kingdome of Heaven But if you thinke this distance of height from Earth to Heaven not sufficiently to expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy then take the distance of length from East to West For as farre as the East is from the West so farre Verse 12 hath he removed our sinnes from us that if the East and the West can never come to meet together no more shall our sinnes bee ever able to come against us in the sight of God But alas this gives not so good satisfaction as the other for though the distance from East to West bee vast indeed to us as to which our sight cannot reach though wee should use all the Perspective glasses of the world yet what is this to God who can as easily see from East to West as if they were hard by and close together But is it not that all Gods mercy to us is onely in Christ and may wee not then conceive that these Distances are represented by the manner of Christs hanging upon the Crosse where his Feet and his Head seeme to point from Earth to Heaven and the stretching out his hands seemes to point from East to West But though Relation to Christ be not the ground of these expressions yet it cannot be doubted but that they sufficiently expresse the greatnesse of Gods mercy seeing they are the greatest distances that humane apprehension is capable to conceive But if you bee not satisfied with these expressings from Distances of place then take an expressing from the affection of Nature Verse 13 For as a Father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him And now let any that is a Father examine his owne Bowells how much he pitties his children and then say If Gods pitty to them that feare him be not in a very high degree Certainly if any Name could expresse a greater pitty then the name of a Father Christ would never have taught us to use this Name in making our prayers And who could be so fit to make this comparison as David who gave a testimonie of it in himselfe by making his moane O my sonne Absolom my sonne my sonne Absolom would God I had dyed for thee O Absolom my sonne my sonne that now it seemes Gods pitty is matcht and this example reacheth home to expresse the greatnesse of Gods pitty to the full No my soule it is too short yet for though the pitty of a Father may reach to be willing to dye for his Child yet Gods pitty reacheth further not onely to be willing to dye but to dye indeed and not onely for a Child but for his Enemies for when wee were enemies even then did Christ very God dye for us that Gods pitty holds the supremacie still and cannot indeed be matcht alas it cannot be exprest by any thing that is in man But though there may be comparison in the tendernesse of their pitties yet in the abilitie there can bee none for a Father pitties often-times a child when he cannot helpe him but Gods pitty is alwayes active and powerfull and never without releeving that though it be commonly said It is better to be envied then pittied yet here it is not so but it is a farre happier thing to be pittied of God then to be envied of men But whom is it that God pitties onely them that feare him and indeed Feare is a thing that deserves to be pittied for it makes the joynts to tremble and puts the spirits in amazement But O my soule it is not such a Feare that is here meant but this Feare is all one I may say with love and differs but in the Object for looking upon Gods Justice wee feare him and looking upon his Mercy wee love him although wee love him for his Justice too and wee feare him for his Mercie too for as there is Mercie with him that hee may be feared so there is Justice with him that he may be loved But why is it that God pitties them that feare him Indeed hee hath cause enough to Verse 14 pittie them For hee considers of what wee are framed Hee remembers that we are but dust and alas what is there in dust to helpe it selfe if God in mercy take not pitty upon it When God lookes downe upon us and sees how foule we are growne whom hee Created cleane hath he not cause to fall a chiding and to be angrie yet when he considers of what we are framed and that wee are but dust this is some cause againe to make him leave his chiding and not to keepe his anger for ever that we may truly say Our miseries are our happinesse for if it be our miserie that we are framed of so meane a matter as Dust It is our happinesse that wee have the meannesse of our matter for God to take into his consideration and perhaps this was it at least one circumstance that made so ill for the Angels that fell that God could find no excuse of their sinne in their matter the more hee considered of what they were framed the more he found he had cause to bee angrie and therefore no marvell if his anger to them continue for ever But this is every ones case to bee framed of Dust and why then should God pitty some more then others seeing they bee equally of Dust All Is it not that hee is the lesse angrie indeed for that they are but Dust but yet he pitties them not for being Dust but for being Dust and fearing him for if they feare him not he never pitties them but lets them goe on in their Pride at least in their securitie and make what they can of their Dust for they reckon upon great matters from their Dust and thinke they can improve it to a great heigth but alas what can they make of it but to come to be grasse at most to get up to be a flowre a poore fading thing that whether Verse 15 you gather it or let it grow whether the Sunne shine upon it or the Wind blow upon it it quickly withers and once withered becomes a pittifull sight to be seene a loath some thing to be smelt that where all the grace of it consisted in the two Senses of sight and smelling it is now offensive to both and is no longer carried in the hand or worne in the bosome Alas it is scarce thought worthy to have a place upon the dunghill And indeed what could more be lookt for of Dust being so light a thing as it is that if the wind but passe over it if you but blow upon it it is presently scattered and gone and the place where it was will know it no more And such is Man his flourishing is but as a Flowre as quickly withered as a Flowre and as soone cropt off from his stalke as a Flowre and alas what good is in a flourishing that ends in a withering What happinesse in pleasures that have no continuance O my soule if thou wert thy selfe
MEDITATIONS AND DISQVISITIONS UPON SEVEN CONSOLATORIE PSALMES OF DAVID NAMELY The 23. The 27. The 30. The 34. The 84. The 103. The 116. By Sir RICHARD BAKER Knight LONDON Printed by J. D. for F. Eglesfield and are to be sold by Henry Twiford at the signe of the Beare over against the middle Temple gate in Fleetstreet 1640. A CATALOGVE OF THE SEVERALL Treatises written by this Authour NAMELY MEditations and Disquisitions upon the Lords Prayer Meditations and Disquisitions vpon the 1 Psalme Meditations and Disquisitions vpon the seven Penitentiall Psalmes Meditations and Disquisitions vpon seven Consolatorie Psalmes Also a Poem of his entituled Cato Variegatus or Cato's morall Disticks vaâ—ied TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE WILLIAM Lord CRAVEN Baron of Hamstead c. MOST HONOURED LORD I Shall perhaps move Envie to say Quae te tam laeta tulerunt sâ—ecula but for my selfe I am bound to say it who have received from your Lordship indeed a great Favour the remission of a great Debt for which notwithstanding I account my selfe to stand obliged still though in a lesse profitable yet in a more binding Obligation to bee your perpetuall servant I am called upon by Gratefulnesse to erect some Monument in honour of your Bountie and a more lasting Monument I could not thinke of within the compasse of my poore abilities then to Dedicate these Psalmes of David to the memorie of your Name for though your owne Heroick vertue have made you a Monument of the same mettall that Fames Trumpet is made which is likely and worthy to last long yet this perhaps may prove Monumentum Fama perennius a Monument that will continue your memorie when Fame it selfe shall be buried in oblivion But how long soever it shall continue yet not so long as my Devotion to be as my Desire to be accounted to be Your Lordships humble and obliged servant Richard Baker Imprimatur Tho Wykes R. P. Episc Lond. Sacell Domest Septemb. 11. 