all feares is a favour that deserves Magnifying in the highest degree But why is it that I sought him is it not because I had lost him before and why should I seeke to get him againe and would not keepe him when I had him O my soule Carendo magis quam fruendo Wee know the goodnesse of things more by wanting them then by enjoying them though I could not see what happinesse it was to have him yet I see what miserie it is to want him and yet in this I account my selfe happy that I have sought him while he was within hearing for alas if I had stayed from seeking him till hee had beene out of hearing What hope could I have had of ever recovering him But O the tender mercies of God that hath not suffered me to put off my seeking him so long for O my soule it is no lesse his mercie that I seeke him then that hee heares me my desire is not more to have him then his to bee had for how else could he have heard mee as soone as I sought him but that hee stood listening as it were when I would seeke him and he heard me not as one that were indifferent whither he head me or no but he gave me audience with no lesse Intention to grant my suit then attention to know it for heare the successe of my seeking him see the fruit of his hearing me He delivered mee from all my feares To have delivered mee
for one of Verse 20 their bones is Faith which though it may bee shaken yet it cannot bee broken Another of their bones is Hope which though it may bee battered yet it cannot be broken and Patience is a bone which may be vexed but can never be broken for in all of them the Lord hath a hand Hee upholds the righteous that they cannot fall Hee strengthens them that they cannot faint and as long as their bones bee whole they are able to stand upright and shrinke not for any burthen that either the Flesh or the World can lay upon them And though David in this have an eye perhaps upon Christ of whom indeed there was not a Bone broken yet what is spoken of the Head may not incongruously bee applyed to the Members and in the soundnesse of Christs bones the bones of the godly are kept from breaking But the troubles of the wicked are of another nature for Evill shall slay the wicked Verse 21 and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate Their hearts perhaps are broken too but because they are not broken with sense of their sinne but with spight and malice to the Righteous there shall be none to make them whole but their owne evill shall be their owne destruction and having none to deliver them they shall be left desolate and without all hope of helpe But shall not the wicked then have this good by being desolate that as they have none to helpe them so they have none to hurt them Alas it needes not they doe it fast enough themselves for Sinne is a recoyling Poyson it turnes violently backe upon them that commit it and it may be truly said of every wicked man that he is Felo de se a Murtherer of himselfe Though Righteousnesse of it selfe doth not save the Righteous but they need a Saviour besides yet wickednesse of it selfe destroyes the wicked they need no other Destroyer Perditio tua ex te O Israel Thy destrustion is from thy selfe O Israel And O my soule what great Examples there are to verefie this saying They that hate the righteous shall be desolate When Cain hated the righteous Abel was he not thereupon made desolate and became a Vagabond forsaken both of God and man but in a higher degree when the wicked Jewes hated Christ the righteous was there not a Voyce heard as of Angels saying Migremus hinc Let us depart from this place and thereupon left them desolate without Prince or Prophet without Temple or Altar to this day You may say perhaps that Cain might easily be made desolate having killed his brother in a time when there was no more in the whole world but that one Familie but how can the wicked bee made desolate now when Totus mundus in maligno est positus When all the world is full of them and no Beasts so herd together as they doe But is it not that Desolatenesse consists not so much in want of company as in want of comfort was Job the lesse desolate for having company of whom to say Miserable comforters are ye all much lesse shal the wicked be the lesse desolate for having company of whom to say Miserable Tormentours are yee all for alas all their companie shall bee either Companions in their torments or Companions their tormentours which can never bee the case of the godly for though they be not so perfect not to have their faults yet they are so happy not to have them imputed for being Gods servants Hee will redeeme them though they be taken captive yet hee will not suffer them to continue Captives but rather then not redeeme them he will give his onely Sonne to be their ransome But yet how can the godly choose but bee Desolate when the whole world scarce affords enow to make a company and where then can company be had to keepe them from being desolate O my soule they have Angels to pitch their Tents about them while they live here and hereafter they shall come to bee Citizens in the New Hierusalem where they shall have company enough Priests and Patriarks Prophets and Apostles Martyrs and Confessours blessed Virgins and chiefly the Blessed Virgin but above all where they shall see the Blessed face of God whose onely sight is able whose sight is onely able to keepe from being desolate and then at least I shall bee as able to performe my Vow as now I am ready to make it I will blesse the Lord at all times his Praise shall continually be in my mouth THE EIGHTIE FOVRTH PSALME OF DAVID 1HOw amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of hosts 2 My soule longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord My heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God 3 Yea the Sparrow hath found an house and the Swallow a nest for her selfe where shee may lay her young even thine Altars O Lord of Hosts my King and my God 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be still praysing thee 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee and in whose heart are thy wayes 6 Who passing thorow the valley of Baca make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles 7 They goe from strength to strength every one of them in Syon appeareth before God 8 O Lord God of hosts heare my prayer Give eare O God of Iacob 9 Behold O God our shield and looke upon the face of thine Anoynted 10 For a day in thy Courts is better then a thousand I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse 11 For the Lord God is a Sunne and a shield The Lord will give grace and glory No good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly 12 O Lord of Hosts Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee MEDITATIONS VPON THE LXXXIV PSALME OF DAVID WHen wee cannot expresse the Verse 1 greatnesse of a thing in direct tearmes wee are faine to