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	verse_n	7,165	5	9.1513	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81220	A sermon pressing to, and directing in, that great duty of praising God. Preached to the Parliament at Westminster, Octob: 8. 1656. Being the day of their solemn thanksgiving to God for that late successe given to some part of the fleet of this Common-wealth against the Spanish fleet in its return from the West Indies. / By Joseph Caryl, minister of the Gospel at Magnus near London Bridge.	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.; England and Wales. Parliament.	1657 (1657)	Wing C788; Thomason E899_7; ESTC R206750	25,634	47

doth it gratis or undeserved As the Lord is righteous in all he doth against wicked men so he is gracious in all that he doth for the holyest of the sons of men yea he saveth them graciously not onely without their deservings but though they are very ill deserving Thus he proclaimes and entitles himselfe Exod. 34. 6. The Lord The Lord mercifull and gracious long suffering and aboundant in goodnesse and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Here are a multitude of royall titles reckoned up in this proclamation yet the sum and substance of all may be collected and resolved into this one The Lord is gracious Surely then we ought to proclaime his praise in this title also The adverb of this word is often used in Scripture to note injuries received without cause or desert Thus David complains to God of his enemies Psal 35. 7. Without cause have they hid for me their net in a p●t which without cause they have digged for my soule And againe Psal 7. 4. I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy or that is mine enemy gratis I never gave any cause in this world why Saul whom he calls at the head of the Psalm Cush the Benjamite should be mine enemy yet he is so And when men or nations make war upon us wrongfully or having been offered peace and friendship upon just and righteous tearms shall refuse and so become our enemies gratis without any just cause given them then usually the Lord doth arise to destroy enemies and help his own people gratis though they have given him no cause but are exceeding unworthy to receive any such help and mark of honour at his hands yea though they have provoked him as the Prophet speaks Amos 5. 12. by their mighty sins to sell them for nought Psal 44. 12. and to deliver them up into the hand of their enemies that they might satisfie their lust upon them This I find specially taken notice of in the Order published for this day of thanksgiving in thesewords The eminency of this mercy of God in weakning the common enemy of Religion and in encouraging and strengthning the hands of his servants in a vigorous prosecution of this engagement is much heightned by the freenesse of it being extended to us a froward unbelieving and unthankefull people who had just cause rather to expect from the Lord a renewing of his stroaks and to be still kept under his rebukes then that he should returne to us in loving kindnesse and tender mercy as he hath done in this late dispensation Now seing the Lord hath been thus gracious and favourable to us let me presse it once more O praise him for his graciousnesse That 's the proper cry of Saints When the great mountaine becomes a plain before Zerubbabel then he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shoutings and cry grace grace to it Zech. 4. 7. that is The grace or free favour of God hath done it and the same grace and free favour will maintaine it And if the Lord shall make that Great mountaine the greatest mountaine of any state in the Christian world with which his people in these Nations are now contending by war to become a plaine before our Zerubbabel and before his helpers and assistants all the lines of our duty in praising him must center in this shout or cry grace grace And let it be the shout and cry of this day The Lord is gracious The Lord is gracious in what he hath done His favour not our force or strength hath obtained this great victory Yet that 's not all the Lord hath not onely saved us graciously but which is added in the text he hath saved us compassionately He is gracious and full of compassion The word signifies such kind of affections as parents have when their bowells are stirred toward their children seing them in any extremity or imminent danger 1 Kings 3. 26. when the true mother saw her child ready to be divided according to the award given by Solomon Her bowells saith the text yerned upon her son Compassion is an affection which besides love takes griefe into the composition of it such griefe as is full of simpathy or fellow feeling of the evill or misery which lyeth upon the party beloved Thus when the Lord seeth the Powers and Princes of this world ready to divide and devour his children who are dear to him as the apple of his eye his bowells are stirred and his compassions are kindled together And surely the Lord hath been touched and grieved with our affliction seing how we were in danger to be divided yea to be destroyed The Lord seems in this providence to speak to us as he did to Moses in the bush In seeing I have seen or I have surely seen the afflictions of my people and I know their sorrows as to this undertaking and I have helped them in pure compassion The Lord seems to say I have surely seen the anguish of some of their soules lest this buisnesse should miscarry I have seen how they have beene burthened as with the difficulty so with the costlines of this worke and I have had compassion on them I have surely seen by envy and discontents of many at home concerning it as also the pride and scorne of more abroad even saying as they of old what will they build in a day conquer nations in a day swallow up the world at once yea the Lord seems to say I have surely seen I have heard what strange constructions and interpretations have been made of former disappointments and delayes of success in this engagement yea I have surely seen how some would have rejoyced and triumphed at further with-drawings and disappointments And having seen all this my compassions are moved towards them and I am come forth for their help O praise the Lord who is full of Compassion He hath remembred us in our low estate for his mercy endureth for ever The third particular in the text for which we are to praise the Lord is his faithfulnesse of which David speaks in the close of the fifth verse He will ever be mindfull of his Covenant The Covenant of God is the collection or coalition of all his promises into this one which is the center in which their severall lines meet and upon which they move I will be their God and they shall be my people The Covenant of God is our title to God by that we claime him ours and if God be ours all is ours by that he hath given up himselfe to us and takes us up to himselfe Wee should praise the Lord. First For making such a Covenant Psal 56. 4. In God I will praise his word that is the word of his Covenant There 's our Treasure That 's our magazin Secondly We should praise him more for minding of it He is mindfull of his Covenant saith the text And that mindfulnesse of God hath two things in it First

