so be you as ready to observe it 2. Ne sitis Be not like beasts like horse and mule Vers. 9 which have no understanding whose mouths must be held in by force with bit and bridle To obey freely lest they come near unto thee â—ing thee hurt thee kick thee kill thee Constrain'd obedience is for a beast free and voluntary for a man 3. Besides to quicken your obedience I will teach you two reasons Which he perswades by two reasons 1. Ab incommodo Many sorrows shall be to the wicked their griefs their troubles their punishments many and grievous Vers. 10 Be not then disobedient like the wicked Rebellious as they are 1 That the troubles of the rebellious are grievous 2. A commodo Your obedience shall be rewarded and that amply But he that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall compass him about It shall be like the girdle that he is girded withal 2 The willing obedience of the good rewarded God will be present with him in his troubles he shall perceive he is in favour with God that his sins are covered and that he is an beir of eternal life Upon which he concludes with this Exhortation Be glad in the Lord Vers. 11 and rejoice ye Righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart These he exhorts to rejoice in God As there is great reason for this Doctrine of the Free Remission of sin can alone quiet the Conscience The Prayer collected out of the 32. Psalm O Merciful Father Lord of Men and Angels to whose Will and Command all Creatures ought to be obedient I have béen through my whole life a rebellious wretch and with a high hand sinn'd against Heaven and against thée neither am I worthy to be call'd thy Son I have serv'd thée with a double heart and after the commission of many a grievous sin I have sought for fig-leaves to cover my nakedness either extenuated and sought to conceal it from thy eyes I have done wickedly Vers. 3 and have not open'd my mouth in confessien and therefore now that my sins present themselves to my conscience out of the sense of thy wrath I roar all the day long my bones are dryed Night and day thy hand is so heavy upon me that my moysture is become like the drought in Summer But O my God I humbly acknowledge that the state of my soul is sad and deplorable and by my own fault I am in an ill condition and how to recover I know no other way but to fall at thy féet and confess my errour I do therefore now acknowledge my sin unto thee and my iniquity do I not hide A time there is when thou may'st be found and in this time I do confess my transgressions unto thee forgive O Lord the iniquity of my sin O let not the sloods of great waters come so near my soul that they drown me in despair Be thou to me a hiding place till thy anger is overpast deliver me and let me rejoice in thy salvation Cover my sins forgive my transgressions impute not unto me mine iniquities but impute unto me thy Sons righteousuess for my justification when I shall appear before thy great Tribunal For this alone can make me Blessed and Happy And for the future Instruct me and teach me in the way that I am to go Vers. 8 guide me with thy eye let the least intimation of thy Will be a powerful motive to my soul and win it to obedience Suffer me not to be like a bruit beast like the head-strong horse or the sottish mule whose mouths must be held in with bit and bridle kept in their way by force and violence rather out of love give me Grace to do my duty than out of fear and compulsion If O Lord thou wilt procéed in wrath and anger let it be against the rebellious stiffmecked sinners let the sorrows of the wicked stubborn and perverse men be many But let all those that trust in thée be compassed and defended by thy mercy And let all those who labour to serve thée with an upright and in an honest heart though in great imperfection and weakness rejoice in thée and shout for joy knowing that they serve a good Lord who will remit their sin hide their transgressions and not impute their iniquiies Amen PSAL. XXXIII Is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Contents are 1. AN Exhortation to the just to praise God vers 1 2 3. 2. The Arguments he useth to perswade to it from vers 3. to 20. 3. The Confidence of Gods people in his Name Their joy in him and petition to him vers 20 21 22. 1. David exhorts the righteous to praise God The first part In the three first verses he exhorts to praise God But whom 1. The righteous not all For praise is comely for the upright 2. That it be given with all zeal and affection with exultation with singing Vers. 1 with voice with instruments Some new Song composed for some new mercy Vers. 2 and that it be skilfully expressed 2. His reasons The second part To this he perswades upon divers good grounds 1. The first in general fetcht from the truth the faithfulness the justice the goodness of God 1. For the Word of the Lord is right 2. Vers. 4 And all his works are done in Truth 3. He loveth righteousness and judgement 1 From Gods goodness c. 4. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. Vers. 5 2. 2 From his power His second Argument is fetcht from Gods power in the Creation of all things and that by his Word alone vers 6 7 9. and upon it interserts Let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him 3. Vers. 8 3 His providence His third Argument is fetcht from Gods providence in governing the world which may easily be discerned by those who will diligently consider his wayes and proceedings both to other people and to his Church 1. 1 In defeating his enemies He makes void all stratagems undertaken against his Will not of single men but whole Nations The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought Vers. 10 He maketh the devices of the people to be of none effect 2. Vers. 11 Whereas on the contrary what he hath decreed shall be done 't is not possible to infringe it 2 In bringing to pass his counsels The counsel of the Lord stands for ever the thoughts of his heart to all generations Upon the consideration of which he breaks out into this Epiphonema Vers. 12 Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord and the people For which he accompts his people blessed He amplifies Gods providence and illustrates it whom he hath chosen for his inheritance After which he returns to his discourse of Gods providence and by an elegant hypotyposis amplifies his former Argument For he sets God before us
