Fruit of the Womb unto his Friend Abraham whose Children we are if we believe as he Lord we believe help our unbelief that we might not throw away our loved sleep much less our best beloved Souls in carking after the things of this Life whether they be Pleasures Profits Power Posterity Preferments or vain Past-times for what are these in respect of a Soul But giving up our Souls Estates and Concernments into the hands of a faithful Creator who is able to keep them and us to the very uttermost let us be preserved not only in perfect Peace and Prosperity in this Life but also in a happy and safe Repose even in Death it self when we expect to rest from our Labours and to sleep in Jesus Amen THE NINTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXVIII PSALM Is a Description of the Felicities of such Good Men as fear the Lord that is say the Rabbins who cease to do evil and learn to do well who walk in the ways of God and are not only negatively good but positively making their own hands minister to their Necessities as the Apostle did knowing that he who will not labour shall not eat But such as labour honestly either to obtain a lively-hood and subsistance here or a better Life hereafter shall find the fruit of their Pains to be Peace and Plenty Not the Apples of Sodom or Clusters of Gomorrah but those of Mercies Temporal Spiritual Eternal Such as are here enumerated from the 2d Verse to the end far better than by any other Poet. Amongst which Blessings as to this World the greatest are esteemed Vitam quae faciunt Beatiorem c. Martial lib. 10. Epig. 47. 1. A Fruitful Meet Companion neither barren in good Works nor Off-spring And therefore compared to a Vine or because saith Kimchi she can live well and plentifully within Doors and only desires that her Branches may go abroad As a Vine saith he will grow and flourish though rooted within a House so the spreading Limbes be carried into the Air. 2. Then a chearful Table decently replenisht with Legitimate Pious and Healthful Children Likened to Olive Plants either because they are hopeful and flourishing as the Olive Tree is always green or useful and Ornamental as those Trees are to Entertainments in the East or Emblems of unfading Happiness as Olive Branches were to Victors or not a shameful and spurious Off-spring For it is reported of the Olive Stock that it will nourish no Grafts but of its own Kind These Blessings being described by two such admirable sweet Comparisons that strive to chear and refresh the Laborious and Prosperous Man the Author breaks off his Apostrophe by a short Epiphonema in the 5th Ver. but who the Author of this Psalm was appears not and then in the 6th and 7th Ver. goes on to pray for other Joys for the good Man towards the compleating those promis'd in the 2.3.4 Verses Which indced so fed nay feasted my eager Thoughts with that most excellent Scripture Abundance exprest by Corn and Oyl Judg. 9.9 13. that which Chears and Honours God and Man that I could not withhold from enlarging my delight in ruminating thus far upon it Like the fat Olive and the fruitful Vine Chearful to make Man's Heart his Face to shine Are well bred Children and fruitful Wife In this World's Paradise those Trees of Life They wander not afar but still abide By their own lucky Boards or House's fide At Home they Live and Thrive fix and Encrease The Prosperous Signs of Plenty Mirth and Peace Pax feu Pacem super Israel concludes the Psalm as the 125. This seems proper for a Wedding day or any such time of Festivity and therefore used thus Solemnly to be Sung after the Captivity by the Levites among the other Psalm of Degrees And it is intended by me for St. Lucy's day and New-year's Tide BLest is the Man that fears the Lord and walks in ways taught by God's word while such a Joseph Vice refrains to Prison Walls tho bound he be he spreads like Egypt's patient Tree and bears more Fruit by wearing Chains Who e're thou art that fear'st the Lord Fearing to sin in work or word Plenty with Ease shall crown thy Pain Thy Hands shall get Wealth that will last The Sweets of which thy Lips shall tast Doubling by relishing thy Gain Ruth â— 11 1â— Thy Wife shall like a fruitful Vine Deck thy House-side as well as thine And see thine Off-spring shade thy Board As pleasant Olive-Plants are set To grace and guard thee at thy Meat Thus art thou Blest that fear'st the Lord In heav'n thrice happy shalt thou be As here below 't is well with thee Thy Joys from Sion still encrease Thine Age to three Descents shall see Thine Issue fair thy Nation free And what is best on Israel Peace As here below 't is well with thee In Heav'n thrice happy shalt thou be From Sion's shall thy Joys encrease Thou shalt out-live one Age to see Good on thy Land and Family And which is best on IsraelPeace Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost the Three in One Whose Deity we shall adore Since ev'ry Person of the Three For ever was shall ever be And is God Blessed evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Ninth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXVIII PSALM O Most glorious and gracious Lord God who art fit to be feared and worthy to be loved grant that I may not only serve thee out of filial Reverence and sense of Duty but also and chiefly out of most passionate Affection and Delight walking in thy ways as well as learning them and doing thy Will as well as knowing it from a principle of entire and true Love and of full and absolute Choice Grant that whether I am born unto Trouble and Care or to eat and reap the Fruit of others Pains both by my own and others Labours my Repose may be afterwards more sweet and nourishing and my Enjoyments more solid as my Endeavours successful while I have Religion though not Riches and that which with Content is great Gain notwithstanding the shortness and loss of worldly Treasures If I partake of the true Vine and of the travel of his Soul who was full as God and made full as Man that of his fulness we might receive and feast for evermore then how well shall it be with me here How much better hereafter Come what can come I shall have comfort enough in this World and a Crown in the next Nay I shall be a Crown to my dear Bridegroom a Glory to my Redeemer as the wise Spouse is to her Husband for in this good and true is the Word of the Lord which he hath spoken not only in the Literal but also in the Spiritual sense and so shall his Work be as to the Head so to the Members He will make the Church Christ's Wife and she shall be a Vine as well as
