loosed againe as that Cripple when he found the vse of his feet leapt for ioy and glorified God It is one of the workes wherein God declares his soueraine power That hee takes away the speech from the faithfull or from them that speak truth This he doth for two respects somtime for a punishment of their hearers so he threatned to make Ezechiel his tongue cleaue to the roofe of his mouth sometime for a correction to themselues so was Zacharie striken with dumbnesse for his mis-beliefe This should learne vs to be thankfull for the benefite of speech and to vse it in feare and reuerence to the glorie of God VER 14. I haue had as great delight in the way of thy Testimonies as in all riches HEere is a protestation of his great delight which he found in the way of the Testimonies of GOD greater then worldlings can finde in the possession of riches yea of all riches Sunt enim multa diuitiarum genera sed haec omnia complexus Propheta cum diuinis Testimonijs contulit for there are many sorts of riches but the Prophet here comprising them all in one sets them farre inferiour to the Testimonies of God For we are not to thinke here that he makes any equality betweene these two Non quasi pro gratiae qualitate cum spiritualibus comparatur corporalis voluptas sed quasi ad testimonium suauitatis accersitur but to shew the greatnesse of the ioy arising from the Testimonies of God he shewes that it alone surmounts all the pleasures which of any externall thing can arise to worldlings It is a great argument of progresse in Religion when godlinesse becomes a delight Malachie complaines of the carnall Iewes that the seruice of God was a wearinesse to them and alas so is it to many carnall professors who thinke no time long but that which is spent in the exercise of the word and prayer all because they haue not yet learned with Dauid to delight in it All the baites of Sathan whereby he allures men to sinne are pleasure or profit if we be moued with these it is wisedome to be most allured with the greatest pleasure and profit The Apostle sayes Godlinesse is great gaine a godly man is in omnibus diues tanquam omne possidens patrimonium And againe Dauid affirmes that he found vnspeakeable ioy in godlinesse Sith it is so then that the profit or pleasure of other things moues vs to goe after them are we not inexcusable if the profit pleasure of godlinesse moue vs not to embrace it In the way of thy Testimonies The Testimony of God is his word for it testifies his will the way of this Testimony is the practise of his word and doing of that which he hath declared to be his will and wherein he hath promised to shew vs his loue Dauid found not this sweetness in hearing reading and professing the word onely but in practising of it and in very deed the only cause why we finde not the comfort that is in the word of God is that we practise it not by walking in the way thereof It is true at the first it is bitter to nature which loues carnall libertie to render it selfe as captiue to the word Laboriosa virtutis via and much paines must be taken before the heart be subdued but when it is once begunne it renders such ioy as abundantly recompences all the former labour and griefe As in all riches A Commentary to this we haue in the fourth Psalme where he glories that the ioy arising of God his fauourable countenance doth farre surmount al the ioy that worldlings can haue of their best things Worldly riches vexe men to get them and vexe them more how to keepe them but most of all do they vexe when they depart from men vnlookt for as it is sure they are no permanent goods but of a flowing nature like water and in their owne time take wings and flie away and that with so speedy a course that quickly they go out of his sight whom foolishly they delighted before Alienae à nobis sunt diuitiae quia praeter Naturam sunt neque nobiscum nascuntur neque nobiscum transeunt But the word renders ioy in the first seeking of it more ioy in keeping of it most of all in this that it endures and abides for euer The comforts of the world are false comforts they forsake a man when he hath most need of comfort to wit in the houre of death but the word like a faithfull friend lies neerest our heart to comfort it most when all other comforts are farthest from it VER 15. I will meditate in thy precepts and consider thy wayes THese two last verses of this Section present to vs a threefold internall action of Dauid his soule toward the word of God first Meditation secondly Consideration thirdly Delectation euery one of these proceeds from other and mutually strengthen one another Meditation brings the word to the mind Consideration views it looks at length into it wherof is bred Delectation That which comes into the mind word it neuer so good if it be not considered gods as it came leauing neyther instruction nor ioy but being once presented by meditation if it be pondred by consideration then it breeds delectation which is the perfection of godlines in regard of the internal action Thus we see that a godly man is euer fruitfull in good like that tree planted by the riuers of waters For at that same time when his externall good actions cannot be seene he is not without internall good motions breeding good in the root of his affection which shortly brings out good fruit in his action to the glory of God and good of others As meaâ—… reâ—…iued in the stomach profits not if concâ—…ction follow not to turne it into wholsom nourishment so the word receiued by hearing or reading cannot auaile vs if it be not digested by meditation In the lawe beasts that did not chew their Cud were accounted vncleane figuring these to be of all others most vncleane who hauing heard the word are not made cleane by it and all because they digest it not by prayer and meditation to make it a conuenient foode for their famished soules In thy Precepts The minde of man is restless and cannot lie idle As a Mill-stone moued by the wheeles grindes and consumes it owne selfe if ye cast in no conuenient matter whereupon it may worke so the minde of man if good be not furnished vnto it shall worke vpon euill vexing and annoying the owne selfe A meet subiect for meditation to the minde of man is the precepts of the word of God because as they are from God vnto vs so are they for vs and we must be answerable to God for them Earthly Lords in their commandments to their seruants seek their own
persecuted by their tongues not by their hands let vs giue thanks to God who as he commaunded the fire that it could not hurt Daniels companions and bridled the fury of Lions that they could not hurt Daniel himselfe so hee restraines the wicked that they cannot do vnto vs according to the malice of their harts And therefore finding this goodnesse of our God wee should be the more confirmed against the rayling of their tongues Sith the Lord bindes their hands shall wee be mooued at the breath of their mouthes or shal the stroke of their tongues put vs out of patience which preserues peace in our harts But great is our weaknes Dauid suffered this iniurie of Princes and we cannot suffer i◅ of the basest people When shall we be prepared for greater tentations that will not learne to despise the smallest If thou be wearie in running with footmen how shalt thou match thy selfe with horses But thy seruaunt Perceiue heere the armour by which Dauid fights against his enemie Arma iusti quibus omnes adversario◅ū repellit impetus are the word and prayer Hee renders not iniurie for iniurie reproach for reproach It is dangerous to sight against Satan or his instruments with their owne weapons for so they shall easily ouercome vs. Let vs fight with the armour of God the exercises of the word and prayer for a man may peaceably rest in his secret chamber and in these two see the miserable end of all those who are enemies to Gods children for Gods sake VER 24. Thy testimonies are my delight my Counsellers THe other protestation Dauid makes is of the great profit and fruite hee had found in the vvord that it was both a delight to him and a counseller of him Saul had his Nobles and Counsellers by whom he ruled his affaires Dauid protests that he had no other for the men of his counsell but the testimonies of God These are two great benefits which commonly men craue Pleasure to refresh thē Con̄sell to gouerne them Dauid protests hee found them both in the word and sends all other who would haue them to seeke them there where he found them As for ioy and recreation of mind commonly men seeke it in other Cisterns but with no good successe for as a man in a hote Feuer is eased no longer by drinking strong drinke then he is in drinking of it for then it seemes to coole him but incontinent it increaseth his heat so is it with the troubled and heauie hart which seeks comfort in externall things how-euer for a time they seeme to mitigate the heauinesse they doe but increase it Onely solid and permanent comfort must be drawne out of the fountaines of the word of GOD. The other is wisedom which vvithout Gods word can neuer be obtained As Ieremie spake of the wicked in his time They haue reiected the word of God and what wisedome then is in them So is it true of all the wicked The wisedome of this world is but foolishnes Achitophel his end vvith innumerable moe may teach all men that hee shall neuer be found wise who is not godlie The beginning of wisedome is the feare of the Lord. DALETH VER 25. My soule cleaueth to the dust quicken me according to thy word MAny states of life did Dauid change but his hart neuer changed from the Lord the loue of his word In his doubts the word was his counseller in his griefs the word was his comforter therefore was hee not cast downe or overcome vvith griefe In his greatest prosperitie the word was his greater ioy therefore vvas hee not puft vp with pleasure teaching vs that in euery state of life we shall find comfort if we will rule our life by the word In this verse Dauid hath a complaint My soule cleaueth to the dust And a prayer Quicken mee according to thy vvord The prayer beeing vvell considered shall teach vs the meaning of the complaint that it was not as some thinke any hard bodily estate vvhich grieued him but a very sore spirituall oppression as I may call it bearing downe his soule that where he should haue moūted vp toward heauē he was pressed downe to the earth and was so clogged with earthly cogitations or affections or perturbations that hee could not mount vp His particular tentation hee expresseth not for the children of God many times are in that estate that they cannot tell their own griefs and somtime so troubled that it is not expedient albeit they might to expresse them to others And heereof wee learne how that vvhich the worldling counts wisedome to the Christian is folly what is ioy to the one is griefe to the other The ioy of a vvorldling is to cleaue vnto the earth when he gripes it surest hee thinks himselfe happiest for it is his portion to take heed to his worldly affaires and haue his minde vpon them in his estimation is onely wisedom For the Serpents curse is vpon him he creepes on the earth and licks the dust all the daies of his life This is the miserable condition of the vvicked that euen their heauenly soule is become earthly Qui secundum corporis appetentiam vi◅it ca◅ est etiam anima eorum car◅ est as the Lord spake of those who perished in the Deluge that they were but flesh no spirit in them that is no spi◅uall or heauenly motion But the Christian considering that his soule is from aboue sets his affection also on those things which are aboue he delights to haue his cōuersation in heauen and it is a griefe to him when he finds his motions and affections drawne downe and entangled with the earth His life is to cleaue to the Lord but it is death to him when the neck of his soule is bowed downe to the yoke of the vvorld Erecta ad Deum ceruix ◅ugo Christi habilis quae nulla in terrarum illecebras inflexione curuetur regalis Christi turris est The necke of the Spouse of the Lord IESVS is raysed vptoward God meet to receiue the yoke of Christ but wil no way bow for any earthly allurements to beare the yoke of another such a soule is the royall towre of Christ Iesus By this disposition let men try themselues and see of what Spirit they are Againe the vicissitude and change of estates where-vnto the children of God are subiect comes heere to be marked sometime◅ they are borne downe by carnall affections to the earth sometimes raised vp by spirituall desires to the heauen This comes to passe of the battell that is between two irrecōcileable parties the old man the new Nature Grace For as in them who wrestle with any equall strength sometime the one is aboue and sometime the other till at length one be ouercome so is it in this combat In the Christian sometime the power of Nature othertimes
able to doe abundantly aboue all that we can aske or thinke Example hereof we haue in Zaccheus he desired but to see Christ and hee got not onely a sight of him but familiar speech of him yea Christ went to his house and dined with him and made him by grace the childe of Abraham So shall the Lord do to all his children he shall giue them more then eyther they desired or looked for at his hands For the heart cannot vnderstand those things which God hath prepared for them that loue him Thy commandements He saith not I haue done thy commandements but I desire to do them Let this serue as a Commentarie to other places wherein he makes protestation of his begun obedience so gratious is the Lord that in his children he accepts their will for a deed There is no man so wicked but he desires mercie but the godly doe so desire mercy that first they desire the way to mercy They know that without sanctification no man can see the Lord therefore all their care is to purge themselues euen as God is pure as here ye see for this end Dauid prayeth for the grace of obedience It was a preposterous desire of Balaam who wished the death of the righteous and would not liue the life of the righteous no better are the desires of wicked men Quicken me He acknowledgeth that his desires were nothing vnlesse the Lord gaue him life As a false conception which evanisheth and comes not to the birth so is the desire of man not quickned nor continued by the grace of God More of this see ver 149. 159. VAV VER 41. And let thy louing kindnesse come vnto me O Lord and thy saluation according to thy promise OVt of this Psalme we see how feruent and continuall Dauid was in prayer Euery third Verse hee turnes him to prayer No maruell he was inriched with a great measure of spirituall grace for hee sought it diligently Not like the colde professors of our time to whom a colde morning prayer is sufficient for the whole day and of that also oftentimes they are weary before they haue done it A lamentable euill that hauing all good for the seeking yet we should not seeke If we would consider how many sinnes we haue contracted which we must craue to be forgiuen would offer vp but one supplication for euery one of them and againe that albeit all our sinnes vvere presently forgiuen yet hovv readily should we fall into new sinnes if we get no grace daily to reforme vs and thirdly how difficil a thing it is against so many strong enemies as Principalities Powers and spiritual wickednes which with restlesse tentations pursue vs vpon the right hand the left to enter through them all into the kingdome of God and lastly how our time is short and when it is done no more place of supplication will be left vnto vs If all these with many moe wee did consider they would waken in vs a more earnest care to call vpon our God while we haue time This whole section consists of petitions and promises Petitions are two ver 41. 43. Promises are six This among many is a difference betweene godly men and others all men seeke from GOD but the wicked so seeke that they giue him nothing backe againe nor yet wil promise in sinceritie to giue Their prayers must be vnprofitable because they proceed from loue of themselues and not of the Lord. If so be they obtaine that which is for their necessitie they haue no regard to giue to the Lord that which is for his glory but the godly as they seek so they giue praise to God when they haue gotten and returne the vse of things receiued to the glorie of God who gaue them They loue not themselues for themselues but for the Lord vvhat they seeke from him they seeke it for this end that they may be the more able to serue him Let vs take heed vnto it because this is a cleere token whereby such as are truly religious are distinguished from counterfet dissemblers Let thy louing kindnes c. In his first prayer he ioynes these two Gods louing kindnes and his saluation and so it is they goe together inseparably As for the kindnes of man thou maist haue it and not be the better for it the friend may loue his friend and not be able to help him yea the Father may looke with compassion vpon his child in danger and not be able to relieue him but the kindnes of the Lord euer works saluation he can doe what he will and none is able to resist him All creatures in heauen earth are vnder his commaund health sicknes life death heauen and hell for he hath the keyes of both Let vs seek his fauour that we may be saued let vs feele his loue and none euill present nor to come temporall nor eternall shall make vs afraid According to thy promise As Dauid seekes his comfort in GOD onely so seekes hee it for Gods sake alleaging nothing in himselfe for which hee should obtaine it but that the Lord as of his mercie hee had promised so of his truth hee vvould performe And this is first for Papists who either doe seeke from others beside the Lord or if they seek from him they seeke for others sake then for his founding their prayers vpō the merits of others not vpon the mercie of God and merits of Christ onelie And next it giues this vvarning vnto all men that seeing the chiefest argument vvee can vse in prayer to mooue the Lord to pittie is his own promise vvee should remember alwaie to make conscience of our promise of seruice and obedience vvhich vve haue made to the Lord otherwise vvee can not vvith boldnesse seeke comfort in that promise which God hath made vnto vs. VER 42. So shall I make aunswer to my blasphemers for I trust in thy word SEe what great effects the sense of Gods louing kindnes works in the harts of his children hee feares no malice nor power of man vvho finds the Lord kind and mercifull to him This works gloriation against euill men a bold confession before all men as after followes and toward God an holy conuersation in all his obedience to the law For I trust Confidence in the promises of Gods word is the anchor of the soule vvhich holdeth it fast that it abide stable not driuen to and fro with the wind of tentations nay not with the feares terrors of death I know whom I haue belieued VER 43. And take not the word of truth vtterly out of my mouth for I wait for thy iudgements BY the word of truth Euthymius vnderstands the grace of prophecie by which Dauid comforted his owne hart and was able to speake to the edification of others and to stop the mouthes of his Aduersaries This grace
your Master My Lord at yee haue learned to serue most faithfully a King on earth and for good seruice haue receiued the recompence of his Princely liberality so thinke with your selfe how greatly ye shall be conuinced if ye doe not learne to serue the King of heauen whose wage to his seruants doth as farre exceed any thing yee haue as the heauens are aboue the earth The third is Ye are now striken in yeares your Almond tree is flourished these fiftie and eight yeares hath God spared you and not taken you away in your ignorances and sinnes as he hath done many others both at your right hand and at the left My Lord the patience of God is called long but his mercy euerlasting the vse of his mercy toward his owne is to beare with them till they be deliuered into the hands of his mercie then are they out of all danger for his mercy endures for euer and whom once he receiues he neuer casts away again But wo is to the wicked for they abuse Gods patience to fulfill the measure of their iniquity heaping vp wrath to themselues by the multiplication of sinnes as it were in a treasure against the day of wrath Thus as the Fish of Iorden goe sprinkling and playing in the streame thereof till at length they fall into the Loch or salt Sea of Sodome where they die so are all the wicked abusing Gods patience carried on by their deceitfull pleasures of sin to a miserable end For where in their young yeares they will not repent in their olde age custome of sinne so confirmes them in euill that they cannot repent no more then a Leopard can change his spots or a Blacke Moore his colour Of this your ◅may perceiue that God his long pattence whereby he spares a man is not a blessing if mercy to pardon sins past and grace to renne for the time to come doe not follow it yea rather quo diutius expectat districtius iudicabit the longer he tarie and spare the sharper will he strike when he comes Let this waken in your L. a care to redeeme the time and a resolution to sacrifice the residue of your few yeares vnto the Lord your God For which cause it shall not be vnprofitable your L. remember these counsels first that ye examine diligently your by-gon life No man knowes the things of a man but the spirit of a man this will tell you more of your selfe then all the world can tell you In this examination spare not your selfe if you would haue God to spare you iudge your selfe accuse your selfe correct your selfe and GOD shall not iudge you Remember when yee come to iudgement there will be none to stand against you if it be not your owne sinnes so long therfore as you haue time fall vpon them fight with them and doe all that ye can to vndoe them Where if your L. would know how is it that a man may vndoe the euill which he hath done The answer is that two manner of waies ye may doe it first if with good Ezechia ye recount your by-gon sinnes in the bitternesse of your heart mourning for them euer when ye thinke vpon them and with the eyes of faith looke to him who being righteous died for our sinnes sending vp strong supplications to God that by the merit of Christs death your sinnes may be buried in the graue and haue neuer place to stand against you in iudgement If they be such as may be m◅nded by restitution faile not to do it after the manner of good Zaccheus if they be not of that nature mend them by doing the contrarie good This is that holie reuenge which the Apostle commends as a not able effect of repentance That we should be reuenged of our by-gon euils by doing the good which we know is most contrarie vnto them This being done for annulling of your by-gon sinnes let your next care be to rectifie your life for the time to come Salomon saies The end of a thing is better thē the beginning thereof His meaning is of good things for euill men waxe worse and worse but an elect man by grace makes his latter end better then his beginning and they who are planted in the Courts of the Lords house flourish and bring forth fruit euen in their olde daies And here againe I recommend to your L. a three fold duetie First remember how manie are the obligation vvherein ye stand bound to the Lord your God thinke vppon that question of godlie Dauid What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me Take an answer for it out of these vvords of Salomon My sonne giue me thine heart Euerie morning offer vnto the Lord Primitias cordis oris tui the first fruits of your heart and mouth thinke vpon nothing before yee thinke on him speake of nothing till first yee speake vnto him be feruent and continuall in prayer Si non semper precamur semper debemus habere paratum precantis affectu◅ ◅f we be not alway praying we should alway haue readie a heart disposed to pray The vessels of mercy should smell of mercie and the Temples of God should neuer want the sacrifices of God giue to the Lord both the thankes and the seruice of all the good ye haue receiued from him Many giue him verball thankes for his benefites acknowledging themselues debitors to him for the good which they haue who will not serue him with his owne benefites Let these men know that their thanks are not acceptable to him The second point of your care I would haue entended to the poore and needy as ye haue receiued mercy from God or looke to get it shew mercy for Gods sake to such as are vnder you Salomon saith The mercies of the wicked are crueltie but the mercies of a righteous man extend euen toward his beast how much more then will he be mercifull to his Christian brother Remember what comfort Iob found in the day of his trouble arising from this That he restrained not the poore of their desire and caused not the eyes of the widdow to faile that he did not eate his morsels alone but the fatherlesse eat thereof that he saw none perish for want of clothing nor suffered the poore to be without a couering that the loynes of the poore blessed him because hee was warmed with the fleece of his sheepe It is a great grace where a man not onely sets his owne heart to praise God but hyreth the heart and tongue of others to praise God with him and for him therfore To do good and to distribute forget not for with such sacrifices God is pleased And with these thinke it a peece of your honour to honor the seruants of the Lord. Beautifull saith Esay are the feet of those who bring the glad tidings of peace If their feet be beautifull what should their face be Looke not to their weakenesse but for their Master and their
turne asâ—…e after their crooked wayes So that in the life of euery man there are two motions courses the one seene which is common to good and euill the other more secret the seene course is the way of a man from the wombe to the graue this is common and as Ioshua calles it The way of all flesh this is so sensible that all men perceiue it the growing of a man from infancie to child hood from child-hood to young age from young age to olde age the other I said is more secret wherein some by the crooked wayes of sinne walke on vnto perdition others by the way of holinesse to glorification And this way I call more secret because the course of wicked men is oft-times couered with hypocrisie the course againe of godly men obscured by calumnie both of them being esteemed among men the one for good the other for euill that which indeed they are not Who walke in the Law of the Lord. What before he spake obscurely hee now deliuers more plainly namely that they who walke in the Law of the Lord are vpright in way The Lawe of God is the rule of our life that narrow rodde within the limits whereof we should alway containe our selues neyther declining to the right hand nor to the left but euer proceeding by this one rule we should forget that which is behind and endeuour our selues to that which is before and truely seeing by the lawe onely our actions will be iudged wisedome requires that by the lawe onely our actions should be squared VER 2. Blessed are they who keepe his testimomonies and seeke him with their whole heart EVery man desires to be blessed euen they who had but the light of nature sought after it but could not find it here the Lord who in the last day will pronounce some to bee blessed and some to be cursed dooth now tell vs who they are What can comfort them to whom the Lord shall say Depart from me ye cursed Where away shall they goe whom the Lord shall command to depart from him And what greater ioy can com to a man then to heare the Iudge of all saying vnto him Come to me ye blessed Oh that we were wise in time to thinke of this that so we might endeuour to becom such men as to whom God in his word hath promised the blessing The doubling of the sentence Blessed blessed in the first verse and second is to let vs see the certainty of the blessing belonging to the godly The word of God is as true in it selfe when it is once spoken as when it is many times repeated the repetition of it is for confirmation of our weake faith That which Isaac spake of Iacob I haue blessed him and he shall be blessed is the most sure decree of God vpon all his childen Sathan would faine curse Israel by the mouth of such as Balaam was but he shall not be able to curse because God hath blessed Keepe his Testimonie The word of God is called his Testimony not onely because it testifies his will concerning his seruice but also his fauour and good wil concerning his own in Christ Iesus If the word of God were no more but a Law yet were we bound to obey it because we are his creatures but sith it is also a Testimony of his loue wherein as a father he witnesseth his fauour toward his children we are twise inexcusable if most ioyfully we doe not embrace it And againe sith the word is Gods Testimony let vs take heed what it testifies vnto vs. Achab complained to Iosaphat on Michaiah that he neuer prophecied good things vnto him but the blame was in Achab himselfe Are not my words saith the Lord good vnto him that walkes vprightly If the word of the Lord witnesse no good vnto vs it is because we are not good our selues Vtilis enim aduersarius est it is enemy to none but such as are enemies to themselues Let vs therefore take heed vnto it for if the word condemne vs then our conscience and the Lorde who is greater then them both will much more condemne vs but if we repent of our sinnes and continue in mourning seeking mercy amend our liues then shall the word bring vnto vs the glad tidings of peace yea not onely shall the word without but the spirit also testifie to our conscience within that our sinnes are forgiuen vs. Now as concerning the keeping of Gods Testimonies the children of God do it in minde in affection in action In mind as Mary laid vp the words of the Angell in her heart and Dauid laid vp the promises of God in his hart that he should not sin against the Lord in affection they haue euer a godly desire and a purpose to practise it ioyfull when they doe the commandements of God sorrowfull when they transgresse them in action they haue a begun obedience which God at length shall perfite in them for The righteousnesse of the Law shall be fulfilled in vs also And seeke him with their whole heart The seeking of God so often recommended in holy Scripture imports that naturally men are strangers from God diuided from him by sinne for what needeth a man to seeke that which he hath not lost This is man his most miserable condition by nature he hath lost the familiar presence of his God â—…or lo they that withdraw themselues from thee shall perish thou destrâ—…yest all them that goe a whooring from thee What shall we do to remedie it but practise that which there Dauid protests hee had concluded with himselfe As for me it is good for me to draw neere vnto God we lost him by sinne let vs seeke him by grace we went a whooring from him by our iniquity let vs returne vnto him by repentance other-way as he that will hide himselfe from the Sunne empaires not the light thereof hee may well shut himselfe in miserable darkenesse so he that departs from the Lord shall derogate nothing to his all-sufficient Maiesty hee may well plunge himselfe in the bottomlesse pit of remedilesse misery But this euill the losse of Gods familiar presence is not felt by carnall men so long as they enioy the comfort of his creatures and therefore is it that where they can seeke any other thing they want with solicitude and care eyther else they seeke him not at all or then seeke him not as they should As he that seekes a jewell which he hath lost lookes still to see it with so earnest an attention that what â—…uer other thing is in his way he sees it not casting all other things out of his minde Vnum illud intendit quod solum requirit so is it with him that seekes the Lorde Mundana omnia pertransieâ—…s illum solum inquirit passing by all other things in the world he makes inquisition for God only
And truely if it be the Lord whom we seeke it will appeare by this no other thing shall content vs but still we will goe on seeking himselfe till we finde himselfe But we must remember sixe conditions required in them who would seeke the Lord rightly First we must seeke him in Christ the Mediatour No man can come to the Father but by the Son and He is able also perfectly to saue all that come vnto God by him And this excludes Papists who content them not with the Mediatour from the right seeking of God Secondly we must seeke him in truth for God is a God of truth he will be worshipped in spirit and truth for God is a Spirit and loueth truth in the inward affections And this is the condition which here is required Blessed are they who seeke him with their whole heart And this excludes hypocrits Thirdly we must seek him in holiness Let euery one that calles on the name of the Lord depart from iniquity and again saith the Apostle Follow peace and sanctification without which no man can see the Lord. And Whosoeuer hath this hope in himselfe namely that he shall see God as he is purgeth himselfe euen as he is pure And this condition excludes from seeking of God all Atheists vncleane vnpeniâ—…ent persons Fourthly we must seeke him aboue all things and for himselfe not as the carnall Iewes did with whom the Lord was angry They howle vpon me for wine and oyle It is a great dishonouring of God when any thing is sought from him more then himself or not for himself Quisquis à deo praeter deum quaerit non castè deum quaerit as if his creatures serued not to this end principally to lead vs vnto himselfe or among them all there were any thing more precious then himselfe and this excludes mercenaries and worldlings Fiftly we must seek him by the light of his own word the Gentiles sought to finde him by the light of nature but they became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish heart being full of darknes could neuer find him As the Sun without the light of it selfe cannot be knowne so God without his owne light which shines in his word cannot be known No man hath seene God at any time the Sonne who hath come from the bosome of the Father he hath declared him and the direction of the Sonne is Search the Scriptures And this excludes all those children of darkenesse who disdayning the light of the word depend vpon phantasies or presumptions of their owne Last of all we must seeke him diligently and with perseuerance neuer resting till we finde him with the Spouse in the Canticles We must not seeke him by startings casting off all caâ—…e when we finde him not at the first but without wearying wee must wait vpon him They that looke vnto him that is constantly attend vpon him their faces shall not bee ashamed And this excludes carelesse Christians and temporizers who seeke him by starts but continue not VER 3. Surely they worke none iniquity that walke in his wayes THis Verse containes a commendation of the word of God from this notable fruit and effect thereof that they who keepe it are kept by it from iniquity and so made partakers by it of the third degree of man his felicity which is sanctification If it be demaunded here How is it that they who walke in Gods wayes worke none iniquitie Is there any man who liues and sinnes not And if they be not without sinne How then are they to be blessed The answere is as the Apostle sayes of our knowledge Wee knowe but in a part so is it true of our felicity on earth wee are blessed but in a part It is the happinesse of Angels that they neuer sinned it is the happinesse of triumphant Saints that albeit they haue beene sinners yet now they sinne no more but the happinesse of Saints militant is that our sinnes are forgiuen vs and that albeit sinne remaine in vs yet it raignes not ouer vs it is done in vs but not by our allowance I doe the euill which I would not not I but sinne that dwels in me Secondly to the working of iniquity these three things must concurre first a purpose to do it next a delight in doing it thirdly a continuance in it which three in Gods children neuer concurre for in sinnes done in them by the old man the new man makes his exceptions and protestations against them It is not I sayes hee and so farre is hee from delighting in them that rather his soule is grieued with them euen as Lot dwelling among the Sodomites was vexed by hearing and seeing their vnrighteous deeds In a word the children of GOD are rather sufferers of sinne against their willes then actors of it with their willes like men spiritually oppressed by the power of their enemie for which they sigh and crie vnto God Miserable man that I am who will deliuer mee from this bodie of Death And in this sense it is that the Apostle saith Hee who is borne of GOD sinneth not In his wayes The course of mans life ordered according to the worde of the Lorde is called the way of GOD first because it pleaseth him and next because it leades vs vnto him There are many desirous to be where the Lord is that shall neuer com there all because they delight not in the way that leads vnto him blessed are they who walke in this vvay Confirme mine heart ô GOD that I may keep it vnto the end VER 4. Thou hast commanded to keepe thy precepts diligently AL the sinnes vvhich in this age men commit against the Lord proceed eyther from rebellion or at least from obliuion of his commaundements for now in this great light all excuse of ignorance is taken away None of the former two are good but of the two rebellion is the vvorst Gods children abhorre it as a diuelish euill to rebell against God how-euer by obliuion many times they fall both in sinnes of omission and commission so long as they remember what God hath commanded to be done and what reasons they haue to obey him they are not easily snared but beeing once preuented by obliuion they are easily caried vnto transgression It is good therefore to keep in our hearts with Dauid this short remedy against obliuion Thou hast commaunded to keepe thy precepts diligently As the eyes of seruants looke vnto the hand of their Masters so should our eyes vvait vpon the Lord our GOD euer looking to that way vvhere-vnto his countenaunce â—…oth direct vs. Diligently In worldly affaires no weighty thing can be done without diligence farre lesse in spirituall Cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lord negligently For three causes should we keepe the commandements of the Lord with diligence first because
it is good in respect of the great benefits vvee receiue by it nothing thereby accrues to the Lord all the vantage is our owne Gratiarum actio est ad plus dandum in vitatio With an vpright heart Many musicall instruments had they vnder the law where-with they praysed God as ye may see in the last Psalm but such as were spirituall among them knew that all these availed nothing vnlesse the hart had been well tuned and prepared This is to make them ashamed who now in a greater light come to praise GOD but forget their hart behind them or else bring it very euill tuned full of so many discordant desires that they cannot as they are commaunded make melody to the Lord in their harts When I shall learne But when saies Dauid he will be thankfull euen when GOD shall learne him both the matter and the grace of thankfulnesse is from God As he did with Abraham he commaunded him to worship and gaue him the sacrifice so doth he with all his children for he giues not onely good things for vvhich they should thanke him but in like manner grace by which they are able to thanke him VER 8. I will keepe thy Statutes forsake me not ouer-long THis verse containes a protestation that he was resolued to keepe the Lords Statutes which because he knewe of himselfe he was not able to accomplish with this protestation of his purpose he ioynes a prayer wherin he craues to be assisted and not forsaken of the Lord. It is a great helpe to godlinesse to resolue that we will liue godly for that which is not concluded how shall it be performed or what hope is there we should attaine to the end that is to the perfection of pietie when we are carelesse of the beginnings thereof which are purposes intentions and resolutions that wee will be godly Where when of weakenesse we faile in following foorth our resolution it shall be well done againe to renew it for by often renewing of our resolution to doe any good wee become the stronger to accomplish it Forsake me not ouer-long It is a feareful thing to be vtterly and finally forsaken of the Lord as Iudas was who therefore Parata inimico praeda factus est For man left vtterly to himselfe becomes a prey to the enemy and can no more stand by himselfe then a staffe not sustained by the hand of man and therefore doth Dauid pray that the Lord would not forsake him And yet because he knew that the Lord exercises his deerest children with temporall desertions forsaking them for a time and withdrawing his helping hand from them ex eo commodū ipsorum procurans as is euident in Peter vvho was left for a time to himselfe that the proofe of his owne weaknes might make him more humble and lesse confident in himselfe therefore he craues not simply to be freed of desertion but that if the Lord will desert him to try him or to humble him he would not desert him ouerlong Such as know what help and comfort the presence of the Lord in mercy brings to his childrē they think a short time of his absence a very long time Absalom spake out of his policie that it was better for him to die then liue and not see his Fathers face but in truth it is more bitter then death to the godly to liue in the body and not be refreshed with the fauourable beames of the countenance of God and therfore they preuent the desertion with prayer as heere Dauid doth Forsake me not ouer-long And when they are exercised with it al other comforts are loathsome to them they sigh and cry continually How long ô Lord how long Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer c. They run with the Spouse in the Canticles to fro seeking him and with the mourning Maries they shed teares vncessantly till they find him againe and hee shew his fauorable face vnto them BETH VER 9. Where-with shall a young man redresse his way in taking heede thereto according to thy vvord SAint Iames compares the word of God to a glasse whereinto hee vvho lookes rightly may see two images the image of God to the which wee should be conformable and our owne naturall image What we are by nature and how farre altered from that first exemplar of God his image wherevnto we were created may be euident to any man that vvill consider himselfe in the glasse of the word and that especially will try himselfe by this Psalme When we read it and dare not in a good conscience say that for our selues which Dauid protests of himselfe let vs thereby knowe how far we are from that which we should be and studie to amend it As the first section marked with the letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 containes eight verses euerie one of them beginning vvith that letter so the eight verses of this second section begin all with this letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For heere is deliuered vnto vs an A. B. C. of godlinesse consisting of 22. letters and eight times in euery letter is the vvord of GOD commended to vs to teach vs that as words and sentences cannot be without letters so no good in any religious dutie can be performed without the word of God This ninth verse containes a commendation of the vvord from the profitable effect thereof and it is proposed by way of a Dialogue a question asked and an answer giuen Dauid beeing a young man in the Court of Saul and refrained from that licentious conuersation whereinto others deborred now he deliuers that for the edification of others which hee had learned by experience had done good to himselfe The vvord is needfull for all sorts of men but specially for young men because this age of al other is most subiect to the dangerous disease of inordinate lusts Vicina lapsibus est adolescentia And therefore as they who are sicke of the Feuer haue need of cooling things and young vndaunted colts haue need of the stronger bits so is the furie of youth to be tempered and bridled by the word Iuuentut is assecla est stultitia stultitia autem ad exitium ducit the Page of youth is foolishnesse and foolishnesse if it be not cured leades to destruction Foolishnes said Salomon is bound in the hart of a child but the rodde of correction will driue it away And what better correction can be to cure it then the wholsome information of the word of GOD this is the yoke which is good for a man to beare in his youth But alas it is lamentable that no age doth so much despise the word as this which most stands in need of it It is now a rare thing to find among young men a Ioseph or a Samuel where they should liue as Nazarits consecrate to the Lord they are rather like men who haue vowed and
