Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	enjoy_v	gracious_a	great_a	139	3	2.0885	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46900	Three sermons preached the first in Richmond Church, August 17. 1690. on the most happy accession of Their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary to the Crown. The second in Mortlake Chuch in Surrey March 3. 1694. on the death of our late most gracious soveraign lady the Queen, of blessed memory. The third in Mortlake Church, April 16. 1696. being the day of Thanksgiving unto Almighty God, for discovering and disappointing the horrid and barbarous conspiracy to assassinate His most gracious Majesty's royal person: and for delivering this kingdom from an invasion, intended by the French. By Christopher Johnson, M.A. and school-master of Richmond in Surrey. Printed to prevent mistakes concerning the author.	Johnson, Christopher, b. 1657 or 8.	1696 (1696)	Wing J770BA; ESTC R216574	43,561	66

and with him sit down in the Ashes And we may mourn with the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddon as all Judah and Jerusalem did for Josiah Zech. 12.11 2 Chron. 35.25 And as the Prophet Jeremiah lamented for him so have we cause to do the like for our Deceased Gracious QUEEN Our Singing-men and Singing-women may as theirs did a long time for that good King speak of her in their Lamentations We have too sad Cause to Transcribe a Copy from them to make it an Ordinance in our Israel and from their Original to write us a Book of Lamentations and therein The Joy of our Heart is ceased our Dance is turned into Mourning Lam. 5.15 16. The Crown is fallen from our Head wo unto us that we have sinned Thus let us humble and afflict our Souls before God who is justly displeased for our manifold Iniquities and Contempt of his Mercies and in the midst of our Sorrows pray we him to remember Mercy And when we have poured out our Souls with the bitterest Grief and Sorrow of Heart for our inexpressible Loss in such a deep sense as so sad an Occasion requires let us say Ver. 19. Thou O Lord remainest for ever thy Throne from Generation to Generation Ver. 21. Turn thou us unto thee O Lord and so shall we be turned renew our Days as of old renew them O Lord and continue them unto us in our Gracious KING WILLIAM And God be praised that we Enjoy him together with our Religion our Laws our Liberties and Properties What a Mercy is it that we have His Majesty still In whose Preservation not only the Welfare of his own Subjects but of all Christendom is so nearly concerned See the Addresses of both Houses to His Majesty Dec. 31. 1694. As the Right Honourable the House of Peers and agreeably thereto the Honourable Commons have in their great Wisdom pronounced Let us then turn from the Evil of our Ways and lift up our Hands and Hearts to Heaven that God may be Gracious to us in granting Him a long and happy Reign over us And pray we that God will Support and Comfort His Majesty and Us under the Burden of His and Our Great Loss (a) In His Majesty's Gracious Answer to the Address of the House of Peers Dec. 31. 1694. which He was pleased to declare is above what he can express And that he was able to think of nothing but it (b) Answer to the House of Commons Address So sharply did his Grief thereupon assail and pierce his Royal Heart Tho' always known to be of such Heroick and Invincible Courage that nothing could dismay him this sad Affliction alone Conquered him has been of such weight as to over-burden and sink his Spirits the like to which no Difficulties no Dangers could ever before effect not Ten Thousand Messengers of Death flying about him Behold how he loved Her Pray we then to God to be His Majesty's Comforter in this great Trial and to make us all most Dutiful and Obedient Subjects unto him paying him double Homage and Fealty that we may not once waver in our Fidelity but multiply in our Hearts Zealous Prayers and all good Desires for his Long Life and Prosperity and then we may expect to Enjoy a large share of Her Late Majesty in Him He will not only Defend us as He hath done but also will be unto us in her stead by His more abundant Favours to us if an addition can be made to His former because Virtue and Goodness were conjunctive in Their Majesties what One did was generally the Act of Both. And as they by Marriage were one Flesh so they seem'd by an Happy Unity and Concord in every thing to have one and the same Mind as if they had had but one Soul Therefore I say we may trust He will take all the Care of us upon himself and be unto us both as KING and QUEEN to do us all the Good that lies in His Royal Power Wherefore to conclude as we mourn for Her Majesty and desire to Consecrate her Memory to be for Ever Blessed thus paying our last Tribute unto Her in Tears So let us with the highest Deference Honour and Obey His