flye to wonder and so doth David here because he cannot expresse sufficiently how amiable the Tabernacles of the Lord are hee therefore falls to wondering and helpes himselfe with a question How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts But is not Davids wondering it selfe wonderfull that the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts should be so wonderfully amiable Is it not a wonder they should bee amiable at all For are not his Tabernacles Tents of Warre and is there any thing in Warre that can be amiable If he had said How terrible are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts his wonder had beene with some congruitie for the Lord of Hosts is terrible in all his workes but to say How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts seeme to imply a contradiction for though they may be amiable as they are Tabernacles yet they must needs bee terrible as they are Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts and when this Terriblenesse hath made an abatement in their Amiablenesse
of God Marke therefore how David speakes They will be still praysing him It is not enough to praise him it must bee a praising him still before it will make a Blessednesse and though to praise God be an easie matter yet to praise him still will be found a busie worke indeed to flesh and bloud a miserable worke for if I be still praising him what time shall I have for any pleasure O my soule if thou make it not thy pleasure thy chiefe thy onely pleasure to bee praysing him thou art not like in hast to come to Blessednesse And marvell not that David speakes thus under the Law When Saint Paul under the Gospell saith as much Whether ye eat or drinke or whatsoever yee doe else let all be done to the glory and praise of God And indeed how can I doubt of attaining to Blessednesse by praising of God when it is praising of God that makes the Angels in heaven Blessed for the seeing of God would never make them blessed if seeing him they did not praise him and praising him would never make them blessed if they did not praise him continually crying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath for as we praise God here on Earth with saying O Lord God of Hosts because here he fighteth for us against our enemies so wee shall praise him in heaven with saying O Lord God of Sabbath because there he will give us rest from our enemies Verse 5 But if it bee thought that praising of God will not be enough to make Blessednesse or not to make Blessednesse enough at least take this with it and it will surely be enough Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are For though our praising of God being our owne worke must needs be too weake to make a blessednesse yet when our strength is in God this makes it his worke and then our blessednesse hath a sure foundation When we trust to our owne strength for Blessednesse we are often deceived indeed as often as alwayes but when our strength is in God we may rest secure our blessednesse is upon a Rocke and cannot be shaken But then Gods wayes must be in our hearts for what way hath his strength to the heart if his wayes be not in the heart That 's their place if wee looke for strength from him Are we not in a continuall fight against Sin and have we any strength to fight but onely in him and will he take it well to be placed in a Wing No my soule he will strengthen us no longer then hee is placed in the heart of the Battell That 's his place if wee looke to bee strengthened in him It is not enough that Gods wayes bee knowne if they be not walked in nor walked in if not embraced and it is not enough to embrace them with the armes which is oftentimes feigned and but onely complimentall they must be embraced with the two armes of the heart Integritie and Sinceritie Integritie will embrace them all Sinceritie will embrace no other Though Gods wayes be many yet they must all goe into one Heart if any be left out the rest will not tarry though they must be in singlenesse of heart yet they must not be single in the heart They are fruites that grow in clusters not one by one There are many that have Gods wayes in their mouthes can talke holily and make Sermons of godlinesse though they bee no Preachers but because they draw neere to God with their lips and their hearts are farre from him they are like to have but the Pharisees entertainment not so well justified as the Publican There are many that have Gods wayes in their hands they give almes plentifully they distribute their bread to the Poore liberally but because their left hand knowes what their right hand doth they have their reward already They that have Gods wayes in their hearts they onely are in the right way to blessednesse and no rubbes of the world can turne them out of the way For when Gods wayes are in the heart together they lend assistance to Verse 6 one another For passing thorow the Valley of Baca they make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles That which seemed an impediment turnes to a furtherance at least no misery can be so great no estate so barren but a godly heart can make it a Well out of which to draw forth water of comfort either water to clense and make it a way to Repentance or water to coole and make it a way to Patience or water to moysten and make it a way of growing in grace and if the Well happen to bee dry and afford no water from below yet the raine shall fill their pooles and supply them with water from above If naturall forces bee not sufficient there shall bee supernaturall graces added to assist them that though troubles of the world seeme rubs in the way to blessednesse yet in truth they are none they hinder not arriving at the marke we ayme at they hinder us not from being made Members of Syon they hinder us not from approaching the presence of God No my soule they are rather helpes for by this meanes wee goe from strength to strength from strength of Patience to strength of Hope from strength of Hope to strength of Faith from strength of Faith to strength of Vision and then will be accomplished that which David speakes here Blessed is the man whose strength is in God and in whose heart his wayes are If my strength were not in God I should not dare to call upon him being Lord of Hosts but now that my strength is in him and that I know hee is Lord of Hosts for me and not against me a Shield to me a Sword onely to my enemies now I have confidence to say O Lord God of Hosts heare my prayer give eare Verse 7 O God of Jacob for as I doubt not but hee will heare me though he bee Lord of Hosts so I have much more confidenne he will give eare unto me being the God of Jacob for he hath made a Covenant with Jacob and with his posteritie for ever that he will be their God and they shall be his people of which number it is my happinesse that I am one not after the flesh which profiteth nothing but according to Faith the onely thing that makes the true Israelite But yet what good will it doe me that God heare my prayer and give eare unto it if he be still averse and turne away his Face O therefore Behold O Lord our shield and looke upon the face of thine anoynted For I shall never come to looke upon thy Face if thou vouchsafe not first to looke upon mine if thou afford me not as well the benefit of thine Eyes to looke upon me as the favour of thine Eares to heare me I shall be left onely to a bare expectation but never come to the happinesse of