pray and hope like a Souldier that God would be his Shade as well as his Shield as near to him as his shadow that the Sun might not hurt him by Day nor the Moon by Night as Absalom and Achitophel the one by Day and the other by Night intended to have done And if we look on David as he went up the Ascent of Mount Olivet This Psalm was very proper for his Condition then as it is for any Person 's now in the interval of War the Phrases being throughout the whole Psalm Military and allusive to Souldiers besieged as in the first Verse relieved as in the second all-arm'd as in the third secured watched and guarded as in the fourth shielded and surrounded as in the fifth and sixth in the seventh and eighth hemm'd in and convoy'd out for Victory and Triumph For the Second of September and October Here shall I seek for aid where shall I set mine Eyes mine Eyes and Pray'rs like Birds afraid up to the Hills would rise But whither would they rise un to some dangerous height O no this Quarry thither flies whence springs our help and light Nor hath our Health and Light From things below their Birth But from the highest Rock of Might Who made both Heav'n and Earth Therefore though false foul Earth Thy Soul with Foes surround Shall it be mov'd from holy Mirth Shall Cares run it on Ground Gen. 8.11 Christ is the Ark to ground Thy Heart on when distrest From head to foot he 'll make thee sound Gen. 28.11 On him did Jacob rest Non dormitabit multo minù◠dormiet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quamvis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex impatientiâ lugentis Deus obdormire dicitut Psal 44.24 But he doth never rest From doing good nor sleeps Gen. 32.2 That with such Guards thou may'st be blest As he his Israel keeps Psal 22.1 4. Good Shepherd he doth keep His Flock ev'n in Death's shade See then if thou art of his Sheep How on thy side he 's laid Though Dangers have way-laid Thy going out or in See how thy Husband's Arm 's display'd Isa 54.5 To save thy very Skin Dan. 3.27 Like the three Children's Skin Thine shall be scorch'd by none Whatever Heat thou may'st be in Whatever Star hath shown Nor shall the Moon nor Sun Hurt thee by Night or Day No Mischief seen nor closely done Shall touch thee any way God shall preserve thy Ways And Mind from all that 's ill In Youth And when thy Life decays Blessed thou shalt be still Then trust and bless him still Who endless Safety sends God through this Vale of Sorrows will Guide us to joyful ends The Entrance Progress Ends Public and private Pow'rs Labours and Studies of his Friends God blesses at all hours Then trust and bless him still Who still did us defend God doth and ever will Antistrophe Give Blessings without end Give Blessings without end God doth and ever will He still did us defend Then trust and bless him still The Entrance Progress Ends Public and private Pow'rs And Works of all his Friends God blesses Lord bless Ours Gloria Patri c. To God the Father and the Son And to the Holy-Ghost Be Glory And let ev'ry one Strive who shall praise God most CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Second PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXI PSALM I Will lift up my Heart to thee O Lord And though it be cast down with the dangers and diffidence I am in while mine Afflictions and mine Enemies have cast a Mount about me to hinder me from the sight and hope of Succour yet have I God's Hill to fly unto and from thy House I can survey the end of the Wicked the Redemption of thy Captives and the height of thy Power that is higher than the highest But O the depth of thy Love What a pleasant Vale is this under it How doth this smile and sing and stand full of Corn that strengthens Man's Heart So that although I remain in the Valley of the shadow of Death if I can but look up to the Rock that is higher than I to Christ the Shecinah the true Mercy Seat that is placed above the Cherubims all Types and Symbols of his Presence I shall neither lose my Faith nor my Life I shall not be discomfitted nor enslaved like a surprized Zedekiah I shall not be famished nor broken up like a long besieged Jerusalem Though mine Enemies hem me in on every side and carnal Fear cause me to cry out as the Prophet's Servant What shall we do Yet if I can but lift up mine Eyes to thee which indeed are naturally as heavy as Moses his Hand I shall perceive somewhat else besides Perils and Foes on every side I shall find the Mountains full of Chariots of Fire and more for me than can be against me For an Host of Angels shall pitch their Tents about me to secure me and those mighty Ministers of thy good pleasure shall keep me like Daniel from the power of the Lyon So that my most Savage Enemies shall lack and suffer hunger while I want nothing that is good For though my way be hedged up that I cannot pass which way I would nor follow the Lusts of my Heart and the desires of mine Eyes as many do yet I may look up with joy and confidence as I trust I shall at the last day because my Salvation is drawing nigh My Hope my Help cometh from the Lord not from the Angels in his Presence but from the Angel of his Presence and of his Covenant the Blessed JESUS who having taken our Nature that he might be sensible of our Infirmities ever abides with Humanity at thy right Hand making Intercession for us And as he made the Heavens and the Earth for us so he makes a new Heaven and a new Earth of us by justifying and sanctifying both our Souls and Bodies through the mighty Work of his Spirit in his Word and Sacraments For these are the Mountains of the Lord wherein he is apparently seen Glorious in Holiness Fearful in Praises doing Wonders and abounding in Goodness and Truth If we Worship him as our Fathers did in these Mountains in the heights of Sincerity and Devotion we may expect to hear God promising us graciously as he did Abraham that he will be a God to us and to our Seed after us And we may hope to see him as Manoah and his Wife did in the Zealous performances of his holy Worship in the Flame arising from the Altar of our Hearts from whence God would not accept a Service if he desired the Death of Sinners Therefore we may be assured that if we keep in his ways he will keep us in ours as he did his Israel both by the Pillar of Fire and by the Pillar of a Cloud by the flame of Affliction as well as by the light of Prosperity And while we lay hold on these as Sampson did