hear I say for he speaks upon a condition that they be not Backsliders the Prophet puts in a Caveat for that But let them not turn again to folly And this the Prophet confirms in the next verse by a vehement asseveration 1. Surely his salvation i. e. freedom from all dangers is nigh them that fear him 2. And the end is That glory may dwell in our land i.e. That our Land may be in a happy condition enjoying peace and the fruits of peace plenty laws liberty and quietness for glory here is opposed to devastation And this the Prophet amplifies by an enumeration of the consequences of peace The consequences of peace Inter arma silent leges silent virtutes Cruelty the opposite to mercy falshood and errour which is opposed to Truth Injustice the opposite to righteousness bears all the sway but when God shall speak peace to his people all will be contrary 1. Mercy and Truth are met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other A combination of mercy truth justice peace These vertues shall be in great honour viz. Mercy and Truth Righteousness and the study of peace and concord Justice and peace kiss for there is such a league betwixt these two that where peace is made without justice it is not like long to continue and Mercy and Truth must meet for it is no mercy to spare errour and falshood 2. Truth shall flourish out of the Earth i. e. Because men shall be lovers and observers of Truth in their bargains contracts leagues words and promises they shall make the earth flourishing and the land where peace dwells happy 3. And righteousness hath looked down from Heaven For as the rain that descends from Heaven doth make the earth fruitful so the justice that comes from Heaven Gods justice is that which will make a people happy for this will teach to love thy Neighbour as thy self Quod tibi hoc alteri which the statutes of Omri will not do 4. In a word which is the sum of all the promises 1 Tim. 4.8 1. They shall enjoy spiritual blessings For the Lord shall give that which is good 2. And temporal And our Land shall yield her increase 4. The last part Our duties for this blessing In the last verse for these mercies he sets down our Duty 1. Righteousness shall go before him i.e. God His Saints shall walk before him in holiness and righteousness 2. And shall set us in the way of his steps that is shall teach us to walk constantly and happily in the wayes of his Commandments all the dayes of our life Luk. 1.72 How this Psalm is aptly applied to Christ and his Kingdom both by all Ancient and Modern Expositors I leave it to be searched in the Authors themselves because the Application would be tedious and is not so consonant to my intent The Prayer collected out of the eighty fifth Psalm O Blessed Lord God we have béen beset with many troubles Ver. 1 but thou out of méer love hast delivered us from them Thou hast delivered thy people into captivity but hast again brought them from the house of bondage great have béen the provocations by which we have dishonoured thée and yet in mercy Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people infinite are our transgressions and yet Thou hast covered all our sins Though we have béen slaves of the flesh and Captives of the Divel yet Thou-hast taken away thy wrath Thou hast turned thy self from the fierceness of thy anger These experiences we have had of thy love these pawns and pledges of thy mercy therefore O merciful God we are bold to approach thy Throne and beg of thée with an humble heart that thou who art the God of our salvation wouldst turn us unto thee and wouldst also be turned unto us and cause thine anger which we have justly kindled against us to cease What hast thou changed thy self as I may so say into another nature so that thou who hast proclaimed thy self to be patient and long-suffering passing by sins and forgiving transgressions wilt thou be angry with us for ever wilt thou draw out thine anger to all Generations Return return O Lord receive us again to thy favour revive us again by the favour of thy countenance that thy people may rejoyce in thée let us have experience of thy mercy as thou hast promised and grant us thy salvation Make us who have béen heretofore contumacious and rebellious against thée to hearken to what our Lord God will speak for then we are assured that salvation would be near unto us and our land would be glorious for plenty liberty and peace O Lord speak peace once more unto us thy people who have béen miserably torn and wasted by the fury of war and we will never being assisted by thy grace turn back again to our former folly Put into us the bowels of thy mercy and make us studious of Truth let justice and peace méet and kiss in our hearts and be tyed together with such an indissoluble knot that we may bring forth plentiful fruits of righteousness and holiness Our land is now over-run with Errors and false Doctrine O let thy Truth flourish again amongst us we measure out justire by the crooked line of mans Ordinances O let thy righteousness look down from Heaven and cause us to love our Naighbours as our selves and do to others as we desire and expect they should do to us Godliness hath the promise of this life and that which is to come teach us then to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously soberly and godly in this present World That thou Lord may'st give us what is good and our land may yield her encrease Thou hast delivered us from the hands of our enemies O stir up our minds to be thankful unto thée and to make a conscience to serve thée in righteousness and holiness all the dayes of our life PSAL. LXXXVI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID in this Psalm being in trouble prayes unto God for continuance in grace and in an innocent life and complaining of the insolence of his Persecutors prayes for protection and some token of Gods goodness This Psalm then is a continued Petition and according to the various Arguments he useth to perswade it it may be divided into These four parts 1. The first is a Petition for safety drawn from his own person the Petitioner from ver 1. to 5. 2. The second a quickning of the same Petition from the Person and Nature of God from ver 5. to 14. 3. The third taken from the quality of his Adversaries ver 14. 4. A conjunction of all these three The first ver 15. The second ver 16. The third ver 17. 1. His Petition The first part The reasons from himself His prayer is varied by many forms Bow down thine ear hear me preserve my soul be merciful unto me rejoyce the soul of thy servant c. and
and in Truth according to his Word and Promise He will accept no mans person but render to every man according to his works The Prayer collected out of the ninty sixth Psalm O Merciful Lord so déep is the Sea of thy mercies which hath from everlasting flow'd over unto us and thy dayly favours Vers. 1 2. that thou doest conter upon us that except we will be ungrateful we must sing unto thee a new Song for new blessings and bless thy name for fresh gifts and graces Vers. 5 What is man that thou shouldst be so mindful of him or the son of man that thou shouldst regard him Thou who madest the heaven Vers. 4 createdst him after thy own image but he defaced it Vers. 5 Thou who wert to be feared far above all gods gavest him a command to worship and honour thee but he made to himself other gods which indéed were no gods Vers. 4 but petty and ridiculous Deities and cast by thée the great God of heaven and earth a God greatly to be praised a God to be feared above all gods and worshipped the inventions of his own brain and the works of his own hands But all this did not cool thy love nor retard thy mercy even when all the kindreds of the Nations