Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	endure_v	lord_n	praise_v	8,721	5	10.1829	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A84600	The prisoners praises for their deliverance from the long imprisonment in Colchester. On a day of publique thanksgiving set apart for that purpose by the gentlemen of the committee of Essex, who for their fidelity in serving their country were surprised by the enemie at Chelmesford. In a sermon upon the sixth, seventh, & eighth, verses, of the CXLIX. Psalm. / preached at Rumford Septemb. 28. 1648. By Samuel Fairclough, pastor of the congregation at Ketton in Suffolk.	Fairclough, Richard, 1594-1677.	1650 (1650)	Wing F108; Thomason E589_4; ESTC R206306	32,215	40

by making joyful and perpetual confessions professions and declarations thereof to your brethren and the Congregations of his people that all you fathers make them known to your children and they also make your deliverance and praises to be remembred by future generations This is punctually prescribed to be observed in uttering praises for deliverances from bonds and imprisonment Psa 107. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness viz. for being the Author of their liberty and declaring his wonderful works in their deliverance to the children of men which also is in like manner observed in Peters praise for his escape out of prison Act. 12. where besides the thankful confession of it to God Vers 17. he both declares it to the Congregation of Saints himself and also requires the Church to make relation of it to others and especially to James and Iohn who being publique persons he knew would cause the praises of God to be remembred and celebrated therefore in all the assemblies of the Saints wheresoever they came in conformity to whose practise let me exhort you also to go tell your Iohns and Iames and other brethren how great things God hath done for you in this your enlargement so that as the Spirit of God in your very case requires Psal 102. 18 19 20 21. it may be written for the generations to come and the people that shall be created may praise the Lord for you and with you saying God looked down from the height of his Sanctuary from Heaven did the Lord behold the Earth To hear the groaning of us Prisoners and to loose us that were appointed to death That we might declare the Name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem When the people are gathered together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. Secondly Heighten the verbal expression of your praises 2. By Commemoration unto God by a thankful Commemoration of Gods great mercy in your deliverance between the Lord and your selves the practise whereof I would have you learn from the Psalmist Psal 136. where he praiseth GOD with high praises First for the work of Creation unto the tenth Verse and then for the deliverance of his people from the Egyptian bondage and thraldom Vers 18. In both which he heightens the praises of GOD these two ways First divides the total sum of GODS goodness into the several parcels and particular remarkable passages of his providence therein Secondly He multiplies and reiterates the expression and attribution of his praises according to the nature and number of the particulars observed in his antecedent distinction this is the method he observes in the first part of the Psalm unto the tenth Verse where he praiseth God for works of Creation dividing the mercy and multiplying the praise according to the number of the special Attributes and Actions of God observed therein First he observes the attribute of Goodness of God and then praiseth him for that Oh give thanks unto the Lord because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Then observes him as God of Gods Vers 2. and praiseth him for that by it self Oh give thanks to the God of Gods for his mercy c. Then as Lord of Lords Vers 3. Then takes notice of his wonderful Power By diviving the mercy That alone doth great wonders Vers 4. Then of the attribute of his Wisdom in making the Heavens Vers 5. And having thus observed the distinction of Attributes in God and multiplyed Praises according to the number of them he then proceeds to the division of the total of his work into the principal parts of it and multiplies his Praises according to the number of them As first His stretching out the earth above the waters Vers 6. Then the making great Lights Vers 7. The Sun to rule the day Vers 8. The Moon and Stars to rule the night And as he observes this method of division of the mercy of Creation and the multiplication of praises for it so in praising God for their deliverance from bondage and their slavery in Egypt which is more properly your case he first in the beginning of each verse doth distinctly observe the several parts and circumstances of their deliverance as that he smote the first-born of Egypt and brought Israel from amongst them and with a strong hand overthrew Pharaoh and smote great Kings and famous Kings Sihon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan and unto every one of these particulars adds a particular reiteration of the praise of God for the fame in the end of each verse still inculcating and