dedicated themselues vnto Sathan As the sonnes of Eli despised the rebuke of their father so young men now for the most part are impatient of the rebukes of the word contemning the medicine which Dauid by experience found most effectuall to cure the disordered affections of youth Among those sacrifices where-with God was honored in the law he required their first fruits to be consecrate to him eares of corne dryed by the fire and wheat beaten out of the green eares teaching vs to honour the Lord not onely with the first fruits of our increase but of our selues also It is an euill diuision that is made by many who giue their young age to Satan by the seruice of sin and behight their old age to the Lord for so they incurre that curse of Malachie Cursed be hee that hath a strong beast in his slocke and vowes and sacrificeth a corrupt thing vnto the Lord. The feruency strength of youth should be imploied not in the satisfaction of their lusts but in the seruice of their God in fighting against Sathan This is it which that youngest Disciple of our Lord requires of young men that hauing the Word of God abiding in them they may be strong to ouercom the wicked not louing the world nor things that are in the world such as lust of the flesh lust of the eyes and pride of life These are not of the Father but of the world and the world passeth away and the lust therof but he that fulfils the word of God abides for euer But how-euer mention be made here of young men only yet as no age is without the owne tentations and blemishes so haue they all need to take heed to the word that they may learne to redresle their wayes It is a double shame and sinne for an old man to be of an vncleane life or ignorant of the word Such as had liued long without making progresse in knowledge and godlinesse were properly called by Philo Longaeui pueri The neerer we drawe vnto Canaan the further should we be from the delights of Egypt otherwise it shall come to passe in God his righteous iudgements that when in regard of thy long iourney thou art at the very borders of Canaan thou shouldest be put further backe againe with these carnall Israelites yea neuer suffered to enter into it O miserable condition of that man whose body is declyning to the graue but his spirit hath not learned to ascend to him that gaue it he comes as I said to the border of Cana◅n to the very point of time wherein Gods children make their happy transmigration but by reason of his sinnes he is thrust backe againe when he should die and ascend to the blessed fellowship of God the Father of light he dies and descends to the pit of vtter darkenesse where is weeping and gnashing of teeth Now the maner of the answer which he makes to his former Interrogatiue commends the certainty of his counsell for he answers by turning his speech to the Lord from whom he had obtained by praier this knowledge How to gouern his life Vt sic non praesumptionis humanae sed dignationis diuinae remedium crederetur that so it might be knowne vnto others that this remedy came not from humane presumption but diuine reuelation VER 10. With mine whole hart haue I sought thee let me not wander from thy Commandements WHat Dauid deliuered by way of instruction vnto other yong men he now shewes that he practised himselfe for this Verse contaynes a protestation of that earnest desire hee had to haue his life ordered by the written worde of God That hee sayes I haue sought thee with my whole heart imports no presumptuous boasting of his owne perfection but rather a sense and feeling of his owne wants which made him the more earnestly to seek for seeking is of those things which a man wants faine would haue And where he saith he sought the Lord with his whole hart he speakes it by comparison Ad differentiam eorum qui Deum non toto corde quaerunt sed illud in curas seculares et concupiscentias absurdas partiuntur Let me not wander As our first calling so our cōtinuing in the state of grace is of the Lord for hee is both the author and finisher of our faith Customablie in holy Scripture elect men are called the Sheepe of Christ to tell vs that all our welfare consists in the prouident care of our Pastor who first must keepe vs that we wander not and next when of infirmitie vvee wander must reduce and bring vs home againe VER 11. I haue hid thy promises in mine heart that I might not sinne against thee IT is not Dauids meaning that hee had hid the talent vvhich hee receiued from the Lord after the manner of that vnprofitable seruaunt for that he did put his talent to the vttermost profit for the edification of others he witnesseth both by this Psalme and many other specially Psal. 40. I haue declared thy righteousnesse vnto the great Congregation lo I will not refraine my lippes O Lorde thou knowest I haue not hid thy righteousnesse within my heart but I haue declared thy truth and thy saluation I haue not concealed thy mercy and truth from the great Congregation What is this then Dauid affirmes that he hath not hid Gods righteousnesse within his heart Here he protests that hee hid Gods promises in his heart Surely here is no contradiction for in the one he shewes how his first care was to comfort and confirme himselfe by the promises of GOD and next to benefite others And truely he that doth not first edifie his owne heart in the assurance of Gods mercy can neuer be a meet instrument to declare the mercies of God vnto others There is great difference betweene Christians and Worldlings The Worldling hath his Treasures and Iewels without him the Christian hath them within Neyther indeede is there any recepracle wherein to receiue and keepe the word of consolation but the heart onely If thou haue it in thy mouth onely it shall be taken from thee if thou haue it in thy Booke onely thou shalt misse it when thou hast most to doe with it but if thou lay it vp in thy heart as Marie did the wordes of the Angel no enemie shall euer be able to take it from thee and thou shalt finde it a comfortable treasure in time of thy need They who possesse earthly riches expose them not to the eyes and hands of euery one they locke them vp in their surest places to conserue them from theeues and robbers it is euen so here with holy Dauid he knew no good spirituall can be possessed here in this earth without temptation That subtill Serpent who stole from our first parents the glorious Image of God wherein consisted their originall felicity and happinesse doth
yet enuy and rage when he sees the children of Adam restored to the possession of any spirituall graces and therefore Dauid like a wise man Abscondit illas in animo suo ne eas per inanem gloriam aut incuriam animarum depraedatores furentur This one example may condemne the folly of worldlings the smallest jewell they haue yea the Charter of their smallest possessions they can hide well enough and lay it vp sure from them who would defraude them of it but as for the promises of God which are the Charters of our heauenly inheritance they neglect them altogether For alas how many be there who affirm in word that heauenly inheritance to be theirs who if they be examined vpon their warrants cannot bring out of the treasure of their heart so much as one promise of God whereby it is made sure vnto them That I might not sinne Among many excellent vertues of the word of GOD this is one that if we keepe it in our heart it keepes vs from sinne which is against God and against ourselues We may marke it by experience that the word is first stollen eyther out of the minde of man and the remembrance of it is away or at least out of the affection of man so that the reuerence of it is gone before that a man can be drawne to the committing of a sinne So long as Euah kept by faith the word of the Lord she resisted Sathan but from the time she doubted of that which God made most certaine by his word incontinent she was snared VER 12. Blessed art thou O Lorde teach me thy Statutes THE soule of a man truely godly when he commeth to seeke God findes in himselfe so manifolde wants and in the Lord so plentifull mercies that he can neuer be satiate with seeking till he be filled and therefore is it that hauing sought much yea and gotten much yet he seekes more as through all this Psalme we may see Dauid can make no end of prayer and this may make vs ashamed of our cold faint and feeble prayers This Verse containes a prayer with a reason of the prayer The prayer is Teach me thy Statutes the reason mouing him to seeke this ariseth of a consideration of that infinite good which is in GOD. He is a blessed GOD the Fountaine of all felicitie without whom no welfare nor happinesse can bee to the creature And for this cause Dauid earnestly desiring to be in fellowship and communion with GOD which hee knowes none can attaine vnto vnlesse he be taught of GOD to know Gods way and walke in it therefore I say prayeth he the more earnestly that the Lord would teach him his Statutes Oh that we also could wisely consider this that our felicity stands in a fellowshippe with GOD. This meditation would weaken or diminish in vs those vnquiet and fruitlesse cares wee haue to enioy the creature for alas man seekes the creatures as if his life and happinesse stood in them but is negligent in the seeking of the Lord and all because he knowes not that his blessednesse stands in a communion with the blessed God Teach mee Dauid wanted not Prophets such as Nathan and Gad and Leuits his ordinary Doctors to teach him but he knew all these were nothing vnless he were taught of God Man his teaching if there be no more cannot remedy the ignorance of the minde farre lesse the corruption of the heart Pauls planting Apollo his watering is nothing if God worke not the increase and therefore Dauid so vses the one as knowing it could not profit without the other Hac à Domino quaerit discere quae homines docere non poterant If this were practised now to ioyne prayer with hearing that when wee offer our selues to be taught of men we would there with send vp prayer to God before preaching in time of preaching and after preaching we would soone proue more learned and religious then we are Againe Dauid was a Prophet himselfe and a man of great knowledge and yet often craues he that God would teach him more Farre was he from the presumption of this age which procures the perdition of many with whom if ye speake concerning their knowledge ye shal heare nothing but that they know their God their dutie their conscience and all they will seeme ignorant of nothing though indeed they doe nothing aright When they heare so excellent a Prophet so desirous of further knowledge and so desirous to be taught let them be ashamed to boast of their knowledge Vaemiserae huic generationi cui sufficere videtur sua insufficientia VER 13. With my lips haue I declared all the iudgements of thy mouth HEere is a protestation of the thankefull vse he had made of the benefits of God already receiued he had tolde vnto others what God had done to his soule he had not kept close God his louing kindnes And truly this is a strong reason to backe our prayers vnto God when we dare say out of a good conscience that the benefits which we haue receiued already we haue vsed them to the glory of him who gaue them But here it may be demaunded seeing the Psalmist sayes that the iudgements of God are as a great deep and the Apostle sayes that they are vnsearchable How saith he now that he hath declared all the iudgements of God To this we answer Non impugnat se velut contrarijs Scriptura venerabilis and therfore we must here make a distinction Sunt iudicia occulta quae Deus â—…obis non patesecit iudicia oris quae annuntiauit per os Prophetarum loquutus est there are secret iudgements and these Dauid leaues to the Lord there are againe the iudgements of his mouth which God hath declared and reuealed himselfe by the mouth of his seruants the Prophets And of these Dauid speakes here I haue declared all the iudgements of thy mouth So then here Dauid protests that what the Lord taught him he also taught others Some will teach who themselues are not taught of God these are in the Church non Conchae sed Canales Others what they haue learned of God declare not vnto others these are guilty of hiding of the Talent they haue receiued from the Lord. With my lips The tongue is a most excellent member of the body being well vsed to the glory of God and edification of others and yet it cannot pronounce without helpe of the lippes The Lord hath made the bodie of man with such maruellous wisedome that no member in it can say to another I haue no neede of thee but such is man his dulnesse that he obserues not how stedable vnto him the smallest member in the body is till it be taken from him If our lips were clasped for a time and our tongue enclosed we would esteeme it a great mercy to haue it
aduantage it is not so with the Lord our God all his commandements are for the vantage and benefite of his seruants Nihil iubet quod sibi profit May a man be profitable vnto God Is it any thing to the Almighty that thou art righteous Or is it profitable to him that thou makest thy wayes vpright yet are we bound to obey and we must be countable for them and therefore should they neuer goe out of our mind And consider thy wayes Dauid his second internall action concerning the word is Consideration where marke well how by a most proper speech he calles the word of God the way of God partly because by it God comes neere vnto men reuealing himselfe to them who otherwayes could not be knowne of them for he dwels in light inaccessible and partly because the word is the way which leades men to God So then because by it God commeth downe to men and by it men go vp vnto God and know how to get accesse to him therefore is his word called his way Of Consideration see Ver. 59. VER 16. I will delight in thy Statutes and will not forget thy word HEe protested before that he had great delight in the Testimonies of God now he sayth he will still delight in them A man truely godly the more good he doth the more he desireth delights and resolues to do Temporizers on the contrary who haue but a shew of godlines the loue of it is not rooted in their hart how soon are they weary of wel-doing If they haue done any small external duty of religiō they rest as if they were fully sanctified there needed no more good to be done by thē True Religion is known by hungring and thirsting after righteousnesse by perseuerance in wel-doing and an earnest desire to do more But to this he addes that he will not forget the word The graces of the Spirit do euery one fortifie and strengthen another for ye see Meditation helps Consideration who can consider of that whereof he thinkes not Consideration againe breedes Delectation and as here ye see Delectation strengthens Memory because he delights in the worde hee will not forget the worde and Memory againe renewes Meditation Thus euery grace of the Spirit helpes another and by the contrary one of them neglected workes a wonderfull decay of the remnant Faile in Loue or in Patience c. Praier decayes faile in Prayer all decayes We haue therefore so much the more carefully to eschue the neglect of any one grace because in the losing of one we lose many and if we want grace we are altogether inexcusable because if we haue a care to keepe any one principall grace one shall keepe many graces vnto vs. GIMEL VER 17. Be beneficiall vnto thy seruant that I may liue and keepe thy word IN the end of the former Section Dauid had protestations now in the beginning of this he hath prayers In his protestations he acknowledgeth the beginnings which by grace he had made in godlinesse to the praise and glory of God in the prayers he acknowledgeth his wants that he was farre from that which he should be and therfore still beseecheth the Lord to bring forward to perfection that which he had begun in him If ye marke the course of this Psalme ye shall see Dauid cannot long abide in any purpose without prayer he learned by experience that prayer is the life of the soule No more can the Soule liue without prayer then the Body can without breathing and as Samsons strength was in his haire so a Christians strength is in the grace of prayer If this be taken from vs we soone become a prey to the spirituall Philistims Now the first thing he craues as a speciall benefite is that hee may liue and keep the word of God Many benefits had the Lord bestowed vppon him of a Shepheard he made him a King to them all he seeks this benefit grace so to liue that he might keepe the word of the Lord he knew that without this all other benefits are nothing and so doe all Gods children illuminate with the light of God if they were preferred to be Monarches of the world They count more of this To be Christians wanting earthly Kingdoms then To be Kings wanting Christianity As good Constantine albeit he knew he was obliged to the Lord for making him an Emperor yet much more bound to his mercie for making him a Christian. And indeede this life without the other grace though it were seconded with the highest honour and wealth that euer befell to any man in his life what is it Not an Introduction onely to eternall death but a procuring and iust deseruing of it Thy seruant That hee stiles himselfe so frequently the seruant of GOD notes in him tvvo things first a reuerent estimation hee had of his GOD in that hee accounts it more honourable to bee called the seruant of God who was aboue him then the King of a mightie auncient and most famous people that vvere vnder him And indeede sith the Angels are styled his ministers shall man thinke it a shame to serue him with them and especially sith he of his goodnes hath made them our seruants Ministring spirits to vs Should we not ioyfully serue him who hath made all his creatures to serue vs and exempted vs from the seruice of all other and hath onely bound vs to serue himselfe That I may liue Dauid ioynes heere two together which whosoeuer disioynes cannot be blessed He desires to liue but so to liue that he may keep Gods word To a reprobate man who liues a rebel to his Maker it had bin good as our Sauiour said of Iudas that he had neuer been borne that the knees had not preuented him or that incontinent after his birth he had been buried The shorter his life is the fewer are his sinnes and the smaller his iudgements But to an elect man life is a great benefit for by it he goes from election to glorification by the way of sanctification The longer he liues the more good he doth to the glory of God the edification of others and confirmation of his owne saluation making it sure to himselfe by wrestling and victory in tentations and perseuerance in well dooing Without grace this life is but a death so the Spirit of God accounts of it and therefore giues to most liuely naturall men the name of dead men Omnia hic plena mortis sunt By the law if a liuing man had touched the dead hee was defiled and wee beside that wee carry death in our selues where can we go and not touch the dead Great need therfore haue wee with Dauid earnestly to seek this grace that we may liue keeping the word of God aunswering that commandement of our lord Relinque mortuos and of his Apostle Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead For as
to thē who loue to liue in the body for no other end but that they may enioy carnall pleasures in the body no tongue can expresse their miserie To a godly man sin makes his life bitter so the Apostle protested O miserable man who shal deliuer me from this body of death And if they loue to liue it is that they may mourn for sin break off the course of their sins by amēdement of life This straited godly Nazianzen that he knew not whether to make choise of death or life when he considered that death makes an end of sin he desired to die but when he remembred that after death there was no time to mourne for sin he desired to liue VER 18. Open mine eyes that I may see the wonders of thy law MAn by nature is blind in the matters of saluation He vnderstands not the things of God neither can he because they are spiritually discerned Satan promised man great knowledge both of good euill but experience may declare what a false deceiuer he is By nature we are all borne blind ignorant of things vvhich concerne the kingdom of God and by reason of our darkned mind so wicked is the hart of man that by looking to the best works of God miserable man contracts euill So euill doth hee see with the eyes which are left him that by looking to that which is good the hart of him is wakened vnto euill So traiterously hath this aduersarie dealt with mankind that where he promised thē more knowledge he spoiled them of that which they had and hath brought now vpon them all a greater shame then that vvhich Naash the Ammonite vvould haue done to Israel For hee hath put out their right eye that no light remaines in them vvherby they can see that which is good to saluation till the Lord restore it againe vnto them And heere if it be asked seeing Dauid was a regenerate man and so illuminated already How is it that hee prayes for the opening of his eyes the aunswere is easie That our regeneration is wrought by degrees The beginnings of light in his mind made him long for more for no man can account of sense but he who hath it The light vvhich he had let him see his owne darknes and therefore feeling his wants hee seekes to haue them supplied by the Lord. Neque enim medicū rogat nisi qui remedium agritudini suae poscit But the word which here Dauid vseth imports the taking of a vaile from his eyes detrahe velamen oculis meis So that the blame of his ignorance he layes not vpon the word which is cleer enough in it selfe as he confesseth ver 130. The entrance of thy vvord giues light to the simple but he blames himselfe and the vaile which couered the eyes of his mind Till this be remooued no reading no hearing no teaching can make a man vnderstand the wonders of the lavv of God This is it saith the Apostle which hinders the Iews that in reading the old Testament they cannot see Christ because of the vaile that couers their harts And this same is it that this day hinders many wise and learned men that albeit they read the most cleare prophecies of Antichrist whereas S. Paul and S. Iohn poynts him out as it were with the finger yet can they not perceiue him The doctrine of Christ is the mysterie of godliness the doctrine of Antichrist is the mysterie of iniquitie Who can learne it till God remoue the vaile that couers the mind Non omnes qui diuina eloquia legunt quae in illis admiranda sunt considerant nisi illi qui coelesti splendore potiuntur But whose worke is this to remoue the vaile Who is able to doe it Certainly neither Angel nor Power nor Dominion It is onely the vvorke of GOD who giues sight to the blind Hee sends forth his spirit and renewes the face of the earth He opened the disciples eyes made them to know him He made scales to fall from the eyes of the Apostle Paul when he conuerted him These two benefits hee giues together to his owne the opening of the eyes and conversion of the hart So long as a man abides vnder the seruitude of sin and earthly affections he can neuer haue eyes to see the secrets of Gods word Therefore saith the Apostle speaking of the blinded Iewes when their harts shall be turned to the Lord then the vaile shall be taken away The wonders of thy law The wonders of the works of God are many and great the wonders of his word are greater Euery article of our faith is a mysterie to be wondred at that a Virgine conceiues a child that GOD is manifested in the flesh If wee will be fruitfull scholars in the learning of these mysteries let vs pray for the opening of our eyes and for grace to belieue VER 19. I am a stranger on earth hide not thy commaundements from me THis petition in effect is one with the former hauing no more but an annexed reason vvhich is this I am a stranger on earth and knowe not the way may lead me to heauen vnlesse thou teach me therefore hide not thy cōmandements from me The like of this he hath Psa. 43. Send thy light thy truth let them lead me bring me to thy holy Mountaine This is not the voice of euery man I am a stranger on earth Sed eius qui terrenis renuntiauit voluptatibus mundanae cupiditatis exuerit affect us It is the voice of him who hath renounced pleasures of the earth is weary of this life desires to be dissolued not fearing when his dissolution approches but rather reioycing because he knows he shall be with Christ vtitur hac vita vt transitoria ad aliam nimirum vitam festinans He vseth this life as a transitory life because he makes hast to a better It is true in regard of time and continuance the wicked are also strangers on earth but in affection they are not so for neither know they of a better Cittie neither desire they a better But the Christian accounts himselfe a stranger not so much for his short continuance vpon earth as for that his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is aboue that Citie wherof he is Burges and freeman that countrey frō which he came that fellowship wherein he reioiceth is aboue therfore longs he to be where they are But as to the wicked they are called by Gods Spirit inhabitants or indwellers of the earth Men of this world who haue their portion in this life they haue receiued their cōsolation here their generation is of the earth they speak of the earth their whole disposition is earthly Higher then the earth in thoughts and desires they cannot go Praesentibus bonis quasi diuturnis inflati insolescunt The godly
not enough to confesse and declare our former errours to the Lord but ◅e should seeke to be coriected by his grace in ◅ime to come These two benefits the Lord giues them together ◅emission of sinnes and renoua◅ion of their sinfull nature and his Saints seeke them together Mercy and Grace Mercy for remission of former sinnes and Grace for renoua◅ion of their hearts in time to come And this is to be marked for carelesse and carnall professors who seek pardon of former sinnes but haue no care of amendment for the time to com these ◅buse the mercy of God and turne his grace into wantonnesse seeking as it were a libertie to sin and not a deliuerance from sinne More concerning this petition see out of the twelfth Verse in the second Section Beth. VER 27. Make me to vnderstand the way of thy precepts and I will meditate in thy wondrous workes DAVID yet continues in his former supplication for further illumination of his vnderstanding If the light that is in thee be darknes how great is the darknes Where the mind is darkned the heart can neuer be rightly ordered therefore prayes he the more instantly for light vnto his minde The wayes of sinne we know them and can walke in them without a teacher yea man out of his owne corruption hath been the first inuenter of many sinfull waies which before him haue not beene knowne but as for the wayes of God we can neyther know them nor walke in them vnlesse we be taught of God Againe in this continual opposition which he makes betweene his wayes and Gods wayes let vs remember how by nature man hath a way of his own different from the way of God This diuision began by the first transgression wherein man preferred the way of Sathan to the way o◅ God yet the diuision continues because man naturally is enclined to walke in a way contrary to that which God commaunds him which if in time it be not remedied will not faile to bring man to a miserable and vnhappy end for he who walkes not in the way of God can neuer come where God is but must be diuided frō the light ioyes of God and haue his portion in vtter darkneesse in that lake that burneth with fire brimstone And I will meditate If we seeke good things from God we should secke them for good ends specially that we may be enabled by them to serue God so will the Lord be intreated to giue them when he sees we seek them that we may return them to himselfe Ye aske saith S. Iames and receiue not because ye aske amisse that ye may consume them on your own lusts therfore Dauid seeking knowledge from God promiseth to vse it well not as many doe who by knowledge waxe proud seeking knowledge to get glory to themselues Dauid seeks it that he may be the more able to meditate on the workes of God and in them to shew forth his glory He stiles the works of God maruellous works and so indeed they are both his works of creation whereby he made the things which are and of his administration or prouidence whereby he conserues them but most of all maruellous are his works of mans redemption that is the Great mysterie of godlines But som of them we admire not because we know them not others of them custom drawes in contempt VER 28. My soule melteth for heauinesse raise me vp according to thy Word THe meaning is that he was sore weakned by the greatnes of his griefe therfore prayeth the Lord to reuiue strengthen confirm him Euen as a thing which melteth consumes away by piece-meale till nothing be left Vires eius paulatim difflu◅hant sicut aquae so did he finde the life strength of his soule docaying through the extremity of his griefe In the first part of the verse his eye is vpon him selfe in the second it is vp to the Lord. Happy is the man whose whole care is about one of these two that eyther he is looking to himselfe considering his necessities or looking to the Lord attending his mercies Heauiness There is nothing may comfort a naturall man but Dauid had it yet cannot all these keepe him from that heauinesse wherunto as witnesseth St. Peter the children of God are subiect in this life through their manifold tentations The men of the world are so farre from this disposition that if they haue health and wealth they maruell what it is should make a man heauie they are not acquainted with the exercises of a feeling conscience they know not the defects of the spirituall life are not grieued at them being dead in sinne they feele not that they want life all their care is to eate and drink and make merry But miserable are they for in their best estate they are as Oxen fedde for the slaughter Wo be to them who laugh now they shal mourne but blessed are they who mourne now for they shall be comforted The particular causes of the heauinesse of a Christian are according to their particular tentations which no man is able to rehearse where because it is a common disease to them all that euery one of them thinkes his own tentations singular let them remember that warning of the Apostle No tentation hath ouertaken you but that which appertaines to men But seeing our Sauiour saith that His yoake is easie and his burden light how is it that his children finde such heauinesse in bearing of it and following him It is true indeede the burden of Christ is light Quidenim leuius eo o◅ere quod non solum non oneraet sed portat omnom cui portandum imponitur for it is such a burden as is not burdensome but rather bears vp euery man who bears it not vnlike the wings of a fowle which are so borne by the body that they beare it and make it more agile or light If then we finde any heauinesse it is because our corrupt nature will not conforme her selfe to the similitude of Christ and refuseth to submit her neck vnto his yoke This is it that breeds in vs heauinesse and griefe that wee finde a power of corruption in vs which will not subiect it selfe to him whom our soule loueth Raise me vp according to thy word They haue not all learned to pray who vse prayer many in this age send vp vnto God confused prayers rising from the sense of their miseries whereof they desire to be relieued Pagans doe as much when they are in trouble they lift vp their eyes to God and desire to be deliuered from it But we must remember first to offer vp our prayers in the name of CHRIST whom because Pagans know not the Father cannot bee well pleased with them Next to frame our petitions according to Gods promises as heere Dauid doth otherwise to offer prayers for
that which GOD hath not promised or are not according to the word it is to offer vncouth fire to the Lorde as Chore Dathan and Abiram did to their owne destruction VER 29. Take from me the way of lying and gratiously grant me thy Lawe IN the remanent foure Verses of this Section there is a continued praier wherin Dauid craueth grace of God to order his life not according to the counsell of Nature which is a lying way but according to the word which he onely acknowledgeth to be the way of truth adding these protestations that he had chosen it his hart cleaned to it and he would continue in it In this Verse we haue first to see what is this way of lying that we may vnderstand the meaning of his petition By the way of lying is to be vnderstood all that is in man his nature not agreeable to the word whether it be counsels or conclusions of the heart or externall actions and it is called a lying way because nature promises a good to be gotten by sinne which man shall not finde in it And vnto this deceit of sinne Dauid acknowledgeth himselfe subiect with the rest for why he would not pray the Lord to take that away from him which were not in him In nobis est interius manet via iniquitatis ideoque studiose agendum est vt eam à nobis separemus Dauid was a regenerate man but there are none so well renewed in this life who may not finde something in themselues that need further reformation Sed quia haereditarium iniquitatis glutinum mentibus inhaesit humanis opus est liberantis auxilio but this separation of a man from the way of iniquitie is a worke of great difficulty to be done only by the power of God both because the way of sinne is within vs and as an heritable euil is glewed to our minds For as it is Maiorum nostrâ—…rum attrita vestigijs pathed and trod with the footesteps of our fathers so are wee naturally enclined without a teacher or counseller to follow them in it Ideoque quia vulnus grande ac vetus est diu serpens perfectioris medicinae remedia deposcit And therefore because it is a great wound an old it requires the remedie of more perfect medicine then the wit or power of man is able to affoord which Dauid vvell knowing beseecheth God of his mercie to take away this euill from him And further we see heere that what-euer vvas Dauid his disposition hee gathers alwaies out of it an argument to mooue him to prayer It is wisedom for a man aboue all things to take heed to himselfe But sure hee hath neuer learned this aright who when hee hath looked to himselfe lookes not incontinent vp to God moued vvith the sight of his manifold necessities to seek mercie and grace to supply them And grant mee graciously thy law Hee oppones the law of God to the way of lying First because it is the onely rule of all truth both in religion and manners that which is not agreeable to it is but a lye vvhich shall deceiue men Secondly it destroyes and shall at length vtterlie destroy all contrary errors As the rodde of Aaron deuoured the rods of the Enchaunters so the word which is the rodde of the mouth of God shall in the end eate vp and consume all vntruthes whatsoeuer Thirdly according to the sentence of this vvord so shall it be vnto euerie man it deceiues none Men shall find by experience it is true he who walkes in a way condemned by the word shall come to a miserable end And on the contrary it cannot be but well vvith them who liue according to this rule Non est via veritatis honor saeculi sollicitudo mundi vanitas temporalium est veritas aeternorum But had not Dauid the law already No doubt he wanted not the booke of the law Hee heard it he read it he professed it yea some-way hee vnderstood it What then is it hee craues Surely that the law might be so imprinted in his hart that it might abolish that naturall vanitie and deceit of sinne which carried him to the offence of God A necessary petition for these dayes vvherin the knowledge of the word is exceeding great but the zeale spirituall life and feeling of the harts of men is not answerable vnto it They thinke all is vvell in that publiquely they professe it They hear it with their eares they speak of it with their mouthes they read it in their bookes finely bound though in that dutie many faile also But certainly vvhen they thinke they haue it they want it so long as it is not printed in the table of their hart to frame their motions affections and actions conformable to it And this is it which Dauid heere craues VER 30. I haue chosen the way of truth and thy iudgements haue I laid before me IN these last three verses we haue the reason of his former petition from his honest affection toward the word of God wherein he declares that he had chosen it he did cleaue vnto it and was determined in al time to com more and more to cleaue vnto it therefore praieth he God more and more to confirme him in this purpose Non enim diuina gratia datur bonuÌ„ proposituÌ„ non habentibus the grace of God is not giuen to such as in their heart purpose not to do good and yet this purpose and desire to doe well is not in the heart of man by nature vnlesse God worke it by grace for we are not of our selues sufficient to think a good thought It is God who works in vs both the will and the deed Nos volumus sed Deus operatur in nobis velle nos operamur sed Deus in nobis operatur operari hoc nobis expedit credere dicere hoc pium hoc verum vt sit humilis submissa confessio detur totum Deo We will indeede but it is God who workes in vs that will also we worke but it is God who workes in vs that working of good also it is expedient for vs both to beleeue and to say so this is godly this is true that there may be in vs a submisse and humble confession the whole prais of wel-doing may be ascribd to God And because man is ingenious to defraud God of the praise of grace and to magnifie the arme of Nature let vs marke another notable testimonie this same Father giues to this truth whereby the idle distinctions of the Aduersaries are dissolued Deus qui lux est interior is hominis plus illi praestat quam lux oculo nam lux oculum ad se conuersum illuminat auersumà se clausum deserit Deus vero non solum mentem ad se conuersum illuminat sed etiam mentem ad