1639. THE TVVENTIE THIRD PSALME OF DAVID Verse 1 THe Lord is my Shepheard I shall not want Verse 2 Hee maketh me to lye downe in greene pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters Verse 3 Hee restoreth my soule hee leadeth mee in the paths of righteousnesse for his Names sake Verse 4 Yea though I walke through the Valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evill for Thou art with mee Thy rod and thy staffe they comfort mee Verse 5 Thou preparest a Table before me in the presence of mine enemies Thou anoyntest my head with Oyle my cup runneth over Verse 6 Surely goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever MEDITATIONS VPON THE XXIII PSALME OF DAVID IS it not a grievous fall that Verse 1 where I might have said The Lord is my Creatour and hath made me after his own Image I am now glad to say The Lord is my shepheard as though I were but a sheepe and yet perhaps no Fall in this at all For what was I when I was at best but the Lords sheepe Depending wholly upon him for all I had No cloathes to cover my nakednesse but of his making no food to satisfie my hunger but of his providing and oh that I had continued his sheepe still for then though weake I should have beene innocent though feeble I should have been harmelesse Where by taking O miserable mistaking the Serpent for a shepheard I became of an innocent Sheepe a ravening Wolfe and should have so continued at least a perpetuall strayer if my true shepheard O the wonderfull bowells of compassion had not left the Ninetie nine in the Wildernesse to seeke after mee and had not found mee out and brought me back againe into his Fold that if there be joy in Heaven that the lost sheepe is found there ought to bee much more joy in Earth that the lost sheepe can say The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want But how can I truly say The Lord is my shepheard seeing hee hath turned me over sheepe and lambes and all to Saint Peter to be our shepheard Can he turne me over to another and yet himselfe reteine a propertie in me still But is it not that there is a Hierarchie of shepheards Saint Peter and his successours but Ministeriall shepheards God himselfe the shepheard Paramount Psal 77.20 Hee ledd his people like sheepe by the hand of Moses and Aaron Hee but used the service of Moses and Aaron himselfe was the shepheard still it was hee that led them And is it not said of Kings too that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shepheards of the people and perhaps David speakes here as hee was a King for though a King be a shepheard in relation to his Subjects yet he is but a sheep in relation to God for relation in all created things makes quidlibet ex quolibet a sheepe of a shepheard and a shepheard of a sheepe till we come at God and there Relation ceaseth for God being summum bonum unum idem can take no disparagement by any relation we are all sheepe to him David and Kings Saint Peter and all All faine to say The Lord is my shepheard or else can neuer truly say I shall not want It is a great happinesse for sheepe to have a good shepheard but a greater happinesse to have him both good and able many shepheards are the one and not the other few are both indeed none are both None able to secure from want but onely the shepheard who is Elohim Saddai God All-sufficient Kings no doubt are able shepheards but yet not able to secure from want for we see them often-times to be in want themselves Saint Peter an able shepheard yet not so able as to secure from want for who knowes not what want he was in himselfe when time was Wee shall never be sheepe secure from want till wee come to say The Lord is my shepheard and then wee may justly inferre We shall not want Indeed God is a shepheard as able as hee is good and as good as he is able For hee leadeth mee into greene pastures Not onely hee hath greene pastures to lead me into which shewes his Abilitie but hee leads mee into them which shewes his Goodnesse Hee leades me not into pastures that are withered and drye that would distaste me before I taste them but he leades me into Greene pastures as well to please my eye with the verdure as my stomacke with the herbage and inviting me as it were to eate by setting out the meat in the best colour A meat though never so good yet if it looke not handsomely it dulls the appetite but when besides the goodnesse it hath also a good looke This gives the appetite another edge and makes a joy before enjoying But yet the goodnesse is not altogether in the greennesse Alas Greene is but a colour and colours are but deceitfull things they might be greene
distempered with violence of Passions for alas what good were it to have still waters and turbulent spirits Hee restores it indeed to life that was growne before in a manner quite dead and who could restore my soule to life but he onely that is the good Shepheard and gave his life for his sheepe which no shepheard ever did but Hee Saint Peter layd downe his life but he gave not his life for he would perhaps have kept it if he might and he layd it not downe neither as a shepheard for his sheepe but as a sheepe rather for his shepheard but this Shepheard gave his life for his sheepe Gave it quia oportuit indeed because it was necessary he should give it but yet quia voluit too because hee would giue it for if it had not beene voluntarie it could not have beene acceptable and if not acceptable never certainly have served for a Ransome and if not Ransomming no Restoring But is it not said The Shepheard was smitten and the sheepe were scattered and what was his smyting but the Giving his life and had he not done better to have kept his life then leaving it to leave his sheepe to scattering O my soule though they were scattered for a time yet it was but to be gathered together againe with the greater joy for though he left his life yet he left not his sheepe but had a care of them even in death for hee had power to lay downe his life and power to take it up againe and as he layd it downe for his sheepes Ransome so hee tooke it up for their justification Every shepheard knowes that sheepe are subject to many infirmities and knowes many infirmities to which they are subject and therefore is never without his Boxe of Tarre as the best remedie in cases of danger but if the danger passe his Tarre-boxe and touch upon the life he then gives them over and lets nature worke but the Lord is a Shepheard of another nature above the power of Nature He restoreth the soule when the life is in danger hee hath wayes of curing which no shepheard knows of but himselfe and if other helps fayle he need but to say Velo sis sanus I will Be thou whole and without any Tarre-boxe it is a present remedie And may I not now justly say The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want And yet perhaps there will be want for all this for is it enough that he restore my soule and then leave me What is it to restore my soule but to put it in statu quo prius in the state it was made at first which was after the Image of God in holinesse and righteousnesse and if I could not continue in this state when made in it how shall I continue in it when restored to it Hee will therefore supply this want too for having restored my soule in righteousnesse Hee will leade mee in the paths of righteousnesse that though left to my selfe I tooke a wrong guide and went astray yet when he leades me that is the way it selfe I may be sure I cannot possibly goe out of the way But alas O Lord these paths of righteousnesse have a long time so little beene frequented that all prints of a path are almost cleane worne out that it is a hard matter now but to find where the paths lye and if wee can find them yet they are so narrow and so full of rubbes that without speciall assistance it is an impossible thing not to Fall or goe astray Even some Angels and those no meane ones were not able to goe right in these pathes of righteousnesse but for want of leading went awry and perished O therefore Thou the great Shepheard of my soule as thou art pleased of thy grace to leade me into them so vouchsafe with thy Grace to leade me in them for though in themselves they bee pathes of righteousnesse yet to me they will bee but paths of errour if thou vouchsafe not as well to leade me in them as into them O the comfortable pathes of righteousnesse the very paths in which Enoch walked with God and which walked in as they should be will bring us to a better Paradise then that of our first Parents For if God leade us in these paths these paths will leade us to the place where the Goats shall be put on the left hand and the sheepe be taken on the right that now I am certainly come to the highest cause of my glorying to say The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want for at his right hand is the fulnesse of Joy forevermore But why is it that this great Shepheard will doe these great things for me Is it because he findes me to be a sounder sheepe and to have fewer blemishes upon me then some other Alas no for I am nothing but blemishes and unsoundnesse all over but Hee will doe it for his Names sake For seeing hee hath taken upon him the Name of a good shepheard he will discharge his part what ever his sheepe be It is not their