did serve other gods thou sentest them Redemption thou sentest thy Son to be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel Great and marvellous are thy works O Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Vers. 2 who ought not to fear thee and glorifie thy Name Warm therefore our cold hearts with thy love that we may shew forth thy Salvation from day to day Vers. 3 Make our flow tongues eloquent and powerful that we may publish this glad-ridings and declare thy glory unto the heathen and thy wonders to all people So resplendent is thy Honour and Majesty so immense thy strength Vers. 6 so illustrious thy beauty that we dust and ashes tremble in our approaches to thee and were it not for those commands thou hast laid upon and invitations and encouragements thou hast given to penitent and believing sinners we durst not presume to tender our selves and our homage before thee Vers. 7 But since thou hast call'd for a gift from us we do fréely give unto thée glory and strength fluce thou doest expect as a due debt glory to thy name we chéerfully give thée glory and proclaim thy name to the whole world The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin Offerings we have none that are worthy of thée Vers. 8 yet such as we have we bring we offer unto thée the Sacrifice of a troubled and a contrite spirit we tender unto thée our petitions and thanks upon the Altar of a mortified and broken heart we confess our unworthiness and fast and wéep before thée we come into thy Courts and present what we are able two poor mites soul and body Lord accept of these our offerings for Iesus Christs sake Our desire is to worship thee in the Beauty of Holiness to be holy as thou art holy to be perfect as thou art perfect but being conscious to our selves of the impurity and imperfections of our own hearts and sensible of thy excellencies we step back for very fear and retire for shame Bold and impudent we cannot be in thy presence but we worship thée with trembling spirits and adore with reverence Yet thus much we are and may be bold to proclaim among the heathen The Lord reigneth Vers. 10 Jehovah who is our righteousness is our King long let him reign Vers. 11 for ever let him live Hosannah to the son of David and let all things in heaven and earth say Amen to it Let the Angels and Saints in Heaven rejoice at it Vers. 12 let all men on earth be glad of it let the wicked who are like the troubled Sea will they nill they reare it out let the fulness thereof the impious spirits that move them bow at the Name of Jesus Yea let the wildest tree in the field and wood be brought at last to confess that Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father O thou great King of all the world Vers. 11 to whom all power is given in heaven and earth rule thy people with thy Word and Spirit and judge the adversaries of thy worship and enemies of thy Gospel bear rule and dominion among the heathen that yet have not submitted unto thee let the whole world be established by thy Gospel and thy Laws take place among them and never be removed Lord hasten thy Kingdom and appear in thy glory Even so come Lord Jesus Vers. 13 Come quickly Come to judge the earth seat thy self upon thy Throne and call all the Nations of the world before thee and make it known that thou art not an accepter of any mans person but that thou wilt judge the world with righteousness and the people with thy Truth and that those that have done ill shall go into eternal punishment but the righteous into life eternal Be thou my King O sweet Iesus inform me in thy Law guide and rule me by thy Spirit cause me so to worship and fear thee to offer such spiritual Sacrifices unto thee to give what I owe such glory and honour to thy Name that at thy coming I may be set on thy right-hand and be one of that number to whom thou wilt say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world For thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen PSAL. CXVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IN this Psalm David sets forth Gods power and glory and being moved by the Spirit of Prophesie foretels the downfall of Idolators and the happy estate of those who serve God with an honest heart Three parts there are of this Psalm 1. A Prophetical description of Christs power and glory especially at the day of judgement from vers 1. to 7. 2. A manifest difference put betwixt Idolators and the people of God Confusion he imprecates to the first vers 7. And gives notice of the joy of the second with the reasons vers 8 9. 3. He exhorts those that love God to a good life encouraging them upon Gods favour vers 10. And upon the joy that is like to follow it vers 11. for which he stirs them up to rejoice and to be thankful vers 12. He begins with a Solemn Acclamation The Lord reigneth The first part God is the Supreme King being the self-same that he commanded to be proclaimed in the former Psalm vers 10. As if he had said By the coming of Christ the Empire of Death Vers. 1 the Power of the Devil all Oracles are silenc'd and all Idols destroy'd And he will use his Scepter
understanding quick and my judgement bettered Bless the Lord O my tongue and all that is within me bless his holy Name But what do I insist upon the Benefits which thou hast bestowed upon me in particular when thou hast béen merciful to thy whole people Ver. 6 for those also I bless thée and for those now I pray many of them suffer injuries from the hands of Tyrants many of them are in want and necessity Execute righteousness and judgment help the afflicted comfort them who are in want and deliver all that are oppressed as thou didst thy people Israel by the hand of Moses And because ignorance and errour hath brought a missy darkness over thy Truth shine forth again and make thy wayes known as thou didst to thy people by Moses direct them in the right way of a good and a happy life and by the Acts already done for thy children of Israel assure them what in all Ages thou wilt do for thy people Thou O Lord art merciful and gracious flow to anger and plenteous in mercy Be merciful then to the sins of thy children and be not alwayes chiding let it suffice that thou correct and chastise them as a Father but keep not thy anger for ever Why should thy Spirit alwayes strive with those to whom thou beatest a paternal love and affection Be gracious then and out of méer grace seal them a pardon Deal not with them after their sins neither reward them according to their iniquities Make it appear That as the Heaven is high above the Earth so great is thy mercy immense and true toward them that fear thee that as far as the East is from the West that so far thou wilt remove their transgressions from them Shew that it is not the interposition of any sin how dark how swelling soever if repented and left that can kéep off the light of thy countenance from them Thou art slow to anger let not then thy wrath be kindled against the sheep of thy pasture Pity them then O God pity them and me an undutiful Child with them Yea as a