made my mountaine to stand strong Thou didst hide thy face and I was troubled 8 I cryed unto thee O Lord and unto the Lord I made supplication 9 What profit is there in my bloud when I goe downe into the pit shall the dust praise thee shall it declare thy truth 10 Heare O Lord have mercy upon mee Lord be thou my helper 11 Thou hast turned for mee my mourning into dauncing Thou hast put off my sack-cloath and girded mee with gladnesse 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee and not be silent O Lord my God I will give thankes unto thee for ever MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXX PSALME OF DAVID IT seemes to be a course in Nature Verse 1 for Hosanna's alwayes to precede Allelujahs and therefore the Exordiums of Davids Psalmes are commonly thus Have mercy upon mee O God heare my prayer O Lord rebuke mee not in thine anger or some such forme of Hosanna but in this Psalme contrary to his custome he makes his Exordium of an Allelujah I will extoll thee O God And why is this done is it out of Devotion that he might get before hand and begin with God in Praises before God should begin with him in Benefits O my soule the showres of Gods blessings are so continually poured downe upon us that it is impossible we should ever get before hand with God in Allelujahs Although therefore he begin with an Allelujah yet it is because God hath prevented him in his Hosanna Hee will extoll God but it is because God hath lifted him up Gods praise indeed is put in the Present Tense but it is because his benefit is in the Preterperfect Tense I will extoll thee O God for thou hast lifted mee up and hast not made my foes to rejoyce over me But if David will extoll God how will he doe it for to doe it unworthily it were better to be left undone and who is able to extoll God worthily Hee will therefore perhaps call all the creatures of God to assist him and say Praise the Lord all yee his Angels Praise him all his Hosts praise yee him Sun and Moone praise him all yee starres of light Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. But if it be expected he must extoll him himselfe and not looke for helpe from others Hee will then extoll him in his exaltation and say Bee thou exalted O God above the heavens Or he will extoll him in his owne humilitie by kneeling and falling downe before him hee will extoll him in his singularitie and say There is no other God in heaven or in earth but onely thou O God or he will extoll him in his pluralitie and say Thou O God art wonderfull in thy Being Three Persons and one God blessed for ever And if to extoll him with sayings will not serve he will then extoll him with workes that men seeing his good workes may glorifie our Father which is in heaven And if neither words nor workes will be sufficient hoe will then extoll him with his silence and his wonder leaving that for Thought which cannot be exprest and leaving that for astonishment which cannot be conceived But why is it that David will thus extoll God Is it that hee may returne a thankfulnesse answerable to the benefit returne it in the same kind and answer it as it were in its owne language He will therefore extoll God which is a kind of lifting God up because God hath lifted him up which is a kind of extolling of him For as our extolling of God is the highest worke of our thankfulnesse so Gods lifting us up is the greatest benefit of his goodnesse We are thankfull to God and ought to be for his other benefits even for casting us downe but we use not to extoll him but for lifting us up For naturally indeed wee are all of us desirous to bee lifted up to be set aloft and to be high in the world for this pleaseth the eyes that they may see the more and pleaseth the whole body that it may the more bee seene but this is not the lifting up that David meanes but to be lifted up out of danger and out of the reach of the arme of his enemies O my soule let this bee thy comfort that although thy enemies be many and great yet they are not more thy enemies then they are Gods slaves and can goe no further then the length of their chaine which is seldome so long to reach to triumphing Sathan was a bitter enemie to Job and had certainly defeated him utterly if God had not held him short in his chaine and though linke after linke hee eetched out his chaine to a great length yet he could never make it reach so farre as to a Triumph For it is not properly a Triumph but when Dux Duci arma detrahit When one Generall disarmes another and this could never be done to Job for he kept on his Armour still his Helmet of Faith and his Brest-plate of Righteousnesse hee never let it goe off from him that there could be no cause for Sathan to triumph Men commonly are not satisfied unlesse themselves can triumph over their enemies but it is enough for me O Lord that thou suffer not my enemies to triumph over me for I aime not at glory but at safetie I might then ayme at glory if I were the assailant but now that I am onely the assailed what can I more desire then safetie and to bee out of the reach of all my enemies and such safetie without any glory may well give contentment seeing of all the miseries that can befall a man in this wretched world there is none greater none so great as to fall into the hands of enemies whose Malice like the fire of Hell is commonly unquenchable Let a friend strike me and it shall be a Balme to my head but to be strucken by an enemie who can endure it The striking of a friend is out of love and intends amendment but the blowes of an enemie are out of malice and tend to ruine It troubles mee not that my enemies rejoyce so their rejoycing have no relation to mee It troubled not Samson so much to have his eyes put out as to bee brought out before his enemies to be the laughing-stock for them to rejoyce at But why will David speake thus Thou hast not made my enemies to rejoyce over me as though it were God that made our enemies to rejoyce over us and not their owne spitefulnesse and malice Is it that permission is in God a kind of action and therefore he may justly be said to doe that which he suffers to be done Or is it that in his anger he makes our enemies the Executioners of his justice and punisheth our neglect of rejoycing in him with giving them power to rejoyce over us and so their rejoycing is not more in us his judgement then it is in them his act and operation But what enemies do
