be brought to thee i. e. the Church 2. Ver. 15 They shall be brought with joy and gladness and enter into the Kings Palace Ver. 16 gladly and willingly they shall enter into his Courts on earth and after be received to a Mansion in Heaven 5. For her fruitfulness Barren she shall not be for she shall have many children The Churches gratitude good children and great for the Fathers the Patriarchs Prophets Priests in the old Law Apostles Evangelists and their Successors in the New that may be made Princes in all Lands her Officers are not contemptible 3. The third part The conclusion which is gratulatory for for this honour the Church would 1. Erect as it were a statue I will make thy Name to be remembred in all Generations 2. Ver. 17 The praise shall be perpetuated Therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever The Prayer collected out of the forty fifth Psalm LET the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be alwayes acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redéemer Ver. 1 grant that my heart may endite a good matter and make my tongue a ready instrument of thy Spirit nimbly and aptly and solely to express what thou shalt dictate to me of the King of glory O thou wonderful God and Man the Messiah and Saviour of the World Ver. 2 Thou wert fairer in thy conception and more beautiful in thy birth than all the sons of men born we were all in iniquity and in sin our mother conceived us but thou wert holy in and from the womb being fréed and purified by the Holy Ghost from the stain and spots of our original corruption and when thou wast pleased to manifest thy self to the World thy lips were full of grace thy words drop'◠as the honey-comb never man spake like thée never was there such discourses of mercy such calls and offers of love by which thou didst encourage the weary and heavy-laden to come unto thée and we miserable sinners to be reconciled to God for which God hath blessed thee for ever and given thée all power in Heaven and Earth for which we bless thée for ever on Earth and hope to do it in Heaven Now since thou art the Lord of power Gird thy Sword I pray thee Ver. 3 upon thy Thigh O most Mighty conquer and subdue thy enemies whether impious Devils or devilish men take from the one that dominion which they usurp over thy people and bring the other readily and willingly to submit unto thée this will increase thy glory this will improve thy Majesty and Renown Ver. 4 and in thy power prosper and ride on that Truth and Meekness and Righteousness may flourish in thy Kingdom which is easie for thée to do because the right hand of thy power and Divine Omnipotence shall wonderfully teach and direct thée in this work causing thée to the admiration of all not to desist till thou hast obtained an absolute victory and lead in triumph thy enemies Let the words of thy Gospel be sharper than arrows Ver. 5 with a wonderful quickness let them pierce the hearts of many Nations that whereas now they are rebellious and enemies to thy Kingdom they may be wounded to their good that they may fall under thée even at thy foot-stool yield to thy command and be ready to do thy will whose Throne is for ever and ever Ver. 6 and the Scepter of whose Kingdom is a right Scepter Cause them to love that which thou lovest and hate that which thou hatest Thou lovest righteousness make them then in love with equity Ver. 7 thou hatest iniquity cause them to hate all injustice and since thou wast anointed with the oyle of gladness above thy fellows yet for thy fellows anoint also all those that thou hast taken into this fellowship with a fragrant portion of this thy holy oyle that they rejoyce to do thy will Let Kings Daughters noble and princely souls Ver. 9 stand among those thy Saints whom thou hast honoured and brought to thy obedience O let the Queen thy Church whom in mercy and loving-kindness in judgment and justice thou hast espoused to thée stand on thy right hand cloathed in a golden Robe of thy Righteousness O let the smell of their garments be as a Field that the Lord hath blessed Ver. 8 and the swéet of their vertues and graces more odoriferous in thy Nostrils than the perfumes of Myrrhe Cinnamon and Cassia compounded by the skilfullest art of the Apothicary And thou O Daughter so peculiarly beloved and elected by the Messiah consider and encline thine ear attend and give diligent héed what the King shall teach thée concerning the true God and his Service Our eyes are heavy and we cannot sée our ears are deaf and we cannot hear Lord open our eyes that we may sée and say thou Ephatha to our ears that we may hearken and soften our hearts that we may consider of the great honour thou hast done us Teach us to leave father and mother and house and land for thy sake to forget our own people and our fathers house and all that is most dear unto us the bewitching lusts of our own wills and the vanities of our former lewd conversation Enrich our hearts with thy gifts of Grace so shall the King have pleasure in our beauty and we shall acknowledge him for the Lord our God adore fear reverence and worship him Kéep our hearts O Lord in thy fear for then the Nations round about us shall séek and sue to us the Princes of Tyre shall come and bow to us and offer us gifts the rich also among the people shall intreat our favour and desire they may be united to our Communion Adorn us O Lord inwardly with thy