se conuertit quod lux oculo non praestat GOD who is the light of the inward man doth more to him then the light doth to the externall eye for the light illuminates the eye that lookes vnto it but forsakes the eye which is closed and turned from it But the Lord doth not onely illuminate the mind conuerted to him but he also converts the mind vnto him Which thing the light cannot doe to the eye Diligenter itaque notandae sunt hae loquutiones in scripturis Conuertimini ad me cum his comparandae Conuerte nos Deus sanitatum nostrarum ne putemus libero arbitrio nos ad Deum conuerti Wee haue diligently therefore to obserue these manner of speeches in the Scripture wherein God commaunds vs to conuert to him and to compare them with others wherein we are taught to pray that the God of our saluation would conuert vs and then shall wee be conuerted least otherwise wee thinke that wee conuert to God of our owne free will This choise which Dauid makes here of Gods truth proceeds from that choise and election vvhereby the Lord before all time made choise of Dauid in Christ to be one of his Elect. For as it is true of loue Heerein is loue not that wee loued God first but that he loued vs vvec could neuer haue loued him if first he had not loued vs so is it true of election if he before time had not chosen vs to be his people wee could neuer in time haue chosen him to be our God And this I mark in them vvho loue the word of God delight in it who can say out of a good heart that the Lord is their portion and the ioy of their hart this is a sure seale of their election imprinted by the finger of God in their heart assuring them that what they are in loue and affection toward him that hath he been first toward them and so much the more aboundant in his loue toward vs as he himselfe is greater then we What is the eye to the sunne vvhat is the Well to the Ocean what is the earth to the heauen By infinite degrees is man lesse then his Maker and as farre our loue and affection to him inferiour to his loue affection toward vs. As far as the heauens are aboue the earth so far are my thoughts aboue yours saith the Lord. This doth some-vvhat shadow it but how far his thoughts are aboue ours no similitude can expresse it And thy iudgements Gods word is called his iudgement because it discernes good from euill and is not a naked sentence but as it points out euill so it pronounceth plagues against it vvhich shall be executed according to the sentence therof The remembrance of this scrued as an aw-band to keepe Dauid from sinne and shall keepe vs also if as saith he Psal. 16. wee set the Lord still in our sight and if as heere he doth we lay his iudgements before vs. VER 31. I haue cleaued to thy testimonies O Lord confound me not THe protestation of his former affection is amplified by this that as he had once chosen the testimonies of God so by a constant affection hee cleaued vnto them Dauid was not a Temporizer to make choise of the word this day and reiect it to morrow as were those Iewes who for a time reioyced in the light of the Gospel brought to them by the Baptist and after reiected his testimonie True godlinesse wants neuer vpon her head the garland of perseuerance where the hypocrisie of temporizers who make a shew of beginning in the spirit and end in the flesh is expressed by our Sauior by coâ—…n which springs shooteth to the blade but grows not to perfection because it was neuer vvell rooted And Basil compares these qui bene coeperunt noÌ„ perseueraruÌ„t who begins well but continues not to vnhappy passengers qui naufragium prope portum patiuntur vvho suffer shipwracke not farre from the harbour Confound me not Forasmuch as Dauid in a good conscience endeuoured to serue God hee craues that the Lord would not confound him This is two waies done either when the Lord forsakes his children so that in their trouble they feele not his promised comforts and then great confusion of mind perturbation is vpon them or otherwise when hee leaues them as a prey to their enemies who scorne them for their godly and sincere life and insult ouer them in time of their trouble when they see that all their prayer and other exercises of religion cannot keepe them out of their enemies hands Hee trusted in God let him deliuer him From this shame and contempt he desires the Lord would keep him and that he should neuer be like vnto them who being disappointed of that wherein they trusted are ashamed VER 32. I will run the way of thy coÌ„mandements when thou shalt enlarge mine heart HIs affection toward the word of God is yet further amplified by this that as in time past hee had cleaued to it so hee promiseth with ioy alacritie to continue in it for the time to come which he expresseth by the word of running But hee adds this protestation or rather condition that the Lord would enlarge his hart without which grace hee grants he can make no progresse in the way of godliness Heereof wee learne how wee should doe the will of God not by constraint but cheerfullie willingly as one that runneth a race intends the whole force of his body to advaunce himselfe forward toward the end thereof But heere we may stand and lament Alas we runne not with Dauid oh that we could halt to Canaan with Iacob or at least creep forward like children to our fathers house But many in steed of running lie downe and which is worse goe backeagaine like dogges to their vomits or carnall Israelites to their flesh-pots of Egypt for whom it had beene better not to haue knowne the way of rightcousnes HE. VER 33. Teach mee O Lord the way of thy statutes and I will keepe it to the end THE life of man is compared by the Apostle to a race wherein all must run that looke to obtaine the high prize of the calling of God and so run that all the way they must fight with sundry aduersaries that stand vp against them There must be no declyning neither to the right hand nor to the left but as souldiers direct their way according to the commandement of their Imperator Non ipsi pro suo arbitrio viam carpunt nec voluntaria captant compendia ne à signis recedant so must it be with Christians we should stedfastlie looke to IESVS the authour and finisher of our faith who for the ioy set before him despised the Crosse and endured shame let vs remember our life should be a following of him As Israel in the vvildernesse
remooued or remained according as they were directed by the clowde in the day and piller of fire in the night so should all the vvaies of our life be ordered by the direction of God Otherwise as the vvarriour qui praescripto non incedit ordine armatus non ambulat rectaque via iter non conficit mansionem paratam non invenit who walkes not the way prescribed to him and goes not into it armed to resist the enemy comes not to that mansion prepared by the Imperator for his followers to enioy such furniture as he hath caused to prouide for them so shall it be with the straggling Christian vvhose vvay is a declining from Christ he cannot come to those mansions which hee hath prouided for his followers in his Fathers house nor be resreshed with his delicates Dauid knew this very well and therefore is he so inquisitiue to knowe the way of his Commaunder and earnest to seek grace that he may walke in it Dauid as wee said before was a Prophet indued vvith great vnderstanding yet doth hee earnestlie desire to be further taught of God for the treasures of manifold wisedome locked vp in the word are so rich that no man can attaine to such measure of knowledge but still hee hath neede to learne more The Angels vvho are full of eyes vvithin vvithout so figured for the greatnesse of their vnderstanding for which also by Nazianzen they are called Secundaria lumina are scholars in the schoole of the Church for those things which are preached to vs in the Gospel by the holy Ghost sent down froÌ„ heauen The Angels desire to be hold and shal we not delight to learne with theÌ„ seeing for our saluation whereof they are surealready these things are preached And I will keepe it vnto the end Here is a promise of thankfulness not in word but in deede 〈◊〉 legeâ—… tuâ—…m serâ—…are studui prosequar haue cursum neque fatigabâ—…r in medio itinere vbi tu perrexer is me dâ—…cere If thou continue a teacher of mee saith Dauid I shall continue a seruaunt to thee Perseuerance cannot bee vnlesse continuall light and grace be furnished to vs from the Lord. As the tree which hath not sap at the roote may florish but cannot continue so a man whose hart is not watered with the dew of Gods grace continually may for a time make a faire shew of godliness but in the end shall fall away Wee beare not the roote but the roote beares vs let vs tremble and feare If wee abide not in him we become withered branches good for nothing but the fire Let vs alway pray that hee would euer abide with vs to informe vs by his light and lead vs by his power in that vvay which may bring vs to him VER 34. Giue me vnderstanding and I wil keepe thy law yea I wil keep it with mine whole hart HEre followes a prayer agreeable to this purpose with a promise of thankfulnes amplified WheÌ„ God appeared to Salomon in a vision and offered to giue vnto him whatsoeuer he would aske Salomon as hee had learned here from Dauid his father seekes a wise and vnderstanding heart which thing so pleased the Lord that because Salomon did so and sought not riches nor honour the Lord promised not onely to giue him wisdome which he sought but riches and honour which he sought not Let vs also be moued if we be the sonnes of Dauid to seeke best things from the Lord our God specially knowledge vnderstanding how we may serue him Certainly so great and gratious is the Lord so rich in mercy that then our prayers are most acceptable to him when we seeke most excellent blessings from him And I will keepe thy Lawe True vnderstanding rests not in speculation but breakes out in practise Naked knowledge breeds conuiction it were better to want it for greater knowledge makes the iudgement of the wicked greater because that when they knew God they glorified him not But true vnderstanding changes the heart for by it not only do we behold the glory of God as in the mirrour of his word but are changed into the same image from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. And this is that excellent knowledge of Christ wherein the Apostle reioyces to know the vertue of his resurrection the fellowship of his afflictions and bee made conformable to his death And indeede then onely is knowledge a blessing when it workes these happy effects in vs. Yea I will keepe it with mine whole hart As he promised before perseuerance in Gods seruice so now he promiseth sinceritie Some are temporizers in Religion these perseuer not in seruice Some are hypocrites these are not sincere they draw neere the Lord with their lippes but are from him in their harts Dauid promiseth both perseuerance sinceritie but so that stil he craues grace of God to performe theÌ„ When Dauid offred materials as gold siluer for building of the Temple he blessed the Lord ascribed to him the praise both of the things which hee had offred they were Gods own of the hart wherby he offred them Now therefore my God vvee thank thee and praise thy glorious Name But who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer vvillingly after this sort For all things come of thee and of thy owne hand haue wee giuen thee But how much more should we acknovvledge this in spirituall graces Haue wee any thing that we haue not receiued And when we doe any good by his grace should not the praise be returned vnto him Yea indeed let vs all say with Dauid all comes of thee and of thine owne hand haue we giuen vnto thee And where hee promiseth that hee will keepe Gods law with his whole hart it is not a presuming of perfection Not as though I were alreadie perfect but a protesting of his sinceritie that he had not the false diuided hart of hypocrites VER 35. Direct mee in the path of thy commaundements for therein is my delight AS before hee craued light to his mind so now he craues grace to direct his heart that he may follow it Naturally man is ignorant of the way to eternall life and if any light or knowledge he haue of it yet is he easily miscaried to wander from it Euen as vvater if it be not walled in ad decliuia fertur of it ovvne nature declines to lowest places if the smallest passage be made vnto it Ita humana natura diabolo viam ad peccatum aperiente ad id quod peius est proruit so the nature of man rushes downeward to sinne vvhen any way thereto is opened to him by Satan And therefore Dauid fearing his owne infirmitie prayes so earnestlie that God would guide him and not leaue him to himselfe Now the way vvhich Dauid chooseth to
walk in is the path of GODS commaundements not anie nevv vvay but the old and pathed vvay vvherein all the seruaunts of GOD haue vvalked before him and for vvhich the Graecians as Euthymius noteth called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi viam tritam But how-so-euer this vvay bee pathed by the vvalking and treading of many in it yet he acknowledgeth it is but one yea and a narrow and difficil path to keepe and therefore seekes he to be guided into it As to the broad way there are many rodes and pathed wayes into it although they meet all in one end all men goe not to hell by one way for we see many men abhorring a sinne in others who yet intertaine a farre more odious sin in themselues but the narrow way that leades to heauen hath but one path or road into it from which if we decline we fall incontinent into some roade of the broad way that leads to hell Let vs therfore vvalke circumspectly considering our naturall disposition to decline and the dangers and difficulties of the vvay let vs wait vpon our guide and follow his foot-steps Praecedit Christus vt sequamur nos hee hath gone before that we should follow he fasted and prayed to traine vs vp in the like exercises he suffred to learne vs patience Ascendit Crucem vt doceret mortem non esse metuendam he went vp to the Crosse that he might teach vs death is not to be feared By this way of innocence holinesse humility patience contempt of death let vs follow our guide nothing doubting but this path shall lead vs to his Paradise For therein is my delight Of this see Verse 47. VER 36. Incline mine heart vnto thy Testimonies and not to couetousnes THis prayer among the rest no doubt flowed out of Dauid his sense hee found his hart euill inclined at least tempted to bow a wrong way For we stand betweene two parties that seek vs the one for our weale the other for our wrack The Lord on the one hand allures vs My sonne giue mee thine hart and offers vs more for it then wee yea or tenne thousand worlds can be woorth and I shall be thy portion On the other hand Satan the deceiuer by faire but false allurements seeks to haue our hart drawne after him Happy is the man can consider this that hee may offer his hart to the Lord and seeke it as a grace as heere Dauid doth Vnto thy testimonies Gods word is called his testimonie because in it hee testifieth his vvill concerning his worship and our saluation and witnesseth also how he is affected to euery man For out of it to some men he speakes as a louing Father to others as a feareful Iudge Men neede not runne vp to Gods secret counsell to enquire how hee is affected toward them if they list they may learne it out of his word But as Achab desired not to hear Michaiah because hee prophecied not good thinges vnto him so many novv because they doe euill can not abide the light of the word they find no ioy in the hearing of it but are striken vvith feare and trembling as Felix was at the hearing of Paul But in truth the blame is in thy self Are not my wordes good to him that walks vprightlie saith the Lord. No doubt if thou wert good thy selfe the word of the Lord should testifie good things vnto thee And not to couetousnes Hee prayes in particular that his hart may be diâ—…crted from couetousnes which is not only an euil but as saith the Apostle The roote of all euill Dauid heere oppones it as an aduersarie to all the righteousnesse of Gods testimonies it inverts the order of Nature and makes the heauenly soule earthlie It is a hand-maid of all sinnes for there is no sinne which a couetous man wil not serue for his gaine We should beware of all sinnes but speciallie of mother sinnes VER 37. Turne away mine eyes from regarding vanitie and quicken me in thy way HAuing prayed for his hart now he praieth for his eyes also Omnia à Deo petit docens illum omnia efficere By the eyes oftentimes as by windowes death enters into the hart therefore to keepe the hart in a good estate three things are requisite First a careful custody of the senses specially of the eyes for it is a righteous working of the Lord Vt qui exteriorâ—… oculo negligenter vtitur interiori non iniustè caecetur that he who negligently vseth the externall eye of his body shold be punished with blindnes in the internal eye of his mind And for this cause Nazianzen deploring the calamities of his soule wished that a dore might be set before his eyes eares to close them when they opened to anie thing that is not good Malis autem sua sponte vtrumque clauderetur The second thing is a subduing of the body by discipline And the third is continuance in prayer Euery creature of God is good and the beholding thereof should waken in vs an affection to praise God Oculi idcireo dati sunt corpori vt per eos intueamur creaturam aâ—… per huiusmodi mirabilem harmoniam agnoscamus opificem for this cause were eyes giuen to the body that by them we might looke to the creature and by the maruailous harmony which is among theÌ„ we might learne to know the Creator But since the fal the creature also is become subiect to vanitie in euery one of them hath the Serpent laid his deceiuable snare to entrap man and steale his affection from GOD so that now Inter tot passiones huius corporis inter tantas illecebras huius saeculi difficile est tutum intemeratum seruare ve stigium in the midst of so many passions of so many allurements of this world it is a dissicile thing to walke and not to be snared Hee that lookes on a woman saith our Sauiour and lusts after her hath committed adultery Behold in how short a time great guiltinesse is committed Malè sic vidit oculus videat ergo fungatur suo munere non lubricae mentis imperio dirigatur ad lapsum vt vitiuÌ„ referat pro officio Dauid knew this hee found the euill of it by experience let vs learn of him to watch ouer our eyes that we may keepe the hart the better Quicken mee in thy way Man by nature is quick enough to walke in his owne waies and the works of nature he can doe them without a teacher but vnlesse the Lord put life in him keepe life in his soule quickning him at all occasions hee hath neither knowledge nor strength nor pleasure to walke in the waies of God Of this petition see ver 88. 145. VER 38. Stablish thy promise to thy seruaunt because hee feares thee HEere is a prayer with a reason The prayer is that God would make sure his
the Prophet craues that the Lord would neuer vtterly take it from him If at any time in thy wise dispensation thou relent it yet I beseech thee neuer vtterly to remoue it This iudgement which Dauid heere craues to be averted from him lyes vpon many who doe not marke nor perceiue it that they are so much the more miserable that they knowe not their misery in this that hauing and hearing the word of GOD so plentifully they can neither vse it to their owne consolation nor to the edification of others And this proceeds from the euill conscience which is in them that neither can they heare it with comfort no more then Achab could heare Michaiah because hee neuer prophecied good vnto him nor yet can they speake it to the comfort of others Vnto the vvicked God saith What hast thou to doe to take mine ordinances in thy mouth seeing thou hatest to be reformed Obmutescit facundia si aegra sit conscientia cloquence becomes dumbe when the conscience waxes diseased For I wait Gods iudgements are some-times taken for his plagues executed according to his vvord vpon the wicked with the which is euer conioyned a performance of his promised deliuerance to the godlie vvhereby hee makes knowne That there is fruite for the righteous how euer for a time hee suffer them to bee euill intreated and that there is a difference between them vvho feare him and them that feare him not And this Dauid heere praies for that the Lord would so deale with his enemies that the truth of his word being declared vpon them the godly might haue no cause to be ashamed for taking that word of truth in their mouthes VER 44. So shall I alway keepe thy law for euer and euer HEre is a protestation of thankfulnes to his God which he promiseth to declare in obedience Whereof first wee obserue hovv our standing and perseuering in the obedience of Gods law proceedes from Gods louing kindnesse toward vs keeping his word of truth in our harts and mouthes Hee is the stocke vvee are the branches vvee beare not him he beares vs let vs abide in him and giue him the praise of all our well dooing and perseuerance in it Now the doubling of the word notes his promptitude to Gods obedience and willing resolution to pers◅uere in it not for a day or a yeere but alway yea for euer and euer not in this life onely but in that also which is to come as Ambrose expounds it Pollicetur se hic ibi legem Dei custoditurum hic in exemplari in speculo in aenigmate illic in ipsa facie veritatis And the same also hath Euthymius Custodiam legem tuam non tantum in hoc saeculo sed in futuro quod saeculum saculi appellatur tanquam praesenti saeculo honoratius VER 45. And I will walke at libertie for I seeke thy precepts THere is a libertie of the flesh taken by men not giuen by God falsely so called for it is not libertie indeede but thraldome where men casting off the yoke of GOD giue ouer themselues to follow their owne affections vvhich can neuer but breed them doubts feares and horrible terrors wherwith they are straited so that they know no outgate Improbus in seipso coarctatur malitiae suae laqueis strangulatus Take to you for an example a couetous wretch euery day extending the borders of his possession excluding his neighbours doth the enlarging of his bounds enlarge his heart doth hee therfore walke at libertie because hee hath more ample roomes No no Quantumcunque domus suae spatium porrexerit clauditur angustis opinionis suaefinibus eui quod habet non est satis But how-soeuer large his possessions be hee is still inclosed in the straits of his owne narrow heart vvhich thinks hee hath nothing at all And so is it in all other sinnes the giuing of libertie to the will of man drawes on a thraldome whereby he is not onely captiued of his owne affections but straited with the sense of wrath in his conscience which alway followes euill dooing This is that strait bedde wherein God threatens to cast the wicked in a punishment of their carnall libertie Herod tooke this liberty to defile his brothers wife he beheaded Iohn for reproouing of it and so thought the more freelie hee might enioy his sinfull pleasure but did hee by this meanes walke at libertie No on the contrarie hee cast himselfe into the straits of a terrifying and accusing conscience hee could neuer bee quit of Iohn vvhom hee had beheaded for hee conceited that Iesus was Iohn risen againe from the dead What euer mirth he pretended in his countenaunce hee found himselfe sore straited vvith anguish in his conscience True libertie is that which GOD giues and whereof our Sauiour speaketh saying Then are you free if the Sonne make you free hee looseth vs from all other bondage that hee may bind vs to himselfe onelie And this libertie consisteth first in our deliuerance from the tyranny of our owne lusts by which all those are thralled who shake off the yoke of God and next in the freedome of a peaceable conscience which is a Christians Paradise on earth VER 46. I vvill speake also of thy testimonies before Kings and will not be ashamed IN these three last verses Dauid promiseth a three-fold dutie of thankfulnes First the seruice of his tongue Next the seruice of his affections Thirdly the seruice of his actions Bona conscientia maximum semper praestat solatium a good conscience renders alwaies great consolation vitalegitima fiduciam procreat and an honest life makes great boldnes to speak without feare or shame as yee see in Dauid toward Saul in Elias to Achab in Paule to Agrippa to Festus and to Felix The first dutie that heere hee promiseth is to speake of the testimonies of God before Kings This is not a small thing if vvee doe consider that albeit no sort of men bee more obliged to God then Kings are yet vnto none is Gods word more vnwelcom then to thē for the most part they are so accustomed to commaund and to giue out words for lawes vnto others that they thinke strange to heare of a word which should stand in steed of any law to them It is a rare thing to find a Iosiah whose heart melted at the hearing of the law like vnto him was no King before him who turned vnto the Lord with all his hart Where such are giuen to a people they are the exceeding great blessings of God If Dauid was not ashamed to speake of Gods word before Kings farre lesse may wee thinke was he ashamed to speake of it before his familiars and companions as hee protests hee vvould doe in another place Come vnto mee all ye that feare God and I will tell you vvhat God hath done to
my soule This may convince the vnthankfulnesse of this age who hath tongues for euery purpose but none to speake of the testimonies of God yea they are ashamed to speake of that subiect who vvithout shame or measure speake of all other things VER 47. And my delight shall bee in thy commaundements which I haue loued THe next thing hee promiseth is the seruice of his affections It is not a small progresse in godlinesse to delight in the commaundements of God Our corrupt nature counts them burdenable but the grace of Christ makes vs find his yoke easie his burden light And indeede so doe his children esteeme of it who haue found by experience there is more solid ioy in the obedience of Gods commaundements then in all the perishing pleasures of sin And would to GOD they who of a long time haue proued the pleasures of transgression wold turne them and proue by experience on the other hand what comfort there is in mourning for sin what is the ioy of a good conscience and the sweet inward pleasures of a godly conuersation they should then easily perceiue that the delights of the one doe by infinite degrees surmount the pleasures of the other Naturall men do some externall workes of Gods worship but not with an inward delight this is no acceptable seruice to GOD. They assemble themselues on the Sabboth with the godly to heare the word but what the one doth of delight the other doth of custome or compulsion The Lord lookes to the affection morethâ—…n to the action and we should not onely consider what we doe but how we doe it â—…o to come to the Temple that we come with Simean by motion of the Spirit so to heare the word that it be with spirituall ioy and delight as Dauid did And this also condemnes those of our age to whom the word of the Lord is a reproach weariness VER 48. Mine hands also will I lift vp to thy commandements which â—…haue loued and I wil meditate in thy Statute THe thiâ—…d 〈◊〉 pronâ—…h is the seruice of hiâ—… actions that hee will lift vp his hands to 〈◊〉 practise of Gods commandements Dabo opeâ—… in vt sactis exprimaâ—… mandatatua The kingdome of God is not in word but in power we are the dâ—…ciples of that Master who first beganne to doe then to teach Qui fecit docuit hiâ—… magnus vâ—…cabitur but now the woâ—…ld is full of mutilate Christians eyther else they want an eare and cannot heare Gods word or if they hear they want a tongue and cannot speak of it or if they haue both they want hands and cannot practise it Concerning his protestation of the loue of Gods commandements and his meditations of them see ver 15. 103. 111. ZAIN VER 49. Remember the promise made to thy seruant wherein thou hast caused mee to trust THe first verse of this section containes a prayer that God would perform the promises hee had made vnto him When hee prayes God to remember vvee must not thinke that he chargeth the Lord with any obliuion Nulla in Deum cadit aut obliuio aut reminiscentia The godly sanctifie the Lord in their hart and think more reuerently of his Maiestie then so but his Memor esto is all one with this Perfice et ad finem deducito Remember that is perfit and accomplish the promise made vnto me Made to thy seruant As Dauid beseecheth the Lord to remember his promise so hee protests verse 52. that hee remembred the iudgements of GOD and vvas comforted and verse 55. that hee remembred the name of the Lord in the night It is but a moekerie of GOD to desire him remember his promise made where vvee make no conscience of the promises wee haue made to him But alas how often faile we in this duety and so in our owne default diminish that comfort we might haue of Gods promises in the day of our trouble But what promise is this that God made to Dauid There is a promise made him concerning the Kingdome of Israel and for this he prayed 2. Sam. 7. Who am I O Lord God and what is mine house that thou hast brought me hitherto c. And now Lord confirme for euer the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy seruant c. For thou art God and thy wordes are true and thou hast spoken this goodnesse concerning thy seruant But his comfort in trouble stood not in this promise nor performance of it The promise whereof he meanes here is the promise of mercy and grace which God in his couenant hath made to his children and this as euery one of Gods children accounts their own by a particular application of it vnto themselues so Dauid not excluding others and yet including himselfe speakes of this promise as properly and particularly belonging to him And so also did that woman of Canaan rest in the generall promise of Gods mercie as if it did containe a particular promise to her selfe And therefore by no temptation yea not by Christs contrary affirmation made for her tryal could she be remoued from this ground That the generall promise of mercy made in the Couenant contained a particular promise vnto her howsoeuer not vnder the name of a childe yet vnder the name of one albeit vnworthy belonging to the family of God And this proceedes from the nature of faith by which the godly apprehend God as their Father Christ as their Sauiour and in him all Gods promises made generally to his people as if they were made particularly and by name vnto themselues collecting hereof the certainty of their owne saluation The proposition being furnished by the word the assumption is made by faith and makes the conclusion most ceâ—…taine the ground of all being Gods vnchangeable truth and the stability of his counsell which he will not change for the changes which are in his weake seruants but constantly performes for his owne names sake Sanctis quodeunque spoponderit implere consueuit nostraruÌ„ immemor iniquitatum suarum non immemor sponsionum the Lord perfits that which hee promiseth to his Saints vnmindfull of their iniquities not vnmindful of his owne promises Wherein thou hast caused me to trust This is a most forcible argument to moue the Lord to the performance of his promise When his children declare vnto him that it stands with the honour of his truth to doe â—…o The like of this argument is vsed by Ieremie O Lord iâ—…â—…e deceiued thou hast deceiued me which is as he would say a thing impossible that so should be And so Dauid confirmes himselfe here that he could not be disappointed of his hope vnless that the Lord did faile in his truth which cannot be Thus ye see when the godly rest assured of their saluation they are neyther presumptuous nor arrogant but giue glory to God and the praise of
vndoubted truth to his promises Non est arrâ—…gans vsurpatio sed fidelis quia veruÌ„ Deum non posse fallere confitetur It is no arrogant vsurpation but a faithfull depending for hee acknowledgeth that the most true God cannot beguile him And againe Non vsurpatoriè speraui quae vt sperarem ipse fecisti I haue not hoped by vsurpation buâ—… it was thou Lord who caused me to hope Seruus sum expecto alimentum à Domino miles sum exigo ab imperatore stipendium vocatus sum postulo ab invitante promissum I am thy seruant and wait for nourishment from thee who art my Lord I am thy souldier and require wages from thee who art my Captaine I am called and seeke from thee who called me that which thou hast promised Let this serue for an answer to the aduersaries of the truth who say it is arrogance presumption for any man to affirme the certainty of his saluation Propter hoo daâ—…sunt digna quaedam indicia manifâ—…sta salutis vt indubitabile sit eum esse de numero electorum in quo ea signa permanserint For this cause some signes and manifest tokens of saluation are giuen to the end it may be out of doubt that hee in whom they remaine is of the number of the elect Non arrogantia est sed fides praedicare quod acceperis It is not arrogancy but faith to speake of that mercie which thou hast receiued To this purpose let vs remember that the promises made to vs are of Gods free mercie that the grace to beleeue which is the condition of the promse is also of himselfe For faith is the gift of God thirdly that the arguments by which he confirmes our faith in the certainty of our saluation are drawne from himselfe not from vs. As first from the nature of God He is faithfull who hath called vs to the fellowship of Christ and will also keepe vs blamelesse to the day of Christ. And againe He who hath begun that good worke in you will also perfite it against the day of Christ. Secondly from the nature of that life which Christ communicates to his members they liue in him or rather he liues in them Now in that I liue by the faith of Christ I liue yet not I any more but Christ liueth in me Now this is the nature of the life of Christ that it is no more subiect to dying as witnesseth the Apostle Thirdly from the nature of that seede whereof we are begotten for as the seed is so is the life which it giueth Now the seed â—…aith Saint Peter is immortall and beside that holy vnction by which the Lord corroborates and strengthens his children is called a permanent and abiding vnction All these proue a perseuerance of Gods fauour VER 50. It is my comfort in trouble for thy promise hath quickned me THis Verse containes a commendation of the word of God from the excellent effects and fruits thereof to wit that the comfort thereof vpholds Gods children in trouble when all other comforts faile them The lawfull comforts of nature such as meat and drinke recreation becom loath some to men in heauy diseases And as to the vnlawfull pleasures of sin they are so farre from helping our comfort that they encrease our terrour in the day of trouble only the word of the Lord sustains vs and assures vs that our light momentanean afflictions shal cause to vs at the length an infinite weight of glorie Facilè superantâ—… aduersa si sit spes quae consoletur quisquis enim meliora sperat leuioribus non frangitur In trouble He telleth not what kind of trouble he was in neither was it needfull for there is no sort of tentation can befal vs for which the word of God doth not furnish vnto vs sufficient consolation Prouiding alway we make conscience of it in prosperity otherwise it shall be a comfortlesse word to vs in our aduersity For thy promise hath quickned mee As the life of our soules at the first commeth by the Word so is it conserued by the same Word When tentations oppresse vs so that we faint and our life is gone it is the Word that reuiues vs Vt connexio ista animae corporis nostri spiritu vitali animatur alitur tenetur ita verbo Dei spiritali gratia anima nostra viuifiâ—…atur As the connexion of this bodie and soule is made and conserued by naturall breath so is our soule quickned by the Word and spirituall grace As therefore we loue our life let vs loue the word of the Lord. And if the promises of God render such ioy to the beleeuing what ioy may we looke for in the full performance of them VER 51. The proud haue had me excedingly in derision yet haue I not declined from thy law HEere is a protestatioÌ„ of Dauid his honest and constant affection toward the word of God That albeit he was sore tempted by the derisions of the proud yet he declined not from the Lawe of the Lord his God Let no man who is truely religious thinke that he can eschue the mockeries and derisions of the wicked this is a part of the crosse of Christ Iesus they railed vpon him they nodded with their head and fleered with their mouthes and mocked him but patiently did he suffer this contradiction of sinners Ismael was the first for any thing we reade who beganne this kinde of persecution but euer since Satan hath continued it in his cursed instruments like vnto him As he that was borne after the flesh persecuted him that was borne after the Spirit euen so is it now Let vs take vp the crosse of our Lord and follow him and be content to beare with him the rebuke of the wicked Concerning this stile of the wicked whereby they are called proude see ver 69. 78. VER 52. I remembred thy iudgements of olde O Lord and haue beene comforted MAny are the impediments of godliness for beside the corruption of our owne nature within vs we haue the corruption of other men fighting against vs. By their profane speeches they corrupt vs by their euill example they infect vs and if that way they cannot come to speede then they speake euill of vs they lye they raiâ—…e they mocke vs leauing nothing vndone that may disquiet vs in our selues and disgrace vs to others Against this impediment Dauid here shewes how he was sustained by remembring the iudgements of God which in former ages he had poured out vpon the like profane men If wee shall onely looke to the present time forgetting the by past iudgements of God not fore-thinking of the wrath to com vpon the wicked their present prosperity shall be witch us and we shall be in danger to be carried away with them after deceitfull vanity but let vs go with
Dauid vnto the Sanctuary of God and with Abaeue to our Watch-towre where we may looke out and see what hath bin the miserable ends of the wicked and we shall say they buy full deare their short and perishing pleasures for their prosperity is their ruine VER 53. Feare is come vpon me for the wicked that for sake thy lawe LEast it might seeme out of the former words that Dauids comfort stood in the destruction of the wicked by the execution of Gods iust iudgements vpon them he addes this that their impiety was the cause of his feare and griefe and that he was partim iratus quòd legem Dei contemnerent partim dolens quòd ipsi perituriessent This is the meekenesse and loue which the godly carie euen toward those who haue offended them they are touched with a commiseration of them not so much for any wrong done to themselues as for the euill they see their enemies incurre by wronging them Nam qui fortior est non proprtam dolet contumeliam sed aliena peccata et in sua iniuria lapsum alterius ingemiscit As a louing father offends at the contumelious words hee receiues from his frantique child not so much sorrowfull for the wrong done to himselfe as for the disease of his child which forâ—…eth him to speake that vvhich he should not so godly Dauid Dolebat non quia contemnebatur sed quia lex Dei relinquebatur eorum qui hoc faciebant damnuÌ„ dolebat quòd Deo perirent Hee was afraid and grieued at the sinnes of the wicked who scorned him not because he was contemned but God was offended nor yet for any losse he suffered by their sinnes but for the harme they did vnto themselues The impietie of wicked men is here described to be a forsaking of Gods law thereby letting vs know what is the weight of sinne The law is holy good contayning in it a most perfect rule of righteousnes and therefore the forsaking of it cannot be but a very high crime And sure it is many of this age are guiltie of it in regard of their deeds how euer it be that in regard of their words they will not hold with it but when God shall iudge theÌ„ what euer liking of the law they pretend in word they shall be found indeed forsakers of it VER 54. Thy statutes haue beene my songs in the house of my pilgrimage HE still insists in a commendation of the word of God froÌ„ the comforts which hee found in it in the time of trouble Naturalists refresh themselues in their griefes with profane Ballades and Songs but these increase guiltinesse and consequently griefe but mitigate it not As to Dauid hee protests hee sought his comfort in the word of God worldlings count it a melancholique subiect but he found ioy in it let men in this take heede vnto themselues Dauid was a man after Gods owne heart that is approued of him and they who count that to be a wearines which hee found to be a refreshment how can they haue this comfort that they are also approued of God Againe see how the Lord in his wise dispensation attempers himselfe to our infirmities Our life is subiect to many changes and God by his word hath prouided for vs also many instructions and remedies Euery crosse hath his owne remedy and euery state of life his own instruction Sometime our griefe is so great that we cannot sing then let vs pray sometime our deliuerance so ioyfull that wee must breake out in thanksgiuing then let vs sing If any man among you bee afflicted let him pray if hee be merie let him sing Prayers for euery crosse and Psalmes for euerie deliuerance hath GOD by his own Spirit penned vnto vs so that now wee are more then inexcusable if wee faile in this dutie In the house of my pilgrimage Vatablus expounds this of his banishment among the Philistims that vvhen hee vvas put from his natiue Countrey and kinred and all other comforts failed him that then the word of the Lord furnished matter of ioy to him And indeed the banishment of Gods seruaunts may cast them farre from their kinred and acquaintance but it chaseth them neerer to the Lord and the Lord neerer to them Proofe of this in Iacob when hee was banished and lay without all night in the fields he found a more familiar presence of God then he did when he lay in the Tent vvith father and mother But wee may rather with Basil referre it to the whole time of his mortall life Omnem viâ—…am suam peregrinationem vocare arbitror So Iacob acknowledged to Pharao that his life was a pilgrimage and Abraham and Isaac dwelt in the world as strangers S. Peter therfore teacheth vs as Pilgrims to abstaine from the lusts of the flesh and S. Paul to vse this world as if we vsed it not for the fashion thereof goeth away Many waies are wee taught this lesson but slowe are wee to learne it Alas what folly is this that a man should desire to dwell in the earth when God calleth him to be a Citizen of heauen Yet great is the comfort wee haue of this that the houses wherein we lodge vpon earth are but houses of our pilgrimage The faithfull Israelites endured their bondage in Egypt the more patiently because they knew they were to be deliuered from it If the houses of our seruitude were eternall mansions how lamentable were our condition but God be thanked they are but wayfaring cottages and houses of our pilgrimage Such a house was the womb of our mother if we had beene enclosed there for euer what burden had it been to her what bondage to our selues Such a house will be the graue of the which wee must all say with Iob The graue shall be my house and I shall make my bed in the darke if vvee were there to abide for euer how comfortlesse vvere our estate But GOD be praised our mansion house is aboue and the houses we exchange here on earth are but the houses of our pilgrimage happy is he can so liue in the world as esteeming himselfe in his owne house in his owne bed yea in his owne body to be but a stranger in respect of his absence from the Lord. VER 55. I haue remembred thy name O Lord in the night and haue kept thy law THis verse containes a new protestation of his honest affection toward the word of God Wherin first let vs mark his sinceritie he was religious not onely in publick but in priuat for priuate exercises are the surest tryalls of true religion In the publique oftentimes hypocrisie caries men to simulate that vvhich they are not it is not so in the priuat for then either doth a man if hee make no conscience of Gods worship vtterly neglect it because there is no eye of man to see him or otherwise if hee