we talk of all this while worldly minds have no feare but of worldly enemies and from such perhaps worldly friends may free them but the spirituall man feares rather spiritual enemies and who can free them from such but onely thou O God that art the God of spirits O mercifull God let not spirituall enemies have the victory over mee and I make no great reckoning of other enemies triumphing Alas I know that worldly enemies can never triumph over me if spirituall enemies get not first the victory And now O my soule if God have done this for me have lifted me up above these enemies above these enemies of both kindes have I not a double cause to extoll him for it and to praise his Name And yet I may say I extoll him not more for doing it then for his readinesse of doing it For I cryed unto him and hee healed mee I no sooner cryed but hee heard me he no sooner heard me but he healed me My suite was no sooner made then granted My disease as soone cured as discovered hee kept me not languishing by drawing out his cure in length but he applyed a present remedy and prevented Hope with hast As therefore I extolled him before for his love in lifting me up above my enemies so I must extoll him now for his compassion in being moved to doe it for my onely crying to him I used no intercessour but my owne voyce and hee healed me and for God to be moved with the cry of a wretched sinner and so to be moved as presently to heale him Is it not a just cause to extoll him and say O the wonderfull bowels of compassion that are in God Verse 3 To be lifted up from any place is an act of Power but the lower the place is it is the greater act of Mercie and can there be a lower place then the Grave at least then the grave of the Soule and from this low place was David lifted up as yee may heare himselfe say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave Thou hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the pit But is not this a strange speech in David as though there were a grave of the Soule as there is of the Body for if there be not how then is it true that God hath brought up his soule from the Grave Is it perhaps that he calls it the Soule which is but the cementing of the Body and life together or that he calls it the Grave of the Soule when it is in the lowest estate of vivifying the Body What ever it be it shewes a great mercy in God and a great power of that mercy to raise him up that was brought so low and to keepe him from falling into the Pit that was fallen already to the pits brinke The truth is that as sinne is the death of the Soule so continuance in sinne is the grave of the Soule and in this Grave of continuance did Davids soule lye a long time Alas the shortest time in this case is long till God by his quickning Spirit restored him againe to the life of Grace that hee had just cause to say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave and hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the Pit Oh how many there are that have bodyes walking above ground when their soules are lying in the Grave that are lustie and strong in the naturall life when in the spirituall life they are dead and buryed yet so long as they lye not buried above foure dayes so long as they continue not in sin so long till it have brought the Soule into an absolute corruption there is example in Lazarus and where there is Example there is hope they may be raised againe to life and be kept from falling into the Pit of perdition And now O my soule though God have not lifted thee up to as high a place yet seeing he hath lifted thee up from as low a place as he did David hast thou not as just cause as he to say I will extoll thee O God for thou hast lifted mee up and hast not suffered my enemies sinne and death to triumph over mee And here I find my selfe so oppressed with joy that I am not able to expresse it without assistance and what assistance can I looke for but from the Saints of God O therefore sing unto the Lord all yee saints of his give thankes unto him at the remembrance of his Holinesse It is not enough to praise him if yee doe not sing his praises for it must be done with chearefulnesse and exultation and it is not enough to sing if yee doe not praise him for your joy must be in him and for him in his goodnesse and for his glory If it were to sing of another thing I should require the whole Quire of Gods creatures to joyne in the singing but now that it is to sing of Gods holinesse what should prophane voyces doe in the Consort None but Saints are fit to sing of holinesse and specially of Gods holinesse but most specially with songs of holinesse O therefore sing to the Lord all yee saints of his and let your songs be more of his praises then of your owne thankfulnesse and let your thankfulnesse not be so much for the benefits which you have received as for the holinesse with which they are bestowed for God gives not his benefits as the world useth to doe out of any corrupt affection or with any corrupt intention but there is a holinesse in his giving as well as in his gifts and seeing the Cherubins and Seraphins doe continually cry to God Holy Holy Holy You that are his Saints may well afford to sing to God at the remembrance of his holinesse But what holinesse can there be in Anger Verse 5 and is there not anger in God sometimes and will not this then bee a cause rather of weeping to thinke of his anger then of singing at the remembrance of his holinesse O my soule this need be no cause to breake off the singing for his anger endureth but a moment and even anger it selfe is in God a holinesse It is none of the things that are naturall and permanent in God It is but forced upon him by the violence of sinne and as forced as it is it stayes not with him it is but as a wind that passeth Dum oritur moritur It dyes in the birth Nothing lives and is permanent in God but onely his favour and his love and therefore Though weeping may endure for a night yet joy commeth in the morning And seeing our life is of this condition that heavinesse sometimes must as well be had as joy it is happy for us they are so disposed that heavinesse comes but in the Evening when wee may sleepe it out and when our senses are apt to be tyed up from feeling it but joy commeth in the Morning when all our