being bad sheepe that can make him leave being a good shepheard but he will be good and maintaine the credit of his Name in spight of all their badnesse and though no benefit come to them of it yet there shall glory accrew to him by it and his Name shall neverthelesse be magnified and extolled But now O my soule though I can say I shall not want yet can I say I shall not feare For is not Feare an inseparable companion of Mortalitie and can I then choose but feare that know my selfe to be mortall and know also what the condition is of being mortall Not onely that I may dye but that I must dye and not onely must one day but may this day Alas this very minute I feare indeed when I consider my owne frailtie but when I consider that the Lord is my Shepheard I then am armed against all feare against this feare of death it selfe Hee that makes me to walke in Greene pastures and in paths of righteousnesse and keepes me from want hee also leades me by the hand as I walke and keepes me from feare Yea thou I walke in the Verse 4 valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evill Though I be brought to never so great extremitie though brought as low as the Valley of death though brought as neere to Death as the shadow to the body though brought to walke as a ghost amongst the dead yet I will feare no evill The shadow of death may perhaps be farre enough from it for all our life is but the shadow of death but the Valley of the shadow must needs be close to death as being the very entrance to it yet if I were brought to this doore of death if brought within the doore and compassed about with Death yet for all this for all that can be said or done I will feare no evill Will you not will you not
stand not idle and may have some testimonie for my salvation that it grow not doubtfull There is one Verse 4 thing I have desired of the Lord and that I will seeke after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the beautie of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple This beholding of Gods beauty will be a continuall exercise for my Illumination and this enquiring in Gods holy Temple will give me assurance of my salvation It were very hard if David making but one request to God that God should deny him for hath he not bidden us to aske and wee should have and could David aske lesse then to aske but one thing No my soule God denied it not to David nor will deny it to thee nor to any other that shall aske it in Faith and specially if hee aske it to so good an end as David doth here to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple But seeing David would make but one request to God why would he not make a greater for alas what a poore request is this to desire to dwell in Gods house and what to doe but onely to see and to see what but onely a Beautie a fading thing at most but to enquire and what is enquiring but onely to heare newes a vaine fancie and what cause in any of these why David should make it his request to God But marke O my soule what goes with it Take altogether to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in his holy Temple And now tell mee if there be tell me if there can be any greater request to be made any greater cause to be earnest about it For though worldly beauty be a fading thing yet the Beauty of the Lord shall continue when the world it selfe shall fade away and though enquiring after newes be a vaine fancie yet to enquire in Gods Temple is the way to learne there is no new thing under the Sunne and there it was that Solomon learned that all is vanitie Indeed this one thing that David desires is in effect that Unum necessarium that Christ speakes of in the Gospell which Mary made choyce of there as David doth here and I may say it is that pretious Jewell which the rich Merchant sold all he had to buy and had his bargaine commended by Christ himselfe O how happy were wee if we could bound our desires within the compasse of things necesserie for all our miserie growes from this that our desires have no certaine dwelling but wander and range about from one object to another like vagabonds from place to place and no helpe there will be for it till our desire arrive at that which is the best for as long as there is any better to be had the Desire will never leave desiring and where is that best to be had but in him onely that is onely good in him indeed that is the onely good and seeing there can be no happinesse till the Desire be settled and the Desire will never be settled till wee come at God therefore no meanes so likely to make us happy as to dwell in Gods house for there wee are sure we shall be with him and once with him never have desire to any thing besides him There are other houses which in worldly considerations and to worldly mindes may seeme as convenient and perhaps be more profitable to dwell in then this house of God but that which makes me so desirous to dwell here rather then any where else is partly for the prospect that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and partly for instruction that I may enquire in his holy Temple For there is not such a Prospect againe in the world as this Not on the Mount where Christ was shewed all the Kingdomes of the earth and the glory of them Nor such another place for instruction as here Not all the Schooles of Philosophers Not all the Oracles of the Heathen in any degree to be compared with it And what then is this beauty of God which David is so desirous to behold what this house of God in which he desires to dwell There is a beauty of God in his creatures most glorious indeed and most worthy of beholding but yet this needs no dwelling in Gods house to see it wee may see it as well dwelling any where else but there is a beauty of God in himselfe a beauty which if once we see wee shall never be willing to take our eyes off a beauty which the more wee see the more we shall see cause to desire to see it a Beauty which without speciall illumination neither the eyes of men are able to behold nor the tongues of Angels to expresse and this Beauty is no where to be seene but in Gods house and not there neither but by dwelling in it It is not for every one that comes in as a stranger to see this Beauty they must be dwellers in it continuall and constant frequenters of it or they are never like to be admitted to behold it There is indeed in all the creatures of God in some more eminently a certaine tincture of this Beauty and is perhaps that which deceives us in the estimating of our happinesse because wee take tincture for substance and fixe our selves upon that which is made but onely for a passage For tinctures though they please for a time yet they soone weare out and decay no solidnesse nor durablenesse but in the substance it selfe and no substance of beauty but onely in God and therefore the truest happinesse indeed all true happinesse in onely the beholding of this Beauty And if any man doubt of this because seeing is but the satisfaction of one sense and happinesse gives satisfaction at least to all the senses Let him then heare what David in another place sayes Videte gustate quam suavis est Dominus See and taste how sweet the Lord is For in this Seeing not onely the Tasting but all the senses are united at least the pleasures of all the senses are comprised and the rather if wee consider that Beholding hath a preheminence above Seeing for where seeing may bee in Transitu onely Beholding implyes a permanencie and a fixing our eyes upon it and such is the Seeing that is the Essentiall sense of happinesse And what then is this house of God in which David desires to dwell hath God any other house then Heaven and would David dwell in Heaven whilst hee is dwelling upon Earth will nothing serve his turne but to aske God for impossibilities Indeed Heaven is Gods Throne but Heaven and Earth both are full of the Majestie of his glory and therefore God hath a House on earth too a House dedicate to the honour of his Name and David justly makes his Prayer for this House because indeed it is the house of Prayer and no Rent payd for dwelling in it