Graces and outwardly with an orderly worship and discipline Let our chief glory be that which is within the hid man of the heart and then make us beautiful without in all the ornaments of true Religion vertuous works and Christian lives and over and above in the vestments of outward Ceremonies which are as it were the needle-work and embroydery of Holiness By all which the Virgin-souls of the people may be brought unto thee and accompany us to glorifie our Father which is in Heaven This may move them to enter into the unity of the Church with joy and gladness which is the door of those mansions which thou hast prepared for them in Heaven where they shall enjoy thy sight and thy presence for ever Raise up O Lord our King instead of the fathers of our profession the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles Apostclical men Bishops Pastours and lawful Ministers of thy Word whom thou may'st make Princes to féed and guide to govern and teach thy Church in all lands O Lord thy Mercies are so great and manifold to thy Church that I will make thy name to be remembred in all Generations O let the people praise thee and sing of thy honour for
in misery He repented according to the multitude of his mercies And the effect which all these Causes had was beneficial to them even in the time of their bondage and captivity for even their very enemies hearts were often turn'd to do them good as is evident in Jeremiah David Daniel Ezra Zerubbabel Mordecai and indeed the whole Nation under the Babylonian Philistian Aegyptian Persian Kings which the Prophet hath set down ver 46. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them Captives So this is that of the wise man When a mans wayes please God And caused their Oppressors to pity them he will make his very enemies at peace with him Prov. 16.7 But it seems this verse may be read otherwise and it is by the Vulgar Moller Musculus Dedit eos in misericordias or miserationes in conspectu omnium quo caeperant eos so that the sense is not as if all of them had from all that carried them away captive received mercy but that God in their afflictions put them into the bosom of his mercy even they seeing and wondring at it whose Bond-slaves they were for beyond all hope he freed his people from Aegypt the Ammonites Philistines c. so that they under whose Captivity they were must needs confess that God in mercy did defend and fight for them And this sense Bellarmine receives as more probable nor yet utterly rejecting the other 4. And this sense makes the way plainer to what followes the Petition The fourth part This consideration moves them and the Doxology for if God shew'd himself merciful in the time of his anger and made it apparent even to the very view of their enemies encouragement they might have 1. First To pray Save us O Lord our God and gather us from among the Heathen to give thanks in thy holy Name 1 To pray and to triumph in thy Praise 2. Then to give thanks 1. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel 2 To give thanks from Generation to Generation 2. And for it let the people do their Duty viz. the solemn and necessary Formes Let all the people say Amen Allelujah The Prayer out of the One hundred and sixth Psalm O Lord God which art great and fearful Ver. 45 Who keepest Covenant and Mercy toward them that love thee and keep thy Commandments we have sinned with our Fathers we have committed iniquity we have done wickedly The children of Israel were not more rebellious at the red Sea in the Wilderness after thou hadst brought them into the Land than we have béen unto thée We have forgotten thy wonders and provoked thée when beset with a Sea of troubles for we have soon forgot thy works and not waited for thy counsels We have envied nay murdered Moses in the Camp and Aaron the Saint of the Lord. A Calf indéed we have not made in Horeb nor worshipped the molten Image But we worshipped the Calf of our own brains and fall'n down to our own imaginations in Maozim we have put our trust and to this Idol of power we have cryed Thou art our god and thou shalt save us Thou hast promised to bring us to the celestial Canaan but we have despised that pleasant land and as if we did not believe thy Word we have murmured and in our hearts turned back again into Aegypt and set our affections on the Léeks and Onions and Garlick thereof though we vowed and professed to honour thée yet we have made it apparent that Mammon is our God and his Command is hearkned unto and not thy voyce We have provoked thée to anger with our inventions we have learned the works of the Heathen Ver. 38 and out-done them We have shed innocent blood even the blood of thy sons and daughters whom we sacrificed to our ambition and cruelty so that the Land is polluted with blood O Lord we confess that we have done wickedly and fouly and unthankfully have revolted from thée our Lord and God as was the mother so is the daughter we are our mothers daughter that hath loathed her husband and committed fornication in the sight of our God yet we will not despair when we consider thy great mercy which thou shewedst to a stiffe-necked people whom though enriched by thée with many Benefits and yet unmindful and ungrateful as they were set thée by and worshipped stocks and stones and the inventions of their own brains Thou yet didst not destroy them but after a fatherly correction didst restore to thy