concluding That his mercy endureth for ever which is written for your learning and instruction that you also in praising God for your liberty should particularize the total sum of your safety and then to multiply and reiterate the expression of your praises accordingly And multipliing the praise Come therefore and sing unto the Lord a new Song and praise him this day in the Congregation of Saints and with good Ezra Heman and Asaph Ezra 3.10 11. Praise ye the Lord after the Ordinance of David King of Israel singing together by course praising and giving thanks unto the Lord your God because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever To the God of Gods that stood by us when all other comforts sailed us For his mercy endureth for ever To the Lord of Lords that hath subdued our Enemies under us For his mercy endureth for ever That rescued us from anger and rage of the multitude when they first apprehended us at Chelmsford For his mercy endureth c. That preserved us in the long march from Brantree to Colchester For his mercy endureth c. That suffered not our Enemies to do us any harm For his mercy c. That turned their hearts to be civil to us For his mercy c. That secured us from the bullets that were shot through our chambers For his mercy c. That made our society so comfortable whiles we were in custody For his mercy c. That did provide for us meat and drink plentifully when our Enemies starved For his mercy endureth c. Who by his Spirit stirred up so many to pray for us For his mercy c. And in his faithfulness answered those prayers For his mercy c. That caused our Enemies to give us life when they yielded themselves to death For his mercy c. That after so many weeks imprisonment brought us home with Honor Safety and Freedom For his mercy endureth for ever Thus if you shall begin to particularize your mercies and then proceed in multiplying your praises you will raise the expression of them to be high praises of God in your Mouths verbally unto which the Text requires another and higher expression of them to be added Namely An actual raising them in your lives The real expression of praise heightened with a two-edged sword in your hands which two-edged sword in your

no way unprofitable to insist somewhat largely either for the better observing this present day or more acceptable discharge of our duties unto God in days of the like nature for the future In the demonstration whereof I shall make choyce to instance in that Ordinance and Exercise of Religious Worship which the Scripture requires to be performed with more extraordinary degrees of Sanctity and Piety then any other besides a day of Thanksgiving I mean a day of publique Humiliation observed according to Gods Institution 2. I shall shew That the duty of publique Joy and Thanksgiving is by Gods Institution to be performed with a greater measure of Light Faith and Sanctity then a day of Humiliation Which may be collected from the Scriptures thus Which appears 1. From the titles First From the different names titles and adjuncts the Spirit of God in the Word is pleased to cloath them withall As first a day of publique Fast is called a day of restraint Isai 58. or day of afflicting the Soul Levit. 23. or day of mourning and weeping Joel 2. But on the other side a day of Thanksgiving is called a good day Esth 9. they must keep the days of Purim for good days very holy days Neh. 8.10 Weep not for the day is holy to the Lord intimating therein That by how much the exercise of goodness and holiness which are the high Attributes of God himsef is more heavenly and spiritual then the exercise of sorrow weeping and affliction the inseparable off-spring of misery and sin by so much a day of Thanksgiving rightly performed is better and holier then a day of Humiliation which is yet more manifest in the Levites Inhibition Weep not for the day is holy The tears there shed by the people and forbidden by the Levites were Tears of godly sorrow for their sins against the Law of God which are most expresly commanded on a day of Humiliation and are in their performance the splendor and glory of the day But these Tears are forbidden on a day of Thanksgiving upon this ground because they are not holy enough for the Services of it Weep not for the day is holy to the Lord Oh how transcendently holy is that Exercise where the pearl of a Tear of godly Sorrow is a blemish Unto this more general demonstration of the point in hand 2. The end let me entreat you to take notice of that expression of the Holy Spirit in Esth 9. Vers 31. when the days of Purim or Thanksgiving are said to be the matter of the fastings and cries that is the success and fruit of their former days of Humiliation mentioned in the fourth Chapter of the Book Now who knows not That the End is the perfection of the Means and in that respect more excellent as Faith is better then Hearing because Faith is the End of Hearing Christ better then Faith because the End of Faith is to bring to Christ So a day of Thanksgiving is better and higher then a day of Humiliation because Fasting is but the subservent Means leading to a day of Thanksgiving and a day of Thanksgiving is the End and Perfection of a day of Humiliation