Praises But why is David so suddenly turned from singing to crying that hee should fall so presently to say Heare mee O Lord when I cry with my voyce Is it that hee findes God not well pleased with his singing and therefore meanes to try what hee can doe with crying Or is it that he thinkes himselfe better at expressing sorrow then joy and therefore hopes his crying may be heard though his singing bee not Or is it indeed that singing and crying both are little enough to make a sacrifice to God Alas they are both of them too little to make an acceptable sacrifice without Gods mercy and therefore David trusts not to them alone but is glad to joyne Gods mercy with them Have mercy also upon mee O God and answer mee It is a great mercy in God to heare us but a greater mercy to answer us and therefore to require his answer requires a more speciall invocation of his mercy and the rather in hope to have a mercifull answer for alas if he should answer and not in mercy such an answer would be worse then silence But how can I doubt of Gods answering me when I speake to him who have my selfe answered him when hee spake to mee For when thou saydst Seeke yee my face my heart Verse 8 said unto thee Thy face Lord I will seeke and for my heart to say it is more then for my voyce to cry it for no crying of the voyce makes so loude a sound in the eares of God as the saying of the heart that to use the termes properly I might rather say I cry it with my heart and but say it with my voyce But is this all the answer I shall have from God that I should seeke his face Alas O Lord thy great Favourite Moses could never obtaine more then to see thy Back-parts and how then can I hope to see thy face and if I cannot hope to see it why wouldst thou have me spend time to seeke it But is it not all one in the phrase of the Law to seeke Gods face as in the phrase of the Gospell to seeke Gods kingdome and therefore as God saith here seeke yee my face so Christ saith there seeke Gods kingdome at least if they be not both one they are both sought one way both sought by following Gods Commandements for his Commandements if wee follow them well will both bring us to his kingdome and to see his face Or is it not perhaps in a plaine literall sence that to seeke Gods face is in our Prayers and Meditations to settle and fixe the eyes of our mindes wholly upon God and as it were to looke him in the face wherein oh what infinite oddes there is betweene the Angels and us for magnifying of God for they behold his Face and can see it visibly where all that we can doe towards it is onely by the strength of imagination which God knowes is but weake very weake in us weake in it selfe and weaker for want of intention but if we could see his Face as the Angels doe O my soule we should see in it not onely infinite causes for magnifying his Name but infinite sweetnesse for pleasing our owne senses For if the beauty of a carnall face be so admirable so pleasing as that no earthly thing may bee compared to it what extasie of admiration what transcendencie of pleasure must needes be in the beautie of a spirituall Face and specially that face in which the fulnesse of all Beauty resideth bodily And have I not cause then to seeke this Face O mercifull God grant me so to seeke it that I may find it for though this be not the place for finding it yet this is the place for seeking it and hee that seekes it not here he that seekes it not now is never like to find it in another place never like to find it hereafter But why am I so hastie to promise God to seeke his Face as though it were in my owne power to seeke it at my pleasure Alas how can I choose but promise it when God requires it and how can I thinke when hee requires it but that hee will enable me at least not hinder me to performe it and yet I promise not performance but Will and Will I suppose I may safely promise seeing Will is present with me and can never be absent from mee But when I seeke thy face vouchsafe O Verse 9 God not to hide thy face from mee for to what purpose should I seek it if I cannot find it and what hope of finding it if thou be bent to hide it Alas O Lord to bid me seeke it and then goe presently and hide it from me what were this but to mock me as the Jewes mocked Christ blindfold him and strike him and then bid him tell who strooke him and indeed how should I seeke it if I have not light to seeke it by and what light to seeke it by and what light to seeke it by but the light of thy Countenance and what light of thy Countenance if thou hide away thy face To bid me to seeke thy Face and then to hide thy Face from me were a kind of derision and I hope O God thou wilt not use me so unkindly set me about a worke scarce possible to bee done and then take from mee all possible meanes of doing it Alas O Lord all the encouragement I have to seeke it is the hope I have thou wilt not hide it O therefore Hide not thy face from mee O God for if thou hide thy Face from me what can I thinke but that thou art angry and if indeed thou be angry yet use me at least as a servant Put mee not away in thine anger for though I have committed many heynous faults against thee yet may I not repent and amend them all if thou but please not to bee so hastie with mee what though my sinnes have made thee angry wilt thou therefore presently turne me away will no lesse punishment serve to appease thy displeasure but to turne me presently out of service mayst thou not in so doing doe that in anger which thou wilt have cause perhaps to be sorry for afterwards wilt thou not leave thy selfe unprovided of servants to waite upon thee For where are any such servants to be found that some time or other will not give thee cause to bee angry If thou entertaine Starres to serve thee is there not impuritie in the Starres If entertaine Angels to serve thee Didst thou not find folly in the Angels Hast thou not promised to consider man that he is but dust and shall anger make thee to forget that Promise Hath not Mercie the highest seat in thine Arke and shall anger be able to put her from her seate Thou hast beene my helper heretofore and why didst thou helpe me but because I needed thy assistance and may I not with thy assistance now returne from my evill way if thou be
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
deliverance are often-times spirituall and so Job might be said to bee delivered from all his troubles when God gave him patience to endure his troubles but specially Lazarus might be said to bee delivered from his troubles when he was carryed by Angels into Abrahams bosome Verse 7 And here it falls out fitly to mention Angels for the Angell of the Lord encampeth round about them that feare him and delivereth them Wee little thinke we have a continuall guard about us and lesse we thinke that wee have a whole Campe for our guard but least of all that it is a Campe of Angels oh how safe should we thinke our selves if this were so O my soule this is so and yet wee thinke our selves not safe enough and may it not then be justly said What doubt yee of O yee of jittle faith But how can wee thinke there be Angells to guard us when we scarce thinke there be any Angels for if there bee they must bee creatures of God and then certainly creatures of a most excellent nature and would Moses then have left them out in his Catalogue of Creatures where he reckons them all up Indeed for this very reason because they are Creatures of a most excellent Nature hath Moses left them out for hee speakes but of materiall Creatures in this materiall world of which number the Angels are none But wee may thinke perhaps there are none because wee can see none as though we could see a thing that is invisible shall we therefore thinke we have no soules because we cannot see our soules Wee live now by Faith and not by sight and therefore can neither see soules nor Angels we shall then see both when we shall live by sight and not by Faith Alas if we beleeve no more then we see we seeme not to live by Faith neither for Faith beleeves that which it cannot see Oh therefore my soule to make it appeare thou livest and that thou livest by Faith let this be an Article of thy Creed that the Angels encampe and pitch their Tents about thee that if at any time thou bee assaulted if assaulted by enemies if by an Army of enemies thou maist have recourse to the confidence of this Guard and never tremble for any Alarum seeing there are more with us then are against us But how can the godly thinke they have a Guard about them when it is for Princes onely to have a Guard and the godly for the most part are but private men O my soule this is a Guard that attends no lesse the poorest man then the greatest Prince and attends him with as much carefulnesse as if he were a Prince But if there be Angels to defend the godly why doe they not defend them why doe they suffer them to be so molested so afflicted as they are for who are in such troubles who groane under such afflictions as the godly and would this be so if that were so would they be so oppressed if they had Angels to relieve them O my soule thou little considerest the infinite benefits that the godly re-receive by the ministerie of Angels If perhaps they suffer troubles of the body doe they not escape farre greater of the soule If they endure perhaps some momentarie afflictions doe they not avoid afflictions that would be everlasting Is there not an Army of malignant spirits to assault them