Majesty the Great Patron and Assertor of the Liberties of Europe of Ours chiefly And let us always Pray GOD Save KING WILLIAM Amen The Living Lord a Rock of Salvation SERMON III. Preached in Mortlake Church in SVRREY April the 16th 1696. Being the Day of a General Thanksgiving for the Preservation of the KING from the Intended Assassination of His Royal Person c. 2 SAM xxii 47. The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation THat the Merciful and Gracious Eye of God's Wonderful Providence hath in a most Signal manner watched over this Nation for good especially since the Blessed Reformation is beyond all possibility of Contradiction That he hath been sundry times and in divers manners a Rock of Salvation unto it by many powerful Deliverances thereof from Evil is as certain as if it were a thing proved by Mathematical Demonstration To recount and inlarge upon all which time would fail me But for a full Testimony unto my Assertion let us look back into the Annals and Histories of Times past but of One Century of Years and part of another and by those lasting Monuments of the Dead let us ask our Fathers and they will shew us our Elders and they will tell us what great and marvellous Things God did in the Days of Old for them and us their Posterity They were Eye-witnesses in times past and Partakers of the Goodness of the Lord unto the Sons of Men in this sinful Land And are not we in this respect the like to the full in our Generation as they were in theirs Or rather hath not God superadded to us and made his present measure of Grace and Favour to overflow amongst us by his great Salvation given unto us Of which every one who will not close his Eyes hath ocular and sensible demonstration laid before him in view in such large and legible Characters that he that runs may read it And this we may all read in the Book of our own Remembrance that when our Consciences were in apparent danger to be Inslaved with Erroneous Doctrines Superstition and a False Way of Worshipping God or else our Lives must be Sacrificed to the merciless Fury of our Implacable Enemies that when our Laws our Liberties and Properties were to be swallowed up by such a Power as would know no Limits Then God that heareth Prayer the Prayer of the Humble and Afflicted heard our Petitions and when we could not imagine which way the Salvation should come or by whom under him it should be effected then he appeared to be a God who judgeth the Earth and bowed the Heavens and came down sending to our Aid with the Arm of Power and

our selves so free from the Defilements of Sin that Iniquity may not be our Ruin For to illustrate this when Balaam would have Cursed the Israelites but had not power to do it he told Balak God did force him contrariwise to bless them as it is in the 20th Verse of this Chapter of my Text Behold I have received commandment to bless and he hath blessed and I cannot reverse it And then ensues the true Cause of this Blessedness in the next Verse He hath not beheld Iniquity in Jacob neither hath he seen Perverseness in Israel The People were Holy and Righteous and so long God's Especial Presence was with them as the following words do declare The Lord his God is with him and the shout of a King is among them But yet when a little after they were subjected to Sin and committed Lewdness and Folly and bowed down to other Gods then God withdrew his gracious Presence and instead thereof sent a Plague among them which lessened their number by Twenty and Four Thousand that were quickly swept away Numb 25. Whereby we see it is the Evil of Sin that causeth the Evil of Punishment one particular Act whereof is enough to provoke Divine Justice to strike and satisfied it must be either by Contrition and true Sorrow of Heart here or Pain hereafter And then how aggravating is it for Men to proceed still in an Habit and Custom of the highest Provocations without any Remorse or Consideration at all of the Evil of their Doings Notwithstanding God's calls to Repentance and Amendment at one time by Judgments inflicted upon a People or Nation and at another time impendent and hovering over their Heads like a huge black Cloud threatning a most violent Storm From which near and approaching Danger nevertheless when God hath made a way for an escape and a great Deliverance then for Men to be unthankful after fears of Evil to murmur at Mercy To be pleased no way neither in Danger nor out of it is a strange and almost if not altogether an unpardonable Crime for the Sin of Ingratitude in its own Nature must needs be very heinous and provoking in the Eyes of a most Wise and a Good God especially when Mercies are extraordinary in their kind and like to Miracles then to be angry even as Jonah because Nineveh was not destroyed To be displeased at the great Instrument under God of our Deliverance and in the Heart to