Father pitieth his own Children so pity us that fear thee Remember O Lord our frame how thou hast fashioned us Remember that we are but dust and must return to dust Remember we are but grass that suddenly shoots up or as a flower of the Field which is to day in its pride and beauty and to morrow flags and falls a nipping sharp wind passeth over it shrivels it up and it is gone so that the place thereof shall know it no more nor it the place Thus frail thus vanishing is man when the Spirit of thy indignation and thy severe sentence passeth upon him But thou art plenteous in mercy it is not so with thy mercy as with the life of man that fades and decayes But thy mercy is from everlasting toward them that fear thee O Lord we desire to live in thy fear and to kéep thy Covenant and as we are the Children of those who have dyed in and for the Truth so to remember thy Commandments and to do them Bring these desires into Acts that so kéeping thy Covenant and performing thy Commandments with a filial fear we may be partakers of thy righteousness and that mercy which had no beginning and knowes no end no more end than thou canst have no more be circumscribed than thou canst be For thou hast prepared thy Throne in Heaven and thy Kingdom ruleth over all To thée then we his as Supreme for pardon and mercy Thy mercy is above thy works and the Benefits flowing from the Fountain of thy mercy infinite as it cannot be exhausted so I desire the praise for it should not be dryed up Men are sinful and praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner Men are frail and vanity it self and the praise would be everlasting O ye Angels of God then joyn with me Bless ye the Lord ye that excel in strength ye that do his Commandments which I to my grief kéep not and chearfully and readily hearken to the voyce of his words Ye are the multitude of the heavenly Host that sung in the Fields of Galilee Glory to God on High Bless ye then the Lord all ye his Hosts ye Ministers of his that do his pleasure And you also all ye works of his joyn with the Angels and do what you can Bless ye the Lord and sound forth his praises by your obedience and subjection to his Will in all places of his Dominion Lastly O my Soul so fréely pardoned and justified so graciously regenerated and sanctified so dearly bought and wonderfully redéemed so undeservedly to be glorified with this my body which in the mean time is satisfied by him with good things and shall at last in youth be renewed as an Eagle Bless the Lord O my Soul Bless the Lord the Lord who is merciful and gracious flow to anger and plenteous in mercy Thou never canst do enough that hast received so much Tender then unto him all laud all honour all praise all glory through Jesus Christ thy Lord thine only Saviour and Redeemer To God the Father that created us to God the Son that redeemed us to God the Holy Ghost who sanctifies us three Persons and one God be ascribed all Glory Honour Power and Dominion for ever and ever Amen PSAL. CIV 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE scope and intent of this Psalm is the same with the former viz. to excite men to praise God upon the consideration of his Benefits but yet upon a different ground In the former for the Benefits of Grace conferr'd upon his Elect. In this for the Gifts of Nature bestowed in general upon all Those flow immediately from his mercy these from his power wisdom goodness and depend upon his Providence which are manifest in the Creation Governance and Preservation of all things The Creature then is the Subject of this Psalm concerning which in it we have a long but very methodical Narration by the meditation of which he invites all men to sing Hallelujah The parts of the Psalm are four 1. The Exhortation proposed briefly ver 1. 2. The Exhortation perswaded by Inspection of the Fabrick the beauty the order the government of the World from ver 1. to 33. 3. The Duty practised by himself ver 33 34. 4. An Imprecation on them that neglect the Duty ver 35. 1. The first part He begins with a double Apostrophe 1. Ver. 1 To his own Soul to praise God Bless the Lord O my Soul which was the Conclusion of the former Psalm He exhorts to praise God because of his works 2. To his God O Lord my God whom he describes to be great and glorious And that he may set forth his Majesty and Glory he useth a most elegant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 borrowed from the Person of some great King who presents himself very glorious to his people in his Robes in his Pavilion with a glistering
remember what was done for them after They proved a rebellious people for which God humbled them and brought the Philistins and the Babylonian Kings against them who conquered them and kept them under and in subjection But God in this their oppression when they cryed and turned to him forsook them not but raised up some Judge King or other to deliver them as Gideon Sampson David Cyrus c. which the Prophet mentioneth in the next verses Ver. 23 Who remembred us when we were in our low estate for his mercy c. And hath redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy Psal 135.14 5. Lastly That this goodness is not extended only to his people 3 And his providence to all creatures but even to all Creatures is manifest in that he provides for nourishes and conserves every living creature for Caro here signifies every thing that hath life and bread all kind of nourishment by which the life is sustained Ver. 25 Who gives food to all flesh for his mercy endures for ever 6. He concludes as he begun O give thanks unto the God of Heaven The conclusion that we praise him for his mercy endureth for ever And he calls him the God of Heaven because he only made the Heaven and hath his Throne in Heaven Ver. 26 having the whole World under him and in his power that preserves moderates governs all things by his wisdom power mercy The Hymn collected out of the One hundred and thirty sixth Psalm O Omnipotent God so great is thy goodness so infinite is thy mercy to the sons of men that we are not able to express it because we cannot comprehend it Whatever we enjoy is from thy mercy whatever we hope to enjoy is thy mercy Thy mercy endures for ever and therefore we will sing of thy mercies from everlasting to everlasting Ver. 5 Whethersoever we cast our eyes we find objects of thy mercy whether we behold the Heavens framed by thy wisdom and adorned with great lights the Sun to rule the day or the Moon and Stars to govern the night or whether we look down upon the earth stretched out above the waters that it might be the habitation and yield food for all creatures in both these nay in all places they occur unto us ample Testimonies of thy bounty and mercy all which should we consider with a pious and serious mind we must néeds with an inflamed heart and free tongue never cease to sing with the Prophet Ver. 25 Thy mercy endureth for ever In the Creation of all things From Ver. 10. To Ver. 22. in giving food to all flesh thy mercy hath been wonderful But in the choosing