and could they be safe from tearing in peeces if there were not a campe of Angels to assist them But though the Angels be a guard to the whole man both body and soule yet being creatures spirituall and invisible they are chiefly a guard to the invisible and spirituall part which is the soule The body they know must goe to the earth and therefore though a part is the least part of their care It is the Soule they chiefly waite upon because it is the soule they chiefly waite for for they stand waiting for the soule when it shall leave the body that they may take it and carry it into Abrahams bosome for till then they breake not up their Campe. And now O my soule seeing the Angels are so beneficiall and so good unto us Oh tast Verse 8 and see how good the Lord is for by the goodnesse we find in the Angels we may take a taste of the goodnesse that is in God if it be a great goodnesse in the Angels to encampe about us how great is his goodnesse that gives it them in charge for the Angels would not doe it if God did not command them Alas they could not doe it if God did not enable them Oh then taste and see how good the Lord is Not how good the Angels are though they bee good and exceeding good in their kind as Ministers yet what is this to the goodnesse of God who is the Fountaine of goodnesse to the Angels themselves O then Taste and see how good the Lord is for taste him we may but we can but tast him while we live here wee shall not have a full comprehension of him till wee come to see as we are seene when wee shall need no more encamping of Angels round about us O then Tast and see how good the Lord is but how can wee tast him that is not bodily how see him that is not visible Not him indeed but his goodnesse and not his goodnesse neither in its selfe but in its effects and not in its effects neither as they shall be but as they are which God knowes is but a small part of that they shall be O then Taste and see how good the Lord is if you would but taste him you would never take pleasure in other meat if you would but see him you would never delight in other object O my soule if thou couldst but taste the sweetnesse if but see the goodnesse that is in God it would make thee fall into a greater extasie than that of Saint Peter at the sight of Christs glory in the Mount at least it would weane thee from all the pleasures that the taste or the sight can minister to thee in this vaine world for alas what are the pleasures of the taste to the sweetnesse that is in God but as bitter Aloes to the sweetest honey What are the delights that passe by the senses to the delight in God that passeth all understanding May I not justly say now Blessed is the man that trusteth in him for hee that trusteth in God and he onely is like to bee admitted to taste the sweetnesse and to see the goodnasse that is in God which onely are the things that can make us blessed What is it to trust in God but to depend wholly upon him and to put all our confidence in him To trust in the world is to leane upon a broken reede to trust in our selves is to leane upon a shadow onely to trust in God is the true Terra firma where the Angels pitch their Tents and where if wee fixe our selves
reconciled This is to pursue it Or perhaps the counsell that Saint Paul gives to Timothy may expresse it plainer Be instant in season and out of season to bee instant in season is to seeke peace to be instant out of season is to pursue it Indeed if a man desire long life and to see good dayes he must have a speciall care of peace whither it be peace in the humours or peace in the Passions whither Peace with God or peace with men they are all prolongers of life and life is never shortened or disquieted but for want of peace in one of these and therefore that you may not bee to seeke of long life seeke peace and pursue it And now O my soule is there not great cause that the feare of the Lord should animate all our words and workes when so great a Majestie as the eye of God is looking upon them when so sacred an Auditorie as the Verse 15 eares of God are hearkening to them For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his eares are open to their cry and can any man be so without shame as to bee without feare when he is the spectacle which God is pleased to looke upon the speaker which he vouchsafes to hearken to But O my soule as it cannot but make thee feare so it cannot but make thee joy for what greater honour then to bee the object of Gods eyes and eares What though the world regard thee not as long as God regards thee What are the eyes and eares of the world but eyes and eares of scorne or else of envie of scorne when in adversitie and of envie in prosperitie but the eyes of the Lord are righteous eyes and are therefore upon the righteous his eares are eares of compassion and therefore are open to their cry But are not the Eyes of the Lord as well upon the wicked and what priviledge then is this to the Righteous No my soule his Eyes are upon the Righteous but they are against the wicked and not onely his eyes but his whole Face is against them to cut off their remembrance Verse 16 from the earth O my soule as thou considerest with joy the great force that is in righteousnesse which drawes the eyes and opens the eares of God so consider with trembling the great force that is in sinne which not onely turnes away his Eyes and stops his Eares but makes him to bend his whole Face in furie that if his favours of looking upon us and hearkening to us cannot winne us to feare him out of love at least the bending his Face against us in anger may force us to feare him out of terrour for he bends not his Face to make a shew onely as though he did but set a face upon it but it is to cut off the very remembrance of them that doe evill from the Earth But may not the wicked erect Tombes and Monuments that will preserve their remembrance for many Ages perhaps as long as the Earth shall endure and how then is their remembrance cut off from the Earth but from what Earth is it not meant from the Land of the living that in this may be seene the different condition betweene the godly and the wicked for as it is said here that the remembrance of the wicked shall be cut off from the Earth so it is said in another place of the godly that they shall be had in everlasting remembrance and where is any everlasting remembrance to be had but in the Land of the living Indeed to have their remembrance cut off in this Earth is not worthy of Gods threatning It is the cutting off from the Land of the living which is the blotting them out of the Booke of life that is a worke worthy of Gods setting his Face against them and this may well bee called a cutting off not onely because it shall come suddenly upon them but because they are never like to be heard Alas never like to be heard of any more which can never be the condition of the godly for they can never be so out of remembrance but that they shall bee alwayes heard of God For the righteous cry Verse 17 and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles But how is it like to be true that the godly shall never be forgotten when they seeme to be forgotten already while they live for how else should it happen that they are more in trouble in more trouble than other men but that God hath cast them out of his remembrance O my soule their very being in trouble is a certaine argument that God remembers them if he had not remembred Job and his righteousnesse he would never have given Sathan so much leave as he did to trouble him For indeed though troubles be judgements to the wicked and are as the first blowes to cut off their remembrance from the earth yet they are but tryals to the godly and doe but serve to make their remembrance be the fresher Doe we not see how Trees are nipt with frost and cold and not so much as a leafe left hanging upon them scarce so much as life remaining in them but is it not to renue in them the fresher springing and to make way for fruits in a greater plentie and such are the troubles of the godly they end in deliverance and though they be bitter for the present yet they make the joyes afterward to taste the sweeter And what marvell if God heare the cry of the righteous being so nigh unto them as hee is For the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken Verse 18 heart Not broken with envie as many are Not broken with despaire as some are but broken with sense of their sinne as the righteous are for this onely is the broken heart to which God is nigh and hee is not nigh it in vaine No my soule it is good having God to be our neighbour for hee saves all them to whom he is nigh Hee saves all them that bee of a contrite and humble heart the lower they are in their owne eyes the higher they are in his and when their heart is broken with sense of their sinne he makes it whole againe with supply Verse 19 of his grace It is true Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of all For the righteous have many enemies and therefore must needes have many troubles but their troubles are not troublesome because they have the Lord for their deliverer if it be sicknesse he makes their bed in their sicknesse If it be hunger hee fills the hungrie with good things when hee sends the rich emptie away if it be Death it selfe Domini Domini sunt exitus mortis the issues of Death are all in Gods hands and all this while though their heart be broken yet their bones are whole still They may have thornes in the flesh but not a bone of theirs is broken