As these different Titles of a day of Thanksgiving and Humiliation in the Scripture declare their high excellency of one above the other in the general 3. The particular graces which are 1. Scripture Light in 3 particulars So it is yet more manifest from the different degrees and measures of Light Faith and Holiness required in the observation of a day of Thanksgiving above a day of Humiliation in particular As first In the observation of a day of Thanksgiving there is required exercise and practice of more heavenly knowledg In the second of Joel the Lord requires a day of publique Humiliation should be performed not onely by men women Priests and Levites that are supposed to be persons of knowledg but also even babes and sucking children that are known to be in a condition of ignorance Yea and the people of Nineveh Jonah 3. who cannot be conceived to have had any art or speculative understanding and skill in the form nature or order of observation of a Fast according to Scripture being Heathens and having had the means but three days amongst them yet they were called to that Duty and their performance of it was accepted of the Lord because the Lord requires little art or skill in confessing our sins or sorrowing for them But now in the Duty of our return of thanks and praises there is an express injunction of the exercise and use of special skill and understanding as Psa 147.6 7. Oh sing praises unto our God sing praises sing praises to our King Sing praises for God is King of all the Earth sing praises therefore with understanding And Psa 119.171 My lips shall utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes And Vers 7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart when thou hast learned me thy Judgments All which Scriptures evidence That how upright soever mens hearts be to God yet there can be no acceptable performance of praise except also that upright heart be an understanding heart that hath learned the Statutes and Judgments of God from the Lords teaching and therefore in the Solemnization of that Duty of Thanksgiving which was so holy that they might not shed a Tear in it Nehem. 8. it is expresly said There were none of that great Congregation that were gathered either of men or women but such as could hear and understand Neh. 8.2 And the observation of Gods minde expressed in other Scriptures will certifie us of the special degree of Heavenly skill required to be in such as offer high praises of God namely Knowledg First Of the form of the Service Secondly Of the blessing for which the Service is undertaken Thirdly Of the matter to be returned First 1. The form Of the manner and form of the Service prescribed of God not minted in our brains as is most evident first from the description of days of Thanksgiving Esth 9. where the form and manner of observation of the same is prescribed in every particular even to the appointment of their meat drink apparel and looks on that day And secondly from Nehemiahs and the Levites reproof and Inhibition Neh. 8.10 rebuking and blaming the people for their varying so much as in shedding a Tear contrary to the same Secondly 2. The matter There is required special understanding and knowledg of the nature and worth of the mercy for which the Duty is undertaken for God will not be praised confusedly but distinctly and proportionably to his Dispensation Psa 150. Praise him according to his wonderous works which is to be the prime and peeper matter of their high praises even his more proper and peculiar high acts then to be remembred as is largely expressed in Moses praise for the particular mercy of coming safe through the red Sea Exod. 15. and Debora's

deliver you out of your Trouble which appeared First In binding the hands of them that bound you and in the stopping of those Lions mouths in whose Den you were and were wide open against you by calming their spirits in such a manner that he suffered not any one of them to do you harm or pull one hair from your head or to increase the tediousness of your restraint by their incivilities which was the Lords doing and ought this day and ever be marvellous in your eyes yea it is your Duty from thence to conclude undoubtedly That the divine providence did so awe and over-rule their intentions as if you had heard him vocally from Heaven give your Enemies the charge in the Psalm Touch ye not these my Servants Ps 105.15 and see you do these Prisoners no harm Secondly His glorious presence discovered it self in that he did not onely protect you from their rage but also turned their hearts to favor you in being civil and courteous to you so far as to suffer you their Prisoners to eat the fat and drink the sweet when many of themselves starved and others suffered very much by their more unwholesom dyet and infected provision They sent you out freemen the same day they yeeled themselves to bonds To give you your lives when they resigned their own to death this was not their good nature or any sweetness in them but the singular love of God to you that made their stern and angry countenances to become your Mirrors wherein you might with Jacob see the manifest smilings and aimable countenance of God himself I confess