be indeede religious euen in priuate hee presents his heart to GOD seeking it to bee approoued by him For his prayse is not of men but of God Againe this argueth his feruencie in religion for as else-where he protests that he loued the vvord more then his appoynted food so heere hee protests hee vvanted his nights rest that hee might meditate in the vvord But now so farre is zeale decayed in professours they will not vvant their superfluities farre lesse their needfull refreshment for loue of the vvord of GOD. And haue kept thy vvord Dauid vvas not a naked professor of the vvord but a practiser of it also his life declared that hee remembred the Lord Fides probitas innocentiae memorem probant VER 56. This I had because I kept thy precepts AS sinne is a punishment of sinne and the wicked waxeth euer worse worse so godlinesse is the recompence of godlinesse The right vse of one talent encreaseth moe and the beginnings of godliness are blessed with a growth of godlinesse Dauids good exercises held him in memory of his God and the memory of God made him euer the more godly and religious CHETH VER 57. O Lord that art my portion I haue determined to keepe thy word IT hath pleased the Lord to teach vs not by precepts onely but examples also in the one hee teacheth vs what we should doe if we would be saued in the other he lets vs see what the godly before vs haue done that they might be saued If wee were the first who haue entred into that narrow way that leads to eternall life our faintings fallings backslydings were somewhat excusable but that way is now Via trita in euery part of it we see the footsteps of our brethren who haue trode it before vs. All of them entred into Canaan standing on the other side of Iorden and calling vpon vs by their example who yet are iâ—… the wildernesse and on this side of Iorden Come forward feare not faint not the way indeede is hard and difficile but the end is sweet and ioyfull Wee haue felt with you the paines of the one come yee forward and enioy with vs the pleasures of the other Thus being compassed with so great a clowde of witnesses who haue trode the way before vs and by faith haue inherited the promise wee are altogether inexcusable if wee doe not follow Among many wee haue heere the Prophet Dauid who hath gone before vs and by his counsell and instruction teacheth vs how to follow him There is no doubt but as wee spake in the first Section if wee follow him in disposition wee shall also be partakers of his approbation Some part of his disposition wee haue seene alreadie let vs yet goe after him foot by foot neither turning to the right hand nor to the left not as Asahel followed Abner that was for euill and therefore in this course hee perished as many shall doe vvho seeke from Dauid a patrocinie for their sinnes but make him not a paterne to them of repentance But let vs follow him as the Prophet Elisha follovved his Maister Eliah vvhom hauing once found hee would neuer againe goe from him Let vs walke with Dauid in one way that wee may bee partakers with him of one happy and blessed end O Lord. This verse containes a two-fold protestation In the first hee protests that God was his portion In the second that hee had determined to keepe the word of GOD. And this hee conceiues in such manner that hee directs his speech to God Laying open his heart to God he dare make bold out of a good conscience that God was his portion It is a thing common to all sorts of men to speake of God but to speake to him is a grace proper to his children euen to them onely Either the vvicked dare not come vnto him their conscience beeing so euill that it is afraide to looke vnto the Lord no otherwise then a wounded eye which can not behold the light or if at any time forced by necessity they would yet they cannot come to him beeing voyde of faith without which there can be no prayer Accesse to the throne of grace that vvee may speake with God while wee are in the bodie is the first degree of eternall life hee shall neuer be afraid to goe out of the body and ascend to the Lord who when he was in the body went vp by prayer and got accesse to the Lord. This is the comfort of the children of God that sometime they get such ioyfull accesse to God by prayer that they wish and desire that their soule at that same instant might goe out of their bodie vvith their supplication 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vt simul egrediatur anima cum precatione But who is this that glories the Lord was his portion Euen Dauid a King of a most mightie people of a florishing kingdome and a fertile land flowing with milke and hony but in this hee reioyceth not all his comfort is heere that God was his portion This I marke to make those worldlings ashamed who haue lesse portions of the earth then Dauid had and yet reioyce so in them that they neglect altogether the Lord their God They brag with Nabuchadnezzer of their buildings Is not this great Babel that I haue built for honour of my Maiestie They talke foolishlie with Nabal Shall I take my flesh and my bread and giue away As if all that they haue were their owne And they glorie with that Glutton when their Garners and Barnes are full Novv my soule thou hast enough for many daies but a short time shall declare that they haue nothing at all who haue not the Lord to be their portion Now that wee may be mooued to make this same election which heere Dauid makes let vs first consider the louing kindnesse of the Lord our God toward vs who passing by all his creatures hath set his hart vpon man all things hee hath made for man and man for himselfe and for no other thing beside himselfe This is euident in the creation when hee had made his glorious works the first second third fourth and fift daies hee considered them all in their kinds and saw they were very good but still he proceeded to create more and could not rest till he had made man When man was created then is it said that the Lord rested No sight of the creature could content the Lord till hee had seen man all the thoughts of the diuine mind aymed at him When the Lord had created man as the perfection of his workes the compend of his creatures and the end wherevnto he looked in creating all other creatures then it is said that hee rested O man where-with shalt thou require the kindnesse of the Lord thy GOD but by resoluing with Dauid that thou wilt choose none for
for the truth I haue determined to keepe thy word This he brings in by way of probation of that which hee said in the former words Many wil say with Dauid that God is their portion but heere is the poynt how doe they proue it If God be their portion then they would loue him if they loued him they would loue his word if they loued his word they would liue by it and make it a rule of their life If it were demaunded of these bastard Christians as Chrysostome enquired of the like Wherby shall I know you to be Christians their onely defence behoued to stand in their tongue for if yee looke to the works of their hands yee shall not discerne them from Infidels Looke to their eating and drinking they are like Epicures look to their garments they are vaine-glorious looke to their feet they delight in any place more then in the courts of the Lords house Is not this then a small defence all the parts of their conuersation testifie against them onely their words speak for them let them beware for this will bee no sufficient proofe of true Christianitie when God shall iudge them Hee saith not onely that hee will keepe Gods word but he had determined to keepe it Many enter into religion but not vpon determination these doe no otherwise saith our Sauiour then if a man should goe to battell and not consider if he may fight it out or as if a man should build a house and not lay his count whether or no he is able to finish it for this man leaues it at the last with more shame then if he had not begun it so fareth it with many who embrace religion lightly and as lightly fall away from it they not beeing rooted nor grounded nor built vpon Christ Iesus Three helps of a godly life are heere vsed by Dauid the first is Determination this makes a man to begin well The second is Supplication this makes a man to continue well The third is Consideration and this makes a man when hee goes wrong to come home againe to his determination He that begins to liue well not laying his grounds by Determination is easily altered and hee that vpon Determination beginneth to do well if by instant prayer he obtaine not grace from God shall ouer readily faint and fall away for what are best purposes if grace from aboue strengthen vs not to performe them but vanishing motions And in the third roome because in many things we sin all wee haue need of Consideration whereby we doe examine our waies and returne againe to our first course when wee haue wandred from it VER 58. I haue made my supplication in thy presence with my whole hart be mercifull to mee according to thy promise THese words stand of a protestation and prayer They teach vs to second our determinations vvith prayers both because our purposes shall perish if God blesse them not as Psal. 127 as also for that Satan then doth most busily impugne vs when hee sees wee haue most resolutely concluded to serue the Lord. Three things are to be obserued in Dauids praier 1. His reuerence 2. His sinceritie 3. His faith His reuerence is heere that he made his supplication in Gods presence if we did so thinke when we go to pray we goe to shew our selues in Gods presence how would it humble vs in our selues make vs reuerent toward God Wee know what we do when we come before Kings of the earth wee prepare our selues wee come with the reuerence of Hester to Ahasuerus of Bathsheba to Dauid and good reason so we should doe But how much are we bound to do as Abraham did when wee come before the Lord to remember wee are but dust ashes and that it is a great benefit that wee should get license to speake to the Righteous Iudge of all the world And this reuerence our Sauiour commends vnto vs when in the preface of the prayer which he hath taught vs he remembers vs that our father to whom we speak is in heauen we should not be rash with our mouth nor hasty in our hart to vtter a thing before God For God saith Salomon is in heauen and we are in the earth Let faith mooue our harts to goe to him when we haue neede let feare bridle vs that we be not suddaine but first temper our harts ere wee speake with our tongue to so reuerent a Maiestie It is abhomination to offer vnto the Lord the Sacrifice of fooles that is words without affection and yet alas how often doth our infirmitie miscarie vs to doe so Magni certè ingenij est seuocare mentem à sensibus cogitationem à consuetudine abducere It is a worke of great difficultie in prayer to sunder our soule frō our senses and to withdrawe our cogitations from their custome The second thing to be obserued in his praier is his sinceritie in these words With my vvhole hart Hypocrisie is a vile sinne in dealing with men but much more abhominable when by it men presume to mocke the Lord making a shew in his presence of that which they are not Rebecca decked vp Iacob in so subtile a maner that Isaac his father mistooke him but Satan now pranks vp his coūterfet Christians in more subtil maner for there Isaac tooke some notice of him by his voice but now men haue learned to speak so cunningly and Christian-like that hardly can a man think how a false hart should lodge vnder so faire a tongue But let not men deceiue themselues God wil not be deceiued his eyes are not dimme as Isaacs but liuely quick and pearcing like vnto flames of fire he can see they are but a potshard ouer laid with siluer drosse and a little time shall discouer them Certum est nihil simulatum aut fictum verae esse virtutis sed nec diuturnum for it is sure that a counterfeit thing can neuer haue solid vertue nor continuance in it Let vs studie with Dauid to make our hart good vpright before God The third thing to be marked in his prayer is his faith grounded vpon the promises of God in these words Be mercifull vnto me according to thy promise He protested before that he sought the Lord from his whole hart and now he prayeth he may find mercie So it is indeede boldlie may that man looke for mercy at Gods hand vvho seekes him truely there Mercie and Truth meet together and embrace one another where truth is in the soule to seeke there cannot be but mercie in GOD to embrace If truth be in vs to confesse our sinnes forsake them wee shal find mercy in God to pardon and forgiue them Again we see that as our prayers should be sent vp in Christes name so shold they be groūded on Gods promises It is a shame that the prayers of many Christians
The Lord when hee exhorts to repentance cryes My sonne delay not to turne to the Lord. This day vvhile it is called vpon you harden not your harts but Satans voice is Tarry till the morne Let me first goe and kisse my father that is delight yet a space in the pleasures of this life It was offred by Moses to Pharao When shall I pray for thee and he answered To morrow It is offred by the Lord to man When wilt thou that I haue mercie on thee and in effect it is answered by many Not till mine old daies Miserable was Pharao who delayed Moses but one day and more miserable are they vvho delay the Lord for many yeeres vvhen hee offers them mercy I knowe no difference betweene the vvise Virgins and the foolish but that the one did that in time which the other would faine haue done out of time and could not The most profane men of the world are forced in death to make their refuge to the Lord then the eye and the hand are lifted vp vnto him then they cry for mercie and desire all others to pray for them If wee be wise let vs doe that in time which al men are faine to doe at the length VER 61. The bands of the wicked haue robbed me but I haue not forsaken thy law TRue godliness will indure great tentations euen as trees wel rooted abides the blast of strong winds and gold that is fine abides the triall of fire Many waies was Dauid tempted and among the rest the wicked by troupes and multitudes combined against him yet did he not forsake the law of the Lord. The godly liue in this world like sheep among vvolues euery wicked man in whom Satan ruleth is like a Cananite to an Israelite a thorne in our eye a prick in our side yea and as a dart of Satan shot at vs to driue vs away from the fear of God if so wee can take them it should greatly strengthen vs to indure all troubles that come from them There will neuer be peace among those two parties between whom the Lord himselfe in Paradise proclaimed inimity And howsoeuer to strengthen themselues in an euill cause the wicked goe together by bands and companies yet shall it not availe them nor hurt vs. Babels builders Moab Ammon Edom conspyring in one may tell vs Though hand ioyne in hand the wicked shall not escape vnpunished the wickd are like thornes before the fire their multitude may well embolden it but cannot resist it VER 62. At midnight will Irise to giue thanks vnto thee because of thy righteous iudgements IN this verse we haue a protestation of Dauid his thankfull affection toward the Lord wherein we haue three things 1. The dutie promsed namely to giue thanks 2. The time at midnight 3. The cause because of thy righteous iudgements As for the dutie of thanksgiuing wee spake of it verse 7. As for the time hee saith hee will rise at midnight and giue thanks to God We pray that we may doe Gods will on earth as it is done in heauen now in heauen we know they praise God continually without ceasing we should doe so vpon earth but our necessities of sleeping eating and such like interrupt vs that wee cannot doe it as we should yet happy shall we be if wee season all our dyets and doings with prayer and thanksgiuing That as God in nature hath made the knee to bow at euery step so the hart in euery action might bow and blesse the Lord acknowledging our Maker and Redeemer and directing all our dooings to his glory When Salomon made harps and other musicall instruments for the praise of God he made them of Almuggim trees that is of such trees as rotte not Teaching vs by like signification how induring should bee those instruments of our heart and affections wherewith wee praise God that we should not suffer them to decay But alas how soone do we faile Oftentimes we begin the day with some feruencie in praysing and prayer but wee faintere euen yet shall we haue great comfort if when our performance faileth our purpose remaine for this will reuiue our former zeale and make vs to returne vnto an earnest calling vpon God and that with the greater feruencie That we finde our great infirmity hath carried vs away from our former purpose Let vs againe consider here how Dauid spends the time of his life that we may learne at him to be wise Time is a most pretious thing not such a jewell among all things perteyning to this life By this it may be esteemed that in a small point of time an infinite weight of glory may be acquired and men who haue beene prodigall of it spending yeares and moneths without consideration would haue giuen great riches yea all the jewels of the world if they had beene in their possession for prorogation of their life one year yea one moneth Let vs therefore learne at Dauid how he vsed his time when he lay downe at night he watered his couch with teares after the examination of his heart At midnight againe he rose vp to giue thankes there-after he preuented the morning watch that he might meditate on the word of the Lorde then in the day time morning noone and even hee made a noise to the Lord yea seauen times in the day he called vpon God Our Sauiour hath commended the like care vnto vs both by his precept and practise in the Temple at the table in the garden in the mountaine did he pray all night Vt te proprio ad de precandum inuitaret exemplo Happy were we if so we could spend our dayes for certaine it is when our last day coms we shal haue comfort of no by-gone time but that which we haue spent in the seruice of God Sleepe is most necessary for the intertainment of bodily health it is Ros naturae the dewe of nature more necessary then meate or drinke yet as Dauid protests ver that hee loued the word of God more then his appointed food so heere hee preferres the prayses of God to his sleepe and rest in the night This may make vs ashamed when we see how wicked men cannot rest except they haue done euill and how they defraud themselues of sleep that they may commit iniquity and how againe the superstitious Priests of Baal can wake in the night to attend vpon their Idols that Christians professing Gods true worship should so pamper themselues that they will not rise out oâ—… the bedde to bowe their knee to the Lord yea scarsely lying still with their bodies will raise vp their spirits to praise him Sleepe is compared by one to a sory customer that eyther takes vp more then wee should giue or then his Master allowes him The Lord allowes a certaine time for our sleepe and rest as he doth to all the
light of his countenaunce vpon his owne and make the dewe of his grace to fall vpon them Yea if we our selues when we were enemies were reconciled how much more now beeing reconciled shall we be saued And this as it serues to confirme the godlie that the whole earth is full of Gods goodnes so doth it also convince the wicked of a blind stupiditie Euery creature hath in it some note of Gods goodnes and yet they cannot see it they looke to heauen they walke vpon earth they breathe in the ayre they warme at the fire euery moment they vse Gods creatures but neuer see nor feele his his goodnesse in them to lift vp their harts and praise him for them TETH VER 65. O Lord thou hast dealt graciously with thy seruaunt according to thy word IN the verse following Dauid seekes mercy in this hee giues thankes for mercy receiued Mercies receiued as they should be returned with praise to him who gaue theÌ„ so should they confirme our harts in an expectation of greater to bee receiued It is not with God as it is with man a man the more he giueth the lesse he hath it is not so with the Lord. Among men this is a reason as they alledge why they should not giue I haue giuen you already why then doe yee trouble mee any more but it is not so with God the treasures of his grace can neuer be emptied whom he loues he loues vnto the end and to him that hath hee giueth more Yea all that now wee get hee willeth vs to receiue as an earnest or a pledge of greater good hee hath to giue vs. So Dauid confirmes himselfe Psalme 23. that because the Lord had beene a Shepheard to him in time by-gone hee gathers this conclusion Doubtlesse kindnesse and mercy shall follow me all the daies of my life But how saith Dauid did God deale graciously with him seeing hee did humble him from his youth with many sore afflictions These agree very well together for the Lord is most louing when he chastiseth EtiaÌ„ in seueritate est bonitas Dei vt recurrat vnusquisque castigatus pedem referat à peccatis ad tramitem bonamque conuersationem reuertatur euen in seueritie Gods gracious goodnesse appeares in that hee vvho is chastised returnes from his sinnes to the right trade of a godlie conuersation Will any man accuse a Physition of cruelty because hee cutteth away the rotten member vvith yron or burnes with fire a fretting canker Or shall the Master bee blamed for correcting his negligent Disciple that hee may make him more diligent and attentiue to learning Sic castigare amantis est non execrantis ideo bonitatis est noncrudelitatis so to chastise is the vvorke of one that loueth not that hateth there is no crueltie in that but gratious goodnesse And albeit these chastisements seeme not sweete for the present yet afterward as the Apostle saith they bring the quiet fruite of righteousnesse to them vvho are thereby exercised And therefore Dauid still craueth to bee taught of GOD the same manner of way Sciebat namque Propheta disciplinae vtilitatem because hee had learned by experience vvhat great good Gods discipline doth to the soule of a man Yee may perceiue by this how Dauid kept remembrances of the seuerall proofes of Gods fauour shewed vnto him in performing to him the promised kingdome and in deliuering him from many outward and inward temptations Thus the children of GOD keepe with themselues memorials of mercie receiued for albeit the time of the full performance of Gods promises bee not yet come yet doth he performe so much of them as binds vs in all conscience to remember his praises who is a most true and mercifull God vnto vs. Thy seruaunt Dauid frequently delights in this stile Hee found that his greatest comfort stood in the seruing of GOD in a good conscience and if we do not so with what boldnes can we looke for comfort from him in the day of our trouble or houre of death who made no conscience of his seruice Yea rather iustly may the Lord giue vs that fearefull answer which he gaue to the rebellious Iewes wheÌ„ they sought his help in the day of their distresse Goe vnto the gods whoÌ„ yee haue serued and let them deliuer you According to thy vvord Naturall men will not belieue that GOD will doe according to his vvord they haue it in derision The vision say they is but wind In so dooing they highly offend the maiestie of GOD imputing this note of dishonestie vnto him That hee is not so good as his word but in experience they shall find the contrary The godly shall find the truth of his word in mercie as Ezechias did so shall they praise him The Lord hath said it and the Lord hath done it but the wicked shal find it in iudgement Your Fathers vvhere are they and doe the Prophets liue for euer But did not my word and my Statutes vvhich I commaunded by my seruaunts the Prophets take hold on your Fathers And they returned and said As the Lord of hosts hath determined to doe vnto vs according to our ovvne waies and works so assuredly hath he dealt with vs. So shall all the wicked find at the length that as God hath a mouth to speak so hath he a hand to execute it Then shall they discerne betweene the righteous and the wicked between him that serueth God and him that serueth him not VER 66. Teach mee good iudgement knowledge for I haue beleeued thy coÌ„maundements THis verse containes a prayer with a reason In the prayer he beseecheth God to teach him good iudgement The word Tob Tagnam signifieth the goodnesse of taste so Vatablus Bonitatem sensus doce me The naturall sense of tasting is heere by a Metaphortranslated to signifie iudgement and vnderstanding and that because as taste discernes meat makes choise of vvhat is to bee sent into the stomacke â—…o the vnderstanding discernes betweene truth to be embraced and falshood to be reiected This is the grace for which the Apostle prayeth to the Philippians I pray that yee may abound more and more in knowledge and in all iudgement that yee may discerne things which are excellent This is a rare grace For many by the iudgement of light knowes what is good and what is euill who knowe it not by the iudgement of taste for if by sense they felt the bitternesse of sinne and sweetnesse of righteousnesse they wold not so loue the one set light by the other as they doe And againe this puts a difference between that knowledge which wee haue in this life and that which we shall haue in the life to come Now we haue but a taste then shall we be filled and satisfied with his image now wee knowe but in part heereafter wee shall knowe fully now we
nothing on earth more pretious then hee Sed in eo quod non videtur multo pulchrior est but in that which is not seene namely his soule hee is much more beautifull So ye see Dauids reasoning is very effectuall all one as if he should say as he doth elswhere Opus manuum tuarum ne deseras Te authorem conuenio te teneo conditorem aliena praesidia non quaro Forsake not ô Lord the worke of thine hands thou art my author and maker thine help I seek and the helpe of none other No man can rightly seeke good things from God if he consider not what good the Lord hath already done to him But many are in this poynt so ignorant that they knowe not how wonderfully God did make them and therefore can neither blesse him nor seeke from him as from their Creator and conseruer But this argument drawne from our first creation no man can righly vse it but he who is through grace partaker of the second creation for all the priuiledges of our first creation we lost them by our fall So that now by nature it is no comfort to vs nor matter of our hope that GOD did make vs but rather matter of our feare and distrust that wee haue mismade ourselues haue lost his image and are not now like vnto that which God created vs in the beginning Giue mee vnderstanding Dauid knew that a man without vnderstanding were hee of neuer so noble bloud or comely of personage he is but a companion of beasts and therefore the Spirit of GOD commonly giues the stile of a man vnto man eyther made or restored to the image of God But a man destitute of that image Aut serpentem aut equum aut vulpeculam aut iumentum vocare consueuit he cals either a serpent or a horse or a foxe or a beast That I may learne Hee sheweth heer what is the vnderstanding which he craued namelie that hee might learne to obey the commaundements of God It is not wisedome in Gods account for a man to knowe all other things and be ignorant of himselfe neither is this learning to haue knowledge of all Sciences and secrets of Nature and to be without godlinesse This is the beginning of all wisedome To feare GOD and the Art of Arts to practise pietie To this purpose said Ambrose Quid tam obscurum quam de Astronomia tractare profundi aeris spatia metiri relinquere causam salutis error is quaerere Where if saith hee it be obiected Was not Moses learned in all the learning of the Egyptians let it be answered So hee was but hee thought all this wisedom losse and foolishnesse in comparison and turned to seeke GOD with inward affection Ideoque vidit interrogavit audiuit loquentem Deum hee saw therefore hee asked and heard God speaking vnto him VER 74. So they that feare thee seeing me shal reioyce because I trusted in thee THe godly in ordering their life haue a respect first vnto God that he may haue glory Next to themselues that in conformitie with God they may haue peace and comfort And thirdly vnto his neighbour to giue vnto him that is godly matter of ioy and edification by his godly life according to that precept of our Sauiour Let your light so shine before men that they seeing your godly conuersation may glorifie your Father who is in heauen Beside this appeareth the great power vertue of godlines that euen the very sight of a godlie man ministers ioy to the godly terror to the wicked Plerisque iusti aspectus admonitio correctionis est perfectioribus verò laetitia to many men the sight of a righteous man is a warning of correction For they are admonished what neede they haue to amend their life that they may be like vnto him but to such as haue profited more in godlinesse it is alway a matter of ioy Quam pulchrum ergo si videaris prosis How excellent a thing then is this that as oft as thou art seene so oft thou doost good And againe there is such a fellowshippe and communion among all the liuely members of Christ his mystical bodie that they mourne together they reioyce together the grace of God cōmunicated to one is a cause of ioy to al the rest Bonis enim insitū est vt virtutes su as in alijs amēt It is the propertie of the godly to loue those vertues in others which either they haue or would in themselues to enuy the good of another and be grieued thereat is a diuellish thing Infirme Iosua may murmure when Medad and Eldad prophecie in the assembly of the people but meeke Moses shall reioyce and wish that all the Lords people did prophecie in like manner Because I trusted in thee Gods working with any one of his seruants is a confirmation of all the rest for what hee is to one that feares him he is vnto all that feare him So that mercy shewed to any penitent and promises performed to any beleeuing man should confirme vs in the assurance of the like fauour of God to bee found by our selues if we also repent and beleeue in him VER 75. I knowe O Lord that thy iudgements are right and that thou hast afflicted mee iustlie THis Verse consists of a thankesgiuing wherin he ascribes to the Lord the praise of truth and righteousnesse in afflicting him Many vse to praise God in prosperity who in time of trouble impatient of his heauie hand murmure against him but such as are truly godly do then blesse the Lord most heartily when he seems to deale with them most hardly giuing him the praise of equity and acknowledging that his greatest rodds are not so great as their sins as also the praise of fidelity that according to his word he afflicts his children for no other cause but to purge them and make them more capable of grace and consolation I know How is this seeing the Apostle saith Rom. II. that the iudgements of God are vnsearchable and his waies past finding out The answer is Dauid doth not so speake as if he were priuy to al the secret waies of God but that thus much hee knew in generall that all his iudgements whereby he strikes eyther the godly or the wicked were all right suppose the causes and particular ends of them were secret And this knowledge is learned out of the word The Lord is righteous in all his workes and holy in all his wayes And againe All the wayes of God are mercie and truth to them that feare him And againe All things worke for the best to them that loue him And it is the want of this knowledge that makes vs oftentimes to murmure or faint and be discouraged at the works of God apprehending in our ignorance that to be euill which in Gods working is good and directed to a good end For if
them by the armour of the Spirit not meeting wickednesse with wickednesse and falshood with falshood For if we fight against Satan with Satans armor he shall soone ouercome vs but if wee put vpon vs the compleat armor of God to resist him hee shall flee from vs. See ver 69. VER 79. Let such as feare thee turne vnto mee and they that know thy testimonies AS he was troubled by the wicked so hee praieth that he may find help comfort in the godly God hath ioyned his children into one happy fellowship for his Church is a communion of Saints yet so that hee hath distributed his graces to euery one of them in so wise a manner that there is not one of them who stands not in need of the help comfort of one another where one doubts another hath light to resolue where one is grieued another hath the word of consolation to vphold him where one is weake vnder any temptation the Lord hath appointed the stroÌ„ger to bear his infirmities and this is the benefit which here Dauid craues Basile so expounds these words as if Dauid for his sin had been separate from the congregation of Gods people as Miriam was for her leprosie and therfore now praies againe that he may be receiued into the communion of Gods people Which more clearly is expressed by the translation of Symmachus Conuersentur mecum timenteste Let such as feare thee haue conuersation with me and let me not be abhorred of them How-euer it be wee may see that the harts of men are in the hands of the Lord and that ma ny times godly men are made strange to other godly men Wherein the Lord hath no other respect but that our harts should not depend vpon the testimonie of man God is so iealous ouer his children wil haue their harts so wholly bound vnto himselfe that he cannot be content we shold put our comfort or seeke our approbation in any creature And in this sort did hee so humble Dauid that as hee protests Psalm 69. hee found not one to comfort him and all for this end that he might learne to comfort himselfe in the Lord his God In this description of the children of God we see how feare knowledge are required to make vp a godly man knowledge of GOD without feare breeds presumption and feare of GOD without knowledge breeds superstition as we see how the Gentiles fearing a diuinitie which they knew not haue fallen into most beastly Idolatry CAPH VER 81. My soule fainteth for thy saluation yet I wait for thy word DAuid beeing sore troubled by wicked men finding that God delaied to comfort and deliuer him was sore deiected cast downe in his owne mind so that his soule fainted his eyes failed and his body became like a bottle in the smoake All hatred and inimitie of man is easily comported where God shewes his fauorable face but when the godly are sore troubled by men and find not their soules comforted of God their strength failes them Euen as the body wanting naturall helps to refresh it becomes faint and falls in a swoune so the soule destitute of heauenly comfort languisheth For the godly liue by mercy and can no more endure to want the sense of mercy then the body can consist without those naturall means which increase and conserue the life thereof Yet doth hee neuer so faint but that some life remaines in him for he subioynes immediatlie I wait for thy word Waiting for comfort is an action of faith an effect of life As in the midst of Winter there is a substance in the Oake and Elme euen when it seemes to bee dead so is it with the Christian in his greatest extremities some spark of life remaines in him For the life oâ—… Christ Iesus whereby hee liues is of that nature that it cannot die it may be weakened but can not be extinguished For thy word In the first part of the verse hee protested that he waited for Gods saluation and now he saith he waited for Gods word Teaching vs first not to seek any thing froÌ„ God which his word warrants vs not to craue And next how we should giue such credit to the word of God as to belieue it euen then when in our sense there is no likelihood of the performance of it VER 82. Mine eyes faile for thy promise vvhen wilt thou comfort me IT is a customable manner of Gods working with his children to delay the aunswere of their prayers suspend the performance of his promises not because he is vnwilling to giue but because he will haue them better prepared to receiue Tardiùs dando quod petimus instantiaÌ„ nobis orationis indicit he is slow to giue that which we seek that we should not seeke slowly but may be wakened to instancie and feruencie in prayer which he knows to be the seruice most acceptable vnto him and most profitable vnto our selues And for this cause continuance in prayer is commended vnto vs by the Apostle VER 83. For I am like a bottle in the smoake yet doe I not forget thy statutes HEe still insists in his former complaint declaring how the greatnes of his inward anguish had extenuated worne the natural strength of his body so that hee was becom like a bottle dryed in the smoak his skin contracted withered wrinkled with the greatnes of his griefe The like he hath Psa. 32. that the moisture of his body was turned into the drouth of Sommer The troubles of the mind affect the body distemper it and the best way in such cases to mitigate bodily diseases is to pacifie the mind But again when we see the great anguish of Dauids mind and how his beautifull body was now become but a withered skin let vs consider how how hardly the Lord deales with his children whom he loues most dearly He iudgeth vs in this world that wee should not be condemned in the world to come By the fire of affliction he burns vp the superfluities of our nature which in prosperity increase vpon vs to the great hinderance of the work of our saluation And againe that he may make vs capable of heauenly coÌ„fort he takes carnal comforts away from vs for so long as we are delighted with the one we can neuer feele the consolation of the other This should learn vs not to be discouraged when in the same maner God deales hardly with vs. His rods may be sharp but his way is mercy He may doe to his children as Ioseph did to his brethren speak roughly to them and make himselfe strange toward them but his louing affection cannot euer be hid from them VER 84. How many are the daies of thy seruaunt when wilt thou execute iudgement on them that persecute me THis verse containes a supplication wherin Dauid craues that God would iudge between