gathering conserving revenging the wrongs and pardoning the sins of thy people more wonderful our hearts were as hard and as cold as a stone should we not consider what thou didst for thy people Israel which is an engagement to us what thou wilt do for thy Church For thy mercy endures for ever Thou smotest Aegypt and slew mighty Kings for their sakes Thou didst lead them as a Captain and provide Manna and Quails and waier for them as a father defend them from their enemies and never cease to prosecute them with mercy till thou givest them the heritage of the Heathen yea when they were brought to any low estate Thou redeemest them from their enemies for thy mercy endures for ever Thou therefore who art rich in bounty clemency and mercy that never can have an end behold we beséech thée thy Church and remember it now in a low estate remit our sins pardon our transgressions repent concerning thy servants and redeem us from our enemies for thy mercy endures for ever Thou which givest food to all flesh Ver. 25 féed our souls with the celestial Manna thy Word and thy Sacraments for thy mercy endures for ever So shall we give thanks to thee O Lord because thou art good and thy mercy endureth for ever Ver. 1 So shall we give thanks to the God of gods for his mercy endureth for ever So shall we give thanks to the Lord of lords for his mercy endureth for ever We will give thanks to the God of Heaven for his mercy endureth for ever Ver. 26 PSAL. CXXXVII AT the composure of this Psalm the Jewes were in captivity at Babylon under the heavy yoke of the Assyrian Tyrant far from their own Countrey banished from the Temple of God deprived of all publick Exercises of Religion scoffed and scorned by the pride and insultation of an enemy and now they begin to complain and pray remember what they were and what they are what they enjoyed and what they want that at Jerusalem they could sing songs of Zion but now at the Rivers of Babylon they must sit down and hang up their Harps The Psalm hath two parts 1. A complaint of Israel because of the insultation of the Babylonians in which they deplore their sad condition remember the pleasures of Jerusalem and the Religion of the Temple and long to be there from ver 1. to 7. 2. An imprecation for they pray for Divine vengeance to descend upon their Persecutors ver 7.8 9. Israels complaint in their captivity 1. Their complaint ariseth from the sense of their captivity which is aggravated The first part 1. From the place Babylon By the waters of Babylon 1 From the place a place far from their own Countrey where they served a cruel and barbarous people a people that were Aliens from the Covenant God made with Abraham Ver. 1 and scorners of their Religion that had wasted their City consumed with fire defiled robbed their Temple by them they were disposed to the Banks of the Rivers where in their fields they were forced to base and servile works 2. From the continuance of their captivity and misery There we sate down 2 From the continuance and misery took up the seats they alotted us and durst not remove for seventy years exposed to wind and weather and injuries of wild Beasts 3. From the effect it produced in them tears mourning yea 3 The effect tears we wept so we spent our time but our enemies cruelty was such that our tears wrought not any compassion on their hard hearts 4. From the cause that drew these tears from them 4 The cause the remembrance of Zion not so much their present calamities as the remembrance of what they enjoyed before but now were deprived of the Religion and Service of their God We wept when we remembred thee O Zion Toties quoties so often as they remembred the Temple the Feasts the Sacrifices the Songs the Hymns they sung to God in Zion so often they sate and wept 5. From the intensiveness of their grief so great it was 5 Their grief intensive that they laid aside whatever should provoke mirth they had more mind to weep than sing their Harps were unstrung Ver. 2 and their Instruments of Musick laid aside As for
the quantity and degrees of his calamity which he shews to be very great from the effects 1. In general he was in a languishing disease I am weak 2. In particular a sharp pain in his bones My bones are vexed 3. Vers. 2 Trouble in his soul My soul also is sore troubled 2. Vers. 3 From the continuance of it It was a long disease a lingring fickness and no ease he found Vers. 4 no not from his God The pain though great I could the better bear 2 From the continuance of it if I had any comfort from heaven But thou O Lord how long This makes me a man of sorrows that thou my Lord seems to have withdrawn thy countenance long long from thy servant Vers. 3 Lord how long 3. Vers. 3 3 From the consequence viz. Death From the consequence that was like to follow death and the event upon it 'T is my intention to celebrate thee and praise thy name This the living only can do therefore let me live For in death no man remembers thee and who will give thee thanks in the pit Vers. 5 4. And that to Deaths-door he was now brought he shews by three apparent symptomes 1. Sighs and groans which had almost broke his heart The symptoms of it being the companions of a perpetual grief with these he was oppressed even to weariness I am weary of my groaning Ver. 6 2. The abundance of tears which fell from him had even dried and washed his body these fell in such showres and so continual Ver. 6 That he made his bed to â—wim and watered his couch with his tears 3. His eyes also melted away and grew dim so that he seemed old before his time for grief preys upon the vital spirits and dries up the bones Ver. 7 Thus he complains My eye is consumed because of grief it waxeth old 5. And that which increased his grief and added to his sorrow was 4 From the joy his enemies took at it that he had many ill-willers who did laugh and boast and insult over him in this his extremity My eye is waxen old because of mine enemies Ver. 7 Secondly But at last receiving comfort and joy from his penitential tears The second part His insultation over his enemies These he rejects with scorns he begins to look up and from his complaint he turns upon his enemies who gaped after his death and over them he insults in the three last verses 1. He rejects these Reprobates from him with scorn and indignation you looked for my end and expected my ruine but all in vain and therefore now deluded of your hopes Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity 2. He assings the cause in effect Ver. 8 because God hath been moved by his prayer to reject them upon which ground he was so confirmed and pleased Because God had heard his prayer that he comes over it again and again thrice for failing 1. For the Lord hath heard the voyce of my weeping Ver. 8 2. The Lord hath heard my supplication Ver. 8 3. The Lord will receive my prayer Ver. 9 3. Then in the close there follows his imprecation His imprecation that which is made up of these three ingredients which he prayes may light upon them 1. Shame and confusion Let them be confounded to