as the Admiration of it is my chiefest pleasure and hath been the cause of publishing these the Essays of my younger time began about twenty years ago at my entrance into Your Service when I aim'd at nothing but God's Grace and Yours Madam The intent of my first Affections would palliate their weaker Actings since as the strength of Zeal may still excuse some Errors the Daughter of Time is here with a Gift though the Daughter of Tyre be not in her Robes Here is no gentile Vanity or curious Texture of Wit no Colours of Rhetorick nor modish Points of Courtship to inveigle Your Opinion of the present Yet Madam here is that may well become Your Grace The most Angelike Dress in fashion upon Earth The way to pierce the Skies with Orisons and Praise The way to pass our Lives in truest Ease and Mirth I wish You like the making up of this Suit as it is with the truth of his Devotion and Service who is ready to wait upon You in his Holy-day habit both to Your Closet and to Our Church as MADAM The humblest and faithfullest of your Ministers THE PREFACE TO THE READER HAVING with much admiration and delight been long conversant with the Psalter I find as it is wisely appointed for the first Book that we read or study so it may fitly be used to the last minute of our Life and Breathing Luke 23.46 Psal 30.6 since our blessed Lord himself handed his Soul unto his Father in these words of the Psalmist And I never knew any condition how sad soever that might not receive some Entertainment Mat. 21 16.21.42.2â—.46.22.44.13.35 some Company and Discourse as well as Music and so some ease and relief from that glorious Book of the Psalms which is not only beautified by our Saviour his frequent use of it both living and dying but by the continual Services John 2.17.6.32.10.34.13.18.15.25.19.24 and best Devotion of all the Saints and Children of God For to say nothing of the Esteem it hath even in the Mahometan Religion there hath been no Church either of Jews or Christians nay scarce one eminent Person in either of those Churches Sixty Proofs cited out of the Psalms in the N. T. who hath not only allowed much time and attention but likewise shewn the greatest remarks of Piety and Zeal in the studious perusal thereof Psal 1.2 For these Spiritual Songs as all sacred Worship was of old wrapt up in Metre do with their most charming Melody and sweetness of Expression both set forth the Law of the Lord and the love of his Servants as on Mount Sion not on Sinai viz. in so lofty and taking a way as that surely they contain not only the Body and Substance but the Spirit and Quintescence the pleasant Tasts and best Relishes of our holiest Religion Besides the variety of Subjects and richness of each Theme serving as the Treasures of several Mines for the furnishing and rewarding both our fancies and labours with Materials sufficient to please to profit to enrich our Meditations So that truly 't is a ravishing and no less than Heavenly delight to hear the holy Persons of all Times and Ages like Birds in the Spring descanting on the self-same Subject but with such different Notes Melody and Accent as it is wonderful to observe while every one doth well in doing his best what rare Divisions are run by the joyning of so full a Consort Whilst the Music becomes more excellent by the admirable variety thereof This hath often set on work and satisfied my Thoughts with the Contemplation of our Eternal employ the praising of God in Heaven perhaps too in the Songs of David as well as of Moses since these were the Songs of the Lamb while he was here on Sion according to our best Capacities and Visions So that as the Angels envy not the Cherub for sitting higher or seeing more than they nor the Seraphim despise the Angels because these cannot reach the others Pitch in their mighty Raptures and heavenly Addresses for they are all in the same way though concerned in several degrees of Duty It is my opinion that no true Christian should be discouraged either by his own weakness or others greater Abilities from turning Psalmodist and helping the Quire with his Notes though they be of a harsher kind and flatter Key than many others which are used there because both in the Church here and that above he must sing the same which others do though it may be not with the same Elegance yet if his Heart be right and his Desires sincere though his Place and Parts may be inferiour to many his good Will and Intent shall afford joy satisfaction and bliss and secure him from the Censure of all others Nay he may suppose the Music and the Mirth of Saints to arise like the Flame from those lowest Coals of the Altar which lie obscurely in their Ashes and thence to ascend by the Degrees of the Sons of Fire to the top of their lofty Pyramid the Deity and from that Central Point again stream forth such Harmony and Delight as may reach and fill enflame and enlighten array and gild the whole Circumference of the Blest Eternity Therefore since he which hath the lowest Voice may bear a Part in Music we should neither contemn nor hinder their singing who cannot reach so high a strain as our selves but bear with or encourage rather than silence and disturb the Devotions of the weakest who may be more acceptable to God in their well-meaning than we are to Men in our finer expressions Upon this account I have often judged it expedient that Censure should be shut out of the Church Doors when any ones Verse or Music is brought within them and though we might be able to mend that which is there allowed yet we are rather to use than blame it because it is prescribed by such whom we must yield best able to discern what is fit for the public Worship which certainly differs from each Man 's private Devotions more than doth his Night-dress from the Habit he must wear at Noon-day So that though I might plead for Hopkin's and Sternhold's for the meanest Translation of the Psalms in our Parish Churches as Men do for some Customs and Fashions because countenanced by Authority and long Usage yet I would not from thence conclude that they are the best or that I must keep them in my own Closet or particular Devotions But as I will not refuse them publicly whilst commanded so I will not reproach them privately much less censure or deter others in their singular Industry who have not only design'd but attempted both to do better than the weakest Age of English Poetry and withall equal the strongest Reach of Sence and Expression that is found in the best Translators of the Psalms Amongst whom I would count two very late Authors Mr. S. W. Mr. M. S. who might be fancied the two