good things God never bestowes upon the wicked never with-holds from the godly and are all cast up in one summe where it is said Beati mundo corde quoniam ipsi videbunt Deum Blessed are the pure of Heart and such are onely they that walke uprightly for they shall see God But is walking uprightly such a matter with God that it should be so rewarded Is it not more pleasing to God to see us goe stooping then walking upright seeing stooping is the gate of Humilitie then which there is nothing to God more pleasing It is no doubt a hard matter to stoope and goe upright both at once yet both must be done and both indeed are done are done at once by every one that is godly but when I say they are done both at once I meane not of the body I know two such postures in the Body both at once are impossible but the Soule can doe it the Soule can stoope and goe upright both at once for then doth the Soule walke upright before God when it stoopes in humilitie before God and men And what remaines now for David to doe but to bring in the conclusion upon the Premisses seeing the Lord of Hosts though his Name be dreadfull yet his Nature is lovely seeing he is a Sunne to cherish and a Shield to Defend seeing he gives Grace and Glory and with-holds no good thing from them that walke uprightly Therefore blessed are all they that put their trust in him And what remaines now for us to doe but to receive this Conclusion of David as an absolute Demonstration and thereupon to walke uprightly and to put our whole trust and confidence in God through the merits of his Son Christ Jesus for then we are sure wee are in a sure way of attaining to Blessednesse to Eternall blessednesse that after this we may leave our wondring yet continue our Admiring How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord God of Hosts THE HVNDRED AND THIRD PSALME OF DAVID 1BLesse the Lord O my soule and all that is within me blesse his holy Name 2 Blesse the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy infirmities 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things and renueth thy youth like the Eagles 6 The Lord executeth Righteousnesse and Iudgement for all that are oppressed 7 Hee made knowne his wayes unto Moses his Acts to the children of Israel 8 The Lord is mercifull and gracious slow to anger and ful of compassion 9 Hee wil not alwayes chide neither wil hee keepe his anger for ever 10 Hee hath not dealt with us after our sinnes nor rewarded us according to our iniquities 11 For as high as the heaven is above the earth so great is his mercy toward them that feare him 12 As farre as the East is from the West so farre hath hee removed our transgressions from us 13 Like as a father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him 14 For he considereth whereof we are framed he remembers that we are but dust 15 As for man his dayes are as grasse as a flowre of the field so he flourisheth 16 For the wind passeth over it and it is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting toward them that feare him and his righteousnesse unto childrens children 18 To such as keepe his Covenant and remember his Commandements to doe them 19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in heaven and his kingdome ruleth over all 20 Blesse the Lord ye his Angels that excell in strength that doe his Commandements hearkening unto the voyce of his Word 21 Blesse the Lord all yee his Hosts Ye Ministers of his that doe his pleasure 22 Blesse the Lord all his workes in all places of his Dominion Blesse the Lord O my soule MEDITATIONS VPON THE CIII PSALME OF DAVID BLesse the Lord O my Verse 1 Soule O how well they are fitted for what worke so fit for my Soule as this Who so fit for this worke as my soule My body God knowes is grosse and heavie and very unfit for so sublime a worke No my soule it is Thou must doe it and indeed what hast thou else to doe it is the very worke for which thou wert made and O that thou wert as fit to doe the worke as the worke is fit for thee to to doe But alas I feare that by comming into this Body of earth thou art become in a manner earthy at least hast lost a great part of thy abilities and wilt never be able to goe thorow with this great worke thy selfe alone If to Blesse the Lord were no more but to say Lord Lord like to them that cryed The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord then my tongue alone would bee sufficient for it and I should not need to trouble any other about it but to Blesse the Lord is an eminent worke and requires not onely Many but very able Agents to performe it and therefore my Soule when thou goest about it goe not alone but Take with thee all that is within mee all the forces in my whole Magazine whether it be my Heart or my Spirits whether my Will or my Affections whether my Understanding or my Memory take them all with thee and Blesse the Lord. And of them all make use first of my Memorie Verse 2 Forget not all his Benefits for to remember his Benefits is indeed a principall part of Blessing him And the sooner thou goest about it the better thou art likely to performe it for forgetfulnesse is a thing that growes soone upon us and nothing sooner then forgetting of benefits our Memories are very apt to retaine Injuries but very unapt for retaining of Benefits For as long as we remember a Benefit we seeme to stand upon the rack of an Obligation to requite it and who is not willing to come off a Rack by any meanes he can and then rather by forgetting a Benefit then by requiting it and perhaps wee thinke it a kind of payment if we can but forget wee owe it But O my Soule consider that God expects no Retaliation of us he lookes for no requiting at our hands Alas He knowes we are not able He takes it in good part if but onely we remember his Benefits and should we not bee most ungratefull they being so great and so many as they are if we should not afford him so much as the remembring them But as to forget all his benefits were a wonderfull forgetfulnesse so to forget none at all were as wonderfull a Memorie for what memorie can be so vast not to forget some when they be so many Indeed so many that they cannot be numbred And what then O my Soule wilt thou doe in this case if thou canst not choose
my soule aspires for onely this Crowne makes sinne and Death to be my subjects Rebellious sinne that can never be brought into subjection but onely by this Crowne O God of thy loving kindnesse and tender mercies These indeed are Consequences most worthy to be remembred but yet perhaps not apt to be remembred for are they not of too high a straine and what the understanding doth not well apprehend the memorie doth not easily retaine He will therefore descend to Benefits of a lower Verse 5 ranke He satisfieth thy mouth with good things and renues thy youth like the Eagles This no doubt is apt to be remembred because it falls within the compasse of sense for who is not sensible of good things and specially when they bee good things for the mouth for all the labour of man is for the mouth All that the hands worke for and all that the feet toyle about is all but for the mouth so long as we may have greene Pastures and still Waters so long as we may have meat and drinkes not onely to satisfie hunger but to please the palate wee care not greatly for any thing else But O my soule these are not the good things that are here meant and