favour and didst condescend to be reconciled to them Then thou wert pacified with the intercession of Moses and the atonement of Aaron and when Phineas arose and executed judgment thy plague was stayed There be yet lest among thy people those who are zealous for thy Name who day and night intercede for pardon and mercy O Lord hear their prayers and let their cryes come unto thee and spare thy people whom thou hast redéemed with thy precious blood Though they have provoked thée with their Counsels and are brought low for their iniquity Nevertheless regard their affliction and hear their cryes that they send up unto thee Remember for them thy Covenant and repent according to the multitude of thy mercies And so soften and mollifie the hearts of those who have led us into Captivity that for cruelty even from them we may find pity and for the heavy burdens they have laid upon us some ease and relaxation O merciful Lord let not thy wrath for ever be kindled against thy people neither let it procéed so far That thou abhor thine inheritance We confess That it hath gone ill with Moses for our sakes insomuch that he is denied an entrance into the land of Canaan the lot of his inheritance But remember him O Lord and his Exiles with the favour thou bearest unto thy people O visit him with thy salvation that he may see the good of thy chosen that he may rejoyce in the gladness of thy Nation that he may glory in thee and glorifie thee with thine inheritance Our Fathers have sinn'd even from the first time of their Vocation to the clearer and purer knowledge of the Gospel and thou didst oftentimes sharply rebuke them and yet in the sharpest of those Visitations Thou remembring mercy Ver. 10 and thy promise didst mitigate their punishments and sentest them deliverance Thou savedst them from the hand of them that hated them and redeemedst them from the hand of the enemy Therefore now also although we know and confess that we have grievously offended thée with our sins and provoked thée to bring these heavy judgments upon us for our rebellions yet make us examples of thy mercy as thou hast done our forefathers Save us O Lord our God and gather us from all lands whether we are dispersed which we earnestly beg at thy merciful hands not that we are brought from a troublesom to a quiet from a miserable to an easie from a poor and
3. For they are accursed and cut off from ver 4. to 8. 1. The first part God puts into the mouth of his people what they may comfortably say to their enemies The indefatigable malice of the enemies of the Church even in their greatest extremities when their malice is at the highest 1. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth may Israel now say Ver. 1 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth In which observe Ver. 2 1. Her afflictions many c. That afflictions do attend Israel and must be expected by all that will live righteously in Christ Jesus 2. That these afflictions are many for sape Many a time have they afflicted me 3. That this affliction began with the Church even from the righteous Abel and hath continued ever since the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs felt it It is from my youth 4. This affliction was a fore affliction which the Prophet by an elegant Metaphor illustrates Ver. 3 of a Plow and Plowers and Furrows drawn out at length The Ploâ—â—â—s plowed upon my back and made long Furrowes They dealt unmercifully with me as the Husbandman doth with his ground tears it up with his share and spares not the green gundon till be hath turn'd it all up 2. The second part But all this their malice all their fighting is to no purpose oppugnâ—runt non expugnaruâ—â— 1. They prevail not Yet they have not prevailed against us they have not prevailed to extinguish the Church Ver. 2 prevailed they have to reduce hâ—r to a low and sad condition but they have not destroyed her nor never shall for the gates of hell shall not prevail against her â—â—â—rabit ut palma 2. The Reason is The Lord is righteous A righteous a good a just Lord and out of his Justice he protects all those that he hath under his Tuition and punisheth their Adversaries Ver. 4 3. For God delivers her For this righteous Lord hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked hath cut asunder their Tacklings Chains Repes with which they plowed and made their Furrowes He hath delivered Israel from their oppressors 3. The third part In the following verses to the end the Prophet either by way of inâ—â—â—â—â—ion or prediction And takes revenge on her enemies sets down the vengeance that God would bring upon the enâ—mies of his Church for their malice which hath three degrees 1. Ver. 5 The first of which is That they fail of their hopes and their attempts frustrated Let them all be confounded ashamed and turn'd back that hate Zion that are Osores Persecutors 2. The next is That their persons prove useless and quickly perish Let thou be as grass growing on the house-tops grass in a Medow is good for somewhat on house-tops for no use It withereth before it groweth up Mowed it is never Wherewith the Mower fills not his hand nor he that binds up the sheaves that rakes it together fills his bosom 3. The last is a want of a blessing from God or man No man saith so much as God speed as is usual to do to Workmen in Harvest Neither do they which go by say Bendithy châ—y The blessing of the Lord be upon you