freely when I saw some of you spectators at the execution of some of the principal Leaders whose prisoners you were the day before I could not but conclude Jehovah-Jirch apprehending my self to be with Abraham in the Mount and to behold Isaac delivered from the knife and fire and these sacrificed Rams first snarled in their own briars for your deliverance Thirdly Was it not a clear discovery of Gods gracious presence with you and such an one as should this day raise your hearts to high praises that you had the invaluable benefit of so many prayers all the time you were in restraint Whence could it proceed but from the unspeakable love of God to you that so many thousand were stirred in their most earnest prayers to speak unto God for you multitudes not onely of your friends and acquaintance but of strangers also that never saw your faces or heard of your names before you were Prisoners were so constant and instant with God in their petitions for you as if they had been seeking the Salvation of their own Souls In every publique meeting and private family duty the Prisoners at Colchester were still the subject of a great part of the exercise I am confident the prayers of the Church mentioned Act. 12. that were made for Peters enlargement did not exceed those which were made for you either in fervency or constancy so cordial and affectionate even unto Tears were the expressions that were poured out to God for your liberty and safety that for my part I am perswaded that few prisoners of your circumstances since the world began had the like for number and vigor which evidenceth far greater love of God unto you then the gift of Kingdoms and Empires for though tire prayers of the wicked are abomination to the Lord nor are they so beneficial unto men as one crust of Brend yet the prayers of the righteous prevailed much for you Iam. 5.16 and were effectual not onely in preserving you from base dispondency of spirit in the time you were in custody but also in making your yoke easie and your bonds light above your own and others expectation until the time of your delivery which love of God to you being seriously pondered will so warm your hearts and raise your affections that withall your praises proceeding from them will be heightened in your selves before they be returned to God Especially If you take into your hearts the consideration of a fourth Discovery of Gods especial Love into you in the time of your Imprisonment which was the sweet society and fellowship both in temporal and spiritual mereies and duties that was permitted unto you until the very day of your enlargement you might meet together prey together confer with one another and comfort each other in your bonds by reading singing and brotherly obligations whereby your Prison was turned into a Temple and Sanctuary as the Goalers house and other prisons was by Paul and Silas Act. 16.27 Phil. 10. Col. 4. in one prison they convert the Goaler in another Onesimus in a third they receive comfort and mutual edification from the Churches from Epaphus Aristarchus and other their fellow Prisoners for this fruit of love Paul gives many thanks in divers of his Epistles Go you and do likewise make the comfort of your mutual edification whiles you were confined an argument to raise the conceptions of your praises to God from whom it was received until the womb of your hearts grow pregnant with the high praises of your God Thirdly The exercise of Faith But yet nevertheless when your praises are first quickned by the meditation of the greatness of the danger under which you were enthralled and secondly strengthened and confirmed by the renewed sense and feeling of Gods Love so many several ways difcovered they will not withstanding prove abortive dye in their conception and appear liveless issues if the hand of your Faith doth not first being them forth of the place of conception and secondly being brought forth carry them up and present them to the most high God The acting and exercise of your Faith in the duty of Thanksgiving will raise your praises so high that of low moral conceptions in men they will become evangelical high Sacrifices and Oblations to God adding a further degree of excellency first to their Conception secondly Production thirdly Acceptation First 1. The Conception of praise The exercise of your Faith will heighten the Conception of your high praises by enabling you both to see and acknowledg that the mercy which is the ground and subject of your praises proceeded from an high from no lower original then the most high God that the most high God was the author and sole efficient of your deliverance whosoever were the instruments see this in Peter Act. 12. he there praiseth God for liberty from imprisonment as you do here wherein this exercise of his faith is most observable That both in the meditation of it himself and declaration of it to others he still acknowledgeth God to be the sole efficient of it first in his own meditation by himself Act. 12.11 Now I know for a truth that God hath sent his Angel and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from all the waiting-for of the people of the Jews Secondly In his declaration of it to others Vers 17.