yet even this perhaps were worth the caring for if it might continue but alas the dayes will come when I shall say I have no pleasure in them the time will come when my mouth will lose its taste and what good then will these good things of the mouth doe me No my soule no feare here of old age no feare of defect by reason of yeares For thy youth shall bee renewed like the Eagles There shall be no loosening here of the silver Cord no breaking of the golden Bowle but as the Eagle by mewing her feathers renues her youth So thou my soule by mewing thy feathers which is by casting off this fraile Tabernacle of thy flesh shalt perpetually be kept by the powerfull hand of God in a state of vigour Indeed the life we live now is the greatest part no life for Child-hood is scarce come to it and Old age is almost past it no time properly remaining to life but onely the short time of youth but the life that God hath in store for them that feare him not onely shall be alwayes but shall be alwayes Youth and no defect of Age shall be able to take hold upon it But may we not now begin anew and conceive rather that when David calls upon his soule to blesse the Lord and not to forget all his benefits Hee meanes he would have it to remember all his benefits and therefore he presently falls to reckon them all up himselfe not singula generum but genera singulorum Not all in particular but the generall Heads under which all the Particulars are comprehended And he begins with forgiving of sinnes because this is the Foundation this is that which reconciles us to God and which makes us capable of all his other benefits But alas what good will his forgiving my sinnes doe me if he stay there and goe no further for shall I not be committing of new sinnes continually and so God shall bee alwayes forgiving and never the neere Never the neere unlesse hee be alwayes forgiving To helpe this therefore his next benefit is the healing all my infirmities for this takes away that aptnesse to sinne to which wee are all of us by nature so prone and subject But alas what good will both these benefits doe me if hee yet stay here and goe no further seeing I am now a captive and already condemned to dye the death for should not my case bee like to theirs who upon the scaffold aske the King forgivenesse and when he forgives them yet they are put to death neverthelesse His next Verse 4 benefit therefore is a remedie for this For hee Redeemeth thy life from destruction Hee not onely frees thee from captivitie but preserves thee from perishing But alas what good yet will all these doe me if he should yet stay here and goe no further for when my sinnes be forgiven when my infirmities healed when my life redeemed yet what am I more by all this then as it were an Abrasa tabula at most what have I more to take joy in then every other ordinary creature Hee will now therefore Coronidem imponere give a benefit that shall perfect all For Hee crownes thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies Whatsoever is within the compasse of his loving kindnesse whatsoever within the extent of his tender Mercies he will not onely make thee capable of it but will freely bestow it all upon thee And who can deny but this now is a perfect Inventorie of all the benefits for which the soule hath cause to blesse the Lord to blesse him in respect of it selfe though there are other benefits indeed to the body for which the soule must blesse him too for alas the body is not able not able of it selfe without the soule and they are soone reckoned for they may be reduced to these two Sustentation and Renovation For hee satisfieth thy mouth with good things and thy youth is renewed like the Eagles as much as to say Thou shalt have the happinesse of the Epicure and of the Stoick both at once at least there shall bee no feare of hunger and thirst No drooping with Age nor ruines of Time And now O my soule let not my being in trouble and oppressed with sorrowes make thee doubt of the truth of these things for besides Verse 6 these benefits The Lord executeth Righteousnesse and Judgement for all that are oppressed Righteousnesse to them and Judgement for them For as it is righteous with God that his servants who are here oppressed should hereafter be comforted and be made partakers of all these benefits so it is his Judgement to the wicked who are their oppressours that they should feele hereafter the full measure of Gods wratth as it were in their revenge And this Righteousnesse and this Judgement he not onely deliberateth and determineth hee not onely promiseth to the godly and threatens to the wicked and then leaves them undone but he is perfect in all his wayes hee is truly Reall and puts them most assuredly in execution at least he executes them Per se or Per alium either by himselfe or by his Angels For indeed this part of his Judgement which is inflicting of punishment is not properly in God Opus suum and therefore no marvell if hee leave it to be done by Angels as he did at Sodome but though the Ministrie be theirs yet the Execution is His all the power is onely from him And although the executing his Righteousnesse and his Judgement be inter Arcana sua things hidden from us at which we may stand amazed but can never understand them yet he hath often-times revealed them to his servants the Prophets and specially to his servant Moses For he made knowne his wayes unto
yea our God is mercifull 6 The Lord preserveth the simple I was brought low and he helped me 7 Returne unto thy rest O my soule for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee 8 For thou hast delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from falling 9 I will walke before the Lord in the land of the living 10 I beleeved therefore have I spoken I was greatly afflicted 11 I said in my hast All men are lyars 12 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me 13 I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. 