see their hope frustrate 1 Shame 2. Vexation Let them be vexed that they suffer by the hand of justice Ver. 10 3. Eversion Let them return with shame enough 2 Vexation that their plots come to nothing 3 Eversion may befall them And these two last he aggravates by the weight and speed for he desires that their punishment might begreat and speedy 1 Grievously 1. That their vexation should be nor easie nor mild but very sore Ver. 10 let them be sorely vexed 2. That their shame and overthrow linger not but be present hasty 2 Suddenly and sudden Let them be turned back and put to shame in a moment or suddenly The Prayer collected out of the sixth Psalm O Omnipotent holy and just Lord to whose commands we owe obedience and whose will ought to be our Law I wretched sinner and disobedient Caitiff do confess that for my disobedience I have deserved thy just displeasure I have provoked thy wrath and done evil before thée O Lord I have sinned and multiplied my iniquities Now therefore I vow the knées of my heart and humbly beléech thée to forgive and not to destroy me with my iniquities O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger Ver. 1 neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure I tremble O dear Father and am even out of heart when I remember my great offences and féel thy severe justice My soul is sore vexed and the pains of Hell have overtaken me But thou Ver. 3 O Lord how long how long wilt thou turn away thy face from me and set me up as a mark to shoot at how long Lord wilt thou be absent for ever and shall thy jealousie burn like fire how long shall I take counsel in my soul and be thus vexed in my heart wherefore hidest thou thy face and holdest me for thy enemy wilt thou break a leaf driven too and fro with the wind and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble For thou writest bitter things against me and makest me possess the sins of my youth Ver. 6 I am weary and worn out with sighs and groans and every night when solitude and darkness brings to me the memory of my sins Ver. 7 I make my Bed to swim and water my Couch with my tears The eye of my mind is darkned at the sense of thy revenge and the eye of my body grown dim and consumed with grief Have mercy upon me Ver. 2 have mercy upon me O my God and for thine own sake remit my sin and heal the running ulcers of my soul with thy grace for I am weak and unable to any good heal me from this my infirmity and the wounds of my transgressions Ver. 4 for which my bones are now justly vered Return O Lord who art now justly turned away from me for my sin and be propitious to me deliver my soul from the fear of thy judgment and eternal death and save him who hath deserved to be cast away for thy mercy sake I said in the cutting off my dayes Ver. 5 I shall go to the gates of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years I said I shall not sée the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living I shall behold man no more with the Inhabitants of the world For in death no man remembreth thee and in the grave who shall give thee thanks Wilt thou shew wonders among the dead or shall the dead arise and praise thée shall thy wonders be known in the dark or thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten But unto thée have I cryed O Lord and in the morning
his and so are the Cattle upon a thousand Hills will he eat Bulls flesh or drink the blood of Goats To what purpose are the multitude of sacrifices and the fat of fed Beasts these thou delightest not in incense is an abomination unto thee the calling of Assemblies the new Moons the Sabbaths all external worship is hateful and a trouble unto thée so long as the persons of those who observe them are not accepted so long as the men are Formalists Hypocrites and have their hands full of blood 't is the penitent soul to which thou wilt look the sincere heart which thou wilt regard Cleanse me therefore O Lord and wash my heart give me power to put away the evil of my doings let me cease to do evil and learn to do well that so my person being pleasing in thy sight thou may'st hear my prayers and accept my thanks It is now a day of trouble and as thou hast commanded I call unto thee for help Ver. 15 Lord hear my prayers and deliver me as thou hast promised so shall I glorifie thy Name be obliged to offer thee Thanksgiving and pay my vows to the most High Remit Lord and pardon the sins of thy people put our present sufferings and extream afflictions before thy eyes and return to us who return to thée with fasting wéeping and mourning so shall we have just occasion to offer thée praise and glorifie thée for this great mercy and deliverance for ever and ever thy statutes shall be our song in the house of our pilgrimage and we will run the way of thy Commandments all the dayes of our life PSAL. LI. One and a chief of the Penitentials THE occasion of this Psalm was the message that David received from God by Nathan the Prophet for the murder of Vriah and his Adultery in defiling Bathsheba this put him into the state of a Penitent and to petition to God for mercy for pardon for grace for peace of conscience for renovation of his heart It in general contains Davids prayer 1. For himself ver 1. to 13. 2. And three vows or promises ver 13. to 18. 3. For the Church from ver 18. to the end David being in a perplexed estate conceived he could have no comfort The first part but in Gods mercy and therefore he first in general prayes for that Have mercy on me Ver. 1 O Lord not on David the King thine Anointed but on me The general Petition for mercy that am not worthy to be called thy servant thy son and the motive he useth to gain that is not any plea or merit of his own but 1. The kindness of God Have mercy on me according to thy loving-kindness 2. The compassion of God According to the multitude of thy compassions The general Petition for mercy being offered next he tenders three particular Petitions 1. His first particular Petition is for forgiveness of his sins the fact was past The first Petition for forgiveness but the guilt remained he therefore earnestly petitions Put away mine iniquities and upon this he insists and in other terms comes over it for a soul that is truly sensible of sin is never at rest and satisfied with one deprecation for sin is a spot a deep stain Therefore wash me throughly wash me from mine iniquities Ver. 2 and cleanse me from my sin Amplius lava as if one washing were too little for a double sin for two such sins To this Petition for mercy he subjoins a confession of his sin knowing well To this he subjoins a confession that this was the readiest way to obtain it for he that confesseth and forsakes his sin shall find mercy in which we may learn many excellent conditions requisite in a true Confessionist 1. He enters into a serious consideration of the nature of sin he feels the weight the burden of it feels the anguish and abhors it I excuse it not 1. I know my iniquity I know it now to abhor to reform it Ver. 3 2. It is ever before me not to please me