we bless you in the Name of the Lord. They were about an ill work Who durst say God bless or prosper you in it The Prayer out of the one hundred and twenty ninth Psalm O Omnipâ—tent and merciful God it is not unknown to thée how that people whom thou hast chosen unto thée for thy heritage hath béen in all Ages afflicted and vered by cruel Tyrants Ver. 1 even from that time that thou madest a Covenant with our fathers to this very day They have fet their Plowes to work upon our backs wounded us with afflictions and â—nrrowed us with sorrowes The escape out of one danger hath but béen the entrance into another and of these there hath béen a continuance as in a plow'd land in which furrow is added to furrow and ridge to ridge till the whole be turned up But thou whom we serve hast shewed thy self unto us a good Master a righteous and a just God Thou hast cut asunder all the cords of the wicked in which they trusted the snare is broken and we are delivered their hopes and expectation is eluded their endeavours brought to naught Though they had plotted our vestruction Ver. 2 Yet they have not prevailed against us This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes especially when we call to mind our ingratitude toward thée and our unexcusable disobedience But now we humbly beséech thée look not upon our merits but upon the glory of thy Name for we deserve not only these but far greater punishments Ver. 5 But of thine infinite mercy pour not upon us the hottest of thine indignation but let it rest upon those that are enemies to thy Truth let them all be confounded and turned back that date and séek to extirpate Zion let them quickly wither away as the grass that grass that growes upon the house-top as an unprositable and an unuseful thing let them perish and never be harvested or brought into thy Barn make it appear That the séed of their frauds and deceits cannot fill the hand much less the bosom and heart of any one that hoped to carry in heavy sheaves from them O Lord preserve thy people in their integrity and kéep them from joining their counsels with them let none of thine that go by and sée what is done say The blessing of the Lord be upon you we bless you in the Name of the Lord But let thy blessing rest upon thy people and upon thine inheritance whom thou hast chosen kéep them from all evil increase them in all goodness for the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXXX Being one of the Penitentials IN this Psalm the Spirit of God proposeth to us the case of a person oppressed with the wrath of God against sin yet flies to God for mercy and trusts to receive from him comfort remission and pardon The Contents are these 1. Acknowledging his miserable condition he prayes to be beard ver 1 2. 2. He desires remission of sin ver 2 4. 3. He makes mention of his hope and confidence ver 5 6. 4. He exhorts Gods people to trust in him ver 7 8. 1. The first part David begging with an ardent affection and desire pathetically he prayes that he may be heard Davids cry to be heard he likens himself to a man in the bottom of a Pit or that must cry aloud to be heard 1. Ver. 1 Out of the depths have I cryed to thee O Lord. De profundis non de profundo Because a true penitent cryes out of two depths the depth of his misery and the depth of his heart sensible of that misery 2. Ver. 2 Lord hear my voyce Although I be in these depths and thou dwellest on high
yet thou canst hear me and therefore I cry O Lord hear 3. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications 'T is to no purpose to cry for audience except he will be attentive to whom we cry And therefore begs of God that he would vouchsafe to hear to attend 2. The second part Yea but there was great reason why God should nor hear nor yet encline his ear to his cry He was a grievous sinner and God hears not such Well be it so yet his case was but the same with other men All men involv'd in sin as well as he and therefore if this should be a sufficient impediment that he should not be heard the like lay against other men and so God attentive to no prayer He desires therefore to remit his sin and that this might not be charged upon him 1. Ver. 3 If thou Lord shouldst mark iniquity O Lord who shall stand mirabilis rhetorica 2 He cryes for Remission of Sin I nor no other man can bring into thy sight any thing else but filth sinne shame and therefore if thou shouldst deal with us in rigour of justice and execute thy anger necessary it is that all be condemn'd not a man stand in thy sight 1 Acknowledging his own misery But it becomes not thy infinite goodness to destroy all men and therefore I need not seem overbold if I cry out of my depths and ask a pardon 2. Ver. 4 But there is mâ—rcy with thee or forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feard 2 Gods mercy True repentance requires two things the recognition of our own misery and the perswasion of Gods mercy Both are needful for he that knows not his own misery seeks not for help and he that knows not Gods mercy despairs In the three former verses David acknowledgeth himself in a pitiful case for he was in the depths and cryes from thence that if God should deal with him in rigour of justice he were undone never able to abide it In this verse he comforts himself with Gods mercy and that notwithstanding the greatness and multitude of his sins he hoped for pardon as if he had said Though no man can abide it if thou shalt mark our iniquities yet I know that by nature thou art merciful and forgivest fin 2. 