Majesty and Excellency of the first Pen-man it is more reasonable that we should submit our Endeavours as Publicola did his Fasces to the use and benefit of the most and meanest rather than make them Trophies of our own Arrogance and our Brethren's weakness Our continual work is Mark 9.49 50. to have about us that Salt of Charity which may season our Offerings both to God and Man while we thank the one or assist the other It it not double Superstition and worse than Folly to court the Prayers of Men in Heaven and the Praises of Men on Earth 'T is enough to have an Interest quite otherwise in Religion and to forward Man's Good with God's Glory more than with our own or God's Blessing with our own good Deeds rather than with others good Words So that I would not be thought Censorious nor Singular nor any other ways Pharisaical in my Entertainments here Though I bring several Courses of Devotion they are not worthy to be compared to the good piece of Flesh and Flagon of Wine wherewith our great Exemplar once treated the People yet let these be never such course Fare they are really designed for a Blessing to all as David's Banquet was in 1 Chron. 16.34 and I can conclude with his Royal word As for me 1 Chron. 29.17 18. in the uprightness of my Heart I have willingly offered all these things Noli altum sapere sed time More ERRATA's in the First Part. PAg. 11. l. 34. read off l. 42. r. holiest p. 14. l. 3. insert thou p. 15. l. 30. insert is the wickedness of Folly Eccles 7.25 l. 41. dele from p. 16. l. 2. for from them read for Women In Margin Psal 92.13 l. 32. r. my p. 21. l. 14. dele the. l. 20. r. were p. 25. l. 43. r. they will p. 27. l. 19. r. weep thus dele this l. 34. insert and thine dele and. p. 28. l. 28. r. thee p. 32. in Margin insert Dan. 4.31.32 Jer. 51.9 p. 38. l. 30. dele a. p. 40. l. 42. in Margin Deut. 32.4 l. 45. dele the. p. 43. l. 32. insert for p. 48. l. 12. in Margin 2 King 6.16 23. to l. 46. in Margin Dan. 4. 12 13. p. 50. l. 25. for secured read soured p. 53. l. 38. read we may be ERRATA in the Second Part. PAg. 10. in Gloria Patri read To God to Father Son p. 21. l. 22. insert are given us p. 24. l. 20. dele as thou didst the Prophet which is twice repeated p. 26. l. 14. for O Lord read O God remove the * from l. 24. to l. 20. p. 35. l. 16. read establish his Kingdom p. 41. l. 32. read and a fruitful p. 45. l. 16. in Margin Isa 36.10 p. 48. l. 2. in Margin Ruth 2.4 p. 49. l. 17. read the Rods. l. 33. read preserved it p. 50. l. 4. read thou p. 55. l. 32. read Jewish l. 33. in Margin Jer. 38.12 13. p. 56. l. 2. in Margin Jonas 2.5 6. l. 17. read this present state p. 60. l. 6. for Loving read Leaving the Breast p. 61. l. 6. read Root p. 62. l. 3. read Uzzah l. 23. read Rereward p. 64. in Margin read Clarius in l. 23. read sedem innuit Aris. p. 68. in Marg. †read nictaturus sim p. 79. l. 13. read but to the people who watched there p. 84. l. 17. read Songs of Elevation And note This whole 84th Page should have been the first IN Psalmorum Laudem CHORUS 1. Angelorum 2. Hominum CHORUS THE PSALMS are Paradises Spring Streaming Refreshments every way They 1. Wine 2. Oyl 1. Milk 2. And Honey bring 1. To Cheer 2. To Cure 1. To Feed 2. T' Allay 1. When we are merry Psalms we sing 2. When we 're afflicted Psalms we say 1. They Heav'n's 2. And Earth's Devotions wing 1. While Angels Praise 2. Or Men do Pray CHORUS The PSALMS are Paradises Spring Streaming Refreshments every way c. THE FIRST Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXX PSALM It is a Complaint and Prayer against the falsness fraud and impious Designs rather than the force of inhumane Adversaries Because their Strength and Power may at least for a Time be from God's Will and Permission but Deceit and Perfidiousness owe their Birth to Men's Prevarications and the subtil Temptations of the Evil One And therefore ought the rather to be deprecated The Author of this Psalm is not known but supposed to be David and made by him upon the like occasion that the 7th the 34th and the 52d were Composed when he fled to Gath ob Aethiopem Jeminiensem as * In Psal 7. Castalio phraseth it or upon the implacable Fury of Saul truly and civilly as well as elegantly stiled A melancholy terrible Man Or else upon the malicious Information of a Cushite or Edomite against an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile which seems very probable from his Description of the Parties who were after the way of Mesech as the Aethiopians Cushites were and allied to the sordid Tents of Kedar or Arabia of which Country Doeg was a Native This Psalm likewise looks Prophetically at the sworn Enemies of Jerusalem 's Peace such as were the confederate Arabians and Asiaticks at the building the Temple and afterwards with Antiochus at the defacing of the same All which cruel and cunning Foes are expressed by * Ezek. 38.2 God and Magog For S. Steven's day or some time of Trial. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. IN my di stress and fear I cry'd unto the Lord who soon did help as hear when I this wish did word From Lips made foul by guile and wrongs and from false Tongues Lord save my Soul What Praise Quid tibi dabit aut quid addet tibi Spoken as to Saul perhaps by the Psalmist upon the account of Doeg what Profit shall The treachérous Tongue bring thee Poor Soul 't will scorch and Gall Thy self as well as me Having been streightned in my Verse I desire to observe in Prose the rare Elegancy of the Psalmist here who speaking of a desert state and place among the Sons of Ismael the great Archer he tells his savage Foes though Companions that they shall be struck with their own Weapons as Saul was and burnt with the Coals of the Wilderness where Juniper most abounds which was the most desolate and grievous Fire from the nature of the Wood and so proper fuel for the black Tents of Kedar and for Mesech the Asiaticks if taken for a People wild and wandering about in Wagons or living in Tents covered with Skins But if it referrs to a place it is well rendered by the LXXII whom I follow with Symachus and Aquila c 'T will doubly harm By Fire and Shot Like Darts made hot From some strong Arm. Why then O why so long Do I protract my Woes By wand'ring still among War's Friends and Peace's Foes I 'm in a Tent Who are on Theft Of Arabs left And