desire Spoilers to Invade the Land is Malicious and Spiteful And in the Mind to wish for and bid welcome to the Forces of a known Foreign Tyrant who know no other than to Burn and Destroy when and where they have Power and thus in effect to hope for Slavery is a Wickedness and Folly scarce or not at all to be parallei'd in any History But now let the People of this Land shew themselves unto the World to be a Wise and Understanding Nation let us all declare our selves to be Men of Reason and Prudence by being sensible of our late wonderful Deliverance and knowing our present Happiness Let us be just unto God by due praises to him for this great Blessing upon us Let the Te Deum be always in our Mouths and the Trisagion sounding out of our Lips Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts with continual Hallelujahs praise ye the Lord praise O ye Servants of the Lord praise ye the Name of the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his Mercy endureth for ever Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath Redeemed from the Hand of the Enemy And next let us render unto Caesar our due Tribute of Thanks and Faithful Obedience for venturing his Life for us and Fighting our Battels Nay this to the King and Queen both let us give for their Zeal and Courage and great Conduct of Affairs for their good Will and tender Affection towards us all Let us be sensible of our Happy Condition under the Influences of their most Auspicious Government and let us Congratulate one another therein because they will by the Blessing of God support and defend us and our Religion our Laws and Liberties And then let us manifest unto the World that we do fully know and understand and are satisfied that God hath undeservedly and greatly Blessed us with a most Religious Wise and Gracious King William and Queen Mary For whom let us pray That God will grant Them an Happy Meeting by the King 's Safe Return from the Wars with Victory and all Good Success and that He will Establish Them in the Thrones of Their Kingdoms and Enable Them to lay a lasting Foundation to the Peace and Tranquility of Our Church and These Nations That They may be Victorious over All Their Enemies both by Sea and Land and strengthen the Hands of Their Allies against the Great Troubler of our Israel and the Common Disturber of all Christendom that Their Reign may be Prosperous and Their Days many Their People Loyal and Dutiful Subjects unto Them And that They may Both so serve God here that when He shall be pleased to Call Them from these Earthly Crowns unto Himself He may Crown Them with Eternal Glory and Felicity in the highest Heavens In which Prayer let the whole Nation join together and to it now let all this Congregation say Amen The GLORY Departed SERMON II. ON THE DEATH Of Our Late Most Gracious Queen Mary II. Of Blessed Memory Preached in Mortlake-Church in Surrey on the Third Day of March 1694. ISAM iv 22. The Glory is departed from Israel IN a most sad and lamentable manner is this Scripture of late fulfill'd in your Ears And Oh! that my Head were Waters Jer. 9.1 and mine Eyes a Fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night for the unspeakable Loss of that Glory which is departed from our Israel by the surprising Decease of Our Most Gracious and Pious Queen Mary of Ever Blessed Memory The Solemnity of whose Funeral beging near it may be proper now to speak of her Majesty of whom we said Under Her Shadow with the Joint-protection of His Most Excellent and Sacred Majesty King William we shall live among our greatest Enemies And through the Mercy of God who gave unto us those two Unparallel'd Virtuous Princes we shall they Reigning over us in defiance of the proudest Powers enjoy our Religion our Laws and Liberties have all Rights Immunities and Privileges restored to our Nation setled and confirmed unto us and our Posterity on a lasting Foundation Yea although we have lost the Best of Princesses we still hope by God's Grace for those Blessings through our Surviving Soveraign's Auspicious and Valiant Endeavours through his Wisdom and the great Counsels of our August Assembly the thrice Honourable Senators of our Land But alas the unexpected Breach that is made is Dismal and Amazing when God had given us a double portion of his Spirit of Love and Kindness in two such