up silver as the dust and prepare rayment as the clay he may prepare it but the just shall put it on and the innocent shall divide the Silver As if God had said by Job I know oppressors never think their dust-heap big enough and therefore they care not whom they oppresse so they may but heap up Silver for themselves as the dust yea they heap up silver as the dust that they may be strong to oppresse well let them goe on and prosper let them prepare it but I will prepare heires for them which they never thought of unlesse how to oppresse and vex them The innocent shall divide the Silver And that word divide hath a sound of war in it seing after victories obtained spoiles are divided I know some are ready to take offence at this day of thanksgiving because it is a thanksgiving for prey But let such remember First 't is prey taken from an enemy Secondly 't is prey taken from an enemy who hath swallowed up Nations greater then his own without offence given or recompence made as a prey And thirdly we have enough in this text to answer such objectors here 's King Davids order for a day of thanksgiving because God had given meat or prey to his people as he hath given to us this day We have as much I might say more reason to give thanks to God for meat gotten by a lawfull war as for meat gotten by our lawfull labour Therefore let us eate it or enjoy the benifit of it and praise the Lord. If while this meat is in our mouths the praises of God be in our mouths too certainly if they be in our hearts and lives too we shall not need to fear though we cannot be too much caution'd about it that as it befell the Israelites who fell a lusting in the wildernesse the wrath of God should fall upon us and slay the fattest of us and smite downe the chosen men of our Israel Psal 78. 30 31. Indeed if we have either asked this meat for our lusts or having gotten it bestow it upon our lusts we may expect a severer vengeance then theirs Thus I have touched upon and made a briefe application of the first ground of praising God laid down in this context by a paralell of the works of the Lord for which David gave order for publique praises with the works of the Lord for which we are called to praise him this day They are Great and Honorable they are Wounderfull and Beneficiall He hath given meat or prey to them that fear him The second generall Ground why David ordered a day of praise was that assurance and holy confidence which he had of what God was and would further be unto them and doe for them And indeed what God himselfe is to us is far more valuable then all that he hath done for us And in all our outward enjoyments we should be drawn off from the mercies of God to the God of our mercies from all the works of God to God who hath wrought them So did David here though he spake and thought highly of what God had done for them yet his heart was especially carryed out to and taken up with the thoughts of God There are four particulars in which David gives instance for the exalting of the name of God in praises as to what he is in himselfe and as to what he will be unto his people First The Lord is righteous and just his righteousnesse or justice endureth for ever v. 3. He is not righteous in this or that act onely at this or that time onely but he is righteous in all and always Some men will doe righteously now and then here and there to this or that person yet they step awry at other times or in other cases and so do justice not with respect to truth but with respect to persons But the Lord doth justice at all times in all cases without respect of persons and therefore the Lords righteousnesse indureth for ever We are saved by and live upon the grace and mercy of God yet we cannot but and are much bound to acknowledge his righteousnesse and justice They in the Revelation Chap. 15. 2 3. Who had gotten the victory over the Beast and over his image and over the number of his name were seen by John standing on the Sea of glasse having the harps of God and singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb saying Creat and marvellous are thy works O Lord God almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of saints The ways of Christ are just towards his enemies as he hath threatned and they are true towards his own people as he hath promised He is the Am●n giving being and accomplishment to his own word The faithfull and true witnesse Rev. 3. 14. bearing his testimony to what he hath said by that which he doth so declaring his own righteousnesse And may not we now turne Davids Prophesie Psal 65. 5. By terrible things in righteousness thou wilt answer us O God may we not I say turne that Prophecy into a history and say By terrible things in righteousnesse thou hast answered us O God of our salvation who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of them that are afar off upon the sea O how much are we engaged to praise the Lord for his righteousnesse who hath avouched our right and declared himselfe against those who would not repaire our wrongs Thus did the same Holy David Psal 9. 2 3 4. I will be glad and rejoyce in thee I will sing praise to thy name O thou most high when mine enemies are turned back they shall fall and perish at thy presence for thou hast maintained my right and my cause thou sittest in the Throne judging right And as we are to praise the Lord because he hath been righteous or for the righteousnesse which he hath done so we are to praise him upon this assurance that he will ever doe that which is right For as he is the Father of Lights so also the judge of rights with whom there is no variablenesse nor shadow of turning His righteousnesse endureth for ever Praise ye the Lord. The second part of this second ground of praise is the graciousnesse of God The Lord is gracious and full of compassion v. 4. That proper name John derived from the Hebrew word here translated gracious was given in speciall by the Angells appointment to the Baptist Luke 1. 13. either because he was sent to preach the grace of God in Christ shortly after to be exhibited in the flesh or because he was bestowed upon his parents in their old age as a testimony of the favour and grace of God to them And thus all that God doth for his people flows from the fountain of his free grace and from his compassions which faile not The Lord deserveth highest praises from man because what he doth for man he

