Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	david_n	king_n	people_n	14,785	5	5.1891	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56272	A sermon preached in Christ-Church before His Excellency the Lord Deputy and the Parliament, on the fifth day of November, 1695 being the anniversary thanksgiving for the happy deliverance of K. James Ist, and the three estates of the realm of England from the most trayterous intended massacre by gun-powder : and also for the happy arrival of His present Majesty K. William on that day, for the deliverance of our church and nation / by Tobias, Lord Bishop of Dromore.	Pullen, Tobias, 1648-1713.	1695 (1695)	Wing P4195; ESTC R38013	11,068	20

A SERMON PREACHED In CHRIST-CHURCH BEFORE His Excellency the Lord Deputy And the Parliament On the Fifth day of November 1695. BEING The Anniversary Thanksgiving For the Happy Deliverance of K. James 1st and the Three Estates of the Realm of England from the most Trayterous Intended Massacre by Gun-Powder And also for the happy Arrival of his Present Majesty K. WILLIAM on that Day for the deliverance of our Church and Nation By TOBIAS Lord Bishop of Dromore DUBLIN Printed for William Norman in Dames-street 1695. Thursday the 7th of November 1695 By the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled ORDERED On motion that the Earl of Inchiquin and the Lord Viscount Blessinton to give the Thanks of this House to the Lord Bishop of Dromore for his Sermon Preached before this House at Christ Chuch on Tuesday last being the Anniversary of the Fifth of November and desire his Lordship would please to cause his Sermon to be Printed Gerard Bor. Cler. Parliamentor A SERMON PREACHED In Christ-Church c. Psalm 118. Verse 24. This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it 'T IS a question propounded by the wise Son of Sirach in the 33 d Chap. of Ecclesiasticus at the 7th verse Why does one day excel another when as the light of every day in the year is of the Sun and he wisely resolves it in these following words by the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguisht and he alter'd seasons and feasts some of them has he made high days and some of them has he made ordinary days some of them has he blessed and exalted and some of them has he sanctified and set near himself For as all the works of God are full of wonder and every one of 'em deserves to be awfully regarded and religiously admir'd so there are some of 'em of a more eminent and exalted nature and of a more rare and unusual occurrence and these remarkable works being plac't by God himself in a higher and more elevated station than ordinary may therefore justly challenge from us men a more solemn honour and a more frequent commemoration of them And as the extraordinary manifestation of God's presence to Moses in the Bush did make the place whereon he stood to be holy ground so the extraordinary marks of God's grace and favour to the Prophet David at some particular times and seasons did make those days whereon these mighty works were wrought to be deservedly esteem'd and devoutly observ'd as holy days and 't was some signal demonstration of God's almighty power and goodness in the miraculous preservation of David's Person and Kingdom and the utter destruction of his inveterate Enemies that mov'd him so carefully to remind his people of this remarkable deliverance and so earnestly to exhort 'em to a publick and solemn Thanksgiving for so great a mercy as is evident by the words of my Text This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it There are two things in the Text that plainly offer themselves to our consideration First that there was some particular day which was made remarkable by God's extraordinary Providence in delivering King David and his people from some imminent danger Secondly that as a token of their thankfulness for so signal a mercy they were resolv'd to solemnize that remarkable day as a day of publick and religious joy In reference to the first of these I shall insist on these following Propositions First that as God's mercy is over all his works so his providence does more especially concern it self in the preservation of States and Kingdoms Secondly that Almighty God does more remarkably employ his power and goodness in the protection of religious States and Kingdoms professing his holy and eternal Truth Thirdly that there are some particular events that plainly discover the special hand of God in the management of ' em Fourthly that it is the indispensible duty of the people of God both carefully to remark and religiously to celebrate the miraculous dispensations of Divine Providence in the preservation of his Church And Fifthly that the gracious deliverance that God was pleas'd to vouchsafe these Nations as on this day has very illustrious marks of an extraordinary Providence imprest upon it First I say as God's Mercy is over all his works so his Providence does more especially concern it self in the preservation of States and Kingdoms Among the innumerable benefits that the planting of the Christian Religion has oblig'd the world withal the clear discovery of an universal Providence more especially exprest in the guidance and management of human affairs may reasonably be accounted a very considerable and extraordinary blessing for by the promulgation of the Gospel we are all infallibly assur'd that God's Providence is extended not only to things that are most distant and conceal'd from human view but also to the most minute and seemingly contemptible objects and occurrences Thus our Saviour speaks to his Disciples Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing yet not one of them does fall to th' ground without your Father and again he tells his disciples in the following words that the very hairs of their heads were all numbred So that as nothing is so little as to escape God's Knowledge so nothing is so despicable as to be disdain'd by his Providence For whatsoever he was pleas'd to Create by his power will certainly be taken care of by his goodness Yet since there are different degrees of excellency in the Creatures we may reasonably conclude that according to the various measures of their respective perfections the power and mercy of Almighty God will be more or less concern'd in their protection and defence Now since man is the glory of the visible World and all things we here behold are particularly design'd for his benefit and accommodation we may assure our selves that we are the principal objects of God's watchful eye and that his care in the preservation of our persons and the promoting of our welfare will express it self in a more illustrous manner than in consulting the safety and advantage of our fellow-creatures here below And since the publick interest of States and Kingdoms is of a far greater and momentous a concern than that of private persons it has been generally observ'd in all preceding ages from the foundation of the World that Divine Providence has been often very eminently visible in preventing the dissolution of States and Empires and accordingly we read in the Prophet Daniel in the 10th Chapter of his Prophecy that God has been pleas'd to appoint particular Tuteler Angels over several Countreys to manage publick affairs and to promote the common good of their respective charges by invisible ways and methods inconceivable by humane understanding For in the 13th verse of that 10th Chapter the Angel that converst with Daniel tells him that the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood him one and twenty