What place will be left for wonder to give cause to say How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts But if hee had sayd How terrible are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts though it might have beene wonderfull in the degree yet it could not bee wonderfull in the kind for what wonder is it if the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts bee terrible but when he saith How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts this is not onely wonderfull in the degree but in the kind much more For what can be more wonderfull then that being Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts they should be amiable and so amiable as to be wondred at But is it not that God is in himselfe so amiable that all things of His even his Terrours themselves are amiable his Tabernacles and his Tents his Sword and his Speare his Darts and his Arrowes all amiable Terrible no doubt to his Enemies but amiable wonderfull amiable to all that love and feare him and great reason they should be so seeing they are all in their defence and for their safeguard though they be Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts to the wicked yet they are Courts of the Prince of peace to the godly and this makes my soule to Verse 2 long for the courts of the Lord. For I desire indeed to be a Courtier yet not as I am now God knowes I am very unfit for it but because Gods Courts are such they make any one fit that but comes into them they receive not men fit but make them fit and he that was before but a shrub in Baca assoone as hee comes into the Courts of the Lord is presently made a Cedar in Lebanon Indeed if his Tabernacles bee so wonderfull amiable they must needs be as wonderfull attractive for there is no such Adamant as Amiablenesse Nothing that so powerfully attracts and drawes all hearts unto it And to know the measure of their Amiablenesse by the power of their Attracting you need but looke upon my soule For my soule longeth and even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord which it would never doe if it were not for their wonderfull amiablenesse that attracts and drawes it by a kind of violence indeed by a kind violence unto them Every Amiablenesse is not so great to make a longing Nor every longing so great to make a fainting Nor every fainting so great to make the soule to faint Oh then consider how great this Amiablenesse is which makes my soule not onely to long but to faint with longing And blame me not for fainting as though it were my owne fault that would not restraine my longing for seeing his Tabernacles are of infinite amiablenesse they must needs worke in me an infinite delighting and that delighting an infinite longing and what restraint can there be of that which is infinite No alas my fainting is but answerable to my longing and my longing but answerable to the Amiablenesse If I had the offer made me which was made to Christ to enjoy all the Kingdomes of the Earth but with condition to want the Courts of the Lord this want would bring to my soule a greater griefe then that enjoying would give it contentment for seeing his Tabernacles are so amiable where he is Lord of Hosts how amiable must they needs be where hee is Prince of Peace and Prince of Peace he is in his Courts though in his Campe he be Lord of Hosts And that you may know it is not the weaknesse of my soule that it faints with longing for indeed weake spirits are apt to faint upon every light occasion but that it is the very operation of the wonderfull attractive power that is in the amiablenesse of his Courts see my Heart and my Flesh also how they are drawne to long after the Lord which they would never doe if it were not for some wonderfull amiablenesse that is in him for you may well thinke it must bee an Adamant of a wonderfull attractive power that can draw these heavy I rons of my heart and my flesh unto it for indeed though my Soule have a longing for the Courts of the Lord yet my Body perhaps could be content to want them there are Courts in the world that might please my Body as well perhaps better then these but God forbid God forbid I should be one to have my soule and body divided while they are united to have my soule runne one way and my body another No I am none of those but assoone as my soule longed for the Courts of the Lord My heart and my flesh fell a longing for the living God As my Soule longed for the Place so my heart and my flesh for the Person for my heart and my flesh are of a duller apprehension they must have a present Enjoying of that they long for or they cannot be satisfied but my soule is of a cleerer sight and knows if it can but come to the place where he is it shall be sure withall to enjoy his presence and with his presence his Person The Soule indeed is a spirituall substance and therefore it is natural to the soule to long after spiritual things but the flesh is an earthly substance and therefore it is naturall to the flesh to long after earthly things and as long as these two are linked in the Body together they will alwayes be working upon one another alwayes seeking to draw each other to their partie and if the Soule can draw the flesh to goe her spirituall way then all is well it is as it should be but if the Flesh draw the Soule to goe her earthly way then all is out of order there will be no longing for the Courts of the Lord for they are spirituall and are never longed for but where the Soule is predominant and hath the leading And this is the order in Davids longing first his Soule begins to long for the Courts of the Lord and this is yet but a single cord but then comes in the Heart and the Flesh too and make it a Cord of three that is impossible to bee broken Indeed the Courts of the Lord are so exceeding amiable that it is impossible but every soule must needs long after them but yet every soule considers not what belongs to this longing but as Balaam longed to dye the death of the Righteous yet was loath to live the life of the Righteous so there are many that long for the Courts of the Lord but are loath to live the life of such Courtiers They that be in Kings houses weare silke and soft rayment because so it is fit for the honour of the place and they that will be in the Courts of the Lord must likewise weare rayment that is fit for the holinesse of the place they must be cloathed with the soft rayment of meeknesse and humilitie they must put on the robe of Righteousnesse and the garment of Sinceritie or because they are Courts of
the Lord of Hosts their cloathing must rather be in Armour as Saint Paul expresseth it they must take the shield of Faith the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit and if they come thus Cloathed and thus Armed they may justly then be said to long for the Courts of the Lord but if they weare not these garmens their longing will prove but a false conception and they shall heare it said Friend what makest thou here without a Wedding garment If my God were as the Gods of the Heathen that have bodyes but live not that have eares but heare not my heart and my flesh would then never cry after him that could not heare them but now that he is a living God and hath eares to heare how can they now forbeare to cry after him that cannot be without him for alas if hee should leave them what would become of them what would my heart be but as a dead corps and what would my flesh be but as the Coffin Thou affordest O Lord thy meanest creatures Verse 3 their places of rest and pleasure The Sparrow hath found an house and the Swallow a nest for her selfe where shee may lay her young and wilt thou not afford me to enjoy thine Altars the onely places of rest and pleasure to my soule Alas O Lord if thou wilt not afford me thine Altars for places of pleasure at least afford them to me for places of Devotion that if I cannot make them a Nest for my young ones my humble Meditations and my penitent submissions at least I may offer upon them the sacrifices of Prayer of praise and Thanks-giving I