14 I will pay my vowes unto the Lord in the presence of all his people 15 Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints 16 O Lord truly I am thy servant I am thy servant and the sonne of thy hand-maid thou hast loosed my bonds 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and will call upon the Name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vowes unto the Lord in the presence of all his people 19 In the Courts of the Lords House in the midst of thee O Hierusalem prayse yee the Lord. MEDITATIONS VPON THE CXVI PSALME OF DAVID BUt how can David say Verse 1 so peremptorily I will love the Lord as though it were in his owne power to love whom he list Indeed nothing is so voluntary as love that it seemes to be the extremitie of the will for then wee are said to love a thing when the will is inclined and violently bent upon it and yet I know not how there seemes nothing more constrained then love for we often-times love a thing which we would faine wee could forbeare to love but that we are drawne to love it by a kind of violence in the object and therefore David may well say I will love the Lord seeing both the causes of love are here met a propension in the Will and an excellencie in the Object Man indeed is naturally a loving Creature but doth not alwayes place his love aright his love is then best placed when it is placed upon the best Object and what is that best Object but God If he place it upon Beauty that fadeth If upon Riches they perish If upon Honour that vanisheth If upon life that wasteth but all these are in God not onely in Eminencie but in Continuance In him is Beautie that never fadeth in him Riches that never perish in him Honour that never vanisheth in him life that never wasteth and therfore as the truest object of love as the dearest object of my love I will love the Lord. But though all these Eminencies be in God yet they would bee no cause for man to love him if they had not a relation to man for what cause of love where there can be expected no effects of love but seeing there is in them not onely a Relation but a Propension not onely they are ready to bee imparted but are imparted with readinesse what man is hee that will forbeare to say that can forbeare to say I love the Lord And if all men will forbeare to say it yet I will say it For hee hath heard my voyce and my supplication No doubt a just cause or rather indeed to a naturall man the onely cause for loving of God For of fearing him of praising him of worshipping him of magnifying him there are other causes but of loving him no cause so proper as his loving of us and the Benefits which he bestowes upon us For love is so reciprocall a thing that we should hardly love God himselfe but for his Love to us at least for our opinion of his love to us and wee should hardly have an opinion of his love if we had not a feeling of his Benefits For what love can wee thinke is borne us by them that are able to doe us good and doe it not but when we have a feeling of their benefits and find they doe us good then wee are easily perswaded of their love and being so perswaded who can choose but say as David doth here I love the Lord for he hath heard my voyce and my supplication But doe we love God but for his Benefits onely and if it were not for his Benefits should we not love him Indeed to love God as we ought is not to love him for ought but for himselfe onely without any consideration had at all of his Benefits but such lovers wee are of our owne good that wee should scarce love our selves but for the good we are ready to doe our selves and if we love God in the like degree we thinke it perhaps to be love enough for him But O my soule this is just the Divells love I meane such love as the Divell thought to be in Job Doth Job love God for nought He hoped he did not though hee knew he should and therefore was never in quiet till it might bee tryed and if hee had found it so he would quickly have made Job leave loving of God and fall to loving of him But the hedge which God had set about Job was not a hedge of prosperitie as Sathan supposed but a hedge of Grace and therefore with all his fierie tryalls hee could never get other words from Job but such as these Shall we receive good at Gods hands and shall we not receive evill Yes O Lord though thou kill mee yet will I love thee Thus Job did and thus should we doe but God knowes there is not such a man againe as Job was upon the face of the earth For alas wee are commonly but of the Classis or forme of which Saint John speakes Wee love God because God loved us first and it were well if we would doe but so how much soever Sathan slights it and seekes to disgrace it Or is it perhaps that David speakes in the curiositie of this distinction that we doe not Amare Deum but for his Benefits but wee may Diligere Deum without any consideration of his Benefits had at all and in this sense a naturall man may Amare Deum but none but the spirituall man Diligere Deum But O my soule doe thou endevour to be of Jobs forme to love God without distinction and whether he heare thy voyce or heare it not whether he grant thy supplication or grant it not yet to love him and to love with Amando and with Diligendo and with any another Devotion of love that can be expressed or conceived For it is indeed no true love of God if wee love him for any thing but for himselfe if we love our selves but onely for him as it seemes both Moses and Saint Paul did who for the love of God left all care of themselves and were contented to have beene if they might have beene even Anathema's But is this such a Benefit to us that GOD heares us Is his hearing our voyce such an argument of his
his sight that was none of his workes but is a destroyer of his workes Is it possible that a thing which destroyes his creatures should have a Title of more value in his sight then his creatures themselves O my soule this is one of the Myracles of his Saints and perhaps one of those which Christ meant when he said to his Apostles that greater Myracles then he did they should doe themselves for what greater Myracle than this that Death which of it selfe is a thing most vile in the sight of God yet once embraced by his Saints as it were by their touch onely becomes pretious in his sight and to alter a thing from being vile to be precious is it not a greater Myracle then to turne Water into Wine Indeed so it is Death doth not damnifie his Saints but his Saints doe dignifie Death Death takes nothing away from his Saints happinesse but his Saints adde lustre to Deaths vilenesse and it is happy for Death that ever it met with any of Gods Saints for there was no way for it else in the world to be ever had in any account But why say I in the world for it is of no account in the world for all this It is but onely in the sight of God but indeed this onely is All in All for to be pretious in Gods sight is more to be prized then the world it selfe For when the World shall passe away and all the glory of it be laid in the dust then shall Trophyes be erected for the death of his Saints and when all Monuments of the world shall bee utterly defaced and all Records quite rased out yet the death of his Saints shall stand Registred still in faire Red letters in the Kalendar of Heaven for if there be glory laid up for them that dye in the Lord much more shall they bee glorified that dye for the Lord. I have wondered often-times why God will suffer his Saints to dye I meane not the death naturall for I know Statutum est omnibus semel mori but the Death that is by violence and with torture for who could endure to see them he loves so cruelly handled but now I see the reason of it For Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints and what marvell then if he suffer his Saints to dye when by dying they are