days And the meaning of that Title of the Prince of Persia in that Text is generally thought to be the Guardian Angel of that Countrey who it seems very diligently solicited the concerns of the Persian Empire in the Court of Heaven Secondly That Almighty God does more remarkably imploy his power and goodness in the protection of Religious States and Kingdoms professing his holy and eternal truth is evident by that very tenth Chapter of the foremention'd Prophecy for as that Tutalar Angel of the Jewish Church did acquaint Daniel that the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia had oppos'd him So he assures him that Michael one of the chief Princes came to help him By which is meant that the Persian Angel did so vigourously prosecute the publick interest and advantage of that Kingdom that were it not for the more prevalent intercession of Michael the Archangel the zealous endeavours of this inferior heavenly Guardian of the Jewish Nation would in all probability have been unsuccesful From all which we may observe that besides the general Providence of Almighty God over all the World he has delegated the more especial care and protection of Kingdoms to Angelical Governors and that he does commit the defence and preservation of his Church in a most especial manner to those of the highest order of beatified Spirits for Michael one of the chief Princes of the heavenly Host is said in the last verse of that tenth Chapter to be Prince of the Jewish Nation that is their chiefest Tutelar Angel and Guardian by which we may clearly understand with what honor God is pleas'd to dignify and with what security he immures the persons of his own Church people against the secret conspiracies and the forcible assaults of their inveterate Enemies And that we may the more fully be assur'd that there is no reason to fear the dark designs and malicious contrivances of our most subtil and potent adversaries God himself is declar'd by the Prophet David in 84th Psalm at the 11th verse to be a Sun and a Shield a Sun to discover dark plots of our implacable foes and a Shield to defend us from their open violence and since hell it self as Job says is naked before God and destruction has no covering we may certainly conclude that all those treasonable conspiracies which have their rise and original from hell and are designed for the destruction of God's people tho they be never so cunningly contriv'd or never so secretly carried on will as we have reason to hope be detected and defeated by his infinitely wise and over-ruling providence For we are told by St. Paul that the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men that is the least degree if I may so speak of Divine Power can baffle the utmost strength of the greatest Princes and the least measure of divine wisdom can infatuate the best laid designs of the most subtil Politicians Thirdly I say that there are some particular dispensations that plainly discover the special hand of God in the management of ' em For tho the works of divine providence be commonly cloudy dark yet there are some particular events that have the signatures of God's Power Wisdom and Goodness so plainly stampt upon 'em and are of such peculiar frame and make that all men that seriously consider 'em shall say This has God done for they shall perceive that it is his Work And in reference to these unusual occurrences there are several Phrases in the holy Scriptures which are very observable and particularly import the variety of God's methods in these extraordinary dispensations of his providence Thus God's arm is sometimes exprest in holy Scipture to be made bare and to be lifted up in the atchievement of some prodigious Works An example of the first of these we have in the 52 d Chapter of the Prophecy of Isaih at the 10th verse Where the Prophet reminding the Church of the great miracles which the Lord had wrought for her safety and advantage says That the Lord has had made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the Nations that is as a Souldier in the heat of battle will disengage his hands from whatever may hinder him in the use of his Sword and if he find his Gantlet heavy and cumbersom to him will quit it to enjoy the natural strength and freedom of his arm So when God sees his Church and People in imminent danger of perishing if they be left to the natural efficacy of visible causes He is frequently pleas'd in such an extraordinary exigence openly to appear in their behalf and laying aside some weak and feeble instrument wherein his hand did invisibly engage it self in their defence he makes bare his Arm in the Eyes of all the Nations He delivers them from the prevailing Force of their Enemies by some miraculous instances of this infinite power and love Secondly Another Phrase made use of in holy Scripture to express the special Providence of Almighty God in some particular emergencies is the raising and lifting up of his Arm. Thus in the 26 Chapter of the Prophecy of Isaiah at the 11 Verse the Prophet Addresses himself to God in these words Lord when thy Hand is lifted up they will not see but they shall see and be ashamed for their envy at the People Now by his Hand being lifted up we must not understand Gods acting purely by his own Omnipotence without the concurrence of any visible assistant but only that he raises and exalts causes to so great a degree of power as to enable 'em to perform such actions as are vastly beyond the small proportion of their Natural strength In this sense we must understand the Israelites Conquests of the Land of Canaan for God himself do's frequently tell 'em that the Nations whose Land they should possess were stronger and mightier than they and yet he Commands 'em not to be dismay'd because the Lord himself should go before 'em and should destroy their Enemies with a great destruction until they were Consum'd By all which promises the Children of Israel did not apprehend that God would put them into the quiet Possession of the Land of Canaan without a necessity of their own Fighting but that he would bless their Arms with wonderful success and would enable 'em to the gaining of those Victories which they never would have got but by the assistance of his Almighty Power But Fourthly It is the indispensible Duty of the People of God both carefully to Remark and Religiously to celebrate the Miraculous dispensations of Divine Providence in the preservation of his Church Among the several notes of distinction betwixt rational Creatures and brute Beasts this is reckon'd as one of the most considerable that whereas brute Beasts do only Stare at some unusual objects and are startl'd at some sudden and surprising accidents God has been pleas'd to endue Mankind with the power of Reasoning