any other I had rather be a Door-keeper in thy Tabernacle than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Help us then to joyn with the blessed Choir both of the Church Militant and Triumphant in a Lesson of the best Service even Love and Charity which is the compleatest Religion the fulfiller of the Law the filler full of Heaven For see the Jerusalem that comes down thence as well as that which is above agrees in all its Parts and Graces and by its lovely Symmetry makes up the sweetest Harmony of Heaven and Earth declaring Charity the bond of Peace as Peace the breeder of Felicity Therefore while we see the present Concord and Conformity thou hast afforded our Nation we look with joy upon an Emblem of that glorious Day when thou shalt gather thy Children from the four Winds and bring then together in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and to live with him for ever Lord 'till that time come preserve thy Church among us from Rent and Spot from Breach and Blemish and meet with us graciously as thou didst with Elijah in the soft mild Voice of thy Gospel in the savoury Breath of thy Spirit in the sweet Airs of our pious and public Services wherein make us to consent to Pray for the Peace of our Souls and of thy People as also for the Plenty of our Land for the Piety of our Governours for the Prosperity of their Government and Persons for the Purity of Religion for the Perpetuity of thy Church among us as also for Unanimity and Uniformity in the way of thy Worship that we may endeavour as well as desire the most durable Good here and an eternal Good hereafter to our selves and ours and all thine Which we beseech thee grant for Jesus Christ 's sake who is of the Stock and Lineage of David to whom belongs the Seat of Judgment for ever and ever Amen THE FOURTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIII PSALM Is agreeable to the condition of David in the third Psalm as also to the sad State of the Israelites Composed perhaps by Ezra at Babylon and from that time frequent in use being Calculated for the Times of Trouble and Tyranny Wherein the Church as under Antiochus or some such insulting Oppressor prayeth complaineth and trusts to God The Priest beginning as it were with an Oremus to the People in the first Verse and then the whole Congregation joyning and going on with him to the end of the Psalm TO thee who dost a bide a bove the Starry Spheres yet hast our Griefs with Pi ty ey'd to thee we send our Tears To Heav'n this Spring of Tears From hence doth bubling rise Psal 121.1 Which from low Grounds our Passion rears To thee that hast our Eyes By Hand in the Text is understood help strength or protection by those who take the words of this Verse to imply the Servant's repairing to his Lord for succour and defence from Foreign injuries It also signifies bounty direction and correction to those who take the meaning as I apprehend it Nor do we need an Eye But to observe thy Hands Which way for Blessing us they lye By Chast'nings or Commands Since oft Gen. 48.14 19. like Israel's Hands Thine as a-cross are spread For God not Man best understands How to Crown Ephraim's Head Therefore we raise our Heads Not to repine but pray To mark how our chief Joshua leads And how we him obey As Soldiers still obey Their Leader's Staff and Rod And at their Becks do go or stay So wait we on our God Thy Smile or Frowns O God Like humblest Handmaids we Do bear and from our Lord's aboad Gen. 21.14 Do not like Hagar flee Jon. 1.3 No Jonas here will fly From thee Jon. 4.8 though Chasten'd thus We 2 King 5.2 as meek Servants carefully Stay 'till thou pity us Thy Mercy we implore Multum saturata est Anima subsannatione As if play'd upon and scossed at by the Soldiery while led in Triumph according to the expression in Psal 137.3 Thy speedy Mercy Lord For now our Lives are scorn'd nay more Our very Souls abhorr'd By those we are abhorr'd As we do loath their Pride Who can with Insolence afford To wrong us and deride But God shall them deride Whose Scorns o're-charge our Hearts When these are full and can abide No more God takes our parts And since God takes our parts To him our Tears shall glide To him we 'll lift our Looks and Hearts Who doth in Heav'n abide Now since God takes our part To him our Tears shall glide To him we 'll lift our Looks and Hearts Who doth in Heav'n abide Gloria Patri c. All Glory Praise and Bliss To th' Three in Unity Who as at first was God now is And evermore shall be CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIII PSALM O Thou great Lord and King that dwellest in the Heavens David hath taught me to lift up mine Eyes to thee and the Son of David hath better instructed me to call thee by thy Spirit Abba Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. That gracious Name of Our Father invites us Lord to call upon thee in the needful time of Trouble For though thou dwellest in the highest Heavens thou art not contained by them but from that thy Throne vouchsafest to look down upon what is done and suffered upon Earth So that in the deepest evils of our Sufferance as in all the good of our Enjoyment here we may still look up and see thy doing and be satisfied in the Wonder that thou dost so much for our advantage Ah! how marvellous is it in our Eyes that when Hope and Help both fail on Earth we can seek much higher for them and even then too when we are justly corrected because thou art a merciful King and behold we are thy Servants for all that thou hast afforded us We submit to thee with humble Fear and wait on thee with Thanksgiving and Praise thee for smiting and subduing us thy People under thee For thou dost as the King of Israel did to Benhadad thou beatest that thou mayest bring us to thy self thou conquerest that thou mayest be kind taking away a little that thou mightest give a better Kingdom Wherefore we beg and trust that when thou hast convinced us how worthy we all are of Hate Death and Disgrace that then thou wilt restore us to Life Favour and Prosperity Well may we be watchful Suppliants and Expectants for some Token of thy Pity when thy left Hand some sinister Providence is laid upon us because thou hast still thy right Hand the Man of thy right Hand to embrace thy Spouse when thy afflicting Hand is never so heavy upon her either by the Tyranny of Oppressors or by the Rod of Tribulation Let us rightly hearken to this Rod and see the Hand which hath appointed it and not look