but to trouble and grieve me 3. He aggravates it with divers names iniquity sin transgression it is Pasteanos rebellion it is Greavah crooked dealing Chatta errour and wandring 2. And so he falls upon an open and plain confession Peccavi I have sinned Ver. 4 and this he first aggravates by two circumstances He aggravates his sins 1. From the person 1. Of the person It is against thee against thee I say a good gracious God that from a Shepherd hast made me a King a great and terrible God that art able and hast threatned to punish there was neither grace nor fear in me that I durst sin against thee against thee the Epizeuxis is emphatical yea against thee only have I sinned In maxima fortuna minima licentia So highly thou hast advanced me that I need to fear none but thee but this hath not kept me from this sin in this was unthankfulness Vriah was my Souldier I need not fear him the People my Subjects they cannot judge me it is to thee I am to answer for breach of thy Law I esteem therefore my sin to be against thee only for I had not known this sin to be a sin hadst not thou forbidden it nor need not fear any wouldst not thou punish it 2. Of the manner it was an impudent sin done in thy sight 2 The manner before thy eyes thou being by and looking on and so done without any reverence of thy Majesty as it were in contempt I have done this evil in thy sight So that I confess that in reproving and threatning me by Nathan thou art a just God and to be justified in thy sayings and clear in the judgment of any who with an impartial eye shall examine my offence and thy proceeding for I have deserved whatsoever thou hast threatned and given thee just cause to speak and judge as thou hast done Vt is not here causal but consequential for it is not his meaning that he sinned for that end that God should be justified but that this would follow upon it whensoever he was brought to confess his sin then God would be justified in his proceeding against him Ver. 5 3. He proceeds in the Amplification and Exaggeration of his sin He yet aggravates his sin 1. That it proceeded from original sin in him and declares from what root this his actual sin sprang even from his original Behold I was born in iniquity and in sin hath my mother conceived me This very sin that I have committed gives me occasion to enquire into my state and I find and confess upon a diligent inquisition that I am universally corrupted even from my mothers womb and that I carry about me the seeds of all sin 4. Ver. 6 Another aggravation of his sin is that in himself he found not that which God loves 2 From an insincere heart Thou requirest truth in the inward parts
deny me and afford me no comfort And all this is done unto me without any fault or offence of mine Ver. 7 it is for thy sake I have born this reproach For thy sake shame hath covered my face for the zeal of thy House hath eaten me up I have béen very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts they have thrown down thine Altars and slain thy Prophets with the edge of the Sword very studious I have béen and fervent to maintain thy Religion in its purity which others have cast down and in it so much as lies in them have reproached thée but the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me Because thy Name was dishonoured I wept I chastned even my soul with fasting and whereas I ought for this to have béen more dear unto them I became a scorn even my humiliation and acts of repentance were turned to my reproach I testified also my sadness by my Sackloth and for this I became a Proverb of reproach The Iudges the chief of the City they which sit in the Gates speak against me condemning me and detracting from me and as for the common ordinary sort of people the Drunkards they made songs of me In a word They gave me Gall to eat and Vinegar to drink so inhumane they were that whereas in my greatest sufferings and extremities they ought to have refreshed and relieved me they increased my sorrows and under a colour of refreshment added affliction to the afflicted Now in the midst of these grievances that which most grieves my heart is the scandal of the Cross afraid I am lest that any of thy people looking upon those things which I suffer should estéem me stricken smitten of God and afflicted and thereby take an occasion to renounce the Truth of Religion and fall from thée I beséech thée therefore O Lord God of Hosts Let not them that wait on thee be ashamed for my sake let not them that seek thee be confounded for my sake O Lord God of Israel O Lord to remove this scandal there is no readier way than to bring them down to humble them and to poure the vials of thy wrath upon them Let then their Table be made a snare unto them and what should have been a welfare let it become a trap Gall and bitterness they have offered to me let their dainties be bitterness in their mouths and gall to their palates A snare they have laid for my féet and let that in which they hope to be prosperous and happy be an occasion of falling the very eating of the Paschal Lamb their ruine and thy Word the food of their souls an occasion of errour In hearing let them hear and not understand and in séeing let them sée and not perceive make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they sée with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed Inféeble them O Lord and make their loins to tremble and shake bow down their backs with slavery and hard bondage and press them continually with such burdens of miseries that they may groan and sigh under the heavy hand of their Oppressors Plentifully and speedily poure forth thy indignation upon them and let thy fiercest anger and vengeance continually pursue them let their houses be desolate not a stone left upon a stone and their land without an inhabitant let them procéed from one wickedness to another and add sin to sin till their iniquity come to the full neither ever let them repent them of their wicked wayes that thou might'st pardon and forgive their heinous transgressions or justifie them at thy great Tribunal with mercy thou wilt indulge to all true penitents And although hitherto they have béen reckoned among thy people of whom they are born and with whom thou hast established thy Covenant yet O Lord let them be blotted out of the Book of the living and not be written among the righteous And it is but just that all this happen unto them because when common humanity and thy Word also requires That we weep with him that weeps and lament with him that laments they have helped on the affliction for they persecute Him whom thou hast smitten and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded O Lord I am wounded I suffer justly under thy hand but to them I have done no harm at this time I am poor and sorrowful destitute of all humane help and affected with extream heaviness Arise then for me and let thy salvation set me up on High Deliver me O Lord from these troubles and so shall I praise thy Name with a Song Ver. 30 Save me from my enemies and I shall magnifie thee with Thanksgiving which sacrifice Ver. 31 I know will better please thee than the fat of fed Beasts or the incense of Rams Besides all those that are of a dejected spirit humbled and brought low at the sight of my afflictions will consider this sée they will That God heareth the poor and despiseth not those who are in captivity and imprisoned for his sake and they will be glad and rejoyce at it and the heart of all those that seek thâ—â— which was even dead before will then revive and live O Lord save Sion and build the Cities of Judah let men dwell there and have it in possession let the seed of thy servants inherit it and all those that love thy Name dwell therein so shall the Heaven and Earth praise thee and every thing that moveth therein Amen Amen PSAL. LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalme is the same with the five last verses of the fortieth Psalm The Contents of this Psalm are 1. The Prayer of David for himself that he may be freed from his enemies ver 1. which he repeats ver 5. 