knew before by thy Courts thou wert a King and now I know by thine Altars thou art a God that confidently now I can say O Lord of Hosts my King and my God that if I feared thee before as Lord of Hosts I honour thee more now as my King and adore thee more yet as my God which as they are to thee the tender of my dutifulnesse so they are no lesse to me the meanes of my blessednesse Verse 4 For blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will still be praising thee But alas how happens this There were Tabernacles before as belonging to a Lord and Courts as belonging to a King and Altars as belonging to a God and now to be but a House as belonging to a private man and so all this great Rising to end in a Fall No my soule it is no Fall it is an aggregation rather of all the other for where his Tabernacles did but serve to shew his Power his Courts but to shew his Majestie his Altars but to shew his Deitie his House serves to shew them all for in his House there will bee still praysing him and his Praise and Glory is the summe of all Or is it that to dwell in Gods house is a kind of appropriating him to our selves seeing his Tabernacles and his Courts lye open to strangers his House open to none but his servants and seeing in the neerenesse to God and conversing with him consists all true blessednesse therefore Blessed are they that dwell in his House But how dwell in it Not to looke in sometimes as we passe by or to stay in it a time as we doe at an Inne but to be constant abiders in it day and night as to which we have devoted our selves and vowed our service But it may be doubted when David saith Blessed are they that dwell in Gods house What Dwelling it is he meanes whither dwelling in it as Tenants or as servants for if as Tenants it is like there is some Rent to be paid and there is small Blessednesse in paying of Rent It would be a more blessed thing if they could dwell in his House and pay him no Rent If as servants it is like there is some worke to bee done and there is small blessednesse in working It would be a more blessed thing if they could be his servants and doe no worke and how then comes any Blessednesse in by dwelling in his House Indeed take it either way let them dwell in his House as tenants or as servants and they shall bee Blessed let them have Rent to pay as Tenants let them have worke to doe as servants and yet they shall be blessed and that which may seeme most strange the Rent and the Worke which seeme to hinder their blessednesse is the very thing that makes them be blessed for they are both but one thing both but praising of God and praising of God is the onely thing that whether they be Tenants or Servants whether Bond or Free will make them be Blessed And yet there is a Dwelling that hath not yet beene thought of a Dwelling indeed that makes the true Blessednesse and it is to dwell in Gods house neither as Tenants nor yet as servants but as sonnes for neither Tenants nor Servants abide in the house for ever onely the Sonne abideth for ever and therefore though the House of God seeme a meaner Title then his Tabernacles and his Courts yet to us it is the more comfortable title seeing it makes us to be sonnes which neither his Tabernacles nor his Courts can doe But how appeares it to bee true that they who dwell in Gods house wil alwayes be praising him seeing it is but seldome seene that servants be so forward to praise their Masters O my soule it is not so much the good dispositions of the servants as the infinite worthinesse of the Master that makes them to praise him for when they see the admirable O economie of his Government when they see how sweetly he disposeth all things in weight and measure when they find him to use them more like children then servants what heart can bee so ungratefull as not to praise him and seeing by dwelling in Gods House they see these things continually therefore they that dwell in his House will alwayes bee praising him But is it not a strange reason of Blessednesse to say they are blessed because they are still praising him to be praised themselves might perhaps be some blessednesse but what blessednesse can it be to praise another Indeed if that other were but such another as our selves it could be none but when that other is such as that there is not such another or rather not another at all to praise such a one certainly must needs bee blessednesse or there can bee none and such a one is God for alas what are we but that in him wee live and move and have our Being Hee onely is All in All. O my soule if it were not for praising of God there had never beene Created such a thing as Prayse at least we may justly say that God and Prayse are as truly Relatives as any that are found in either Art or Nature You may say then It is like to bee an easie matter to be Blessed if there goe no more to Blessednesse but praysing
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
torment then despaire of remedie What is it for the sorrowes of death to compasse me about but as it were to besiege me and was it ever knowne where they once besieged that ever they did raise their siege Was it ever knowne where the paines of Hell did once take hold that ever they did let goe their hold and alas in this extremitie of distresse in this gulph of despaire what hope could David possibly have that ever hee should be delivered O my soule the hope of Abraham In spe contra spem credidit Hee beleeved against all credibilitie Hee hoped against all possibilitie against all possibilitie indeed in the course of nature against all credibilitie in the eye of Reason and therefore he makes his moane to one above the reach both of Nature and Reason Verse 4 O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soule a short Prayer for so great a suite and yet as short as it was it prevailed that if wee wondred before at the power of God wee may wonder now at the power of Prayer that can prevaile with God for obtaining of that which in Nature is impossible and to Reason seemes incredible There are many short Prayers recorded in the Scriptures of which we may note especially three This of David here O Lord deliver my soule and that of the Publican in the Gospell Lord be mercifull to me a sinner and that of the Thiefe upon the Crosse Lord remember me when thou commest into thy kingdome All three short yet all three Prevalent that wee may know it is not the multiplicitie of words or the length of Prayers that prevailes with God but the fervencie of spirit and the devotion of the heart Yet lest it should be taken as a restraint of longer prayers and specially lest it should be a scandall to the Prayer which Christ taught us and is much longer we may observe withall that each of these prayers is but of one Petition in Christs Prayer For to say O Lord deliver my soule is no more nor fully so much as to say Deliver us from evill and to say Lord be mercifull to me a sinner is no more nor fully so much as to say Forgive us our trespasses and to say Lord remember mee when thou commest into thy Kingdome is no more nor so much as to say Thy kindome come But seeing David with his short Prayer prevailed with God to deliver his soule why should I despaire of the like successe of my prayers to be delivered from my troubles O my soule I should not despaire of the like successe as David had if I could but pray with the like spirit as David did O therefore thou great God that didst inspire Davids heart with a spirit of zeale which made his prayers not onely acceptable but effectuall vouchsafe also to kindle in my heart a fire of Devotion that my prayers may ascend unto thee like the sacrifice of Abell so acceptable that they may be accepted so accepted that they may be effectuall and may make mee able to sing this Allelujah of David I will love the Lord for he hath heard my voyce and my supplication And now O my soule me thinkes I see the Lord as it were inclining his eare unto me and I seeme to feele an accesse of force in my confidence Verse 5 of his goodnesse for indeed the Lord is gracious and righteous yea our God is mercifull Hee is gracious in hearing Hee is righteous in judging hee is mercifull in Pardoning and how then can I doubt of his will to helpe me Hee is righteous to reward according to deserts He is gracious to Reward above deserts Yea he is mercifull to reward without deserts and how then can I doubt of his Will to helpe mee Hee is gracious and this shews his bountie he is righteous and this shews his Justice Yea hee is mercifull and this shews his love and how then can I doubt of his Will to helpe mee If hee were not gracious I could not hope he would heare me If he were not righteous I could not depend upon his Promise If hee were not Mercifull I could not expect his Pardon but now that he