3 The end of remission that God be feared That thou mayst be feared not with a servile but with a filial fear which comprehends invocation faith hope love adoration confession giving of thanks and all the duties of the first Table With this fear I fear thee in this I fly to the throne of grace and because thou art a Merciful God I hope for pardon 3. The third part The method of Gods Servants in their addresses to heaven is that they Believe 4 He hopes and expects favour Hope Pray Expect This course David took he prayed believed he hopes in Gods mercy and now he expects to find favour in the fifth and sixth verses Ver. 5 Every word of which is able to inform confirm and comfort a distressed soul 1. I expect the Lord. Upon him only he relies and prescribes nor time nor manner leaves to him to succour him at what season he pleaseth For his part he would be still an Expectant 2. For which he will wait My soul doth wait His expectation was not formal but real an expectation that proceeded from the fervency of his heart He hungred and thirsted after righteousness 3. His expectation was no presumption Upon Gods word but well grounded upon Gods Word and Promises Dent. 4.29 30. And in his Word is my hope 4. And that we may know his expectation was earnest Ver. 6 full of faith and hope he repeats it My soul waits for the Lord He ingeminates his hope which he declares by a Similitude of men set upon a watch in the night that long for the morning 5. I wait for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning I say more than they that watch for the morning It was now night with him darkness and misery was upon his soul the morning he expected was remission which must come from Gods mercy for this he waited this he expected more greedily than watchmen look for the morning light that they may be freed from their station Which though it be not in their power yet they expect it He proposeth his example to Gods people 4. This his example he proposeth to Gods people and exhorts them to do the like and to animate and encourage them in it adds his reasons 1. Let Israel hope in the Lord. Take out my example Ver. 7 and do thereafter Let them cry è profundis expect upon his word and promise wait his leasure For which God is mercy 2. For with the Lord there is Mercy Not only a Merciful God but Mercy it self With him it is and from him it flows to us And our Misery is a fit object for his Mercy No other creature can help because miserable And plentious redemption 3. And with him is Redemption That we needed being sold under sin and that we found a price given for us to redeem us the precious blood of his dear Son 4. And this his Redemption was Copiosa redemptio plentiful abundant for by it he redeemed the whole world 1 Joh. 1.2 Ver. 8 and bequeathed to his an inheritance in heaven Rom. 8.17 Which he will apply to Israel only 5. But this is to take effect upon Israel his people only For he shall redeem Israel from all his sins It is not as the Jews expect a temporal redemption but a spiritual as the Angel told Joseph His name shall be Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins which is begun in this life and shall be perfected in the other where we shall be delivered not only from sin but the punishment and danger of sinning The Prayer out of the one hundred and thirtieth Psalm O Most just and holy God whose eyes cannot approve iniquity no not in thy best and dearest servants we must néeds confess that for our rebellion and ingratitude against thée we are justly brought to this abyss of troubles from which without thy help we cannot escape Ver. 1 Being then oppressed and overwhelmed with these depths of sin and misery Ver. 2 from the bottom of our hearts we cry unto thée O Lord Lord hear our voice and let thine ears be attentive to our supplications lest if thou make as though thou hearest not we become like them that descend into the pit Pity our infirmities and remember thy mercy for which our misery is a fit object be not unto us a severe Iudge but a merciful Father and take not that revenge upon us which we deserve for if thou shalt observe and punish according to the rigour of justice Ver. 3 what man amongst us is so holy and pure in thy eyes that he may
therefore O Lord I cry and profess before the whole World Thou art my refuge my stay my hope Ver. 6 my strong Tower of defence Thou alone while I remain in this land of the living art my portion and heritage I have chosen thée for my shield and buckler my affections are to thée and I will rely only on thée Therefore good God attend unto my cry for I am brought very low weakned and humbled and depressed and brought to a forlorn condition Ver. 7 Deliver me from those that persecute me and thirst after my blood for they are grown far too strong for me Bring my soul out of this affliction with which I am straitned as in a Prison and I will praise and magnifie thy Name Nay the righteous and sincere-hearted Israelites that expect the performance of thy promises and long for it upon this mercy extended to me shall then compass me about adhere unto me and congratulate my deliverance and restitution Sing they will in the house of the Lord that thou hast dealt bountifully with me Get thy self honour then upon Pharaoh and all his Army deliver out of this Aegyptian bondage thy poor afflicted Israel bring them into the promised Land expel the Canaanites before them and exalt the Kingdom of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord To whom with thée and the Holy Ghost be all Glory Dominion and Power now and for ever Amen PSAL. CXLIII Being the last of the Penitentials DAVID being driven from Jerusalem by his son Absolon wisely calls to mind his sin as being the cause of it which in this Psalm he deplores and desires grace and mercy of God The parts of this Psalm are 1. A Prayer to God for remission of sin grounded upon Gods promise and goodness ver 1. not upon his own worthiness ver 2. 