enim quis persecutiones pati non iniustè and it is euer Causa non poena facit Martyrem But let none of you suffer as a murtherer or a thiefe or an euill doer or a busie body if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but glorifie God in this behalfe Helpe mee Profane mockers thinke that a man is weake when he is driuen to Gods helpe but indeed then he is strongest when he is weakest in him selfe and seeks help in his God So long as we depend on the arme of flesh whether it be our own or others the Lord will do the lesse for vs but when distrusting our selues we relie vppon him then is he strongest to worke for vs. VER 87. They had almost consumed me vpon earth but I for sooke not thy precepts IN this verse are two things a complaint of the malice of his enemies a protestation of his constant affection toward the word of God In the first he complains they had not only troubled him but almost consumed him the malicious cruelty of the wicked is insatiable it cannot be quenched nay not by death for euen after death they rent both the name and the bodies of godly men Dauid was not thus farre deliuered into his enemies hands but he complaines that their malice almost had vndone him We mark it for this end that we may know it is Gods great prouidence that at any time we liue among the wicked and are not consumed by them Secondly we marke here the great weakenesse and infirmity of Gods children who oftentimes are more discouraged w th those tentations which come immediatly from men then with those others which com immediatly from God in the one they stand strong in the other they faint and are ouercome Surely because wee are in a great parte carnall therefore is it that the want of mans comfort and countenance commoues vs. If we were as we should be or as Nazianzen compares vs like Rockes in the Sea what would we regard the wind of mens mouthes or raging waues of their turbulent affections As an arrow shot at a stone returnes to him who sent it or otherwise fals downe to the ground so an iniurie done to a spirituall man who is built like a liuely stone vpon the Rocke Christ Iesus returns to the doer but troubles not the receiuer If it be otherwise that we consume and faint for the iniuries of men all this weakenesse proceeds from our vnregenerate nature Thirdly we marke here the Lords dispensation in his manner of working with his children who not onely suffers them to be troubled but brought so lowe by trouble that in their owne sense they are almost consumed Both in outward inward troubles doth the Lord humble them so farre that they are brought euen to the doore of death that so their faith and his truth may be the more manifested Thus the Apostle protests that he receiued in himselfe the sentence of death all for this end that hee might learne not to trust in himselfe but in God who raiseth the dead For so long as in danger there is any hope of remedy our infidelity casts her eye a wrong way but when we are brought to such extremity that with Peter we begin to sinke in affliction then we looke to the Lord we câ—…aue the helpe of his hand and hee releeueth vs and wee cannot but acknowledge that our dâ—…iuerance is come from him onely and so by the greatnesse of our trouble our faith is â—…roborate and the praise of Gods truth more 〈◊〉 manifested VER 88. Quicken mee according to thy louing kindnesse so shall I keepe the testimonies of thy mouth MAny a time in this Psalme doth Dauid make this petition it seems strange that so often hee should acknowledge himselfe a dead man and desire God to quicken him But so it is vnto the child of God euerie desertion and decay of strength is a death so desirous are they to liue vnto GOD that vvhen they faile in it and find any inabilitie in their soules to serue GOD as they would they account themselues but dead and pray the Lord to quicken them According to thy louing kindnesse Hee oppones Gods kindnesse to his enemies malice and it is very comfortable I am troubled with their malice for thy sake and therefore I craue to be refreshed with thy kindnesse acknowledging that in Gods kindnesse there is comfort enough against all the malice of wicked men whatsoeuer according to that opposition vvhich hee makes in another place Why boastest thou thy selfe in thy malice the louing kindnesse of the Lord indureth daily Dauid knew a two-fold kindnesse or benignitie in God One generall extended to all his creatures whereof he speakes Psalm 145. All liuing creatures depend vpon thee and thou giuest them meate in due season Another speciall toward his owne beloued in Christ and for this hee prayeth Psalme 106. Visit mee with the saluation of thy people And againe Looke vpon mee and be mercifull vnto mee as thou vsest to those that feare thy name And for this now he prayeth that God would be good vnto him not onely by that generall kindnesse by the which as a Creator hee is good vnto all his creatures but according to his speciall fauour whereby as a louing father he abounds in kindnesse towards all his children in Christ Iesus So shall I keepe the testimonies of thy mouth Hee protests heere that 〈◊〉 the Lord quicken him there is no strength in him to obey nor to doe any other acâ—…â—…ing to Gods spirituall worshâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—… dead man can doe actions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 natural life But the presumptuâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of his age find no difficultie in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they can pray well enough 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…m-selues but they are saire deâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord renew his mercy towarâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 daily by his spirit of grace wee â—…hall be buâ—… 〈◊〉 senselesse stocks in praysing praying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord our God Non enim communâ—… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 custodit coeleste mandatum sed illa quae 〈◊〉 fulcitur aeterno per operationeÌ„ gratiae spiritualis for it is not this common life which keepes the heauenly commaundement but that life which is sustained by the eternall and spirituall operation of the grace of God which the Lord may encrease and conserue in vs for euer LAMED VER 89. O Lord thy vvord endureth for euer in heauen IN the last Section Dauid complained to God of the malicious doings of his enemies he comes now to shew what sustained him in his troubles to weet the certaintie and eternitie of the word of God by the which he considers that both heauen and earth were sustained and thereof concludes that so long as he trusted to Gods word he could not faile So that he giues this glory to the Lord that his word onely
kept him that he perished not in his affliction Thy word Dauid here makes a secret opposition between the words of his enemies and Gods word Sore was he troubled with the long toūgs of the wicked Hoc enim est opus diaboli vt seruos Dei mendacio laceret falsis opinionibus gloriosum nomen infamet vt qui conscientiae suaeluce clarescunt alienis rumoribus sor didentur It is true which Philo saith Veritas opinione melior est non tamen est negligenda fama truth is better then opinion and it makes not much what wrong opi nion be conceiued of vs yet the same or good name of a man is not to be neglected specially if he be in a publick office that by his name he may do good vnto others But because this cannot be obtained and Innocencie itselfe cannot hold off the scourge of the tongue wee must oppone the word of God to the words of wicked men resting with Io◅ in this That our witnesse is in heauen and with S. Paul in the testimonie of a good conscience Then shall we not be discouraged for the words of man hauing both Gods word and our owne conscience to warrant vs. And for our farther comfort let vs remember how the words of men when they are greatest are most vaine and effectlesse and on the contrarie that GOD is as good as his word yea and better doing more then can be expressed by word It was a proud word of Iezabel God doe so to me and more also if I haue not the head of Elijah ere tomorrow at this time but the dogs got her head and shee got not the head of Elijah Such also were the words of Sennacherib boasting by Rabsache that he would make the inhabitants of Ierusalem to drink their own piss but these were vaine words and vanished with the wind Onely the counsell of the Lord stands what hee determines shal be done and as he speakes it shall assuredly come to passe In heauen By this Basile vnderstands Angelorum coetus coelum inhabitantes qui diuin◅m legem custodiunt the company of innumerable Angels who obserue the law of God But the words following declare hee meanes the frame of the same visible works wherein the constancie of Gods truth doth appeare most manifestly For two causes then doth Dauid so speak First to draw vs from looking to the instabilitie of things heere vpon earth wherein are restlesse changes and vicissitudes to a consideration of the stabilitie of Gods decree in heauen Vtcunque versentur res humanae omnia sint varijs inclinationibus obnoxia tamen verbum Dei non est subiectum ordini naturali In earth the word of God is not onely controuerted but contradicted and resisted and the state of things so mutable that oftentimes the wicked prosper and are exalted the godly cast downe and sore oppressed To vphold vs against this tentation let vs looke vp cast the anchor of our soules within the vaile there we shal see an vnchangeable decree of God which shall change all these things againe and bring to the end spoken of in his word The other cause why he so speaks is that this visible frame of the heauen stands as an eternall witnes of the veritie of Gods word that hee will not retreat nor call back that which hee speaks for he once commanded the heauens to be and incontinent they were and euer since continue Thus wee see how the godly profit by looking into the works of God euer drawing some spirituall consideration out of them but of this hereafter VER 90. Thy truth is from generation to generation thou hast laid the foundation of the earth and it abideth AS hee collected the certaintie of Gods word by the indurance of heauē so now he confirmes it by considering the foundation of the earth Sith the foundation of the earth made by the word of God abides sure shal we not think that the foundation of our saluation laid in Christ Iesus is much more sure Though the creatures cannot teach vs the way of saluation for that we must learn by the word yet doe they confirme that which the word saith Thus saith the Lord vvho giues the Sunne for a light to the day and the courses of the Moone and Starres for a light to the night If these ordinances depart out of my sight then shall the seede of Israel cease from beeing a Nation before mee for euer As there Ieremie gathers the stabilitie of the Church from the stabilitie of the creatures so here Dauid cōfirmes the certainty of our saluation by the most certaine vnchangeable course of the creatures and both of them are amplified by Christ Iesus Heauen earth may passe but one iot of Gods word shal not fall to the ground Let vs therefore be strengthened in the faith and giue glory to God Tho◅ hast laid This worke of God is often mentioned in holy Scripture to commend the glory of Gods wisdom and power Yea the Lord himselfe glories in it as ye see in his speech to Iob Where was◅ thou when I laid the foundation of the earth declare if thou can who laid the measures thereof who first stretched the line ouer it whervpon are the foundations of it set or who layd the corner stone therof He hath founded it without a foundation for the pillars of the earth mentioned by Anna are no other but his word and decree But alas how great is our stupiditie vvee walk vpon earth it beareth vs vp but we neuer consider how God sustaineth it by his mightie power that we may giue glory to him And it abides As the Lord by his vvord made the vvorlds so beares hee vp all things by his mightie word Creation is as the mother and Prouidence the nurse conseruer of al the works of God God is not like man for hee when hee hath made a worke cannot maintaine it hee buildeth a shippe and cannot saue it from shipwrack hee edifies a house but cannot keepe it from decay it is otherwise with God we daily see his conseruing power vpholding his creatures vvhich should confirme vs that hee will not cast vs off nor suffer vs to perish sith we are the works of his hands if wee doe depend vpon him and giue him the glory of our Creator Conseruer and Redeemer VER 91. They continue to this day by thine ordinance for all are thy seruaunts THe same argument by which Dauid here proues the truth of Gods word is vsed by profane mockers to improue it Where is say they the promise of his comming for since the fathers died all things continue alike from the beginning of the Creation There is so great difference between a godly and a godlesse hart that where the one of euery thing learnes to be more godly the other learnes to be more profane like poysonable Waspes
who out of most wholsome hearbs gather nothing but poyson For all are thy seruants From the Angel to the worme all serue him he is the Lord of Hosts let vs also serue him and then shall they serue vs. But it is both sinne and shame that where the raging water and furious fire serue God at his commaund onely man made to his own image disobeyes him And therefore againe feareful is the recompence that where it is said The Lord reioyceth in all his works of man onely the Lord said It repents mee that I made man The Lord grant it may repent vs that euer we offended so good a God and so the Lord may be pacified toward vs in Christ Iesus VER 92. Except thy law had been my delight I should now haue perished in mine affliction HE now declares vnto vs what profit hee made of his former meditatiō to weet that the certaintie of Gods word kept him that he perished not in his affliction Sith he saw it was a sure and powerful word whereby other creatures were sustained he collects it could neuer faile him so leaning vpon it he foūd him selfe vpholden by it in his greatest afflictions Let vs learne of Dauid to seeke our comfort in time of trouble out of the word of GOD for all other comfort which is sought with neglect of this comfort brings two great euils First it encreaseth griefe how-euer for a time it seeme to mitigate it And next it leaues a man destitute when he hath most need of comfort Onelie the comfort of Gods word bides with vs when all other comfort for sakes vs. My delight The word signifieth delights in the plurall number Many were the sorowes of Dauids life but against them all he found as many comforts delectations in Gods word With such varietie of holy wisedom hath God penned his word that it hath conuenient comfort for euery state of life therfore the children of God account nothing so deere as it they preferre it to their appointed foode Yea as the body cannot liue out of the owne element of aire so cannot the soule of a godly man without comfort of the word Where if it be obiected to vs by worldlings Where are those manifold delights which ye say are in the word we hear nothing but one the selfe same thing repeated vnto vs The best answer to them is Come and see Taste and consider how gracious the Lord is and yee shal find that euery repetitiō of it brings new delight And this they may learne by their naturall affection toward bodily foode which is so great that the same kind of foode where-vpon they feede this day they long for it againe to morrow and with a new appetite long to haue renewed euery day And if they were as well acquainted with the spirituall life their affection would be in the same manner renewed euery day toward the word of God For the truth is that no Monarch in the world can furnish his table with such varietie of delicates as are offred to vs in the treasures of Gods word Perished in mine affliction Dauid was a godly man and deerely beloued of the Lord his GOD yet is hee sore humbled by affliction for euen those branches which are fruitfull God will purge to make them more fruitfull Our nature is so rebellious that without sore afflictions it cannot be tamed subdued Stones cannot be squared for palace-worke without strokes of the hammer gold can not be purged and prepared for work without fire neither is corne separated from the chaffe without wind We are Gods corne let vs abide the wind of tentation to clense vs from the chaffe of our corruption Wee must suffer the fire of affliction that we may be fined and made vessels of honour for the house of God And we must be content that the hammer of God strike vpon vs to beat away our proud lumps that so we may be squared and made ready like liuely stones to be laid in heauenly Ierusalem More of this see ver 50. 52. VER 93. I will neuer forget thy precepts for by them thou hast quickned me THis verse hath a protestatiō of his thankfulnes he had found life in Gods word and he resolues neuer to forget it Experientia edoct us iustificationes tu as producere vitā inextinguibilem illarū memoriā seruabo It is no maruel that they who neuer got life by the word of God haue no delight in it the excuses of men here auaile not Certain it is the cause of all contempt of Gods word is from this that men neuer found life nor comfort by it Whereof see Sect. 1. But it is worthy to be marked that he saith not the Word quickned him but God by the Word quickned him The Word was preached at one time by one Preacher S. Paul to many people assembled together at Philippi but many heard it who got not life by it onely Lydia by that Sermon had her heart opened Paul may plant Apollo may water but God must giue the increase Let vs thanke God for the word he hath giuen vs and let vs pray to God that grace may be ioyned with it so with the Gospell hauing the blessing of the Gospell it shall become the power of God to our saluation VER 94. I am thine saue me for I haue sought thy precepts MAny reasons hath Dauid vsed hitherto to mooue the Lord to bee mercifull to him but none more forcible then this I am thine A strong reason indeed where man in a good conscience can vse it for if we who are euill and weake haue a care of euery thing which is ours that we will not if we may suffer it to perish euen our garments and our houses and our cattell we haue a care to conserue them because they are our owne how great may we thinke is the Lords care toward his owne whom he tenders with greater compassion thē any earthly father can doe to his children But howsoeuer this seeme facilis vox communis Tuus sum as easie a voyce as it is common to say I am thine yet few are they who in a good conscience may say it Mentitur enim peccator si se seruum Dei nominet A man in his sinnes lies if hee say that hee is the seruant of God for to what-euer thing a man giues obedience vnto that same is hee a seruant O how many people and nations and wealthy men are there in the world Qui paupertatem putant Domino seruire who thinke it a pouertie to serue GOD Hee who is aboue all seemes nothing to them and they seeke other things with such insatiable affection as if the Lorde Iesus in whom are all things were not sufficient for them Can these men say to the Lord I am thine But these men are not the worst for yee shall finde now a bastard
Christian so profane that when all vices are gathered euery one may say to him Thou art mine Quomodo ergo qui huiâ—…smodi est potest dicere Christo Tuus sum How then may such a man as he say vnto Christ I am thine Concupiscence Auarice Ambition and the rest vpon iust reasons of seruice done by him to them challenge him to be theirs Of such a man it may be spoken that was said of Constantinus Copronymus Eum nee Christianum esse nee Iudaeum nee Paganum sed colluuiem quandam impietatis That he was neyther a Christian nor a Iew nor a Pagan but a confused masse of all impietie And how then can such a one say to the Lord I am thine But if so they will say let them receiue their answere Away ye workers of iniquitie hee is not alway mine that saith Lorde Lorde Wicked men may so say Sed voâ—…e non corde but it is with their tongue not with their heart As Iudas euen then pretended that he was one of Christs when Satan had entred into him but the aduersary iustly might challenge him by the like of these speeches which by Ambrose properly are ascribed to him Non est Tuus Iesu sed mens est quae mea sunt cogitat qua mea sunt in pectore volutat tecum epulatur meâ—…um pascitur à te panem à me pecuniam accepit tecum bibit mihi sanguinem tuum vendit He is not thine said Satan to the Lord Iesus he is mine his thoughts and cogitations are mine he eats with thee but is fedde by me he takes bread from thee but mony from me he drinkes with thee and selâ—…es thy bloud to me A fearfull conuiction of men who giue their word to Christ professing his name but their workes to Satan doing what hee commaunds them These men cannot say with Dauid I am thine O Lord. For I haue sought See here how Dauid qualifies his protestation from his earnest affection to the word of God hee proues that hee was Gods man and his owne seruant It is not wordes but affections and actions which must proue vs to be the Lords Tuus sum quia id solum quod tuum est quasiui I am thine because I sought nothing but that which is thine and how I might please thee Mihi in tuis iustificationibus est omne patrimonium in the obseruance of thy precepts is all my patrimony VER 95. The wicked haue waited for me to destroy me but I will consider thy Testimonies TWo things againe he notes in his enemies diligence in waiting all occasions whereby to doe him euill and cruelty vvithout mercy for their purpose was to destroy him wherin still we see how restlesse and insatiable is the malice of the wicked against the godly Daniel his preseruation in the Lions den was a great miracle but it is no lesse a maruellous vvorke of God that the godly who are the flock of Christ are daily preserued in the midst of the vvicked who are but rauening Wolues thirst for the bloud of the Saints of God hauing a cruell purpose in their heart if they might performe it vtterly to destroy them When we see them disappointed let vs giue thankes with the Iewes If the Lord had not beene on our side may Israel now say If the Lord had not beene on our side when men rose vp against vs then had they swallowed vs quick when their wrath was kindled against vs but praised be the Lord who hath not giuen vs a pray to their teeth But I will consider The coÌ„sideration of Gods word is a strong stay against all temptations See verse 9. 15. 59. 95. 159. VER 96. I haue seene an end of all perfection but thy commaundements are exceeding large IN the conclusion of this Section hee compares Gods word with all other most perfect and excellent things that are in the vvorld and hee sheweth how they shall faile and vanish but the word of the Lord endureth Nihil tam perfectum vel absolutum est omniex parte quod finem suum non habeat Experience lets vs see this to be a truth for there is no day so pleasant but a night puts end to it no Sommer so fruitful but a barren Winter ouertakes it no body so pleasant and liuely but death destroyes it frequent eating and drinking in the dayes of Nâ—…h but the flood came and tooke them all away great mirth among the Philistims vpon their Patrons holy-day but their banquetting house became their buriall The Monarch of Babel that golden head had feet of clay and in the end wormes spred vnder him and wormes couered him All the pomp of the world is like the gourd of Ionas flourishing one day and fading another The wind shall cary away the vngodly like chaffe all their most perfect pleasures are like a light thing bound vp in the wings of the wind which is easily caried away When we come to be men we laugh at those things wee did when we were children for they as wee see take great delight to build houses to themselues in the streets of shells and stones and delight to behold them which albeit they were able to stand yet could they not profit them We are not yet come to the perfect age of Christian men but when we shall be then shall wee vnderstand how foolish now men are whose care is to increase their rents and inlarge their sumptuous buildings Quae ciuem coeli capere non possunt which cannot lodge a Citizen of heauen Let vs therefore so vse this world as if wee vsed it not possessing it so this day as ready to part with it to morrow But thy commandements There 's the other member of the opposition Hee calls the commaundements or word of God exceeding large Quia cos omnes recreat corda corum dilatat qui in angusâ—…ijs afflictionibus versantur because it refresheth them all and inlargeth their harts who are in distresse and affliction And againe it is so large that it hath none end Propter amplitudinem suam fideles nunquam deseret and the amplitude thereof is so great that it neuer failes the faithfull Worldly riches serue worldly men so long as they liue and make some seruice also in conueying their bodies with a pompous funerall to the graue but there it leaues them and goes no further with them Onely the word of God sustaines the godly against all tentations so long as they liue it conuoies them vnto death and the comfort therof abides with them for euer when they are dissolued MEM. VER 97. Oh how loue I thy law It is my mediditation continually HE insists here still in the declaration of his earnest affectioÌ„ toward the word and the notable fruites which he reaped thereby His affection is declared ver 1. Oh how loue I thy law Wherin ye see hee calls God himselfe
to be iudge of his loue to the word Nec speciem sed plenitudinem charitatis tali conventione testatur Witnessing thereby that it was no counterfet loue but compleat and sincere loue which he bare vnto it The like protestation was vsed by S. Peter Thou knowest O Lord that I loue thee It were good that in things pertayning to godlinesse wee did declare our vpright hart by speaking as they spake Sith at the length wee must be presented before him and made manifest such as wee are let vs in time present our selues vnto him for many by custome speake that of themselues which in conscience they durst not speake beeing presented vnto God All that GOD craues of vs is loue Therefore saith the Apostle that the end or perfection of the law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is loue and againe that loue is the fulfilling of the law Amari exigit qui omnes amat quia charitas est hee desires to bee loued of all who loues all because hee is loue it selfe This one commaundement containes all and it is most reasonable for what excuse can a man bring for this that he loues not God Yet many in word profess that they loue him who loue not indeed The triall of our loue to God is our loue to his word our care to keep his commaundements If any loue mee he will keepe my commaundements Qui enim diligit ex voluntate facit quae sibi sunt imperata This one triall conuinceth many to be lyers who say they loue God and yet delight not in his word nor are carefull to obey him It is my meditation continually Hee proues that which hee hath spoken The nature of loue is that it is euer thinking of the thing beloued and vseth all meanes to obtaine it Strong loue is like fire that cannot be quenched with much water So Dauid proues his loue to God by his loue to Gods word and his loue to Gods word by his continuall meditation in it no change of other exercises could make him forget it Marke againe the meanes by which after Dauids exāple we must grow in the knowledge of the word of God First meditation of that which wee haue heard or read Secondly prayer for grace to belieue and practice it Thirdly thanksgiuing for grace receiued Fourthly godly conference thereof one of vs with another All these shal a man find carefully practiced by Dauid And truly the greatest cause why now there being so much preaching there is so little profiting in godlinesse is that men before hearing prepare not in hearing pray not after hearing neither meditate thereof in themselues nor speak thereof vnto others VER 98. By thy cōmandements thou hast made me wiser thē my enemies for they are euer with me NOw he prayseth the word for the singular profit fruit which he reaped by it to weet that he learned wisedom by it And this he amplifies by cōparing himselfe with three sorts of men his enemies his teachers and the ancients And this he doth not of vaine glorie for bragging is farre from him who is gouerned by the Spirit of grace but to commend the word of the Lord and to allure others to loue it by declaring to them what manifold good hee found in it Wiser then mine enemies But how can this be seeing our Sauiour saith that The men of this world are wiser in their owne generation then the children of God The answer is Our Sauior doth not call worldlings wise men simply but wiser in their owne generation that is wise in things pertaining to this life Or as Ieremie calls them Wise to doe euill and when they haue so done wise to conceale and cloak it All which in very deed is but folly therfore Dauid who by the light of Gods word saw that it was so could not be moued to follow their course Well there is a great controuersie between the godly the wicked either of them in their iudgement account the other to be fooles but it is the light of Gods word which must decide it VER 99. I haue had more vnderstanding then my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation HEere is the second amplification That the word of God had made him wiser then his teachers which might indeed seem to be Incongrua presumptio Where note stil hee is magnifying not himselfe but the grace of God toward him It is no new thing to see many teachers often pretending to learne others that which they haue not learned thēselues and who can tell how miserable these men are who will be Doctors but not disciples teaching others but not taught of God themselues because they are not carefull to learne from him To such saith Nazianz. Our Lord was 30. yeers old ere hee beganne to be a Preacher Et tu magister vis fieri antequam discipulus and thou wilt be a master of Christians before thou be a scholer of Christ. Vnus verus est Magister qui solus non didicit quod omnes doceret caeteri omnes discant prius quod doceant ab illo accipiant quod alijs tradant There is one true Master who teacheth all and learnes of none as for all others they must first learne what they should teach and receiue from him that which they should deliuer vnto others But alas Quam multi sunt qui sermone valent loquuntur non tamen sale coelesti conditi sunt recensent que multa de mensa regia quorum nullum adepti sunt gustum How many are powerfull in speech who are not seasoned with heauenly salt rehearsing many delicates which are on the table of the heauenly King whereof they neuer tasted themselues More wise was the holy Apostle who subdued his body by discipline least while as he preached to others he should haue beene a reprobat himselfe God grant that wee may follow his example And yet euen where the Preacher is godlie partaker of that grace himselfe whereof hee is an Embassadour to others it falls out oftentimes that greater measure of light and grace is communicated by his ministrie to another then is giuen to himselfe As Augustine first illuminated and conuerted by Ambrose did far excell both in knowledge and spirituall grace him that taught him And heerein God wonderfully shewes his glory That whosoeuer be the instrument he is the dispenser of light and glorle giuing more by the instrument then it hath in it selfe And this is so farre from beeing to a godly Teacher a matter of griefe that it is rather a matter of glory The wicked glory to make others more wicked then themselues as our Sauior said the Pharisees did with the Proselyts that they made them tenne times more the children of Satan then themselues and shall the godly grudge to see that they haue made others more godly then themselues Nay truely but rather such
So Dauid stiles the word of God because it iudgeth most righteously between right and wrong truth and falshood And secondly because according to the iudgement giuen therein God will doe Let vs take heede vnto it for the word containes a catalogue of such as shall not inherite the kingdom of God and another of such as shall dwell in Gods tabernacle let vs read and see in which of the two catalogues our selues are for according to that word will the iudgement goe VER 107. I am very sore afflicted O Lord quicken me according to thy word THe godly in al their troubles make their recourse to God in most homely manner pouring out their griefes in his bosome so that I may well say there are none in earth nay not the most deare vnto them to whō they can speake so familiarly as vnto the Lord their God Their wants their weakenes their griefe their sinnes whereof they think shame to speake to others they think not euill homelie to communicate to him But as Moses in all his troubles ranne euer to the dore of the tabernacle so they to the throne of grace and happy are they who close not this doore vpon themselues by their sinnes Againe we are still remembred that afflictions are no arguments of Gods hatred but rather of his loue A father that spares the rodde hates his child Nunquid non frequentius corripitur filius quam seruus Is not the son oftner chastised then the seruant It is the voice of our heauenly father Quos diligo castigo If yee be without correction ye are bastards and not sonnes Where the Physitian refuseth to giue medicine it is a token there is no hope of life where the Lord giues a man loose reanes liberty to goe where hee pleaseth not hedging in his waies with thornes as he promiseth to his Israel it is an argument of his great displeasure But seeing hee protested before it was good for him that God afflicted him how doth hee now complaine The answere is that there is a great difference between the sense of the godly in trouble and after it For no chastisement is sweet for the present but afterward it brings the quiet fruit of righteousnes to them who are thereby exercised Sore afflicted Two things should restraine vs from cōplayning of the greatnes of our trouble First if wee consider it is measured by the Lord who is faithfull and wil lay no more vpon vs then we are able to beare And next that our stripes are not according to our sinnes for if hee should beat vs with as many roddes as wee haue grieued him with sinnes he should adde yet tenne times more to all our greatest afflictions Quicken me Defatigatas vires me as restitue sicut pollicitus es Restore my decayed strength as thou hast promised Hee confesseth he was almost dead by the greatnes of his trouble But of this see ver 17. 77. 116. VER 108. O Lord I beseech thee accept the free offrings of my mouth teach me thy iudgmēts IT is a great grace that the Lord should accept any thing from vs if we consider these three things First who the Lord is Next what we are Thirdly what it is we haue to giue vnto him As for the Lord he is All sufficient stands in need of nothing wee can giue him Our goodnes extends not to the Lord. As for vs we are poore creatures liuing by his liberalitie yea begging from all the rest of his creatures from the sunne and moone from the ayre the water and the earth from fowles and fishes yea from the worms some giue vs light some meat some cloth and are such beggers as we meet to giue to a King And thirdly if wee well consider What is it that we giue Haue we any thing to giue but that which wee haue receiued from him and whereof wee may say with Dauid O Lord all things are of thee and of thine owne hand haue vvee giuen thee againe Let this humble vs and restraine vs from that vaine conceit of meriting at Gods hand Of my mouth Dauid at this time in his great necessitie hauing no other sacrifice to offer vnto the Lord offers him the calues of his lippes but no doubt when he might he offred more There is nothing so small but if it come from a good heart God will accept it the widowes myte a cup full of cold water yea the praise of our lippes although it haue no other externall oblation ioyned with it but where men may doe more and will not it is an argument their heart is not sincerelie affected toward him and their praises are not welcome to him And such as haue libertie to come to the holie assemblies and offer not there the praises of their mouth to God but sit as if they were dumbe as also they that offer naked words without the willing heart are here much more conuinced They were great beasts vnder the law that thought to please God by offring a beast vnto him keeping back themselues and they are greater beasts vnder the Gospel that will giue their hart to another and thinke to please God by giuing some other gifts vnto him Will the Lord be pleased vvith thousands of Rammes or with tenne thousand riuers of Oyle Shall I giue him my first borne for my transgression or the fruit of my wombe for the sinne of my soule Is it such sacrifices will please the Lord No if thou wilt not offer thy selfe vnto him hee will haue nothing that is thine VER 109. My soule is continually in my hand yet doe I not forget thy law THis verse hath a renouation of his former protestation with an amplification that he would keep it albeit he was daily in peril of his life and was also resolued readie to lay it downe For so this phrase imports when he saith he had his soule in his hand ready to giue when euer God should take it And this is to be obserued that there is no trouble so ready to take away the life of Gods children as they are readie to giue it As Elijah came out to the mouth of his caue to meet with the Lord and Abraham stood in the doore of his tabernacle to speake to the Angel so the soule of the godly stands readie in the doore of the tabernacle of this body to remooue when the Lord shall commaund it whereas the soule of the wicked lies back hiding itselfe as Adam among the bushes and is taken out of the body perforce as was the soul of that worldling This night they vvill take thy soule from thee but they neuer sacrifice their soules willingly to the Lord. VER 110. The wicked haue laid a snare for mee but I swarued not from thy precepts DAuid continueth his complaint to God against the malice of his enemies but
that they are carelesse of the grace of confirmation wherof it comes to passe that they end in the flesh who made a shew of beginning in the Spirit not considering these two distinct graces requisite to saluation Conuersion and Confirmation Let vs therefore still pray with Dauid that God would stablish and confirme vs. According to thy promise The prayers of the godly are poured out in faith they seek nothing but according to Gods promise Many do otherwise who pray neither looking to Gods promise nor leaning to the Mediator such prayers are vvords poured out into the ayre and carried away with the wind Yet others are more profane who pray not onely without a promise but against the commaund of God for either when they goe to doe wickedlie they pray GOD to prosper them or else in their perturbations they cry for vengeance on their neighbours where they should cry for mercy These praiers are the offring of strange fire to the Lord which is abhomination Yet are wee to remember that if wee vvould haue our prayers grounded well vpon Gods promises wee must also remember the condition whereupon hee hath made the promise Wee reade that when Israel was opprest by the Philistims and cryed vnto God at the first he gaue them a hard answere Goe to the Gods whom yee haue serued and let them deliuer you But beeing humbled by this answer they pray againe and with their prayer put away the salse Gods from among them and then it is subioyned that the soule of God was grieued for the miseries of Israel VVhereof wee learne that it is but a vaine thing to charge GOD with his promise where wee make no conscience of the condition he requires of vs. That I may liue But what life is this he craues Had hee not already the life of a King vvith worldly wealth and honour enough Hee had indeede but this is not the life which Dauid esteemes to bee life There is nothing naturall men loue better then life nor feare more then death yet knowe they not what is the life they should loue nor what is the death they should flee Sunt enim qui viuentes mortui sunt qui mortui viuūt for there are some liuing men who are but dead some dead who are liuing If this be life to grow well and wex strong frō infancie proceeding to old age wil not in this the trees of the field excell man who from little plants grow vp into most excellent Cedars Or if this be life to see to heare to smell c. will not in this the beasts of the earth excell thee for there is no sense wherein some beasts doe not far excell men some see better some heare better some smell better And generally all of them haue a greater appetite to their meat are more strong to digest it But if ye◅◅hou glory in this that thou art indued with reason then remember how many Philosophers and Ethnicks haue excelled thee in the vse of reason So that neither can thy comfort be in the vegetatiue life wherein trees excell thee nor in the sensitiue which beasts haue better thē thou nor in the reasonable life which many reprobates haue that shal neuer see the face of God If man haue no better life then these hee hath but a shadow of life and it may truelie be said of him that while he is liuing he is dead The life of a Christian stands in this To haue his soule quickned by the spirit of Grace For as the presence of the soul quickens the body the departure thereof brings instant death and the body without it is but a dead lumpe of clay so it is the presence of Gods Spirit which giueth life to the soule of man And this life is known by these two notable effects for first it brings a ioyfull sense of Gods mercy and next a spirituall disposition to spirituall exercises And without this pretend a man what he will hee is but the image of a Christian looking some-what like him but not quickned by his life And disappoint mee not of my hope That is in the time of need let mee feele the truth of thy promises to comfort mee as now I hope to find thy helpe in the time of trouble so I pray thee that I may find it It is the manner of the godlie to fore-thinke of that whi◅ is to come and to prouide for trouble ere trouble come VVherefore Salomon describing a wise man saith that his heart is alway at his right hand and that his eye is in his forehead A prudent man seeth the plague and hideth himselfe in time hee knoweth that trouble and heauie tentations are before him and that hee must fight fore battels before hee enter into his promised Canaan and therefore prayeth feruently before hand that God would not be farre from him when trouble comes neere him It is on the contrary the follie of the vvicked They goe on saith Salomon and are snared they neuer fore-thinke what is to come they rest vpon present false comforts which disappoint them in the time of their need Others that stand by may bid them be of good comfort but what cōfort can they haue when outward comforts where-to they trusted faile them and inward comforts they neuer knew VER 117. Stay thou mee and I shall bee safe and I will delight continually in thy statutes THis verse contains a prayer in substance and effect one with the former and the repetition of the prayer sheweth that he was touched with a deepe sense of his owne necessitie which made him feruent in prayer and it doth greatly reproue vs who are cold in prayer We may haue store of grace for seeking and alas wee are carelesse to seeke If thou knewest thou wouldest aske and if thou askedst I vvould giue It is true our Sauiour forbids vs to make repetitions in praying like the heathen who thinke to be heard for their much babbling For to offer vnto the Lord multitude of words without spirit or affection is to offer a dead sacrifice to a liuing GOD but certaine it is that words doubled from a feruent and intended affection are euer gracious and acceptable to the Lord. Stay mee Like a man ready to fall hee prayeth God to hold him vp Three things made Dauid afraid First great tentations without for from euery ayre the wind of tentation blowes vpon a Christian. Secondly great corruption within Thirdly examples of other worthie men that haue fallen before him and are written for vs not that wee should learne to fall but to feare least we fall These three should alway hold vs humble according to that warning Hee that stands take heed least he fall Sure it is we are most strong when distrusting our owne weakenesse we leane to the Lord praying him to stay vs otherwise as Peter in his carnall confidence was