his remembring the Covenant which he hath made with us Secondly his doing or making of it good to us It is a common sin among men that they make Covenants but doe not mind them and that 's a sin very chargeable upon this Nation It is our interest as well as our duty to make and minde our Covenants with God Not to make a Covenant with him in some cases is sinfull but not to mind what we have made is more sinfull Not to mind Covenant with man is sinfull much more not to mind our Covenant with God Such is the weaknesse of some men that though they mind their Covenants they cannot do them or make them good And such is the sinfulnesse of many that they make Covenants and never mind them nor have any mind to make them good yea such is the wickednesse and perversnesse and perfidiousnesse of others that though they mind their Covenant yet they will not doe it yea they refuse to do it and which is wickednesse wound up to the hight chuse to deale falsly with God in Covenant Now as the terrour of the Lord should keep all men from such a hight of wickednesse so the example of the Lord should keep all men from the least and lowest degree of it For as the Lord is mindefull of the Covenant which he hath made so he mindeth it to do it yea his minding or remembring of it is his doing of it He can as easily keep his Covenant as make it and as soon fulfill his word as give it Thirdly God doth not only make and mind his Covenant but he is ever mindfull of it It never departs as wisdome counselleth us her councells should not Prov. 4. 21. from his eyes he keeps it in the midst of his heart and t is alwaies as written in the palmes of his hands he is mindfull of it not only without a totall Cessation but without so much as the least intermission O let all that are in Covenant with the Lord praise the Lord who will ever be mindfull of his Covenant Who among other mercyes promised in his Covenant hath promised to blesse them that blesse his Covenant people and to curse those that curse them And thus he hath been pleased to mind his Covenant to us in the mercy of this day I have now set before you those two Generall grounds of praise The experience of what God hath wrought for his people and the assurance of what God is to his people hereby to provoke your soules to rejoce in and praise the Lord The work of the Lord is great his work is honourable and glorious his work is wonderfull and beneficiall therefore praise him The Lord himselfe is righteous he is gracious and full of compassion in all that he hath done for us he is mindfull and will ever be mindfull of his Covenant to doe it more and more for us as the matter shall require Now what remains but that as I have paralelld our grounds of keeping this thanksgiving day with those of David in the text so I should both direct and presse you to paralell David by praising God in the same manner and with the same Spirit as he did I shall draw forth this directive Exhortation into four Conclusions taken up out of the text and body of this Psalm and so conclude First Praise God knowingly or understandingly The Lord cannot bear blind services and obedience nor doth he delight in blind praises and thanksgivings And as the Lord would have us to understand what it is to praise him some pretend praise to God who know not what it is to praise him so the Lord would have us understand what that is for which we praise him he would have us understand our mercies As when we repent we should search out and labour to know all our sins and all the sinfulnesse of them so when we praise God we should search out and labour to know all the mercies of God and the mercifulnesse of God to us in them This we have expresly in the text at the second verse The works of the Lord are great sought out of all them that have pleasure therein We must seek them out and find the compasse of them we must labour to understand and comprehend the height and depth and length and bredth of them as the Apostle speaks concerning the love of God They are great and their Greatnesse must be sought out But some may say If the works of the Lord are so great what need they be sought great things are obvious and easily seen we need not seek out the Sun I answer There is a twofold seeking First to find the work Secondly to find out the work that is to find the rarities and beauties the perfections and wonders of the work Thus though the Sun be a great work of God creating yet I may say there are very few that to this day have sought out the Sun that is who have seen the excellency perfection and glory of that Candle of Heaven we have not found the Sun as we ought though it shines every day to us Much lesse have we found out the providentiall works of God some of which shine as the Sun in the Heavens and yet we have not found them out The present work of God is so great that every one heares of it and t is every mans talke and discourse yet how few have studied to find out the perfections of it David describes the persons who do so They are saith he sought out of all them that have pleasure therein Then all they that are troubled at them who look sowre upon them or envy them who think a losse would serve their turns and ends better then this great gaine and to whom as the Prophet speaks in another case Isa 28. 19 It is a vexation only to understand the report that is to understand that such a thing is reported Surely these and such as these have no pleasure in this work of God and therefore will never seek it out Nor is it every kind of pleasure which we take in the works of God that makes us seek them out and so praise him spiritually and understandingly for them They who as many doe take onely a carnall or fleshly pleasure in them will seek no further then the flesh or outside of them and all their praises must needs symbolize with their spirits and be meerly carnall The true pleasure which we should take in this or any like work of God must arise upon these three grounds 1. As it is a returne of prayer David in that other Psalme where he puts the question to himself What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benifits unto me Psal 116. 12. had said v. 1 2. I Love the Lord because he hath heard my voyce my supplications because he hath enclined his eare unto me We never take so much spirituall pleasure in any of the providentiall works of God as in those