her Virtues shaking the Foundation of those Vices which had Triumph'd too much threat'ned their total and in part at least wrought their Destruction This made her truly Great added much to her High and Illustrious Birth and to her Person on the Throne And in all respects her Qualifications enforced and drew a lively pattern from her for all to profit by according to their several States and Conditions As a Queen and a Ruler let Kings and all Princes follow her with the highest Emulation if with her they will take God's Directions amongst King David's last words into their Books of Politicks how to Govern which Divine Lesson was her Majesty's grand and principal Point in the whole Compass of her Government how to steer by and which way to move The Needle pointing always in her Thoughts to these and the like holy Instructions He that ruleth over Men must be just ruling in the fear of God and he shall be as the light of the Morning when the Sun riseth even a Morning without Clouds as the tender Grass springing out of the Earth by clear shining after Rain 2 Sam. 23.3 4. Which Sacred Aphorism herein seems to have been the Golden Rule and Line she measured her Royal Thoughts Words and Actions by all her Reign the holy Balance in which she first weighted every proceeding through the whole Series of her great Affairs And so she answered likewise this Divine Simile as in Water Face answereth to Face truly and exactly Let it be said then of our most Devout and Religious Queen that like holy David she was after God's own Heart With Hezekiah and other Pions Kings She did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And like good King Josiah she declined neither to the right Hand nor to the left Mercy and Justice resided in the Throne with her the former render'd her very Compassionate but yet her Prudence and Magnanimity were such as shewed her how she should not bear the Sword in vain she being the Ordinance and Minister of God And as she was in high Authority so was she above all idle and vulgar Censures or what was little and mean Consider her Majesty as a Wife Our Great Monarch whom she hath left behind and whom God in his Mercy long preserve to us will witness yea his great Grief of Heart doth Attest how she answer'd God's intent in the Creation of Woman that she should be (a) Gen. 2.18 an help meet for Man And according to the Apostolical Canons with a meek and quiet Spirit she gave reverence and yielded Subjection to her Royal Husband who with mutual Returns of Endearment according to like Holy Rules loved and honoured her as the weaker Vessel and his Glory also For the Man is the Image and Glory of God but the Woman is the Glory of the Man 1 Cor. 11.7 She well deserved the praise of the Virtuous Woman in the last Chapter of the Proverbs Ver. 11 12. For the Heart of her Husband did safely trust in her and she did do him good and not evil all the Days of her Life Her Candle did not go out by Night Ver. 18. for she was always mindful of her Duty and great Affairs She looked well to her Houshould and did not eat the Bread of Idleness Ver. 27. for by her own Labours she gave a New-birth to Work and Industry Her Children her good and dutiful Subjects I mean for she was a most Dear Tender and Compassionate Mother to us all did arise up and call her blessed her Husband also and he praised her Ver. 28. Both whose mutual Affections and Returns of Love and Kindness united their Two Royal Persons into One. Think upon her Majesty only as a Woman but of an uncommon Excellency of Spirit and largeness of Heart of such a Capacious Soul and Radiancy of Mind which is very seldom found and all tending more to Ambition of Goodness than Desire of Greatness for Majesty it self could not tempt her to Pride in any thing All which looked as happy presages of bringing much Benefit to Mankind But according to our purpose to descend from the Throne let us view her as if in a far lower Station amongst her Sex and say no more but she was a Woman We shall find her Exemplary Virtues justly Claim an high precedency amongst the whole Feminine Race For shew us such another when we call to witness her Majesty's profound Piety and Devotion her admired Meekness and Humility her Sweet Temper her Courteous Behaviour and Affability yet preserving Majesty as a Queen and her Moderation which was known unto all Men with that Serenity and Evenness of Mind also that not Passion but Reason moved and sway'd her that not easily lifted up nor soon cast down Heroick and Free yet Serious and Grave Chearful but without Levity She opened her Mouth with Wisdom and in her Tongue was the Law of Kindness Pro. 31.26 so Obliging and Discreet that she gain'd much upon the Affections even of her Enemies and at least often silenced the Tongues of unreasonable Men if she could not correct and alter their Judgments But to Crown all her Majesty's Excellencies she was a holy and good Christian Zealous always in that one thing needful Her unspotted and unblameable Life and Conversation shined before Men whilst she adorn'd the Gospel of Christ with her Divine Graces amongst which we must again inroll her Piety her unaffected Piety and Devotion and all the aforemention'd Virtues that belong to the Christian Chain with an unwearied Constancy in all her Duties At the Head of all placing her servent Charity that notable Badge of Christianity by which she forgave