it that they haue done it For as the godly shall haue imputed to theÌ„ that good which faine they would haue done albeit they did not performe it so shall the wicked be charged as verely with that euill which they would haue done albeit they neuer did it O what a heape of finnes shall be gathered against them wheÌ„ with the sinnes of their actions and words the sinnes of their affections shall be conioyned also And here we see how-euer God for a time tolerate them yet he hath his owne appointed time to punish them and will not passe it Omnia in statera gubernat Deus God ruleth all things in a balance Diu quidem fert 〈◊〉 peccata vbi verò patientiae eius intuitâ—… aâ—…geri malitiam videt tum pâ—…nas sumit Long doth the Lord suffer the sinnes of mortall men but when they abuse his patience to increase their wickednes then hee doth punish them he doth nothing out of time Totum oportunum est quod fecerit but whatsoeuer hee doth hee doth it most seasonably and therefore whether it bee deliuerance to vs or iudgement vpon our enemies that God delaies let vs knowe it is because his houre is not yet come VER 127. Therefore loue I thy Commandements aboue gold yea aboue most fine gold WE may see here that Dauid was not a temporizer in religion whose affection towards Gods word depends vpon the state of times and persons of men but euen when his enemies did disdaine it yea because they sought to destroy it therefore he loued it This is a tryall of true religion euen then to cleaue to the word of God and professe it constantly when honourable and great men of the world are against it This was Iosua his resolution Albeit all the world should for sake God yet I and my fathers house will worship him And Peters in like manner when many of Christs disciples did forsake him and it was asked at them Will yee go also from me he answered where away shall we goe thou hast the words of eternall life To professe religion when it is warranted by law when both rulers and people professe it is no great matter but when the powers of the world forsake it then to stand to it is an argument of true religion Loue I thy commandements Hee professeth not that hee fulfilled them but that hee loued them and truely it is a great progresse in godlines if we be come thus far as from our heart to loue them The natural man hates the commandements of God they are so contrary to his corruption but the regenerate man as he hates his owne corruption so he loues the word because according to it he desires to bee reformed And here is our comfort That albeit we cannot doe what is commanded yet if we loue to doe it it is an argument of grace receiued Aboue gold It is not vnlawful to loue those creatures which God hath appointed for our vse with these two conditions the one is that the first seat in our affection of loue be reserued to God and any other thing wee loue that we loue it in him and for him and giue it onely the second roome Thus Dauid being a naturall man loued his naturall foode but he protesteth hee loued the law of the Lord more then his appointed foode and here he loues the commandements of God aboue all gold VER 128. Therefore I esteeme all thy precepts most iust and I hate all false wayes IN this verse are two protestatioÌ„s In the first he declares how he esteemed of Gods word in his minde in the second how in his affection he was disposed toward it As the minde of a man esteemes of any thing so are his affections moued to flie or follow it It is shame for many professors now to say they esteeme of Gods word when they shew their affections more set vpon any thing in the world then vpon it Most iust In two respects is the word of God iust first because it commands nothing but that which is most reasonable and next because it shal not faile one iot but the euent of things shall bee according to the predictions of this word What cause haue we then to reioice That how euer our tribulations be many yet wee heare out of this most iust word It cannot bee but well with them that feare the Lord And again what cause of feare is there to the wicked when this same word saith There is no peace to the wicked saith my God And a sinner of an hundred yeeres old shall dy accursed If wee behold the wicked in their most flourishing estate and looke to them in the glasse of the word we shall see their miseraend long before it come And I hate all false wayes The best tryall of our loue to God and his word is the contrary hatred of sin and impietie Yee that loue the Lord hate that which is euill He that loues a tree hates the worme that consumes it he that loues a garment hates the moth that eates it he that loueth life abhorreth death and he that loues the Lord hates euery thing that offends him Let men take heede to this who are in loue of their sinnes how can the loue of God be in them All false wayes Religion binds vs not onely to hate one way of falsehood but all the wayes of it As there is nothing good but in some measure a godly man loues it so is there nothing euil but in som measure he hates it And this is the perfection of the children of God a perfection not of degrees for we neither loue good nor hate euill as wee should but a perfection of parts because euery good we loue and wee hate euery euill in some measure The worst man in the world loues some good and hates some euill Plerumque enim peccata huiusmodi sunt vt si alterum declines incurras alteruÌ„ ofttimes he that declines one sin fals into another It may be thou haâ—…est couetousness yet art snared with lechery there is one very temperate of his mouth but of a proud hauty heart there is another not ambitious of honour but a seruant to gluttony Diuerso vsu in eundem indeuotionis errorem vterque concurrit And this is very dangerous when as men because some good thing is in them take the greater liberty to coÌ„mit some euill for if Sathan get a gripe of thee by any one sin is it not enough to carry thee to damnation As the butcher carries the beast to the slaughter sometime bound by all the foure feete and sometime by one onely so is it with Satan Though thou be not a slaue to all sin if thou be a slaue to one the gripe he hath of thee by that one sinfull affection is sufficient to captiue thee P E. VER 129. Thy testimonies are wonderfull therfore doth my soule keepe them THE familiarity of
man with God is increased and continued by the exercises of the word and prayer For in the word God speakes vnto men and in prayer men speake vnto God let not men disioyne these two For hee that cannot receiue the Lord with reuerence and obedience when hee speakes answering him with Abraham and Samuell Here am I Lord Speake for thy seruant heareth shall not be welcommed of him nor receiue a fauourable answere when he praies Yea as Salomon saith He that turns away his eare from hearing the law his prayer shall be abhominable Such as haue receiued most from God are more instant by prayer to craue more No maruell that the wicked who neuer got grace from him cannot pray vnto him for who will seeke a treasure where he thinkes not to finde it or who will seeke refreshing waters where he lookes not to finde them They knowe him not to be the father of light the fountaine of life the treasure of all good they belieue not his word and how then can they call vpon him but the godly who knowe what the Lord is worth are continuallie seeking from him as heere yee may see in Dauid In Dauids praier mark his variety and breuity his varietie in this that as his necessities were manifold so his requests he praies for his mind for his heart and affections for his tongue for his eyes for his feet As Iob when he praied sacrificed for all his children so the Christian when he goes to pray prayeth for euery thing that is in him And if we knew how many are our necessities for the which we haue need to pray beside that wee are bound to pray for others wee would not be so slacke and remisse in prayer as we are His breuitie againe is euident he hath many but very short petitions this proceeds not of weariness but as I haue said of feruency Finding his necessities so many he passeth speedily from one to another for it is a difficult thing to continue our prayers long and keepe zeale and sincerity sometime so it will fall out but very seldome Yea the children of God may obserue in their owne experience that it is a difficult thing to pray the Lords prayer and not to be interrupted in it Augustine records of Christians in Egypt Habent preces crebras et breues tanquam eiaculationes animorum idque inquit ne intentio illa emollescat They haue short frequent praiers like eiaculations or bolts and arrowes shot out of their soules which they doe saith hee for this cause that their intention should not relent in praier through long continuance And therefore he teacheth vs to frame our praiers according to our disposition When our affections are not intended it is not good to make them more dull by continuance when againe they are spiritually disposed then it is good to continue our conference with God though this same consideration be vsed by some Christians in our time to vrge continuance in prayer For if they get no accesse they are more instant and loath to come away without a fauourable aunswere if againe they finde comfort in praier and that God hears them they are also loath to break off their conference with him And to this purpose notable is it which there he subioynes Oratio multa esse debet loquutio pauca Our prayers should bee many but our words few and that lachrymis potius quam verbis agendum sit et sletu magis quam affatu Verba enim non in alium vsum adhiberi quam vt vel nos ipsos vel alios incitemus We should deale with God by teares more then by talke by weeping more then by words for words are vsed in prayer for none other end but either to stirre vp our selues or others to pray This verse containes in it two things first a commendation of Gods word that the testimonies thereof are wonderfull and next a protestation of his earnest affection towards it and therfore saith he My soule doth keep it Many waies hitherto hath he praised the word of God as namely that there is no good thing wherupon the heart of man can be set by nature but the worde of God offers him better then it for it renders incomparable pleasure and profit beside true wisedome to such as delight in it is sweeter then the hony it is more to be desired then gold or siluer But here he praiseth it frō a new quality Al thy testimonies are wonderfull and so they are for euerie article of our faith is a mysterie Great is the mystery of godlinesse said the Apostle Though to naturall men the Gospell seeme a base and a foolish doctrine yet is it indeede wonderfull Whereof we learne that if we would bee good scholars in the Lords schoole to profit by his word we must not come to it with naturall sense and reason as customably men doe to iudge it rather then to be iudged and controlled by it but as it is a wonderfull and supernaturall doctrine so must wee not examine it by nature but imbrace it by saith Otherwise it shall be but a stumbling blocke and rocke of offence vnto vs. Of his protestation renewed see what we haue marked Verse 47. 48. 97. 113. 119. 127. 132. 140. 159. 163. 165. 167. VER 130. The entrance into thy word sheweth light and giueth vnderstanding to the simple AS the life of naturall babes is not conserued without foode conuenient for them so is not the life of men regenerate preserued without the word And as the one by natures instinct desires to bee nourished with milke so the other by instinct of grace desires to be sed by the word Neither is it to the godly as meate only but as light also The sure word of the prophets Saint Peter calles it a light shining in darkenes like as before hee called it vnmingled milke and most necessary foode for the babes of Christ. And the spirit of God so frequently comparing Gods word to foode and to light will tell vs in what miserable estate they are who liue without it Heere he praiseth the word from this notable quality that it is an illuminating word such as giues vnderstanding letting vs thereby to know that without it men walk in darknes What-euer ◅hew of learning Naturalists had yet being ignorant of Christ by whom the father is knowne and the way of saluation manifested they did but vanish in their owne cogitations and while they professed themselues to bee wise they became fooles He amplifies this praise of the word of God when he saith that the entrance thereof ostium verborum tuorum the first opening of the doore of thy word giues light for if the first entrance to it giue light what will the progresse and continuance thereof do This accuseth the age wherein we liue who now of a long time hath been taught by the word of God
so cleerely that in regard of time they might haue been teachers of others yet are they but children in knowledge and vnderstanding But to whom doth the word giue vnderstanding Dauid saith to the simple not to such as are high minded or double in heart or wise in their owne eyes who will examine the mysteries of godlines by the quicknes of naturall reason No to such as deny themselues as captiue their naturall vnderstanding and like humble disciples submit themselues not to aske but to heare not to reason but to belieue And if for this cause Naturalists who want this humility cannot profit by the word what maruaile that Papists far lesse become wise by it who haue their hearts so full of preiudices concerning it that they spare not to vtter blasphemies against it calling it not onely vnprofitable but pernitious to the simple and to the idiots And againe where they charge it with difficultie that simple men and idiots should not bee suffered to read it because it is obscure all these friuolous allegations of men are annulled by this one testimony of God that it giues light to the simple Eos qui ignorantia tenentur infantibus similes sunt intellectu replet lex tua that is Euen to such ignorants who are like infants saith Basill non solum viris sed mente intellectu paruulis it giues not onely light to men but to such as in vnderstanding are children To this purpose notable is that saying of Irenaeus Vniuersae scripturae et propheticae euangelicae in aperto et sine ambiguitate et ab omnibus audiri possunt The whole scriptures both prophetical and euangelicall are open plaine not doubtfull but such as may be heard of all men And to this purpose saith Lactantius Num igitur deus mentis linguae vocis artifex disertè loqui non potest Imò verò summa prouidentia carere fuco voluit ea quae diuina sunt vt omnes intelligerent quae ipse omnibus loquebatur Shall wee thinke that God who is the creator of the minde the tongue and voice cannot speake distinctly himselfe No truly by great prouidence he hath propounded his word in so plaine a manner that all sorts of men may vnderstand that which he speakes vnto all Many other witnesses might be brought to this same purpose but I cease VER 123. I opened my mouth and panted because I loued thy Commandements BY this manner of speech Dauid expresses as Basile thinks Animi propensionem that the inclination of his soule was after Gods word For this opened mouth Ambrose thinks is Os interioris hominis the mouth of the inward man which in effect is his heart and the speech notes Vehementem animi intensionem a vehement intension of his spirit saith Euthymius yet shall it not be amisse to consider heere how the minde of the godly earnestly affected moues the body also The speech may be drawne from trauellers who being very desirous to attaine to their proposed ends enforce their strength thervnto and finding a weakenes in their body to answere their will they pant open their mouth seeking refreshment from the aire to renew their strength or as Vatablus thinks from men exceeding hungry and thirstie who open their mouth as if they would draw in the whole aire and then pant and sigh within themselues when they finde no full refreshment by it So he expresseth it Tanto desiderio legum tuarum flagrat cor meuÌ„ vt subinde cogar haurire aerem propter assâ—…dua suspiria How-euer it be it lets vs see how the hearing reading or meditating of Gods word wakened in Dauid a most earnest affection to haue the light ioy grace and comfort thereof communicated to his owne heart For in the godly knowledge of good increaseth desires and it cannot be expressed how vehemently their soules long to feele that power and comfort which they know is in the word and how sore they are grieued and troubled when they finde it not And happy were wee if we could meete the Lord with this like affection that when hee opens his mouth wee could also open our heart to heare as Dauid heere doth Christus aperit os vt daret alijs spiritum Dauid aperuit vt acciperet Opening his heart to receiue the spirit of grace when God openeth his mouth in his word to giue it For it is his promise to vs all Open thy mouth wide and I shall fill it let vs turne it into a prayer that the Lord who opened the heart of â—…dia would open our heart to receiue grace when he offers by his word to giue it VER 132. Look vpon me and be merciful to me as thou vsest to do vnto those that loue thy name FRom praises Dauid now turns him to praier In our best estate we are farre from that which we should be our perfection in this life stands in the acknowledging of our imperfection Euen when the godly speake any thing to God out of a good conscience concerning their vpright affection toward him at that same time priuie to the conscience of their wants they take them to prayer and seek mercy Looke vpon me This prayer is vsed by the godlie in two respects first when they are vnrighteously iudged of men and charged with that whereof they are not guilty in this case they desire that God would look vpon them For sure it is vnlesse the conscience be sleeping no man dare present an euill cause to the eye of God but rather as Adam hid himselfe after his transgression so men whose consciences are euill flie the sight of God and dare not desire him to look vpon them And againe when they are vnder spirituall desertion and in their sense the countenance of God is turned from them whose fauour is better then life which after the manner of men turning their face from such as they are angry withall they take vp to be an argument of displeasure in this case also they pray that the Lord would looke vpon them that is as he expounds himselfe be fauourable and mercifull to them And be mercifull This is very well subioyned for God looks to some in his displeasure so hee looked to the Egyptians and vnloosed the pinnes of their chariots that they could not driue so he looked to Sodome and rained downe fire and brimstone vpon them The eyes of the Lord said Amos are vpon the sinfull kingdome to destroy it Dauid knew this and therefore desires the Lord so to looke on him as to be mercivnto him As thou vsest These words containe in effect a reason from Gods constant kindnes toward all his children Lord doe to me as thou hast vsed to doe to others that loue thee Orâ—… vt aequali cum illis sententia potiar The examples of Gods mercie are not only registred for our comfort but for our confirmation Wherein we
are alway to take heede that if wee would haue the argument effectuall toward vs wee make it sure to our selues that we are of the number of them who loue him VER 133. Direct my footsteps in thy word and let none iniquitie haue dominion ouer me AS before he sought mercy so now he seeks grace There are many that seeke mercy to forgiue sin who seeke not grace to deliuer them from the power of sin this is to abuse Gods mercy turne his grace into wantonness He that praieth for mercy to forgiue the guilt of sin onely seeks not that by sin hee should not offend God but that he may sin and not hurt himself but he who craues deliuerance also from the commanding power and deceit of sin seekes not onely a benefit to himselfe but grace also to please serue the Lord his God The first is but a louer of himselfe the second is a louer of God more then of himselfe And truly he neuer knew what it was to seek mercy for sin past who with it also earnestly sought not grace to keep him frō sinne in time to come These benefits cannot be diuided he who hath not the second howsoeuer he flatter himselfe may be assured hee hath not gotten the first My steppes These steps Ambrose restraines ad profectus animae to the progresse of his soule onely but we may very well thinke that Dauid here commends the whole course of his life to be gouerned by God both outward and inward conuersation The body is carried to good or euill by steps of the feet the soule by the motion of affections is caried either to the Lord or from him therfore he praies that God would direct them for according to our gouernour or directour so goes the course of our actions Thy word By the word of the Lord all creatures are ruled At his word fire comes downe contrarie to the course of nature the sun stands or goes back the moone and starres keep forward their course yea the raging sea abides within his prescribed bounds Strange is it that man makes it not the rule of his life but let this be an awe-band to him That by this word he must be iudged at the length And let none iniquitie haue dominion Dauaid takes vp very wisely the controuersie that is betweene Satan and vs hee seekes by sinne to haue dominion ouer vs. Wherein wee may consider what an vnreasonable Tyrant Satan is and what iust cause wee haue to wage battell with him The Lorde our God made vs hee redeemed vs hee conserues vs none but he can claime any title vnto-vs Is it not then most vnreasonable that Sathan should seeke superioritie ouer vs or that we should be so beastly as giue it vnto him Neyther is it onely against all equity but also most hurtfull vnto our selues for what wages can Satan giue to his slaues but the wages of sinne to make them partakers of his owne damnation Can he giue vnto others better then he hath to himselfe Besides this also he exacts seruice without rest or intermission Most cruell oppressors Turks and Pagans giue some rest to their captiues Satan giues none in eating in sleeping he abuseth them to serue him And which is worst of all where this Tyrant sends out sundry officers and seruants that is sinfull affections to exact seruice from thee they are all so insatiable that they may well consume thee spend all thy means and all thy daies but thou shalt neuer bee able to satisfie the least of them And therefore great neede haue we to seeke the helping hand of God against them praying with Dauid that iniquity may neuer haue dominion ouer vs. VER 134. Deliuer mee from the oppression of men and I will keepe thy precepts NOt one but manifold are the troubles of the righteous they haue not onely to wrestle against their owne corruption but against Satans malice the pride and enuy of all his wicked impes and instruments Against them the best armour we can vse is patience and prayer they are but like roddes in the hand of the Lord as our Sauior said to Pilat Thou couldst haue no power ouer me if it were not giuen thee from aboue The rodde is not able to moue but by the hand of him that holdes it let vs runne to the hand of God let vs pacifie him by prayer and wee shall not neede to feare what flesh can doe vnto vs. But aboue all things let vs beware we fight neuer against the wicked with their own weapons From the oppression The word is generall imports not only oppression by violence but by calumnies and any other iniury And they are well ioyned together for such as doe euill one way will not faile to doe it another They who loose their tongues to calumniate Gods seruants will not faile if they may to loose their handes also to oppresse them and such also who oppresse them will not spare to speake euill of them that they may iustifie themselues None of all the seruants of Saul would drawe the sword to slay the seruants of the Lord albeit their Master commanded them onely Doeg who before had calumniated Dauid and so by his tongue had begunne the persecution spared not to murther with the bloudie swords such seruants of God as for Gods sake had shewed fauour to Dauid Let vs not looke for better from them whose tongues are bent to speake euill of the seruants of God but that their handes also when they may haue the occasion will bee ready to shedde their bloud Of men The word he vseth is Adam this is the first name that God gaue to man after his fall signifying earth or redde earth and it sheweth how weake and silly a creature man hath made himselfe by his sinne The consideration of it confirmes Dauid against his enemies that they were but men of earth if we could remember we would neuer be troubled at their inimity Who art thou Iacob that thou shouldst feare a mortall man and all flesh is grasse And againe the consideration of this serues to humble the pride of man Sith they are but men of clay why waxe they proude to oppresse others It was a very worthie warning which a certaine Ambassadour gaue once to Alexander the great that flies and wormes at length would eate the flesh of Lions If proude men considered this That they are but earth and that shortly their beautifull bodies will become carcases to bee eaten by the wormes it would abate their naturall pride by which they trample downe others poorer and weaker then they vnder their feete And I will keepe The benefites or deliuerances of God obtained by prayer should not bee abused to licentiousnesse to nourish our selues in our sinnes and wonted security but the more wee receiue from him the more should vvee acknowledge our selues bound and obliged to him Otherwise if benefites
must be tryed by knowledge first let vs consider that to be the zeale of God which fights with the armor of God the Worde Prayer and patient Suffering That againe is a zeale but without knowledge which fights with carnall armour hatred euill speaking and bloudy persecution such a zeale breedes superstition spares not to deale cruelly with all such as are contrary minded By this rule Papists may trie of what spirit they are Because mine enemies Dauid had many enemies but none except such as had cast the Lawe of God behinde their backe It is a great comfort to the godly to see that they haue no enemies but such as are enemies to God VER 140. Thy word is proued most pure and thy seruant loueth it HEere is the third ground of comfort which sustained Dauid to wit that Gods word was tryed to be true by his constant and continuall working according to it To expresse this he compares the word of God here Psal. 12. vnto golde tryed in the fire which not onely indures but becomes fineâ—… when all réfuse or counterfeit matter faileth and vanisheth So will Dauid say when the fire of affliction was kindled I haue seene all comforts perish onely thy word proued a word of consolation for the more the flames of affliction increase the more powerfully doth the word expresse that hidden vertue of consolation which is in it And because he had so felt it so now he speakes of it Where it is to be marked for our greater comfort that albeit the time be not yet come of the full accomplishment of Gods word in the which the least iot thereof must be fulfilled yet the Lord giues vs as many present proofes of it by experience as may confirme vs in assurance of the verity thereof If we be wise to marke the working of the Lord we shall finde witnesses in euery age in euery yeare yea in euery moneth and day to confirme vs that as God hath a mouth to speake so hath he an hand by which he workes according to his word giuing ioyfull deliuerance to his own out of all their troubles and rendring iudgement to his enemies according to their pride And thy seruant loueth it Loue in God is the fountaine of all his benefits extended to vs and loue in man is the fountaine of all our seruice and obedience to our God He loued vs first to doe vs good and hereof it comes that we haue grace to loue him next anâ—…â—…e him seruice Loue is such a duetie as the want whereof cannot be excused in any for the poorest both may and should loue him yet without it all the rest thou canst doe in his seruice is nothing nay not if thou shouldst giue al thy goods to the poore and offer thy bodie to be burned Small sacrifices flowing from faith and loue are welcome to him where greater without these are but abomination vnto him Proofes of both we haue in the Widowes myte and Caines rich oblation wherof the one was reiected the other receiued Happy are we though we cannot say We haue don as God commands yet if out of a good hart we can say We loue to do what he commands VER 141. I am small and despised yet doe I not forget thy precepts HEe renues againe the protestation of his vnfained affection toward Gods word with an amplification therof that albeit his estate was meane and himselfe despised and contemned also of his enemies yet he did not forget the word of God There are many who can professe Religion as long as they see peace and honour following it who rather then they would indure trouble and contempt will vtterly forsake it The Samaritans could very wel reioyce in their new Temple built on Mount Garizin boasting that they were the posterity of Ephraim companions to the Iews no lesse worshippers of God then they were hauing also a Temple of their owne but when they saw that Antioehus Epiphanes King of Syria did cruelly persecute the Iewes for the worshipping of God then did they alter their profession they called themselues not Israelites but Sidonians and that their Temple was dedicate not to Iehoua but to Iupiter Cretensis and so eschued they the fury of the persecutor Many such Samaritan professors are in this age who to eschue the present wrath of men spare not to renounce Religion and so cast themselues in danger of the fearefull wrath of God whom they will finde a consuming fire From such temporizing and counterfeit dissembling the Lord preserue vs and blesse vs with this grace of a constant affection toward Gods word in euery state of life Againe it is no new thing to see them small and despised in mens estimation who with the Lord are highly esteemed being men as here Dauid was according to Gods owne heart Honourable in the eyes of the world was that rich glutton clothed in purple despised was Lazarus but ye see the one was an heire of glory the other but an inheritor of hell A godly man is an excellent treasure in an earthen vessell compared by Macarius to a precious pearle in a contemptible purse despised by many because they know not the jewell that is within it The worla knowes them not because it knowes not the Lord whose sonnes they are neyther doth it yet appeare what they shall be Nazianzen for this compares men in this world to those who in a Stage-play represent another thing then they are there the beggar is busked like a King and by the contrary But when the Play is done and their garments layed by then shall euery one of them appeare such as they are For this Saint Iames giues vs a profitable instruction That wee should not haue the faith of Christ in respect of persons to honour a man onely for his riches or despise an other for his pouertie but where wee see the grace of Christ be they rich or poore we ought for Christs sake to haue them in honourable estimation Yet doe I not forget thy precepts We see by experience that our affection leaues any thing from the time it goes out of our remembrance but earnest loue euer renues remembrance of that which is beloued The first step of defection is to forget what God hath commanded what we are obliged in duety to doe to him for vpon this easily followes the offending of God by our transgression Such beasts as did not chew their cudde vnder the lawe were accounted vncleane and not meet to be sacrificed to God that was but a figure signifying vnto vs That a man who hath receiued good things from God and doth not think vpon them cannot feel the sweetnesse of them so cannot be thankfull to God VER 142. Thy righteousnesse is an euerlasting righteousnesse and thy Lawe is truth DAuid considers here two things in the worde of God first the equity of it next
the eternity of it And by these two he sustaines himselfe against all tentations wherwith hee was compassed and namely the contempt of men Sith the Lawe of God is truth and his righteousnesse euerlasting they cannot be deceiued who depend vpon it and they who liue in a contrary disposition vnto it cannot be but miserable eternally Neyther is it enough for vs to know this generally as many do but with Dauid wee should earnestly pray wee may bee taught by his word stablished by his truth rectified by his righteousnesse Haec conciliant sempiterna bona that so we may be partakers of that euerlasting good which cometh by them VER 143. Trouble and anguish are com vpon me yet thy commandements are my delight ALbeit Dauid was laden with heauy troubles yet did he neuer quit his affection toward the word of God Where if it be enquired why did the Lord lay such heauy trouble vpon a man whom he loued so dearely and why suffers he his children to be so hardly handled in this life for whom he hath prepared a blessed fellowship and communion with himselfe in the life to come The reason is because as saith the Apostle Neede so requires Necessaria est crux peregrinanti The crosse is necessary for a pilgrime for by it sin is subdued pride weakned patience and all other graces of the spirit increased It workes a contempt of this world and prepares vs for the kingdome of God Of this let such as are vnder the crosse learne with patience to beare it and others who know not yet what it is prepare them-selues for it For if they bee the kindly sonnes of God they shall not eschew it For hee chastiseth euery one whom he receiues Are my delight This is strange that in the midst of anguish he hath delight yea indeed the sweetnesse of Gods word is best perceiued vnder the bitternes of the crosse the ioy of Christ and the ioy of the world cannot consist together A heart delighted with worldlie ioie cannot feele the consolations of the spirite the one of these destroyes the other But in sanctified trouble the comforts of GODs word are felt and perceiued in most sensible manner Many a time hath Dauid protested this delight of his in the vvorde of GOD and truely it is a great argument of godlinesse vvhen men come not onely to a reuerence of it but to loue it and to delight in it Let this bee considered of those vnhappy men who heare it of custome and count it but a wearinesse VER 144. The righteousnes of thy testimonies is euerlasting Grant mee vnderstanding and I shall liue THis verse is one with the 142. saue only that he adioynes to it his accustomed petition for vnderstanding that hee may liue Nam propriè homines non viuunt sine intelligentia diuinae legis for it is no life which men haue vvho are destitute of this knowledge The vvord of God is contemned of none but suchas knowe not the excellencie thereof And they are repayed with this fearefull recompence that because they knowe not nor cannot account of it the light the vertue the grace there of is not dilated toward them but they abide still in their naturall darknes and death From which most vnhappy condition the Lord deliuer vs. KOPH VER 145. I haue cryed with my whole heart hear me O Lord and I will keep thy statutes IN this verse wee haue three things a petition Heare mee a reason I haue cryed with mine whole heart a promise I will keepe thy statutes The reason is first sette downe which in effect is this O Lord thou hast bound thy selfe by thy promise to answere them who call vpon thee and thou hast not at any time sent them away comfortlesse that call vpon thee in spirit and truth yea thou hast been found of them vvho sought thee not Then Lord seeing thou hast giuen me this grace to cry to thee with my whole heart shew me also this grace that thou maiest heare me As the husbandman seeks no increase of that land wherein he hath sowen no seed so hee that prayeth not and seekes not the Lord while hee may be found what comfort can hee expect in the time of his trouble Our praiers are seede sowen not in the earth but in the heauen wee cast them into the bosome of God he that sowes sparingly shall reape sparingly if wee looke for a plentifull haruest let vs sowe more aboundantly in the seede time for euery praier feruentlie and in faith sent vp to God either presently returnes with some good or then laies good vp in store for vs which we shall enioy heereafter The feruency of his praier he expresseth when he saith that he cryed it notes Animi propensioneÌ„ the earnestnes of his soule without this the earnestnes of the tongue is but LudibriuÌ„ quoddaÌ„ quo deus non honore sed contumelia afficitur a mockery of God and a dishonouring of him Non â—…ocis magnitudine sed cordis magnanimitate clamaÌ„dum est non sono corporis sed cogitationum sublimitate concentu virtutum It is not by lowdnes of the voice but stoutnes of the heart not by sound of the body but by sublimity of our cogitations and by consent of vertues that wee must cry vnto God When Israell was straighted at the red sea the Armie of Egyptians vpon their backe and the sea before them and in their iudgement they saw no outgaite but lookt either to be deuoured by the sword or drowned by the water no doubt there was among the people murmuring and crying with dolefull lamentation but what Clamabat populus et non audiebatur tacebat Moses audiebatur the people cryed and were not heard Moses is silent and God heares him for his heart was fixed vpon God waiting till God should shew the way of deliuerance which they could not see What auailes the voice of the wicked who honour God with their lips but their heart is far from him Iniustianima deo mertua est The soule of an vnrighteous man is dead vnto God Nihil in illa sublime nihil magnificum est There is no high nor excellent thing in it which can go vp to the most high and excellent God With mine whole heart He amplisies this yet further when he saith that hee cryed with his whole heart Non solum ergo elamandum est sed et toto corde clamandum For as a man cryes most loudly wheÌ„ he cries with al his mouth opened so a man praies most effectually when hee praies with his whole heart Neither doth this speech declare onely the feruency of his affection but imports also that it was a great thing which he sought from God Et tu cum oras magna ora id est ora quae aeterna sunt non caduca And thou when thou prayest pray for great things for things induring not for things perishing praie