he and so great a Bearer as that she hall cover and adorn all the sides of his House and bring him clusters of Eshcol Grapes of Sion Loads of Comfort and Satisfactions Tokens of Plenty and Delight for having trodden the Wine Press alone And then O beloved Husbandman when thou shalt visit this Vine and behold the Off-spring which thou hast brought her with transports of Joy and Contentation O! then look upon me and mine and see us grafted into the right Olive though we be sprung from that which is wild by nature that we may grow up as Plants of thy own planting and flourish round about thy Table For this hath God promised unto thee O Christ and we beseech thee to make it good unto us by making us thy Children O Lord how should we praise honour and serve thee Were we like David such Olive Trees as might be fixed in thy House and framed into more holy Uses to be farther instrumental to thy Glory Behold a greater than Solomon is here to make us fit to attend thy Oracles and with the Cherubs to be near thy Mercy Seat Dear God! prepare us for such high places there however thou cut and strike us here that we might be the better formed and wrought out of the World's glory for our own into thine even by the beauty of Holiness that New Jerusalem that comes down from above Then shall we admire the good of Sanctity and wish the good of thy People all the days of our life and rejoyce in the happiness of thy Chosen all the days of Eternity For as we are Blest in serving thee out of thy House and Sanctuary so we hope to be Blessed with thee in thy holy Hill of Sion where we shall see the glorious Harvest of all Ages the eternal Happiness of our Generations and the never-fading Peace of thy chosen Israel AMEN THE TENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIX PSALM Is a Commemoration not unlike that Solemn one which every true Israelite was to make at the Offering of the First-Fruits Deut. 26.35 36 37. and Secondly a Prognostication of the cursed End and Ruine of the Church her Enemies from the Consideration of the wonderful Deliverance which God had wrought and reiterated for his People a Juventute both from theirs and the World's Infancy so that at length their Adversaries according to their Prayers shall be but weak few like the Grass on the House top 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not growing up there being formerly a Meter or gatherer of Grass as we have now of Grain most in fashion about those fertile Countries where Grass is of an excessive length even at this day as modern Travellers affirm that wither before it's pulling But Zion 's Foes saith Ezra or whosoever it was who in his Time compiled this Prophetical Psalm and Prayer shall one Day be so inconsiderable that as they shall have no Eulogies to encourage their Growth or Harvest so they shall need no Weapon to cut them down for they shall drop away shamefully of their own accord without a Dominus Vobiscum said unto them 1 Cor. 14.25 For all they may say though not of a Truth what once a Sennacherib and a Rabshakeh falsly affirmed That God is with us Quà de causâ à me Selectus est hic Hymnus in Tertium Septembris Propter M. O. C. nec non in Quintum Novembris IF Ja cob did in E gypt tell what Troubles in his time be fell how few and e vil were his Days How hard Life's travel in rough ways In Ca naan well may Is rael say From my Youth up God was my stay From my Youth up I met with Foes Gen 28 â—6 17. But to God's House I ' scap'd from those Many a time was I assail'd But I as many times prevail'd Exod. 2.24.25 God broke my Cords which they did bind And made them Captive if not kind Exod. 5.19 Mark 15.15 Long did they with deep Furrows wound And Plow my Back as 't were their Ground But the good Husbandman now cracks John 15.1 The Ploughman's Whip on their own Backs The Righteous Lord stays not too long 1 Cor. 10.13 From resc'uing his who suffer wrong Therefore shall Zion's Enemy 2 Sam. 3.33 Psal 73.6 Prov. 16.18 Mat. 13.5 Like Fools wax faint like Cowards fly Whom Pride doth cloath Shame shall confound As Corn that grows in no good Ground 2 Sam. 11.4 Dan. 4.30 31. But stands with Kings on the House-Top Where comes a Blast and that 's its Crop Its Crop doth rot before 't is ripe Nor can it fill the Reapers gripe Nor joy his Heart For what is worse It bears no Burthen but a Curse 'T is no Man's comfort no Man's care No Man for such bids one short Pray'r None in God's Name give such good speed As Boaz to his Harvest did Gloria Patri But we to God will Glory give Who with the Son and Spirit doth live God Reigns and shall as heretofore Bless'd be his Name for evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Tenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIX PSALM O Dearest Jesu let me behold thee as an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile and yet how many a time even from Herod's persecution of thee in thy Youth wert thou afflicted Thou didst grow up as a Stem out of a dry Ground very poorly and despicably in the Eyes of the vain proud World who looked for another appearance and attendance than thou O King of Glory didst affect on Earth and therefore wert thou rejected as a Man of Sadness And well mightest thou be acquainted with much Grief when thou didst bear our greatest Sins even those whereby we did set thee at nought as did Herod and his Soldiers and even sought the holy Child the First-born of Grace in our Hearts to take away its Life O Lord we must confess how many a time too often we have betrayed and exposed thy Name and Body thy Word and Members to Shame and Reproach to Indignities and Sufferings We have smitten and pierced them through with many Sorrows we have knotted the Whip and lengthen'd out the Rods to plough thy Back as the Jews did by their lashing Taunts when thou wert dying on the Cross only to non-plus thy Love and patience if it were possible But the Lord is Righteous and the Lord is Merciful and therefore he hath cut asunder the Cords of the Wicked and by his Righteousness shall justifie many as also confound all such as have evil will towards his Zion Grant therefore dear Lord that we may not prove such a Crop as grows upon the House or among the Stones which withereth as soon as it is put forth But as from our Childoood we have been acquainted graciously with thy Mind and Gospel so grant that we may grow up in Grace and in the knowledge of a Saviour and have the Blessing of Almighty God from the very Ground of