wrought and made fit Jewels to be set in his Cavinet for as God hath a Bottle which he fills up with the teares of his Saints so I may say he hath a Cabinet which he decks up with the deaths of his Saints and O my soule if thou couldst but comprehend what a glory it is to serve for a Jewell in the decking up of Gods Cabinet thou wouldst never wonder why he suffers his Saints to bee put to death though with never so great torments for it is but the same which Saint Paul saith The afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory that shall bee revealed But if you will have a Glasse to view the Extent of this pretiousnesse and plainly to see how pretious in the sight of God the death of his Saints is then look upon the revenge that is taken for it for there is nothing that God takes so much to heart and of which hee takes so sharpe revenge as the death of his Saints to touch them is to touch the Apple of his eye and if the punishment of Cain bee not thought sufficient to make it appeare at least the complaint of Christ against Hierusalem will be sufficient O Hierusalem Hierusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and it is thought by some that the destruction of Hierusalem was the rather hastened to revenge the death of James who was called the Just but how soever this wee know it was therefore executed to revenge the death of Jesus who was truly the Just and may we not well take notice that the death was exceeding pretious when the revenge that was taken was so exceeding furious But why speake I of Death when I may yet doe God good service in life and if the death of his Saints be pretious in his sight certainly the life of his servants is not unregarded For whether we dye wee dye to the Lord or whether wee live wee live to the Lord and though in this life we cannot expect the reward of Saints yet in this life wee may claime the respect of servants and in this I claime an interest my selfe Verse 16 for truly O Lord I am thy servant and oh that I could serve thee so truly that I might heare thee say Euge bone serve For we are all very ready to professe our selves thy servants but very unready to doe the service of our profession and specially in these times when Servant is growne to be a word of complyment rather than of truth that to say I am thy servant is all one as to say I am an Hypocrite But O Lord let it not be found so in me not be thought so of me for I am thy servant by a double right and oh that I could doe thee double service as thou art the Lord of life and as I am the sonne of thy Handmaid Not of Hagar but of Sarah not of the Bond-woman but of the Free and therefore I serve thee not in Feare but in Love or therefore in feare because in love and then is service best done when it is done in love and in love indeed I am bound to serve thee For thou hast loosed my bonds the Bonds of death which compassed me about by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse and restoring me to health or in a higher kind Thou hast loosed my Bonds by freeing me from being a Captive to bee a Servant and which is more from being a servant to be a sonne and more then this yet from being a sonne of thy Hand-maid to be a sonne of thy selfe and therefore indeed a sonne of thy selfe because a sonne of thy Handmaid for what is thy Handmaid but thy Church and he that is not borne of this Handmaid though he may have the generall benefit of a servant sustenance and protection yet hee can never have the speciall benefits of a sonne freedome and inheritance Or thou hast loosed my bonds Thou hast freed me from the heavy yoak of the Ceremonies of the Law and hast Enfranchised mee with the glorious liberty of the Gospell that where before thou didst require the sacrifice of Servants which was the bloud of Beasts now thou acceptest the sacrifice of sonnes which is Verse 17 Prayer and Thanks-giving I will therefore offer to thee the sacrifice of thanks-giving and call upon thy Name For Prayer and Thanks-giving make both but one Sacrifice and seeing all sacrifice is due onely to thee therefore to thee onely I will offer both my Thanks-giving and my Prayer I could not make Thankes-giving a Sacrifice if Prayer did not begin it I could not make Prayer a Sacrifice if Thanks-giving did not finish it If there should bee Thankes-giving and no Prayer the Sacrifice would want a foot if Prayer and no Thanks-giving it would want a Head for as the Basis is Prayer so the Coronis is thanks-giving Although perhaps Thanks-giving bee but the Act and Thankfulnesse the Habit and it is the Habit that makes the Sacrifice because it must bee Juge sacrificium A continuall Sacrifice which the Act cannot be And if there had beene a word to expresse the Habit of praying as Thankfulnesse doth of Thanks-giving perhaps Saint Paul would have used it where he saith Pray continually for who can doubt but hee meanes the Habit of praying and not the Act and where he saith In all things give thankes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It intends perhaps but this In all things be thankfull And what then shall the Thankfulnesse or the Thanks-giving be that I will offer to God for a sacrifice O my soule it shall bee an acknowledging of his benefits and of his onely benefits it shall be a proclaiming him to bee my Patron and my onely Patron It shall bee an extolling him for his Mercy in forgiving my sinnes for his graciousnesse in healing all my infirmities for his compassion in Redeeming my soule from destruction and for his bountie in crowning me with loving kindnesse and tender mercies it shall bee indeed a Vowing to him the whole service of all the faculties of my soule and body And not to be done in a corner as though I were not willing it should be knowne nor before some few people onely as though I were loath too many should see it but I will pay my vowes to him in Verse 18 the presence of all his people that young and old rich and poore high and low may all bee witnesses of my thankfulnesse This for the persons before whom it shall be done and then for the place in which it shall be done it shall be done in the courts of the Lords house if any Verse 19 place be more conspicuous more publick then other it shall be done there it shall be done in the midst of thee O Hierusalem that the Fame of it may be spread that the sound of it may equally goe forth into all parts of the world that as all thy people shall be beholders of my thankfulnesse so all the world shall bee admirers of thy goodnesse and as there is in Heaven an Allelujah of thy Saints so there shall be in Earth an Allelujah of thy Servants of which Number of both which numbers my hope is to be one and that I may be sure to be one O my soule praise thou the Lord and because my owne praising will be but a very small service therefore mend it my soule by calling upon others and saying Praise yee the Lord. FINIS