not for siluer it is but rust nor for gold it is but metall nor for possessions it is but earth Ista oratio ad deum non peruenit such prayer ascends not to God Non audit deus nisi quod dignum est eius beneficijs Hee is a great God and esteemes himselfe dishonoured when great things with a great affection are not sought from him Heare me and I will keep Of this petition and promise see verse 8. 33. 44. 88. 134. 146. VER 146. I called vpon thee saue me and I will keepe thy testimonies HE insists in his former petition expounding euery part of it He protested before hee cryed with his whole heart now he declares to whom hee cryed Prayer is a point of seruice due vnto God Only he craued before that God would hear him now he shewes wherein Saue mee and thirdly hee renewes his promise and the repetition thereof tells vs that the promises of thankfulnes in Gods children are no sodaine nor vanishing motions but settled conclusions And againe it teacheth vs that as Gods children are carefull to seeke from God that which they neede so are they carefull to giue vnto him that which he requires to witte praise and obedience Otherway where men seek benefits froÌ„ God the fruit whereof they minde not to return vnto him either they get not that which they seeke or if they doe they get in his displeasure as Israell got quailes If we would so seeke that we may obtaine let vs not seek that we may bestow vpon our owne lustes which S. Iames reproues but that we may aduance his glory VER 147. I preuented the morning light and cryed for I waiteden thy word HE amplifies yet further the first reason for which he desires the Lord to heare him taken from his earnest feruency in prayer and it is written for our instruction to learne vs continuance in praier It is required by precept Luke 21. Watch and pray continually and againe 1. Thes. 5. Pray continually For example also at midnight morning and at noone tide did Dauid pray yea seuen times in the day all the night long did our Sauiour pray Non precationis indigens auxilio sed statuens tibi imitationis exemplum not standing himselfe in neede of the help of prayer but setting down to thee an example of prayer for imitation Ille pro te rogans pernoctabat vt tu disceres quomodo pro te rogares when he praied for thee he prayed all the night long that thou also mightst learn how to pray for thy selfe Qui rogat itaque semper roget sinon semper precatur paratum semper habeat precantis affectum He therfore that praies let him pray alway or if he do not alway pray let him alwaies haue ready the affection of prayer But the manner of speech is to be marked hee saith he preuented the morning watch Thereby declaring that he liued as it were in a strife with time carefull that it should not ouerunne him He knew that time postes away and in running-by weareth man to dust and ashes But Dauid preassed to get before it by doing some good in it before that it should spurre away from him And this care which Dauid had of euerie day alas how may it make them ashamed who haue no care of their whole life He was afraide to lose a day they take no thought to lose moneths and yeares without doing good in them yea hauing spent the three ages of their life in vanity and licentiousnes scarse will they consecrate their old and decrepit age to the Lord. I waited on thy word See verse 43. 81. VER 148. Mine eyes preuent the night watch to meditate in thy word HIS former purpose is yet continued declaring his indefatigable perseueraÌ„ce in prayer Oh that we could learne at him to vse our time wel At euening he lay down with praiers and teares at midnight hee rose to giue thanks he got vp before the morning light to call on the Lord. This is to imitate the life of Angels who euer are delighted to beholde the face of God singing alwaie a new song without wearying This is to beginne our heauen vpon earth oh that we could alway remember it An nescis ô homo quòd primitias tui cordis ac vocis quotidie Deo deboas Knowst thou not O man that thou owest euery day the first fruits of thy heart and tongue to the Lord our God Shouldst thou thinke of any thing before that first thou remember him in the morning or should thy tongue speake of any thing before the first fruits of thy speech be offered vnto him by prayer and praysing of his holy name But alas the coldnesse of this age in worshipping the Lord in praising him who is most worthy to be praysed is here greatly conuinced no time of the night will they spend in prayer yea in the day time they had rather doe any thing then be exercised in prayer and praysing snorâ—…ing and sleeping in the very time of diuine seruice when others beside them are intertayning fellowship with God by the exercise of the word and prayer If oftentimes they whose lippes are praysing him haue their hearts farre from him how farre is thy heart from him who canst not do so much as with thy lips to praise him when thou shouldst O man wilt thou remember that no time shall render thee comfort in the houre of death but that which thou hast spent in the seruice of thy God And if thou canst not consecrate all thy dayes and euery houre of the day vnto the Lord yet why wilt thou not diuide thy time rightly that where thou giuest one houre to the world and the affaires thereof why wilt thou not giue another to the Lord the works of his worship In this point the Lord make vs more wise giue vs grace to redeeme the time To mediate in thy word See ver 15. 23. 27. 48. 78. 99. 148. VER 149. Heare my voice according to thy louing kindnesse O Lord quicken me according to thy iudgement THis is a petition frequently vsed by all the children of God That he would hear them and not without great cause for the heauy heart is eased and disburdened by praier and it brings a present mitigation of their troubles when they feele in effect that God hears them Beside that it renders vnto them vnspeakable comfort for the time to come it confirmes them against the feare of death and makes them with boldnesse to goe out of the body that they may be with the Lord because by manifold experience they did finde in the body that God heard them and gaue them comfortable accesse to his Throne of grace According to thy louing kindnesse This is the great and maine argument whereby all Gods children moue the Lord to compassion namely his own fauour and louing kindnesse Semper homo etiam
si sanctus si iustus sit debet orare vt exaudiat eum Dominus secundum misericordiam suam non secundum merita virtutis alicuius quia rara virtus multa peccata A man were he neuer so iust or holy should euermore pray that God would heare him according to Gods mercy not according to the merit of his vertue whatsoeuer because in the best men their vertues are rare their sinnes are many It is true they vse also secondary arguments taken from God his graces in themselues as that they loue him or feare him or call vpon him but these in effect are but the alledging of the conditions whereupon God out of his kindnesse hath made the promises and so being his owne graces freely giuen may lawfully be vsed to moue the Lord to the performance of his promises Quicken me See ver 37. 40. 50. 88. 93. According to thy iudgement Iudgement is sometime taken for the execution of Gods threatnings against transgressors and this Dauid declines Psal. 143. Enter not into iudgement with me Sometime it is taken for the performance of his promises according to his word and this Dauid desires as in this Verse See ver 7. 13. 20. 30. 39. 43. 52. 62. 66. 75. 84. 102. 106. 108. 120. 137. 149. 156. 160. 164. 175. VER 150. They drawe neere that follow after malice and are farre from thy Lawe HEe reiterates againe his complaint against his enemies whom he describes after this manner That toward God they were impious men farre from his Lawe toward Dauid they were malicious yea such as followed malice and hunted after all occasions to doe him euill This is the condition of the children of God as their head and Lord Christ Iesus was set for a signe of contradiction so is it with his seruants they are set as a marke butte whereat Satan and his instruments shoot all the arrowes of their indignation but in vaine for God is their buckler And truely it should greatly comfort all the godly to remember that such as are their enemies are Gods enemies also sith they are farre from the obedience of Gods Law what maruell they be also farre from that duety of loue which they owe vnto vs It may content vs to want that comfort in men which otherwise we might and would haue when wee consider that God wants his glory in them Let this sustaine vs when we see that Godlesse men are enemies vnto vs. VER 151. Thou art neere O Lord for all thy commandements are true FRom the meditation of his enemies malice hee returnes againe to the meditation of Gods mercie and so it is expedient for vs to doe least the number and greatnesse and malitiousnesse of our enemies make vs to faint when we looke vnto them It is good that we should cast our eyes vpward to the Lord then shall we see they are not so neere to hurt vs as the Lord our God is neere to helpe vs and that there is no euill in them which we haue cause to feare but we shall finde in our God a contrary good sufficient to preserue vs. Otherwise we could not indure if when Satan and his instruments come neere to pursue vs the Lord were not neere to protect vs. Comfortable is it that when Laban with great fury followed Iacob the Lorde stepped in betweene them and commanded Laban not to hurt him and when Satan many a time intended to destroy Iob hee found that hee could not because the Lord was a hedge and defence vnto him This is of GODs marueilous working that wee being in the middest of the wicked who like so many rauening Wolues thirst for our bloud and before the mouth of that roaring Lion that seekes to destroy vs we should still be preserued for the which we may giue thankes with Dauid It is so O Lorde because thou art neere vnto vs. But let vs remember if wee would haue this presence of the Lorde rendring vs comfort wee must also bee moued by it to render him reuerence Prope est omnibus qui vbique adest nec refugere eum possumus si offendimus nec fallere si delinquimus nec amittere si colamus He is neere vnto all who is euery where present if we offend him wee cannot flie from him if we ◅ne we cannot siele nor couer his eyes if wee worshippe him we cannot want him neere to vs in all our necessities De sole non dubitas quod vbique resplendeat de Deo dubitas quod non vbique fulgeat Thou doubtest not of the Sunne that it shines into euery place why doubtest thou that the Lord is present in euery place Be where thou wilt hee is neere vnto thee be thou also in thy affection neere vnto him to feare and loue him in all thy wayes walke with him as Henoch did set him alway in thy sight as Dauid did Vnlesse thou be with him to waite vpon him and serue him how can he be neere vnto thee to preserue and comfort thee in all thy necessities Hee is neere vnto all illum tamen fouet qui appropinquat sibi but he comforts and nourisheth such as come neere vnto him He that hides himselfe from the light of the Sunne and closeth the dore and window of his house that it shine not vnto him what maruell hee haue no comfort by the light thereof In tenebris ambulat in omnium luce ipse sibi est causa caecitatis He walkes in darknesse and in the middest of light shining vnto all hee becommeth a cause of blindenesse vnto himselfe If by iniquity wee depart from the Lord wee may finde him neere as a Iudge to punish vs not as a Father to protect vs. For all thy Commaundements are true His meaning is Albeit O Lorde the euill will of wicked men follow me because I follow thee yet I knowe thy commaundements are true and that it is not possible thou canst desert or faile thy seruants who stand to the maintenance of thy word Then ye see Dauids comfort in trouble was not in any presumptuous conceit of his owne wisedome or strength but in the truth of Gods promises which he was perswaded could not faile him And heere also hee makes a secret opposition between the word of the Lord and the word of his enemies Somtime men command but without reason sometime they promise but without performance sometime they threaten but without effect Herods cōmanding Rabsac◅e his ray ling Iezabel her proude boasting against Elijah may proue this But as to the Lord our God he is alway better then his word and his seruants shall finde more in his performance hereafter then now they can perceiue in his promise like as his enemies shall finde more weight in his iudgements then now they can apprehend in his threatnings VER 152. I haue knowne long since by thy Testimonies that thou hast established them for euer THat which he hath
spoken concerning the certaine truth of Gods word he now amplifies it that he had found it by experience Sure it is the Word of God doth euer comfort them who beleeue it but when by experience in their particular troubles and tentations they finde the truth of it then doth it so much the more confirme them Let vs looke to our selues and marke narrowly the working of GOD with vs that as we beleeue Gods word to be a most true word in itselfe so in our owne experience we may finde it toward vs. This stabilitie vnchangeable truth of Gods word if wee once bee perswaded of it shall be an Anchor to our soules to holde vs fast that wee bee not carried away with the winde and waues of greatest temptations Long before Dauids trouble came this was settled as a truth in the heart of Dauid and therefore in all trouble it sustained him There fall out oftentimes such confusions and perturbations in the world as makes the children of God to doubt whether the hand of God by the stable order of his prouidence rule them or not and where they are moued to doubt what maruell if Insidels Epicures and other Naturalists doe altogether distrust it After the opinion of that Ethnique Rex mundi magna curat parua fortunae relinquit But it is farre otherwise his prouident and ruling hand extends to smallest things Videte quia minima non contemnit Deus nam si contemneret non crearet For if he neglect them he would not haue created them Neyther doth any thing fall out by fortune but as saith the Apostle He worketh all things after the counsell and good pleasure of his will Alway to confirme vs against this tentation let vs resolue with Dauid here That God hath established his testimonies for euer More of this see ver 142. 160. RESH VER 153. Behold mine affliction and deliuer me for I haue not forgotten thy Lawe THese prayers of Dauid are penned with such heauenly wisedome that they are conuenient for the state of the whole Church and euery member thereof The Church is the bush that burneth with fire but cannot be consumed euery member thereof beareth a part of the crosse of Christ neuer without some affliction for which they haue need here to pray with Dauid Behold mine affliction We know that in afflictions it is some comfort to vs to haue our crosses knowne to such as of whom we are assured that they loue vs it mitigates our dolour when they mourne with vs albeit they be not able to helpe vs. But the Christian hath a more solid comfort to wit that in all his troubles the Lord beholds him like a King reioycing to see his own seruant wrestle with the enemie he lookes with a mercifull eye pitying the infirmitie of his owne when he sees it and with a powerfull hand ready to helpe them But because many a time the cloude of our corruption cometh betweene the Lorde and vs and lets vs not see his helping hand nor his louing face looking vpon vs we haue neede to pray at such times with Dauid Behold mine affliction For I haue not forgotten This reason is not quòd iactare se cuperet sed vt Dei in se gratiam prouocaret as if Dauid here did boast of himselfe for he saith not that he had fulfilled Gods lawe but that he had not forgot it But this is subioyned to moue the Lord to pitie and compassion toward him from this reason That his conscience was good toward God if not in that which he had don yet at least in that which he would haue done for he euer protests that it was his ioy to doe the will of the Lord his God And it is onely this good conscience that dare make request vnto God where the euill conscience dare not look to him more then a wounded eye can looke to the light yea it flies and runnes away from God as we see in Adam fearing euill from him because it had done euill against him and farre lesse dare it seeke good things from him VER 154. Pleade my cause and deliuer me quicken me according to thy word HEere is an appellation made by Dauid from men vnto God The meaning of it is O Lorde I finde that among men equity is not regarded euen they who vpon earth are thy Deputies who should maintaine the right and punish the wrong by them the cause of innocent men many a time is borne downe wherefore Lord I beseech thee who art the righteous ludge of the world pleade my cause against them Wherein first wee haue a comfort for them who are oppressed by the vnrighteousnesse of men they are taught here by Dauids example to appeale to God and call him to be Iudge betweene them and their oppressors Many a time good men faint fall down euen in a good cause for a while because they trust in their cause neglecting to seeke the Lords protection And againe here is a warning for all men in the world specially for Iudges to whō belongs the cognition of other mens causes that they take heede what they doe seeing as Iehosaphat said to his Deputies The iudgement is the Lords for when they haue iudged the Lord will iudge them ouer againe their iudgement also either to ratifie or disannull the sentence they haue giuen And therefore it were good for them not so much to look vnto such as are vnder them with whom they may do as they think in the matter of right and wrong at their pleasure without controlement as to look vnto him who is aboue them whose iudgement they themselues must vndergo both in their persons and actions Quicken me See ver 25. 37. 40. 50. 88. 93. 107. 154. 156. VER 155. Saluation is farre from the wicked because they seeke not thy Statutes THis Verse contains a protestation of the miserable condition of the wicked expressed in this weighty sentence Saluation is farre from the wicked Ipsi sunt authores sui periculi quia Domino non appropinquant they themselues are the authors of their own wracke because they drawe not neere vnto the Lord. Salute quae abste est se ipsi qui inique viuunt priuarunt they who liue wickedly depriue themselues of that saluation which is in thee Non refugit eos salus sed ipsi salutem fugiunt saluation flies not from them it is offered vnto them but they flie from it A fearful estate not only to want saluation but to want it in thy owne default because thou wilt not embrace it In the verse 150. he said that the wicked were farre from Gods lawe now he saith that Gods saluation is as farre from them The Lord hath conioyned these two his Word and Saluation for by his Word hee saueth such as are to be saued they who despise the one shall neuer finde the other If wicked
men knew this or could apprehend it they would not redeeme the pleasures of sinne so deerely as for them to defraude their ownesoules of saluation despising against themselues the counsell of God And this Oracle of God should confirme vs against all these tentations which arise vnto vs by looking to the prosperity peace and worldly pompe of the wicked What is the glory of their outward state to be regarded so long as this fearfull sentence lies vpon them that the saluation of God is farre from them This sustained the Apostle S. Paul when he saw the great pompe of Agrippa he would not for all that exchange estates with him he wished not to be like vnto Agrippa but rather that hee had beene such as he was Because they seeke not thy Statutes Heere is noted the cause of all their misery namely the contempt of Gods word they did not so much as seeke the Lords Statutes An argument they esteemed nothing of it for who will seeke that whereof they account not or who will despise that which they esteeme pretious and necessary to them This is much more then if he had only said They transgresse thy Statutes The children of God may be guilty of the one transgression for in many things we sinne all And if any man say he sinnes not he is a lâ—…ar and the truth is not in him but they are farre from the other to dis-esteeme of Gods word and cast off all care to seeke it VER 156. Great are thy tender mercies O Lord quicken me according to thy iudgements NOw Dauid turns his consideration from wicked men vnto himselfe acknowledging that he was no better by nature then they but that Gods his mercy had made a difference between him and them where there was none by nature And therefore prayes he that the work of Gods mercy may be continued with him to quicken him and giue him life that he defile not his conscience by dead workes as they doe nor yet haue fellowship with them in their vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse but that being quickned by God he may liue the life of God from which he saw them to be strangers Thus we see that how-euer the godly exercise somtime their consideration about other things yet in the end they returne still to themselues What-euer they heare or see or speake of others they enter into their owne hearts and edifie themselues by it if they looke to such as are godly they are confirmed to follow themâ—… if they looke to the manners of wicked men they are affraid of their owne weakenesse runne to Gods mercy praysing him who hath preserued them from the like impiety and praying also for grace to keep them that their harts incline not to walk with them Thus of euery thing they reape some profit to themselues but naturall men look so to things which are without them that they enter not into their owne hearts to edifie themselues by that which they heare or see in others Againe the manner of the children of God in their prayers is to flie alway to Gods mercy it is of mercy that they begin well of mercy that they continue well of mercy that they looke for any good at the hands of God let them leane to merits who will we wil depend vpon mercy Are we able to giue vnto God himselfe Are we able to requite his benefites which we haue gotten Quis potest debitum referre naturae debitum salutis gratiae Can any man requite him for benefits of nature which we haue receiued farre lesse for benefites of grace saluation these are debts which wee are neuer able to pay Where then are thy merits Quis nostrûm sine diuina potest miseratione subsistere Who among vs all can subsist without diuine miseration Quid possumus dignuÌ„ facere praemijs coelestibus Or what can we do worthy of a heauenly reward Let vs therfore learnat Dauid to send vp our requests Non secundum merita nostra sed misericordiam Dei not according to our merits but his mercies Two Epithets he ascribes to Gods mercies first he cals them great and then he cals them tender mercies They are great in many respects for coÌ„tinuance they endure sor euer for largenes they reach vnto the heauens are higher then they yea they are aboue all the workes of God And this is for the comfort of poore sinners whose sinnes are many and great let them not despaire his mercies are greater and moe for sith they are greater then all his works how much more greater then thou and all thy sinsull workes All the Nations of the earth are but like the droppe of a bucket or as a graine of sand compared with his Maiestie what art thou then that thou shouldst magnifie thy deedes aboue his rich mercie as if thy sinnes were so great that his mercie could not compasse them Onely doe not abuse his mercy neyther turne thou his grace into wantonnesse but if thou vnfeinedly repent then doe thou also stedfastly beleeue that thy sinnes were they neuer so great shall easily be swallowed vp by his infinite mercies As the Ocean when it flowes couers sands and rockes and all that they are not seene so where the floud of Gods compassions breaks out how easily doth it ouerflow and couer all thy transgressions This is the meditation of the Apostle that where before he had beene many manner of wayes sinfull and ignorant a blasphemer an oppressor a persecuter yet the grace of our Lord had beene exceeding abundant toward him where sinne had abounded grace had superabounded to ouer flow and couer it And in this he stands for an example to all that will beleeue that they should neuer distrust Gods great mercies for the greatnesse of their sinnes The other Epithet he giues them is That they are tender mercies because the Lord is easie to be intreated for he is slowe vnto wrath but ready to shew mercy S. Iames saith that the wisdom which is from aboue is gentle peaceable easie to be intreated If his grace in his children make them gentle and easie to be intreated what shall we thinke of him selfe Sith he will haue such pitie in vs poore creatures that seauenty times seauen times in the day hee will haue vs to forgiue the offences of our brethren O what pitie compassion abounds in himselfe Thus we see our comfort is increased that as his mercies are great so are they tender easily obtained where they are earnestly craued Quicken me Dauid found the life of grace in himselfe continually hindred impugned yea oft-times sore weakened by the power of his corrupt nature and therefore the more frequent is he in this petition that God would quicken him VER 157. My persecuters and my oppressors are many yet doe I not swerue from thy testimonies A New protestation of his constancy vnder affliction that albeit
he was persecuted and sore oppressed for his profession yet no trouble could make him swerue from the testimonies of God Trouble is the best tryall of true Religion Non est magnum si tune a Dei testimonijs non declines cum te nullus persequitur It is no great thing to cleaue vnto the testimonies of God when none pursues thee for it when authority allowes it when honour and prosperitie follows it it is no great praise then to professe it When the Lord gloried of his seruant Iob that he was an vpright man fearing God c. Satan replied And what maruell Doth Iob worship God for nothing He knew there were many hyrelings temporizers in the world that worshipped not God sincerely and therefore would not continue in it He thought Iob to be one of these Lay now thine hand vpon all that he hath and he shal blaspheme thee to thy face But he was deceiued for the more he was crost the neerer did he cleaue vnto the Lord. Let vs remember as S. Paul hath warned vs We haue not yet resisted vnto the bloud neither yet that which S. Peter cals The siery tryall haue we endured And yet what a shame is it to see how many moued by the naked example of the Apostles are becom colder in Religion An euident argument that they were neuer truely religious for if they cannot stand against offences how should they stand against oppressions and persecutions What persecuters they were and what was the kinde of persecution Dauid expresseth not Basil thinkes Quod quacunque sibi acciderant omnia hoc Psalmo congessit that what-euer befell him of any trouble eyther by Saul or Absalom or vncircumcised Nations among whom he soiourned all is gathered together in this Psalme which containes eyther prayers he made when he was in trouble or prayses he gaue when God deliuered him out of trouble or else spirituall gloriations of that strength constancy which God gaue him to indure it Properly there is but one persecuter of all the godly this is Satan the enemie of Gods glorie of our saluation Vnus persequutor est sed multos habet ministros but he hath many seruants instruments vnder him some inuisible some visible and according as they are so is the kinde of persecution eyther bodily or spirituall There is an euill spirit of fornication another of auarice another of pride Hi sunt persequutores graues these are fearefull persecutors Otherwise the Apostle would not say Flie fornication if the spirit of fornication were not a pursuer Many are stout in the outward persecution qui occulta hac persequutione ceciderunt who by this secret persecution haue beene ouercome Hi tibi hostes cauendi hi grauiores tyranni per quos Adam captus these are the enemies whō thou must eschew these are the most grieuous tyrannes by whom Adam was captiued and thou art to beware of them By visible enemies also Satan fights against vs but these are not so dangerous as the other yet for the present more displeasant let vs not bee discouraged with them Si multae persequutiones multae et probationes If our persecutions bee many so are our trialls and probations tryals I meane both of our sinceritie and of the truth of God If Daniel had not by wicked men beene cast into the denne of Lyons and the three children by Nebuchadnezzars fury into the fiery furnace then should not their constant affection towarde God and his truth power in preseruing them haue beene so clearely manifested Tibi ergo prodest quòd multi persequutores sunt vt inter multas persequutiones facilius inuenias quomodo coroneris The more waies thou be persecuted the more wayes hast thou to bee crowned for by many tribulations doe wee enter into the kingdome of heauen VER 158. I saw the transgressours and was grieued because they did not keep thy word ALbeit his trouble were great by the restlesse malice of his enemies and his dangers oftentimes desperate yet he protests none of these went so neere his heart as the dishonour of God and contempt of Gods word The glory of God shining in his word is dearer to the godly then their liues and they haue no pleasure to liue but melt away for griefe when they see wickednes and idolatry exalted pietie and true religion trode vnder foot This made good Eliah desire that the Lord would take him out of this life this made Dauid pine away for griefe And it may condemne many who if so be their owne estate be peaceable they will not disquiet themselues with griefe for any dishonor that by impiety of wicked men is done vnto God See ver 136. VER 159. Cōsider O Lord how I loue thy precepts quicken me according to thy louing kindnes THis verse containes a protestation of his great loue toward the word of God for probation whereof hee appeales to the testimony of God desiring the Lord to consider if it be so or not It is an argument of a good conscience when a man dare present his heart vnto God and desire him to looke into it Nemo dicit vide nisi qui iudicat se si videatur esse placiturum No man saith to God Looke vpon me but he who knowes that God will like him when hee lookes vpon him for hee that doth euill hates the light and an euill conscience dares not stand before God but hides the selfe so farre as it can from him as we see in Adam But sith so it is that the knowledge of our estate cannot be hid from the Lord but wee must be presented naked before him it is but vanity now to hide our wayes from him Woe be vnto them that seeke in deepe to hide their counsell from the Lord their waies are in secret and they say who seeth them But He that made the eie shall hee not see Wisedome rather craues that wee should lay open our hearts to the Lord in time walking so in a good conscience before him that we might be bold to say with Dauid Looke vpon mee Lord and consider me How I loue He saith not consider how I performe thy precepts but how I loue them The comfort of a Christian militant in this body of sin is rather in sinceritie and feruencie of his affections then in the absolute perfection of his actions He failes many times in his obedience to Gods precepts in regard of his action but loue in his affection still remaines so that both before the temptation to sin and after it there is a griefe in his soule that hee should finde in himselfe any corrupt will or desire contrary to the holy will of the Lord his God and this proues an inuincible loue in him to the precepts of God Thy precepts He saith not that he loued Gods promises onely for euery man hath a liking of these but his precepts also Naturally
men hate the precepts and commandements of Gods law they are so contrary to the disposition of his corrupt nature that as the Apostle affirmes sinne takes occasion by the commandement to worke in man all manner of concupiscence for without the law sinne is dead and man his corrupt nature is the more bent vnto euill the more it bee for biddē but grace comming in to renue nature it works a loue euen of the commandements of God as being most holy in themselues most profitable for vs and that our felicity stands in a conformity with them Quicken mee Of this petition See verse 25. 37. 40. And out of Dauid his earnest frequent repetition of this petition let vs learne how spirituall things are to bee sought with a feruent affection It is pitty to see that the things of this world are sought so incessantly as if they were hardly obtained or being obtained were able to fulfil all our necessities or yet could continue and abide stil with vs wheras things pertaining to the life to come are sought in so cold a manner as if it were nothing to get them or being gotten they could doe vs little good or at least were not to continue with vs. Oh that we could rectifie our desires in this point and learne to seeke most excellent things with our best and most excellent affections and that we could alway remember these three things first it is vncertaine if we shall obtaine worldly things when wee seeke them next granting we do it is most certain that they will not fulfill our necessities and thirdly albeit they were able so to doe yet can they not continue with vs. Let vs therefore make choise as Mary did of the best part and couet as the Apostle counsels vs those gifts which are most excellent VER 160. The beginning of thy word is truth and all the iudgements of thy righteousnes indure for euer HEere is a commendation of Gods word from the truth and righteousnes thereof Some reade the words so as if Dauid should say the word of God hath beene true à principio from the very beginning of the world Some reade this way Ab ipso limine veritas tua conspicua est in verbo tuo in the very entry of thy word thy truth is manifest and some Caput verbi tui veritas this is the excellencie and great prerogatiue of thy word the very head and garland of it is verity This perswasion is the mother of all obedience to the word of God and it begets also such a comfort in our souls as no trouble nor temptation is able to ouercome Saint Peter calles the word of God a most sure word And the Lord himselfe calles the promises therof The sure mercies of Dauids house Wee may say with the Apostle We know whom we haue beleeued The Lord will not faile his people according to his word so shall it be vnto vs. And all the iudgements Here Dauid shewes what sustained him against the delay of iudgement vpon wicked men to weet a meditation of the eternall righteousnes of Gods iudgements He considered with himselfe that the righteousnes of God was not for one age but for all neither yet for one sinne only but for all then looking to by-gone iudgements executed vpon the wicked he collects that albeit for the present they were spared yet at length they would be punished seeing Gods iudgements are euerlasting And this should serue for a warning to wicked men of this age that the Lord who hath punished the wickednes of other ages before wil not let the impiety of this age escape vnpunished When the iudgements of God are executed then all men acknowledge Verely There is a God that iudgeth righteously in the earth Yea faithlesse men are amazed when hee strikes and forced to confesse that it is his hand but before the iudgement come to belieue that it will come is an argument of true faith So Noah mooued with reuerence prepared the Arke And Salomon saith A prudent man sees the plague before it come and hides himselfe in time God giue vs this wisedome SHIN VER 161. Princes haue persecuted me without cause but mine heart stood in awe of thy words IT hath pleased the Lord to teach vs not only by his word but by the exāples of others his seruants who liued before vs. For this cause hath hee registred the obedience of Noah the faith of Abraham the patience of Iob the meekenes of Moses the zeale of Dauid that we also should be zealous of those graces for which they receiued so honourable a commendation of God It is a great patience to sustaine iniurie from any wicked man but the greater the person be that persecutes vs the greater is the temptation whereof see verse 23. Onely now it comes to be enquired How can Dauid say that he was persecuted without cause seeing in all troubles which can befall vs if wee rightly examine our consciences we shall still finde within our selues causes which haue deserued sharper corrections 1. The answere is that Dauid here is not comparing himselfe with God for hee knew that in Gods sight no man could be iustified and none can say vnto him thou hast striken me without a fault but here he compares himselfe with men to whom hee had giuen no iust cause of offence It is true Saul pretended great causes against Dauid that hee was an enemie both to his life and crowne but Dauid not only by his words doth purge himselfe but by his deeds declare the contrary For when hee might haue slaine him hee spared him both in the caue and in the campe Thus we must also distinguish betweene causes pretended by euill men and those which are indeede But mine heart stood in awe of thy word Dauid renders not euill for euill but ouercomes euill with good Though Princes who should bee fathers and protectors of people should degenerate into oppressors and persecuters Is it lawfull for that to shake off obedience to refuse their tribute or to murther their persons Shall we become godless Atheists because they are becom faithless tyrants No no we see men truely religious doe practise no such vnrighteousnes This may tell vs from what spirit proceeds the Romish doctrine which not only permits but commands the deposition of Kings the loosing of subiects from their obedience yea the murthering of their persons It cannot be from that good spirit wherewith Dauid vvas inspired Princes persecuted him and he might haue slaine them as his seruants counselled him to murther Saul God saide they haue closed thine enemy into thine hand but he would not for his heart stood in awe of Gods word which told him as there he answered his men that it was not lawfull for him to touch the Lords anointed Againe we see heere an example of the constancy of Gods children no winde of temptation can remoue
far lesse ouer-turne them they are like rocks in the sea induring euery waue like trees planted by the riuer side Gods owne plantation they may be shaken but not ouerturned they abide rooted and stablished by the Lord. The angry countenance of Princes is very awefull vnto men but Dauid heere shewes what sustained him against them to weet the awe of God so Moses feared not Pharaoh because he had seene him who is inuisible A greater feare ouercomes the lesse hee who knowes the power of Gods wrath will not cast himself in danger therof for no wrath of man And hereof proceedeth that inuincible courage of Martyrs who by no terrour of most strange and vncouth torments that the wit of man could deuise could euer bee induced to deny the Lord Iesus because they stood in awe of his word Besides this wee see that both good and euill men haue their owne awe-bands but the awe-band of an euil man is without him in the countenance of man that may controle and punish him if this restraine him not he stands in no awe of the Lord. This was Abners reason why hee would not slay Azahel How shall I holde vp my face to my brother Ioab where he should rather haue saide How shall I holde vp my face to the Lord my God But the awe-band of a godly man is within him Albeit no man were to see him nor punish him and he might doe wickedly vncontrolled of man yet the reuerence of God restraines him For he walks as the Apostle saith in simplicity in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is in such godly perspicuitie as might be discerned in the sunne Nec tam pudenda apud eum publicatio slagitium quam conscientia est neither thinkes he such shame of the publication of his cryme as of his euill conscience Da Gygis annulum sapienti vt beneficio cius latere possit cum deliquerit non minus fugiet peccatorum contagium quaÌ„ si non posit latere Giue saith he to a wise man the ring of Gyges by the benefit whereof he may lurke when hee doth euill yet will he not the lesse flie the affection of sinne then if he could not lurke at all Non enim latâ—…bra sapienti spes impunitatis sed innocentia est for the defence of a wise managainst publike shame is not in the hope of impunity but in innocencie And heerein stands the tryall of a man truely religious from an hypocrite VER 162. I reioyced at thy word as one that findeth a great spoile THe word of God renders such manifold fruit to the godly that by no comparison can they expresse it and therefore Dauid changes so many similitudes The Apostle cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word worthy of all acception because look with what affection men receiue any thing in the world that is most pleasant or profitable for them with the like affection should men receiue the word of God A man that is hungry how blythe is he when meate is offered him a man very thirsty deuoureth drinke when it is giuen a sick man or sore pined greedily imbraces soueraine medicine that he knowes will cure him a poore man when he findes a treasure with a ioyfull heart receiues it How did that lame man lcap and exult for ioy when hee found that Peter had restored his feet vnto him After the same manner should poor miserable sinners receiue the word of God it is meate to feede them it is drinke to refresh them it is light to illuminate them it is life to quicken them But alas where men finde not their wants no maruaile they finde not the comfort which the word offers Let be they cannot receiue it with all reception they receiue it not at their eares they delight not to heare it but good Dauid contents not himselfe to declare how it was sweeter to him then hony more preâ—…ious to him then treasures of gold but now also he tels how his ioy by it exceeds the ioy of men victorious in battell returning with the spoile which how great a ioy it is see Esay 9. Many great victories had he had he gotten by the sword but now finding that by the armour of Gods word he had gotten patience and strength to ouercome all the malice of his enemics hee protests here it rendred to him a more excellent ioy then any that could be expressed And this ioy which Gods children finde by the word ariseth from the glad tidings which it brings vnto them When the Lord Iesus saide to Zacheus This day saluation is come to thine house when he said to the man sicke of the palsie Thy sinnes are forgiuen thee and again to the diseased woman Thy faith hath made thee whole how could they but exult for ioy to heare it What then he spake to them out of his owne blessed mouth he daily speakes to the like of them that is to such as belieue and repent out of his holy oracle that their sinnes are forgiuen that they are the sonnes of Abraham yea the sonnes of God to whom belongs saluation This renders to them a ioy which surmounts all that comfort the world is able to giue It is far otherwise with the wicked As Achab spake of Micah He neuer prophesieth good vnto mee So finde they that the word of God neuer prophesieth any good vnto them but by the contrary when they heare it they receiue within themselues a sentence of damnation What maruaile then they delight not in it yea rather count it a wearines and oftentimes be moued to furie when they heare it like those faithless Iewes who gnashed their teeth and were like to burst for anger at the hearing of the gospell preached by Iesus Christ. Who can expresse their misery whose euill conscience grieues them to heare the glad tidings of the gospell and to whom the word of life is no other but a sauour of death VER 163. I hate falsehood and abhorre it but thy law do I loue BY falsehood heere Dauid vnderstands euerie thing which is not agreeable to the word of God and so truely it is a deceitfull vanitie which in the ende will faile and beguile all them who are delighted with it And to declare it was not any light hatred of sinne which he had hee subioynes that hee did abhorre it which imports not a simple refusall but a vehement indignation a hostile hatred mixed with such a dolour and horrour as vseth to be in the hearts of men when any horrible or hurtfull thing is offered to them Colde hatred of euill by processe of time turnes to a liking of euill that wee begin in some respects to thinke it tolerable and so at length are intangled in the snare thereof No man at the first commeth to the worst if we haue not sin at the end of the staffe to count it for our enemy it will easily creepe in acquaintance