many Affronts and return'd none but with an high sort of Divine Clemency did do good for evil that her Light might shine not for vain Ostentation far from it was she but for God's Glory and an imitable Example to all others and that by an entire Resignation of her Will to Christ's Law which himself exemplified in pardoning and praying for his bitterest Enemies Mat. 5.48 she might be perfect as her Father which is in Heaven is perfect Add we here her Boundless Charity in giving and distributing to those in Want Alas how many indigent and decay'd Persons whom her Royal Bounty and Pity Relieved may bemoan themselves For her Charity was so unlimited that few if any but her self knew its utmost extent or could give it a place wide enough in the vast Sphere of Imagination that the compass of any Persons Thought could comprehend it So Largely and Secretly but Prudently withal did she stretch out her Hands to the Poor yea she reached forth her Hands to the Needy In general shewing the Celestial Extraction of her Blessed Soul when her Love and Charity was Universal like that of her Heavenly Father which our Blessed Saviour hath set forth for our Imitation Mat. 5.45 Who maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and

Crowning with Glorious Success His Present Most Excellent and Sacred Majesty our Most Gracious Sovereign and Rightful Lord KING WILLIAM For whom all Praise Adoration and Thanksgivings which the Finite and Weak Understandings and Faculties of Mortal Men can give unto an Infinite Being an Immortal and Omnipotent God are a Tribute due unto Him But though God be always Merciful there are Sons of Belial who will be most Wicked will Murmur and Repine and even Despise and Cross the Divine Goodness and will not have Him to Reign over us whom God hath appointed to be our King and hath made next to Himself our Mighty Deliverer Against whom nevertheless that there should be Men Living under the Benign Influences of His Merciful and Happy Government who Conspire with Gall and Bitterness of Spirit not only to Dethrone Him but Insidiously and Basely in a most Barbarous and Inhuman manner to take away His Sacred Life by the Assassination and Murder of His Royal Person notwithstanding all his Clemency and thereby to make way for a Foreign and Arbitrary Power to rush in upon these Nations of Great Britain and Ireland to the Destruction of our Religion Laws and Liberties It would seem incredible to Men of Reason and Ingenuity be to them more than a Paradox but that it is no longer in the dark being now clearly discovered and the Good God be Blessed and Praised therefore the Mischief most providentially prevented Wherefore Sing we every one with holy David in the front of this Divine Canticle Ver. 2 3. or Psalm The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer The God of my Rock in Him will I trust He is my Shield and the Horn of my Salvation my high Tower and my Refuge my Saviour Thou savest thine Anointed and Us from Violence And again join we with the Royal Psalmist in a joyful Hope and Confidence in God in Acclamations of Benedictions and Praises unto Him evermore rejoicing and saying The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation Which words are part of holy David's Song of Deliverance this Chapter and the 18th Psalm being of one and the same substance but run with a little variation of reading in some parts wherein that great Saint then but Militant did Celebrate the Solemnities of an holy Triumph and Praise to the God of his Salvation who had preserved his Person from the great Dangers that had threatned him from the violent Hands of Saul and other his Inveterate Enemies who had by various Snares and Stratagems sought his Life for thus we find the Preface or Inscription to this Thanksgiving Hymn of the sweet Psalmist of Israel And David spake unto the Lord the words of this Song in the Day that the Lord had delivered him out of the Hand of all his Enemies and out of the Hand of Saul And with such a lofty strain of Melody and delightful Harmony has he run through this his Noble Anthem as must needs Charm his chief Musician both in setting and playing the Tune proper to it And also with a Ravishing Delight raise and exhilarate the Spirits of the whole Choir those concern'd therein either with Vocal or Instrumental Musick those that sang or those that play'd on the Organ Harp or Cymbal c. chearing and refreshing even the Hearts and Souls of all then present And most grateful are his Acknowledgments of God's Gracious Benefits unto him flowing from many of his Holy and Essential Attributes from his Free and Immense Goodness and Mercy his Incomprehensible Wisdom Infinite Justice and Power and that great Providence which attended him through so many various Scenes of Troubles in the most difficult Stages of his Life Very expressive also is he of the Sense