2. A Narration of the sad state of his Affairs ver 3 4. 3. The Comfort he received in his sad condition and whence ver 5 6. 4. His Petition containing divers particulars to which are annexed particular Reasons from ver 7. to the last 1. The first part In the beginning he petitions for Audience Hear my prayer O Lord give car to my supplication Ver. 1 but expresses not the matter he pray'd for which yet out of the following words may well be collected to be remission of sin David begs on for which he was thus punished and this he begs of God to grant both in regard of his promise and mercy 1. 1 Gods promise In faithfulness answer me Thou art a faithful God that hast promised pardon to penitents a penitent I am make then thy Word good to me and pardon me 2. 2 And mercy a pardon And in thy righteousness which here signifies mercy and loving-kindness In thy mercy then answer me and seal my pardon justifie me because I confess my iniquities Isa 43.26 Men call for confession from the guilty to condemn God to pardon And that this is the sense appears more clearly by the next verse 1. Ver. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant Call me not to a strict and rigorous account at thy Bar of Justice And not for his merit This he deprecates so that justitia in the former verse could not be taken for that justice which punisheth sin and rewards righteous deeds for that he pleads not here but declines it yea and assigns the Reason 2. For in thy sight shall no man living be justified Not I nor any man that ever did doth or shall live Let me then have my pardon upon thy promise and mercy and not for my merits It is not then the most commendable work that can justifie any man at the Bar of God but his mercy in Christ which he hath promised to accept Taught he hath us daily to pray Remitte debita 2. The second part And now he enters upon the Narration of his sad condition which he urgeth as another Reason to perswade God to remit his offence Ver. 3 and it is taken from the grievousness of tentation His sad condition to which the enemy brought him and the consequent of it 1. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul I look not so much upon my son Absolon that seeks my life as upon the enemy of Mankind Satan who entic'd me to Adultery and tempted me to Homicide 2. He hath smitten my life down to the ground He hath humbled me made me vile and contemptible in thy sight made me a lover of the earth and earthly pleasures who before had my Conversation in Heaven 3. He hath made me dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead For after that he had intangled my soul with earthly pleasures he made me dwell in spiritual darkness that I saw not the way to life but was indeed dead in trespasses and sins I knew no more of what belonged to the life of the Spirit than those that have been long dead Eph. 4.18 19. 2.5 And the effect that it wrought upon me For which he was ready to faint and despair was fear consternation and horrour of mind out of the sense of thy wrath against my sin 1. Ver. 4 Therefore my spirit was overwhelmed within me I suffered a kind of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my soul I was ready to faint when I consider'd thy holiness and my impurity thy severe justice and my inability to satisfie it 2. And my heart within me is desolate far from all comfort Troubled I was not lightly not superficially but seriously and inwardly my soul was heavy to the death 3. The third part But recovers In this sadness I cast about what to do Though I felt thy hand heavy upon me yet despair I durst not even from this miserable state I began to fetch my remedy I found it was thy grace to bring me to this astonishment for my sin that my heart was not hardned in sin but astonished for sin mollified when it was thus troubled and à dolore parturivi salutem That then which came into my head were thy wayes that thou hadst taken with penitent sinners before me 1. I remember the dayes of old The dayes of Adam Noah Abraham Moses c. who all being thy servants yet sinning grievously Upon the remembrance of Gods mercies to others and repenting Thou admit'st to mercy whose examples I applied and they kept me from despair read Psal 77.5 6 7 c. for all these were Testimonies of thy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of thy love to man And meditation of them 2. I meditate on all thy works I muse upon the works of thy hands I did not slightly run them over but I meditate I muse upon them for in this combate betwixt hope and despair comfort is not obtained but by a long and serious meditation of Gods works his works in making a second Covenant with us and purchasing and applying Redemption The profit admirable 3. And the profit that came