our Hearts to the last Harvest of our Lives and be able to bless many others as Boaz did in the Name of thee Our Father c. TO thee dear God! be all the Dominion the Power and Glory of my Being for thou hast prepared it from the fury of my Adversaries ever since the first motions of that evil Figment in my Heart which hath broke out often into evil Concupiscences and endeavoured to plough with my Heifer to plot with my naughty Flesh to bind and to deliver me a Prisoner unto Satan but my Lusts have not led me Captive nor plough'd upon my Back as they conspired to do for thou O Lord most just and holy wouldest not suffer them to Tyrannize or Triumph too long over me but hast broke those Bands of Wickedness and cast their Cords from me that I might be thy Servant and you the Lord my Righteousness So that I trust they shall be confounded that contend with thee for my Soul and I shall not be ashamed while I wait on thee though my Flesh be as Grass that withers away Thou art my Strength O Lord and my Portion for ever who wilt I trust give a Blessing to my Seed to my Harvest to my House to my Endeavours and Encrease that my Work and thine may prosper in my hand and bring fulness of Joy and Satisfaction to my Breast while all the vain Thoughts and viler Suggestions of my Heart I desire so to hate as to wish like the Grass upon the House tops withered and faded away that they may never grow up to a Crop lest sowing the Wind I Reap the Whirlwind and have my Recompence in vanity according to my delight or trust and come to nothing before my time But O Lord I wait on thee for a Blessing in this my day and for thine Eternity that I may be like a Field whom God hath enriched if he be not on my side I cannot prosper and I know him whom thou blessest is Blessed Bless me therefore even me O! Our Father c. THE ELEVENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXX PSALM 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De dolore Profundo ex imo corde and not as the Papists would have it De Profundis Purgatorii to be used for the Dead It is an Act and incitement of Hope under the most weighty Pressures from this Proof viz. That neither with the strongest Angels nor Saints departed much less with the greatest or best of Men upon Earth is any Pardon or Propitiation to be found but only with God who alloweth us here space and place for Repentance that he may be feared not so slavishly as to be fled from or hated that he may be sued unto adored and attended on in the holy Duties of Prayer Praise and Trust which are comprized in this Psalm to be used sedulously and constantly night and day according to that which the Repetition of the comparison in the sixth Verse doth infer which is thus gloss'd on by Kimchi My Soul waiteth in the Night for the Lord that it may be in the number of those who rise in the Morning-Watch to pray And this sense being most comprehensive of the Times and Method both of Jewish and the greatest of Devotion I follow it in my Version and desire to do so in my Practice This Psalm was made as some think in the time of the Captivity for Redemption from it as may be judged by the last Verse But others ascribe it to David giving it the same Date with the 51st and is reckon'd the sixth of the Penitentials i. e. of those which were used when public Pentents were brought and reconciled to the Church who might well say Because there is Pardon as saith the Text or Propitiation as the 72d with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared i. e. obeyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the mildness of his Laws and meekness of his Dealings were strong Motives for Repentance Anthema Hocce à me usitatum est ut primò factum in Secundum Octobris OUT of the Deep wherein like Jo nas I was try'd out of the mire of Sin my Clay to God hath cry'd Lord hear my Voice give what I crave O! let me have thy Love Heav'ns Joys Too oft we chuse false Joys And should'st thou be severe To chasten our ill Choice What Man his Ills can bear But we have prov'd That thou may'st be Pardon 's with thee Both fear'd and lov'd I 'le fear lest thou art lov'd Too little and I 'le flee When Fear my Heart hath mov'd Unto thy Sanctuary Early and late Grace to afford There waits the Lord Therefore I 'le wait My Soul on high shall wait Like those who watch the rise Of Day to Officiate At Morning Sacrifice Nay like the Guard Remove the Night Who long 'till Light And them reward 'Till Jacob's Star reward Your Hopes and on you rise Wait Isr'el on your Lord With wakeful wishing Eyes Look 'till the Sun Doth heal and bless Of Righteousness And brings God's Son O! shield ye with his Sun God's People trust his Word Since full Salvation Attends our gracious Lord There 's Pity seen Who will Redeem And Pow'r in him Us from all Sin Gloria Patri c. Glory be to our King Who shall be was and is Loud Hallelujahs Sing To God the God of Peace The Lord of Hosts The Father Son The Three in One And Holy-Ghost AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eleventh PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXX PSALM ODearest Jesu when I consider thee crying with strong Cries to thy Father for me out of the depths of thine Agony and of thy Sufferings both in Gethsemane and in Golgotha how am I swallowed up in the Abysses both of thy Passion and Compassion for us Ah! what fathomless Depths indeed O! what unmeasurable Dimensions both of Grief and Goodness are there for us to be immersed in and since they who are conversant among great Waters see the Wonders of the Lord O! how may we behold these in the drops of thine Eyes and of thy Wounds in the Rivers of thy Tears and of thy wonderful Sweat in the Ocean of thy Love and Sorrows for Mankind When thy Soul was heavy and sunk down even unto Death and all the Cataracts of Shame and Fury passed over thy Head O King of Righteousness and Glory yet out of the deep and horrible Pit of God's Wrath into which thy condition was plunged for our sakes how didst thou reach up thy very Sighs and Groans thy Pains and Sadness thy Prayers and all thy Passions unto Heaven it self to reach us thence a Medicine and a Remedy more certain Health and a more happy Life than the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderness ever brought to its beholders I will therefore look unto thee and be enlighten'd even while thou seemest Eclipsed I will stay my self on the Tree of thy Cross and secure my self under the Shadows of thy