he had of the Dangers he escaped Such like as those out of which God Blessed be his Holy Name for it lately deliver'd our Most Gracious King even the Waves and Snares of Death the Floods of ungodly Men their deep and subtil Plots and Conspiracies their violent Stratagems and Devices as unavoidable as Floods and Inundations of Water are till God puts a stop to them by his Omnipotent Command Hitherto shalt thou come and no further When after such a wondrous and special manner he is pleased to be present as holy David hath set him forth with the highest flights of Divine Rhetorick using many exalted Metaphors to express the same as of the Earth trembling and shaking as also the Foundations of Heaven it self being put into the like terrible Commotions with such Thunders and Lightnings Storms and Tempests of his Wrath as aforetime had really destroy'd the Enemies of his People And then after many Blessed Eulogies and Seraphical Raptures of Holy and Eloquent Dictates from that Spirit which taught him how to pray unto as well as to praise his Mighty Deliverer he closes the whole Encomium with glorying in the God of his Salvation and yet further Returns of Blessing and Thanksgiving to him part whereof the Text doth especially denote unto us The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation For the Interpretation and Explanation of which and for our present Edification on this Day of a General Thanksgiving throughout this Nation for His Majesty's Blessed Deliverance and our Happiness thereby I shall observe these Two following Particulars First Holy David's Joyful and Triumphant Acknowledgment of God and his Providence in the former words The Lord liveth Secondly His grateful Return to God of Benediction and Praise or Exaltation for his Wondrous and Powerful Deliverances of him from the Mischiefs formed against him Emphatically expressed in the following parts of the Text and blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation First The Lord liveth is a Recognition of God and His Providence even with an Extasie of Joy The Royal Saint being Transported thereby into Triumphant Acclamations in consideration of God's Potent Deliverances and Manifold Benefits through abundance of various and critical Circumstances of his Race under the Sun frequently rescuing him out of the very Jaws of Destruction as they were ready to tear him in pieces as from Saul's Javelin at one time his and other wicked Mens Instigations their Combining Plots and Snates and Conspiracies to snatch away his Life at other times For all which he might with great Reason pronounce The Lord liveth As for Deliverances from great and apparent Dangers especially from the intended Mischief of Bitter Enemies it is very proper for Men to express their grateful Sentiments in these or words of like consonance and import There is a God a God that Ruleth all a God that helpeth in time of need yea and when we are Poor and Naked Blind and Lame that without him we should be remediless being our selves neither able to see the approaching Destruction nor to ward off the Blow if we have time to see it

pleasant an Echo as is enough to refresh a Devout and Pious Soul meditating upon the Mercies of God So that an Excellent Pattern of a great Solemnity in this kind we have here and many more there are in the holy Records of the Jewish Church Exod 15. Such is the Song of Moses and the Children of Israel after the Overthrow of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea and their own safe passage through the same from their hard Servitude and Bondage in Egypt Such is the Song of Deborah and Barak Jude 5. for their great Victory over Sisera Captain or General of the Host of Jabin King of Canaan and Israel's Deliverance from his Master's Oppression Such is the Celebration of King Jehoshaphat's and his People's Praise 2 Chro. 20. and Joy and Triumph for a mighty Victory over and Salvation from a numerous Heathenish Host besides many others which deserve our Observation When Godly Princes and Rulers have excited themselves and their People to be thankful as our Most Gracious King has commanded us now to be as His Royal Ancestors and many other Kings and Potentates have upon the like Occasions sent out their Mandates and Decrees requiring their People to give Glory and Praise unto the God of their Salvation And a good Principle it is of the Church of England readily to obey from time to time the Defenders of Her Faith in commanding that which she owns an Indispensible Duty and Tribute to the King of Kings from which may not any of her Members swerve at this time But may every one with joint consent heartily say Amen this Day to these words blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation and that upon the account of our present Grounds for Thanksgiving Which Metaphor of a Rock is of frequent use in Holy Writ and hath divers significations So that this thankful Expression blessed be my Rock carries the sence and authority of Blessed be my sure and immoveable Foundation Blessed be my Help and mighty Defence Blessed be my Refuge and Salvation And so Blessed be my God Himself who is all these to His Faithful Servants As to illustrate this by other Examples he is also an Horn and Tower or Fortress of Salvation unto them For a Horn denotes Glory and Strength great Power and Might all which are Infinite in Him And a Tower is the Emblem of Succour and Safeguard and as such well applied unto God Prov. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe Wherefore holy David aptly resembles God to a Rock For what in Nature is stronger than a Rock And therefore what could be a more proper Hieroglyphick than it to express God in His Attribute of Omnipotency by which He is able to deliver His Servants when void of all Hope and who is not only above Nature but infinitely transcends all other Supernatural Beings whether they be Thrones Principalities Powers or any other Order and Degree of the whole Celestial Hierarchy it self And whereas it follows in the Text exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation The meaning is obvious and easie with this Comment or Gloss unto it naturally drawn from the aforesaid Interpretation of the Trope by which the Lord is likened to a Rock for by it this Clause doth ascribe Exaltation and Praise to the God strong and able to save As if the Royal Prophet had magnified him thus exalted or praised be the God of the Strength or of the Power of my Salvation by whose irresistible Might I was preserved from the Violence of my Cruel Enemies Not that Man can add any thing to God in all this whereby to make Him greater in any respect than He is in Himself but it is by way of an humble and thankful Declaration of His Glory His Greatness His Immense Power and Goodness It is a telling out of His Praise and Wondrous Acts a shewing forth the Mercy and Loving-kindness of the Lord with Gratitude and Joy When Men are not hardned against Mercy but are sensible that they have seen and tasted the abundant Goodness of the Lord after His Countenance hath of His Free Grace shined with unspeakable Favour upon them And now Deut. 32.1 Give ear O ye Heavens and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my Mouth For I will publish mighty things that the Lord hath done for us And I will ascribe the Glory and Greatness of all unto our God For many and great are the wondrous Works which the Lord our God hath done like as be also his Thoughts which are to us-ward O how great is the Sum of them Who can reckon them up in order to Him If I should declare them and speak of them they should be more than I am able to express Wherefore I shall not pretend to enumerate and publish the whole Series and Catalogue of His Mercies from time to time conferred upon us for if I could bring them all within the reach of my Discourse which is next to impossibility yet my present Task does not oblige me to run through so large a Province but more especially binds me to the Business of this Day of the Great and Auspicious Deliverance for which we Celebrate the Solemnity of a Publick Thanksgiving for God's late unspeakable Mercies to the King and these Realms And therefore we will in silence admire His Marvellous Preservations that are past and employ our Thoughts on his present Salvation We will only think how Famous the Two last Eighty Eights are The former by a Successful Deliverance of this Nation from the threatned Destruction when her Enemies sent against it their Invincible Armada as they then in the height of Pride and Ostentation named it and which perished with Shame and Confusion And the last Eighty Eight is Glorious for our Memorable and Blessed Preservation from Apparent Dangers at Home from Evil and Destruction growing up in the midst of us the Flames of which were quenched and the Rage and Fury stopt by the most Happy Coming of our Good and Gracious KING WILLIAM to our Relief making thereby another Fifth Day of November as great an Ensign of God's special Providence to us as that Fifth of November still is by the Discovery of that Horrid that most Trayterous and Bloody-intended Massacre by Gunpowder These things let us think on with the Praises of God in our Mouths and with all Humility Devotion and Gratitude in our Hearts And for His unspeakable Goodness for which we Solemnize this Day set apart by Royal Authority for the Holy Exercise of Praise and Adoration unto the Supreme Governour of the Universe from whom cometh Salvation at all times let us believe in the Lord with Joy and Thanksgiving and Triumphantly say That the Lord liveth that He seeth and ordereth all things that his Presence fills all places and his Providence is busie and active every where that He