is gracious and righteous yea and mercifull too how can I doubt of his Will to helpe me But are there no others that are gracious and righteous and mercifull as well as Hee Are not the Saints and Angels in Heaven They are so no doubt but not as well as hee God forbid wee should once have such a thought They are Gracious and Righteous and Mercifull by participation onely and onely by having as it were some beames imparted to them but to bee gracious as the Fountaine of Grace to be Righteous as the Sunne of Righteousnesse to be Mercifull as the Authour of Mercie there is none there is none at all neither Saint nor Angell that is so but onely God and therefore of Gods Power and Will to helpe me of his and of his onely I can onely be assured And if I erre in simplicitie yet the Lord preserveth the simple he takes Verse 6 not advantage of errours where there is a good intention yet not a good intention onely where the truth is manifest and revealed for then should Uzzah have beene preserved but in matters obscure and not plainly revealed there to serve God in simplicitie of heart this falls within the compasse of Gods mercy and such he takes into his Protection He gives them perhaps some resentment of their errours by worldly crosses but yet hee denyes them not his assistance and this I can speake of my owne experience For I was brought low and yet hee helped me I was brought low and in trouble by the just provocation of my sinnes but because I sinned not in presumption but in simplicitie at least by infirmitie the Lord hath had mercy on me and preserved me Or I was brought low and hee helped mee for then is the time of helpe when we are brought low and therefore God who doth all things in due time when I was brought low then he helped me Wherefore O my soule let it never trouble thee how low soever thou bee brought for when thy state is at the lowest then is Gods assistance at the neerest that we may truly say Gods wayes are not as the wayes of the world for in the world when a man is once brought low he is commonly trampled upon and nothing is heard then but downe with him downe to the ground but with God it is otherwise for his propertie is to raise up them that fall and when they are brought low then to helpe them That it is no such hard case for a man to bee brought low may I not rather say his case is happy for is it not better to be brought low and have God to helpe him then to be set aloft and left to helpe himselfe At least O my Body this may bee a comfort to thee for thou art sure to bee brought low as low
in the Land of the living But though I had spoken thus and thus confidently yet I found my selfe in trouble and affliction still which made me say in my hast All men are lyars In my hast indeed for I Verse 11 thought not of one man who was farre from being a lyar and in whose mouth was found no guile It seemes that to give the lye was not so heynous an offence in Davids time as it is in these dayes for else how durst he have spoken such words that all men are lyars which is no lesse then to give the lye to the whole world And yet no man I thinke will challenge him for saying so no more then challenge S. John for saying that All men are sinners And indeed how should any man avoid being a lyar seeing the very being Man is it selfe a lye Not onely a Vanity and put in the ballance is lesse then vanity but a very lye promising great matters and is able to doe just nothing as Christ saith Without me yee can doe nothing and so Christ seemes to come in as it were to be Davids second and to make his word good that all men be lyars And now let the world doe its worst and take the lye how it will for David having Christ of his side will alwayes be able to make his part good against all the world for Christ hath overcome the world But though all men may be said to be lyars yet not all men in all things for then David himselfe should be a lyar in this but all men perhaps in something or other at sometime or other in some kind or other Absolute truth not found in any man but in that man onely who was not man onely for if hee had beene but so it had not perhaps beene found in him neither seeing absolute Truth and Deitie are as Relatives never found to be asunder But in what thing is it that all men should be lyars Indeed in this for one to thinke that God regards not nor loves not them whom he suffers to be afflicted for we may rather thinke hee loves them most whom hee suffers to be most afflicted and we may truly say he would never have suffered his servant Job to be afflicted so exceeding cruelly if he had not loved him exceeding tenderly For there is nothing lost by suffering afflictions No my soule they doe but serve to make up the greater weight of glory when it shall be revealed But let his afflictions be what they can be yet I will alwayes acknowledge they can never be in any degree so great as his benefits and oh that I could thinke of something that I Verse 12 might render to him for all his benefits for shall I receive so great so infinite benefits from him and shall I render nothing to him by way of gratefulnesse But alas what have I to render all my rendring to him will bee but taking more from him for all I can doe is but to take the cup of salvation and call upon his Name Verse 13 and what rendring is there in this taking If I could take the cup of Tribulation and drinke it off for his sake this perhaps might be a rendring of some value but this God knowes is no worke for me to doe It was his worke who said Can yee drinke of the cup of which I shall drinke Indeed he dranke of the Cup of Tribulation to the end that wee might take the Cup of Salvation but then in taking it wee must call upon his Name upon his Name and upon no others for else wee shall make it a cuppe of Condemnation seeing there is no Name under Heaven in which we may bee saved but onely the Name of Jesus Yet it may be some rendring to the Lord if I pay my Vowes and doe as it were my Penance openly I will therefore pay my vowes to Verse 14 the Lord in the presence of all his people But might hee not pay his Vowes as well in his Closet betweene God and himselfe as to doe it publickly No my soule it serves not his turne indeed not Gods turne but he must pay them in the presence of all his people yet not to the end hee should be applauded for a just Payer for though he pay them yet he can never pay them to the full but to the end that men seeing his good workes may glorifie God by his example and the rather perhaps for that David was a King and the Kings example prevailes much with the people to make them pay their vowes to God but most of all that by this meanes Davids Pietie may not be barren but may make a Breed of Pietie in the people also which may be one mysticall reason why it was counted a Curse in Israel to be barren for he that payes not his Vowes to God in the presence of his people may well be said to be barren in Israel seeing hee begets no children to God by his Example And perhaps also the Vowes which David meanes here was the doing of some meane things unfit in shew for the dignitie of a King as when it was thought a base thing in him to Daunce before the Arke he then vowed he would be baser yet and in this case to pay his Vowes before the people becomes a matter of necessitie for as there is no honour to a man whilst he is by himselfe alone so there is no shame to a man but before people and therefore to shew that he is not ashamed to doe any thing how meane soever so it may tend to the glorifying of God Hee will pay his vowes in the presence of all his people And hee will doe it though it cost him his life for if he dye for it he knowes that Pretious in the sight of the Lord Verse 15 is the death of his Saints But that which is pretious is commonly desired and doth God then desire the death of his Saints He desires no doubt that death of his Saints which is to dye to sinne but for any other death of his Saints it is therefore said to be pretious in his sight because hee layes it up with the greater carefulnesse And for this it is there are such severall Mansions in Gods House that to them whose death is pretious in his sight hee may assigne the most glorious Mansions This indeed is the reward of Martyrdome and the encouragement of Martyrs though their sufferings bee most insufferable their tortures most intolerable yet this makes amends for all that Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints for if it be so great a happinesse to be acceptable in his sight how great a happinesse must it be to bee pretious in his sight When God at the Creation looked upon all his workes it is said he saw them to be all exceeding good but it is not said that any of them were Pretious in his sight and how then comes Death to bee pretious in