hear How glorious all his Goings were Up to the Mountains from the Plain Cant. 2.8 Rev. 14.1 Psal 114.4 And while God comes with the glad Throng In ev'ry place we hear this Song See see where our Beloved goes That he may stand on Sion still Look how he leaps from Hill to Hill And makes us skip for joy like Roes Come John 2.22 let 's to Sion march along In order lest we Worship wrong Numb 10.33 35 36. After the Ark our Course is bent We 'll worship with the solemn Cries Rise Lord unto thy Rest arise Rise to a Temple from a Tent. The Train shall shout 1 Chr. 15.27 and so will I The Choir shall raise their Voices high The Priests shall shew the Sanctity Both of thy Person and their Place 2 Chr. 6.12 13. By being cloath'd with Righteousness And thine Anointed thou shalt bless Nor from thy * Or Favour See Gregory's Notes on the word Presence turn his Face Oh! 2 Sam. 6.21 never turn from us thy Face For David's sake love David's Race Do not his Stock as Saul's disown Since if his Sons thy Laws obey Thou 2 Chr. 9.17 Lord hast sworn his * De fructu Ventris tui quoniam uterus Vxeris cum omni suo fructu ad Maritum pertinet Seed shall sway And here for ever have a Throne 2 Sam. 6.12.13 For here hath God his Favour shown And chose our Dwellings for his own He will not stay with Edom * Neither with Edom whom he hated nor Obed Edom whom he blessed still But his Provisions shall bless ours Since on the Rich he dainty's show'rs And can with Bread the Hungry fill Here will I sit 2 Chr. 6.41 saith God Viâ—tum eis non viduam lenedicam and Carve To each poor Soul Significare vult apertam manifestam salutem quae omnibus pateat cum sacerdotes salute quasi veste circumdarentur qui nunquam deerint gratiarum repetendarum Officio that none may starve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the 72 Interp. will render it which properly signifies Venison a dainty indeed but it implies more largely any Victuals or Prosions All Wants I will so far supply That a large Alb of Thankfulness Shall be my Priest's perpetual Dress And Saints shall set their Joys on high On high shall David see my Love As here in Sion so above Like Aaron's Rod shall bud his * His Royal Dignity Power and Off spring 1 King 11.36 Horn †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which mystically refers to Christ Psal 4.2 Glory 's own Lamp lights up his Line And on his Head my Crown shall shine But on his Foes I 'le ‖ Haud secus ac Retiarii ut supra in comment throw my Scorn Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost the Three in One Whom as one Being we adore Tho ev'ry Person of the Three For ever was shall ever be And is God Blessed evermore AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Thirteenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXXII PSALM O Lord God! that thou mayest the more graciously consider us and our Affairs Remember our Lord Jesus we beseech thee and all his Afflictions all his Humblings all his Troubles his Cares and Loves and Passions for us look how through the whole Volume of thy Book it is written of him That he should fulfill thy Will O God! and therefore he begger'd himself so far as to be born of the Stock and Lineage of David that he might perform the Promise he had made not to fail his People but to become their Righteousness and their Redemption and so though the Foxes had holes and the Birds of the Air nests he would not have where to lay his Head Neither would he give sleep to his Eyes but would be walking and watching and praying whole Nights together that he might be doing good to us for us in us and with us that here again in this base Earth and World of ours he might find out an Habitation for the Mighty God and a place where his holy Dove might rest Grant then O glorious Lord that all his Labours and Desires his Endeavours and good Will concerning us may not be frustrated but let us be built up a Spiritual House upon him and be blest in our Undertakings through him unto thy Glory that as we have been directed so we may go on not stand still to see thy Salvation and to worship thy Goodness which doth arise with healing under its Wings for us as a Hen and as an Eagle to cure to carry to secure and feed us to make our Natures thy Abode our Hearts thy Sanctuary our Souls the resting Place both for thee and the Ark of thy Strength and all this to what purpose but for our Advantage not thine that we might be a Chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood cloathed with Christ's Righteousness and cover'd with thy Comeliness which invests us with all Peace and Joy through the Holy Ghost O therefore let us lift up our Hearts with Love and Praise and Comfort in believing trusting and begging for thy Son's sake that neither our Faces may be turned from thee to go a Whoring after other things that are not God nor indeed good nor let the face of thine Anointed be turned so away from us as not to know us at the last Day No blessed Lord grant us such an interest in our dear Redeemer as that we may have a Title to thy Favour and be able to put thee in mind how thou hast sworn and wilt not fail unto thy well-beloved Son that of the Fruit of his Body thou wilt set upon the Throne and hast promised to all true Believers his Servants that if they keep thy Covenant they and their Children shall Reign with thee for ever and find new cause of rejoycing in thee who hast chosen the Sons of Men for thy Zion and desired their enlarged Souls for thy restful Habitation and chief Delight But when shall we come to this Joy unspeakable and full of Glory When we have with patience waited on thy good pleasure and not fainted in our expectation of thy faithfulness then for certain we shall see thee abundantly blessing and rewarding the small Provisions made here to serve thee withall and thou wilt satisfie such as hunger and thirst after thy Kingdom with the Bread of Life and with the Wells of Salvation and they shall be array'd like thy Priests with Holiness and shine like Lamps in thy Presence for evermore Amen HElp us O Mighty God of Jacob to sing no Requiems to our Souls or Conditions here 'till we have not only heard of thee with the hearing of the Ear but hearkened unto thee with the attention of the Mind and come unto thee with the obedience of the Will finding out a place in our Affections and Understandings where thou mayest dwell that thou mayest hereafter prepare a