that as Dauid first got life to his soule by the word so by it life was conserued vnto him and if at any time hee fell it was the word that wakened him to turne againe to the Lord by repentance When we are tempted vnto sinne the word armes vs to resist it when we are vvounded with sinne the word lets vs see how to cure it And as the crowing of the Cock wakened Peter to mourne for the deniall of Christ so the warning of the word wakens vs to repent when we haue sinned Happy vvere we if such affection vvere in vs toward the vvord of God as here was in Dauid So should we finde that manifolde comfort in it which hee found to the reioycing of his heart If vve receiue it vvhen vvee heare it vvith a liuelie faith Fiet nobis quodcunque desideramus It shall be vnto vs what euer we desire if wee be in trouble it shall be to vs a word of consolation if we be in ioy it shal augment our ioy Certainly if vve knew it we would be more delighted with it It is the seede of our new birth it is the foode that conserues an immortall life in vs it is a preseruatiue against all euill it is the restoratiue of our soules in all diseases it is the staffe of our infirmityes it is our armour against our enemies it is the light of our eyes euen that day starre that shineth in darknes If we walke in the light thereof it shall leade vs to the bright-shining sunne of righteousnes Christ Iesus To whom with the Father and the Holy-ghost be praise honor and glory for euer Amen FINIS A Prayer commonlie vsed by the Author before his Euening Doctrine to the people O Lord prepare our hearts to seeke thee and open thou thy mercifull eare to heare vs. Let the meditation of our heart the words of our mouth and the lifting vp of our hands be vnto thee an acceptable Euening sacrifice and let thy blessing descend vpon vs thy people that by the ministery of thy word holy spirit light may increase in our mindes by which wee may knowe thee life in our hearts by which we may liue vnto thee that so long as wee are here in this miserable absence from thee we may continually be guided with thy grace and in thy owne good time receiued vp to thy glory through Iesus Christ to whom with thee and thy holy spirit be praise and glory for euer Another LOrd quicken vs that we may call vpon thy holy name Lord make vs wearie of our sinnes that we may come to thee and thou may refresh vs powre thy spirit vpon vs that we may hunger and thirst for thy righteousnesse and saluation that thou according to thy promise may satisfie vs. Declare thy presence in mercie vpon vs who heere wait for thy louing kindnes in the midst of thy Temple Water thine inheritance with the deaw of thy grace that we may fasten our roots in Christ and may growe vp in him in all holines fruitfull in euery manner of good worke which may be to thy glory through Iesus Christ. To whom with thee and thy holie spirit be praise and honour and glory for euer Amen A TABLE DIRECTING the Reader how to finde out the Principall points of Doctrine contained in this Book A A Brahams infirmity to teach vs strength P. 143. Gods Acceptation of any thing at our hands a great fauour for three respects 246. Accesse to God by Prayer while we are in the body will make vs not affraide to go out of the body 137. Adam had all graces except Perseuerance 260. Affections to be feruent in seeking spirituall things 356. Affections if strong will breake forth in Actions 368. Afflictions are fauours and proued such 166. 245. They are profitable 206. Afflictions and offences humble the Godly 170. Affliction not affecting Purgation is an argument of fearefull induration 171. In Affliction we see three things better then in prosperitie viz. What of the Lord what of our selues what of the world 181. The goodnes of the Wicked endeth with their Affliction It doth not so with the Godly 182. In Affliction to praise God a great grace 189. Afflictions of good and bad differ and how in the measure and in the end 191. They make the fruitfull more fruitfull 219. Alexanders and Caesars parting the night 159. Almuggim trees are such as rot not 156. The Anchor of the soul is Gods word 340. Angels to be imitated 332. Answere of Prayer delayed and why 199. Appeale to God frō the wrongfull iudgements of men 62. 344. Application of the word a speciall grace 377. Armour of the godly the Word and Prayer 65 The Art of Arts is the practise of piety 187. Assurance of saluation is no Arrogance 123. 215. Assurance confirmed by Arguments 124. The Awe-band of the wicked is without them of the godly within them 362. B THe Bands Combinings of the Wicked auaile not P. 155 Banishment and Pilgrimage bringeth vs neerer to God the farther from Men. 131. Beginnings nothing without perseuerance 252. God is a Beholder of our afflictions and Wrestlings 342 Benefits receiued well vsed beget Boldnes to aske more 38. Benefits should binde vs to Obedience 308. The fruite of Gods Benefits is our profit and Gods praise 393. Benignity of God generall speciall 163. Blessednes of Man described foure wayes 6. Mans Blessednes is in Gods Approbation 9. Desire of the best Blessings pleaseth God best 93. Blindnes of Man by Nature 51. Our Bodyes are houses of Bondage 132. Christs Burden beareth the Bearer 79. C CAlumnies are heauy Crosses Page 275. To commend a wrong Cause to Gods protection is dangerous 276. Bee our Cause neuer so good our owne wisedom will not help it ibid. Christians more honourable then Kings not Christians 48. Christians maimed which haue an eare to hear a tongue to speak but no hand to practise 119. Christians called Christs Companions 162. Christians are Prophets 388. Commandements all to be kept not with halfe obedience 21. Solide Comfort and Counsell commeth from the word 67. Comforts to bee sought from God for Gods sake 110. The Comfort of the Crosse vnknowne to Worldlings 171. Comfort the lesse worldly the greater heauenly 182. Comfort not comming from Gods word hath two euils with it 218 Comfort cōsisteth in two things 254. A three-fold Comfort 314. The Comfort of the worde is common to all the Godly 370. A man knowne by his Company 161. 257. Wicked Company to be for born for two causes 257. A threefolde Complaint against three sorts of Enemies 383. Confession of Sinnes confoundeth Sathan 274. 396. Confusion twofolde either a Desertion of God or Oppression of Men. 88 A Good Conscience affordeth continuall boldnesse in Prayer 273. 302. 343. 354 Consideration necessary in all things 150. Dauids Constancy in religion 174. Constancy of Christiās 250. 351. Conuersion to God not of any freewill in nature 85. Nothing can giue a
Commended for the truth and righteousnes thereof 357. Euery thing contrary thereto is falsehood 366. It is the keeper of religious order 389. It is like Manna 392. Gods Works are wondrous 77. All his Works serue him 217. Worldlings treasure is without them The Christians is within them 33. The Worldlings ioy The Godlies griefe 69 Y YOuth and Old age both to be godly 30. To be considered 234. Z THe Zeale of the godly to Gods word not soon satisfied 317. The nature of Zeale ibid. Sundry sorts of Zeale 318. The effects of Zeale ibid. Zeale and Knowledge twowings of the Soule 319. The Tryall of Zeale ibid. Zeale in Prayer 328. What may seem wanting in this Table the references of certaine verses will supply FINIS Iob 31. Heb. 13. So many waieâ—… doth God teâ—…ch man that man is inexcusable if he learn not Matth. 11. 17. Euthym. Gods courle in dealing with man contrary to Sathans Esa. 5. 4. A commendation of the booke of the Psalmes Aâ—…ib Dauid both the heart and the tongue and the pen of the great King If we be partakers of Dauids disposition we shall also be partakers of his approbation ☜ A notable sentence of Cyprian to this purpole Iob 1. 1. 8. Pontius We should marke these verâ—…es for which God hath commended his seruants In euery verse of this Psalme except one Dauid makes mention of Gods word Vatablus Such as are regenerate by the word liue by it as by the food of their soules Others cannot account of it ☜ The order and diuision of this Psalme The felicity of man stands in a conformity with God Basil. praeâ—…in Psal. Rom. 9. 5. Foure wayes is mans felicity described in holy Scripture Ephes. 1. 3. Psalme Psal. 3â—… 1. Matth. 5. Euthym. Euery mans life is a Way wherein without intermission he walkes to the graue Basil. Psal. 125. The different courses of good and euill men in it For there is one common to them both which is seene one other proper to each of them which is secret A godly man directs his course by the word 〈◊〉 3. 1â—… Mans felicity stands in God his approbation No malice of Sathan no wrath of man can curse where God hath blessed Why Gods word is called the Testimony of God Euery man should take heed what Gods word testifies to him Mich. 2. 7. ☞ Aug. How the children of God keepe his word in mind affection and action Rom. 8. How necessary it is for vs to seeke the Lord. Psal. 73 27. Ver. 28. Miserable are they who seeke him not With what affection God should be sought Chrysost. in mat hom 24. Euthym. ☞ Six conditions to be obserued in the seeking of God 1 Seeke him in Christ. Heb. 7. 25. 2 Seeke him in truth Ier. 10 10. Ioh. 4. 2â—… Pâ—…l 51. 3 Seeke him in holinesse Heb 12. 1 Ioh. 3. 4 Sâ—…eke him aboue all things and for himselfe Hos. Aug. ☞ 5 Seeke him by his owne light Rom. 1. 21. 6 Seek him without wearying Psal. 34. 5. If we keepe Gods word it keepes vs. How it is that the Saints of God worke no iniquity Rom. 7. Three things concurre to the working of iniquity ☞ 1. Ioh. 3. Why the life of a godly man is called Gods way The sinnes of this age are either of obliuion or rebellion excuse of ignorance is taken from them By obliuion men are easily caried to rebellion Psal. 123. 2. Three reasons to moue vs to a carefull diligence to obey the Lord. The godly answer Gods preâ—…epts with a prayer It cannot be well with man when his way is contrary to Gods way It is a worke of Gods mercy and power to draw a man from his owne way to Gods way Euthym. The miserable effects of sin Iam. 1. It offends both God and man but hurts him most that did â—…ommit it Ierem. â—…asil Wee should make conscience of all God his commaundements The halfe obeâ—…ience of the wicked is like the voice of an Eccho Iam. 2. 10. Thankfulnes to God commended for foure causes Psalme First for the equitie of it sith wee take good things from God why should we not giue him glory Secondly for the obiect thereof which is God the treasure of all good Thirdly for the associates wee haue in this exercise namely Angels our elder brethren Lastly for the great good we get by it The best musicall instrument for Gods prayses is an vprigh â—…are Both the matter the grace of thankfulnes is from God Purposes wold be seconded with prayers A resolution to be godly is a great beginning of a godly life A fearefull plague to be forsaken of God â—…asil Gods children many times exercised with temporall desertions To a godly man a â—…hort time of Gods absence is long Gods word is a glasse representing to vs both Gods image and our owne As words and sentences cannot be without letters so no good in religioÌ„ or manners without the word ☞ Dauid edifies others with that which had done himselfe good The word is needfull for all specially for young men and why Amb. lib. de viduis Naziâ—…n orat 46. in Ecclesiast Prou. 22. 15. Lam. 3. 27. Youth commonly most profane Amos. 2. It is an euill diuision when young yeeres are giuen to Satan and olde age to the Lord. Leuit. 2. 14. Malach. How the strength of young age should be declared 1. Ioh. 2. 14 15 16. It a double sin and shame for old men to be vngodly A miserable euill to come to Canaans borders and be put backe againe ☜ Knowledge to gouern the life aright is the good gift of God Amb. Dauid practised that which he taught to others Hee was far froÌ„ Pharisaicall boasting of his owne perfection Basil. The beginning continuing and perfecting of our saluation is of God Heb. 12. Dauid hid not the talent hee receiued Psal. He that edifies not his owne heart with mercy is not meet to speake of it vnto others Christians haue their treasure within Worldlings without them The godly make not a vaine shew of grace but lock it vp in the heart to hide it from their enemies Basil. Worldlings carelesse of the heauenly treasure conuinced If we keepe the word it will keepe vs. The soule of the godly cannot be satisfied in this life Men are carelesse to seeke God because they know not what a iewell he is But seeke the creatures as if their happines stood in them To be taught by man is nothing if God teach not Amb. Doctrine shold be deliuered and receiued with prayer ☜ Such as haue solid knowledge of saluation desire to know more And none thinke they know enough but they who know nothing Bern. Benefits receiued being well vsed may make vs bold to seek more How sayth Dauid he declared Gods iudgements 〈◊〉 the Apostle saith they are vnsearchable Psal. 35. Rom. 11. Ambrose Iudgements of God are twofold secret and reuealed Men should learne before they teach Bern. Man made with such wisedome that no member in the body
it â—…eth â—…ern Epist. 72. ☜ If we finde it heauâ—… blame â—…ur corruption They haue not all learned to pray who vse to pray Rules for prayer Our life should be ordered by the word All the wayes of sinne are long wayes The deceitfull way of sinne is within euery man by nature Amb. It is a worke of Gods power to separate vs from it Euery sight a godly man gets of himselfe is a spurre to prayer The law of God the way of truth in three respects 1. 2. ☞ 3. Ambr. Then haue we learned Gods law when it is written in the table of our hart A warning to the professors of this age If we haue not good purpose and desires let vs not looke that God will blesse vs. And yet good purposes haue we not till God by grace work them in vs. Aug. de donâ—… perseuer ca. 13. ☞ Another notable testimony of Augustines to proue that our good desires are of grace and not of the power of nature Augu. contra Pelag. lib. 2. cap. 5. ☜ Conuersion to God is not of any free will in nature Our election of Gods word proceeds from his election of vs. What great comfort they haue who sincerely loue the Lord. How far Gods loue is aboue ours ☞ Esay Gods word called his iudgement and why Constancie in godlinesse an effect of grace True godlines wants neuer the crowne of perseuerance Basil in princip Preuerb Confusion which godly men feare is either desertion of God Or contempt and oppression of men No constrained but cheerfull seruice pleaseth the Lord. Better not to begin then to breake off the course of godlinesse Our life is a race a restlesse battell Ambr. In it we should follow the direction of our Captaine Heb. 12. The losse of such as walke not and sight not by direction of their Lord. The wisedom of Gods book can neuer bee sufficiently learned Nazian Angels are scholars in the schoole of the Church shal we think euill of it 1. Peter 1. ☞ If God continue our teacher we shall continue his seruants Vatab. Perseuerance is of Gods grace Wisdom shold be sought from the most wise God We are most welcome to God when we seeke greatest gifts from him Knowledge which reforms not is dangerous 2. Cor. 3. 17. Phil 3. True godliness with perseuerance hath sinceritie Any good wee doe is from God 1. Chron. 29. ☞ Dauid no presumptuous boaster Phil. â—… See ver 10. It is not enough for vs to haue light we haue also need that God be our director to walke after it Bafil The narrow way that leads to heauen Euthym. The broad way that leads to hell Our guide in the way is Iesus and how we should follow him Man stands between two Suters that seeke him happy are wee if we incline to the best ☜ Miserable are they to whom the good word of God testifies euill tydings Mich. Couetousnes a vile sinne ☞ Why a Christian should take heed how he lookes with his eyes Three things requisite to keep the hart Gregor in Iob. lib. 2. Nazian Euery creature we see should waken vs to praise God Athanas. contra Gent. ☜ â—…ut corrupt nature makes them snares to intangle vs. Ambrose Naturall man quick enough to works of sin but dead to works of pietie Gods promises are sure in themselues but it is a great point to make them sure vnto vs. Many confirmations of Gods promises haue wee Hebr. 6. To remedy our naturall infidelitie Bafil It is an honourable stile to be called Gods seruaunt Aâ—…lrose He that feares and loues the Lord may boldly seeke grace froÌ„ him Gods promises are coÌ„ditionallâ—… if wee haue not the condition we haue no interest in the promise Rebukes of men how to be borne Math. 5. August The rebukes of God how they are to be eschewed A godly man is more afraid for sinne that he may do theÌ„ the wicked is for sinne hee hath done ☞ Dauid afraid of Gods rebuke not of mans Motions of sin in the godly are not without motions of grace It is a good heart which dares present it selfe to the Lord. Our perfection in this life is rather in desires then in deeds Matth. 5. Satisfaction shall follow desires and God shall giue vs more then we desired 1. Cor. 2. God accepts from his children a will for a deed As the godly desire mercie so they vse the meanes 1. Ioh. 3. Not so to the wicked Desires without grace are like a false conception The feruent prayer of Dauid may make vs ashamed Foure notable motiues to make vs more earnest and diligent in prayer ☞ It is not enough to seeke from God wee must also promise to giue him A triall of men truly religious from counterfet ☜ The kindnes of God euer brings saluatioÌ„ But man may be kind where he is not able to helpe As comfort shold be sought from God so for Gods sake onely Papists reproued Such as would haue God to remember his promise shold remember their promise The kindnes of God is a sufficient defence against all euil will of man Faith in Gods promises is the Anchor of the soule Dauid prayes for continuance of the grace of prophecie A great iudgement that men cannot vse Gods vvord which they haue learned to the edification of others Psalm 50. Ambrose God at length wil declare that his word is a iudgement and that he will execute it Psalm Malach. Because the Lord changeth not we are not consumed The resolution of the godly is not limited within termes but extended to eternitie Ambrose Euthym. Carnall liberty is but thraldome Ambrose This is euident in men giuen to couetousnes ☜ Esay 28. In men giueÌ„ to concupiscence True libertie wherein it consisteth A three-fold dutie of thankfulnes promised by Dauid Euthym. Basil. A good conscience makes great boldnes of speech No sort of men more obliged to God then Kings yet coÌ„monly none more vnthankfull 2. Kings 13. 25 The subiect of out talk should be Gods word Delight in Gods word is a proofe of true godlinesse None can discern between worldly spiritual pleasures but they who haue prooued them both ☞ Actions of Gods worship are nothing without a delight in them The world is now full of â—…outilate Christians Vatab. Act. 1. 1. Basil. ☜ How God is said to remember Euthym. Gods promise made to vs and our promise made to him would be remembred together Dauid had a promise of an earthly Kingdome but his comfort was not in it 2. Sam. 7. 18 25 28. In the promise of mercy stands the comfort of the godly In the generall promise there is included a particular to euery beleeuer The nature of faith How faith collects out of Gods promises assurance of saluation Ambrose It stands with the honour of Gods truth to performe his promise Assurance of saluation in the beleeuers is no arrogancie Ambr. ☜ An answer to 〈◊〉 who so speake of it Berâ—… in Septuagesiâ—… Ser. 1. Aug. Ser. 28. Arguments to confirme
vs in the certainty of our saluation 1. Cor. 1. Phil. 2. Christians are sure of perseuerance proued by foure reasons Gal. 2. Rom. 6. 1. Pet. 1. 1. Ioh. 2. Commendation of Gods word â—…t will vphold vs when all other comfort will faile Ambrose If we make no conscience of Gods word in prosperity it shall not comfort vs madueâ—…sity The Word of God is the life of our soule If such fruit be in his promise what is in the performance Mockeries and tauntings of euill men is a part of Christs crosse Ismael first began this kind of persecution Gal. 4. Godlines hath many impediments If we remember time begun forethinke time to come the tentations of the time present shall not readily ouercome vs. Prou. 1. Godly men pitie the wicked Euthym. Not so much for wroÌ„g done to them as for the euill that redounds to theÌ„ who doe it Ambr. ☜ The weight of sin aggrauated by this that it is a forsaking of Gods law They who couÌ„t Gods word a wearines which Dauid accounted a refreshment are in a hard estate The word is conuenient for euery state of life In it wee haue prayers for crosses and psalmes for euery deliueraÌ„ce Bodily banishment brings the godly neerer to the Lord how euer it put them further from men Our life vpon earth is but a banishment ☞ It were a sore punishment to dwell for euer in our bodies as they are ☞ Iob. 18. Priuate exercises are surest tryalls of true godliness and why Rom. 2. 29. This age conuinced of coldnes in religion Euery mans life declares if he remember God or no. Ambrose How the beginnings of godliness are euer blessed with increase ☞ God teacheth vs both by precepts and examples All the godly who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before vs. call vpon vs. ☜ Heb. 12. Among the rest Dauid calls vs to follow him If we would be partakers of his approbation 2. Reg. 2. A two-fold protestation in this verse It is a commoÌ„ thing to speak of God not so to speake to him Accesse to the throne of grace in the body is the first degree of eternal life ☜ Macar hâ—…m 8. Dauid a great King yet glories onely in this that God was his 〈◊〉 Worldlings may be ashamed who hauing lesse portions on earth yet for them neglect the Lord. Why we should chuse God to be our portion God rested not in his worke of creation till he had made man ☜ And man shold not rest content with any creature but set his hart vpoÌ„ God Psal. 73. 25. ☜ August The greatest good in the creature is but a sparkle of that infinite good in the Creator Euery creature sends vs from it vp to him that made it ☞ Prou. 1. 8. Man was made for God no other thing but God can content him Bernard August ☜ God is not the lesse portion of one because he is the portion of another Earthly inheritances are diminished being coÌ„muncated to many heauenly are not so How the assurance of our election may be gathered 1. Iohn 4. Comfort for such as are poor in worldly things Psal. 23. 1. Abrahams infirmitie should learne vs to gather strength ☜ Information for such as are rich in the world Shame that they are more zealous to maintain their earthly portion then the heauenly Ierem. 8. It is not enough to say God is thy portion vnlesse thou qualifie it Chrys. in Mat. hom 4. An InterrogatioÌ„ of Chrysostoms meet for professors of this age ☞ Such as enter into religion without determination cannot continue Three helps of a godly life 1. Determination 2. Supplication 3. Consideration Iam. 3. Our purpose perisheth if God blesse it not Three things obserued in Dauids prayer 1 His Reuerence The like reuerence recommended to vs. Eccles. 5. August The second is his Sinceritie Against a false hart vnder a faire tongue ☜ ☞ Pro. 26. 23. The third is his faith Prayers of bastard Christians nothing different from the prayers of Turkes ☜ God promiseth of mercy wee promise of dutie If we would haue the one effectuall let vâ—… make conscience of the other Consideration so necessary that without it no estate of our life can be well ordered ☞ We should not vse the eye of the mind as we doe the eye of the body ☜ By the one we look to others by this wee should look to our selues It is a lamentable folly for a man to take heed to any thing that is his more then to himselfe Basil de verbis Mosis Attende tibi As oft as wee â—…oke to our selues we shal find something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bern. Delay of repentance dangerous How it brings many to damnation ☜ August Against the delay of repentance Satan seeks but â—… delay God crâ—…ues present repentance ☞ All men seek the Lord at length wise meÌ„ seek him in time True godlines endureth great tentations What the wicked are to the godly ☜ The combination of the wicked shall not helpe them Three things to be marked in this verse Our necessities hinders our spiritual exercises that they can not be continuall as it is with them in heauen Yet wee should indeuour vnto it Why Salomon made Harps of Almuggim trees We soone faint in prayer Though our performance faile our purpose should remaine Time a most pretious jewel ☜ How the time of the day and night should be spent after Dauids example The same Christ teacheth by his example Ambrose Sleepe is the deaw of nature Yet we should quit it to keepe the deaw of grace or else worldlings and Idolators shall accuse vs. ☞ Sleep compared to a sory customer that takes vp more then he should How Alexander and Caesar parted the night Monsters of Nature turne the day into night Ambrose What God promiseth with his mouth he performeth with his hand Sin punished now tels there is a Iudge Sinne spared now tells there is a iudgement to come He that loueth God wil loue his Saints Euery mans company declares what himselfe is Ambr. ad virg deuotam Ambr. offer lib. 3. ca. 16. Christians of an inferior rank to ourselues should be vsed as our companions ☞ An example of great humility ☞ In the godly feare is with loue not so in the wicked No good is to be looked for where the feare of God is not Gods benignitie generall is to all speciall to his owne children The goodness of God toward his creatures should coÌ„firme his children in the assurance of his loue Blind are the wicked who see not Gods goodnes in his creatures ☞ Gods mercy shewed to a man is an vndoubted argument that hee will shew more mercie His present gifts are but pledges of greater Psalm 23. How God is gracious euen wheÌ„ he afflicts Ambrose The same declared by sundry similitudes Basil. Memorials of mercy should be kept The seruant of God an honorable and comfortable stile Iudg. 16. The wicked dishonor God when they call in doubt the truth of his word Esay 37. Zach. 1. But they shall find it
God shineth in the worke of creation Iob. 38. Earth founded without a fouÌ„dation Creation as a mother Prouidence a nurse conseruing things created ☞ Out of the wholsom word profane men like wasps gather poyson 2. Pet. 3. 4. All creatures froÌ„ the Angel to the worme serue the Lord of Hosts Psalm Gene. 6. Sith other creatures are vpholdeÌ„ by his word much more the Christian. Comfort which is not from Gods word brings two great euills The word hath comfort for euery estate of life An answer to worldlings who say they find no delight in Gods word ☜ Men fruitful in godlinesse by affliction made more fruitfull Iohn 15. ☞ None coÌ„temne Gods word but such as haue gotten no benefit by it Basile in Psal. 119. It is not the Word that quickens but God by his Word Sith man is carefull to keep that which is his owne shall we thinke that God loues not those who are his owne Euery man câ—…n not say to the Lord I am â—…hine Basil. in Ps. 119 Rom. 6. 16. Ambrose Yea rather men now are so profane that euery kinde of siâ—…ne may say vnto them Thou art mine ☞ Cent. How the Lord acknowledges not profane men to be his How Satan challenged Iudas as his owâ—… ☜ How Dauid proues that he was Gods man A great miracle that the sheepe of Christ are preserued in the midst of rauening Wolues Psal. 124. The vanitie instabilitie of all earthly pleasures ☜ Iudg. 16. Esay 14. 1â—… Psalm 1. A cleere declaration of the vanitie of this life Chrys. in Math. hom 24. ☞ The word of God is called large because the comfort therof indures Euthy in Psalm 119. WheÌ„ all world ly comforts fai'e Many speake that by custome which in conscience they dare not present vnto God A great grace to speak to God froÌ„ an vpright hart ☞ God craues nothing of man but loue 1. Tim. 1. Ambr. in Psal. 119. We are inexcusable if wee giue it not How loue to God may be tryed The nature of loue it cannot lurk but will tell where it is Means to grow in grace are meditation prayer thanksgiuing conference ☞ Dauid coÌ„pares himselfe with three sorts of men his enemies his teachers and the ancient Not to commend himselfe but the word of God Worldlings in what respect they are called wise Time will try whether they or the godly be more wise Godly men tel what they are but not of presumption Nazian He is not meet to be a teacher of Christians who is not a disciple of Christ. Ambr. lib. 1. off cap. 1. Macar hâ—… 16. ☞ That God giues more grace by an instrument then the instrument hath proues that hee is the dispenser of graoe ☜ Sith the wicked glory to make others more wicked shal we grudge that others by vs are made more learned godly then our selues How youth old age are to be considered A warning to aged men To resist sinne not to want sin is our greatest perfection on earth Amb. in Psalm 119. He can resist no sinne who resists not all sinne ☜ Euery sin receiued within vs opens the dore to another Our naturall inabilitie to good They onely learne who are taught of God God when he teaches speaks to the heart Euthym. The causes why many now profit not by hearing of the word ☜ A Christian apprehends good offered in the word not with one but all his leâ—…ses Sith Gods promises are sweet how sweet will their performance be 1. Cor. 2. 9. Two great benefits Dauid got by the word Lukewarme professors of this age convinced The word of God compared to a Lanterne Euthym. in Psal. 119. 1 Because it sheweth light in darkenesse 2 We shall set it by when we come home Reuel 22. 5. The light of the Gospell is clearer then the light of the Lawe 2. Pet. 1. 19. As the Sun is necessary for the day so the light of the word to direct our way Ambr. in Psal. 119. Ambrose Our waies are in darknesse without the word As Israels course in the wildernes was directed by the Lord so should ours be As a maÌ„ lights one light at another so should we light our minds at the word ☞ Dauids resolution confirmed by an oath A godly oath a necessary helpe of our great weaknes Ambr. in Psal. 119. The obiection of a weak conscience concerning an oath Why we should not cease to coÌ„firme our good purposes by an oath albeit we be weake in performing ☞ Gods word why called his iudgement How familiar the godly are in declaring their griefes to the Lord. Afflictions no arguments of hatred Amb. in Psalm 119. Heb. 12. By the contrary impunitie libertie to sin is an argumeÌ„t of Gods anger Hosea 2. The state of the godly in trouble after trouble to be distinguished Hebr. 12. Two great motiues to patience in trouble Vatab. It is a great sauour that the Lord accepts any thing from vs and that in three respects 1. If we consider who the Lord is Psalme 16. 2. If we consider who our selues are 3. If wee consider what our oblation 〈◊〉 1. Chron. 29. No gift so smal if it come from a good hart but God accepts it A reproofe of them vvho praise not God with their lips And of theÌ„ also who offer seruice of their words not of their harts vnto him Mich. 6. 7. The godly maÌ„ hath his life alway ready in his hand to offer to the Lord. ☜ It is far otherwise with the wicked Three things concurre in wickednes Which are not in the godly Constancie of Christians Excellencie of Gods word aboue all other things Phil. 3. 8. It is the sure Charter of our heauenly inheritance The contempt of Gods word reproued ☜ Seeing mans hart is not in his owne hand how saith Dauid he had applied his hart How a man after grace receiued works his own saluation Basil. in Psalm 119. The godly fail in performaÌ„ce not in purpose ☞ Beginnings of good are nothing without perseuerance Greg. moral In trouble mans comfort consists in one of these two 1. A by-gon good life 2. Or else a present vnfained repentance Three things in sinne to be escliued 1. The occasioÌ„ 2. The beginning of it ☜ 3. The perfection Iam. 1. 15. Men grow more skilfull in sinning then they were before In most desperate dangers God comes with vnlooked for deliuerences Why our hearts should be diuded from wicked men Psal. 50. Euery mans company tels what he is Wicked company for borne for two causes 1. Because they offend God Psal. 1 39. 2. For feare they hurt vs. How euery company warnes vs to walke circumspectly Vatab. Wicked company not meet for godly men and why He that knows God to be his God by no meanes can be 〈◊〉 from him ☜ A Christian hath nothing wherein he reioyceth as in his owne but the Lord. Psal. 73. 26. Prayer strengthens all our good intentions A two-fold instability incident to godly men 1. One of faith ☞ 2.
The other of loue and obedience Adam indued with many graces but not with perseuerance ☜ The prayers of godly meÌ„ how they are framed Gods promises are made on a coÌ„ditioÌ„ which we must regard Iudg. 10. Many thinke they haue life who are but dead Amb. in Psalm 119. In the life vegetatiue trees excell man In the life sensitiue beasts excell man In the life rationall reprobates excell Christians ☜ Wherein then stands the life of a Christian by which hee excells all Wisedom prouides for the time to come But the foolish are so snared with things present that they see not what is to com Lamentable that we should want when wee may haue grace for thâ—… seeking Iohn 4. Words without affection a dead sacrifice Three things caused Dauid to fear least hee should fall 1. Tentation 2. Corruption 3. The falls of others The iudgemeÌ„ts of God executed on wicked men should be awe-bands vnto vs. Eccles. The Lord strikes not the godly as hee doth the wicked Sin is a departing froÌ„ God Ambr. in Psal. 119. Deceit of sin is two-fold The fall of the wicked is Gods worke who-euer be the instrument The wicked are restlesse in raging now but God shall bridle them The fruit of temporall sin is eternall paine Naturall man cannot mount aboue the earth Comfort wheÌ„ the godly are disesteemed of the wicked The testimonies of God what they are and for whom Euerything that a godly mâ—…n sâ—…es sends him back to consider himselfe Greg. moral Our loue not without feare Loue of God conserued in our hart by feare Ambr. in Psal. 119. Gene. 6. Familiaritie with God breeds no contempt of him but greater reuerence â—…ith the godly are not freed from feare what horrible feare abides the wicked A good conscience makes boldnes in prayer Amb. in Ps. 119 Iudgement and iustice how distinguished Basil in Psalm 119. We cannot in 〈◊〉 life be 〈◊〉 oâ—… trouble by wicked men How should we pray against our soules oppressors Calumnies of men heauy crosses Psal. 35. 16. Basil. God is a partaker with his owne in their innocent sufferings 1. Pet. 4. Dangerous to commend a wrong cause to Gods protection Gen. 19. Or yet were our cause neuer so good we must not think to beare it out by our wisedome Psal. 37. 34. 1. Pet. 5. 7. Mans greatest honor is to be Gods seruant The seruice is not base but honourable wherein God imployes vs. Ambrose Dauids seruent desire of Gods saluation Basil. Saluation is of two sortes Dauid seekes the best Psal. 4. The restlesse vanity of worldlings ☜ Gods promise is the warrant of our hope Small present gifts more esteemed by worldlings then promises of greater things to com ☜ We cannot serue God as we should Yea our best seruice is farâ—…e inferior to his wages Amb. in Psalm 119. Two things proue a man to be Gods seruaunt Outward and ordinary teachers are nothing if God teach not They may lawfully seeke all good from God who can truely say they are his owne Amb. in Ps. 119 Basil. in Ps. 119. The godly can not learne so much but they would still vnderstand more Ambrose Statutes and Testimonies of God would be learned together Dauids complaint against his enemies God is a continuall working vertue euen when we think he is resting How Dauid prescribes a time to the Lord. Some promises made with a time when they shall be performed Some without a time In these wee should haue patience waiting till Gods time come ☜ When the godly may vse this reason in their prayer The time is come Offences done against God should grieue vs more then our owne iniuries Godly meÌ„ haue no enemies but such as are enemies to God Seeing Gods law can not be destroyed how are the wicked charged with this crime The law written in the Bible they cannot destroy The law written in the conscience they can neuer destroy Yet because their malice would doe it if they might they shall be charged with it ☜ There is a time appointed for the punishmeÌ„t of euil men Basil. Ambrose True religion cannot be tryed without trouble Loue of Gods obedience an argument of true godlinesse With what coÌ„ditions Gods creatures may be loued As the minde esteemes of any thing the affections go after it The word of God called iust in two respects 〈◊〉 of euill â—…s a â—…val of our 〈◊〉 to God The perfection of the godly is in parts not in degrees Ambrose It is sufficient to mans damnation if he be captiued by any one sinne If we heare not God when hee speakes in his word we shall not be welcom when we pray If men seek not from God it is because they know him not Our manifold necessities require manifolde prayers To continue long in praier and be feruent also is a difficult thing August ad Probam Prayers would be short frequent ☜ Praiers should be made long or short according to our disposition Good to deale with God by teares more then by talke Two things in this verse CommendatioÌ„ of Gods word Euery article of our faith is a mystery 1. Tim. 3 ☞ The word serues for food and light to the soule Without the word men walk in darknes Shame it is now to see aged men children in vnderstanding Vatab. Onely simple men and not they who are high minded profit by the word No maruaile Papists profit not by it Papists calumnie of the obscuâ—…ity of scripture confuted Basil. Euthym. Iren. l. 2. c. 46 Lactan. l. 6. c. 21 How a moued mind affects the body The feruent desire of godly men toward the word When God opens his mouth to giue wee should open our hearts to receiue Psalme In our best estate we haue need to seeke mercy A good conscience presents it selfe vnto God Godly exercised with spirituall desertions To some God looks in mercy to others in wâ—…th Examples of Gods mercy oâ—… others should confirme vs. Mercy gracâ—… are benefits in diuisible foolish are they who seek the first and not the second ☞ The steps of the Soule are motions of the affections Al creatures except man and apostate Angels are ruled by Gods word Satan an vnreasonable Tyrant Seruice to Satan hurtfull to them who yeeld it Satans officer can neuer be satisfied ☜ Armour of the godly is patience prayer The wicked are but roddes in the hand of God They who persecute with their tongues will not faile if they might to persecute with their hands also Man by sinne is become a weake and silly creature A preseruatiue against pride ☜ Benefits should binde vs to the loue and obedience of God who gaue them A common light externall A common light internall A speciall light internall Basil. in Ps. 119. Angry face of God most fearfull Prou. 16. How God forsakes his children Not according to his truth but our sense Gods countenance illuminates the â—…inde and changes the heart of him vpon whom he lookes Amb. â—… Cor. 4. 6. No ioy in this life