2. For the speedy destruction of the wicked ver 2 3. 3. For the prosperity of the godly ver 4. 4. The Arguments he urgeth to move God to grant his prayer 1. His miserable condition I am poor and needy 2. Gods office Thou art my Helper and Redeemer therefore make no long tarrying O my God The Psalm needs no farther Analysis because it is fully Analysed before in the end of the fortieth Psalm The Prayer out of the seventieth Psalm O Lord we therefore daily implore thy mercy because we are daily beset with danger Enemies we have without within us from whose malice and cruelty we can find no safety Ver. 5 except in thy favour and mercy Thou alone art our Help and Deliverer make then no long tarrying O my God rather make haste to deliver us Ver. 1 make haste to help us Many there are that seek after my soul let them be ashamed and confounded Ver. 2 many there are that desire my hurt let them be turned backward and put to confusion suddenly let them be turned back and put to flight Ver. 3 that rejoyce at
faith their hope their love But they not understanding the end of Gods Counsel murmur'd as if God had cast them off and had no care of them and could not relieve them 4. And what they did at this time they did also at others Lusted For they lusted exceedingly in the Wilderness and tempted God in the Desart as is evident Exod. 16. 17. and Numb 11. 20. Now God yielded to these desires of the people he gave them bread flesh But he gave them bread flesh water and water 1. And he gave them their request Exod. 16.12 2. But he sent leanness into their souls which certainly hath reference to the Quails in Numb 11.20 33. where the people eat and dyed of the plague so that the place from the multitude there buried was call'd Kibrothhattaava 3. Another rebellion yet there was which the Prophet now toucheth 3 They rebelled a third time rose against Moses Aaron when they rose up against the King and the Priest the story of which is extant Numb 16. 1. They envied also Moses in the Camp objecting unto him that he had usurped a power over them and taken it upon him of his own head which arose out of envy for they envied 2. And Aaron the Saint of the Lord Him whom God had chosen and sanctified to the Priests Office The punishment followes which at large may be read Numb 16. 1. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan For this punished and covered the Congregation of Abiram 2. And a fire was kindled in their company the flame burnt up the wicked i. e. the 250. men that presumed to offer Incense and presently after the 14700. that murmured and objected to Moses and Aaron that they had killed the people of the Lord. 4. 4 Made the golden Calf Still the Prophet goes on in his story of Israel's stubbornness and rebellion and now he comes to their grand sin their Idolatry in erecting the golden Calf which he detests and withall praiseth the mercy of God that would be pacified by Moses prayer the story is extant Exod. 32. 1. They made a Calf in Horeb and worshipped the molten image quite contrary to the second command 2. Thus they chang'd their Glory That is the true God who indeed was their glory into the similitude of an Oxe a brute Beast that eats grass a base creature which much aggravates their sin A sin so great that the Jewes conceive that it is not expiated to this day for they have usually these words in their mouths Non accidit tibi O Israel ullaultio in quâ non sit uncia de iniquitate anrei vituli 3. But the Prophet aggravates their stupidness and folly They forgat God their Saviour which had done great things in Aegypt wonderful works in the land of Ham and terrible things by the red Sea In the following verse is expressed Gods just anger and mercy 1. Against this God shews his anger His anger against their sins Therefore he said pronounced his will to destroy them 2. His mercy in that yet he spared them at Moses intercession for destroyed them certainly he had But spares them at Moses prayer 1. Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach That breach and division which this sin had made betwixt God and his people like some breach made in the Wall of a besieged Town in which some valiant Captain stands and opposeth himself against the assault of the enemy so did Moses 2. For his end was the same it was To turn away his wrath lest he should destroy And the effect was answerable for by his intercession the wrath of God was turned away so powerful are the intercessions and prayers of Gods Saints servants friends with him 5. 5 A new rebellion viz. their murmuring at the Spies report Farther yet he calls to mind a new rebellion which fell out upon the report of the Spies sent to search the Land Numb 13.26 c. and Numb 14. For when the Spies told them that it was a land that eat up the Inhabitants that the sons of Anak were there in comparison of whom they were but as Grashoppers 1. They despised the pleasant Land and had a mind to return into Aegypt Numb 14. from ver 1. to 5. 2. They believed not his Word for they said Hath the Lord brought us unto this Land to fall by the Sword c. 3. But murmured in their Tents and hearkned not to the voyce of the Lord Numb 14.10 As their sin Which God punisheth on them so their punishment is also extant Numb 14.29 at which the Prophet here points 1. Therefore he lift up his hand against them to overthrow them in the Wilderness Your carkasses shall fall in the Wilderness doubtless ye shall not come into the Land 2. This punishment fell upon the Murmurers themselves but if their children should be guilty of the like rebellion And their seed they should not escape neither for God then would lift up his hand against them too and overthrow their seed among the Nations and scatter them in the Lands which we have lived to see fully brought to pass 6. 6 Their re bellion at Baal-Peor The Prophet joyns to that of the golden Calf another piece of Idolatry in the Wilderness to which there was joyned Fornication also by the Connsel of Balaam and the policy of Balaac this caused them to eat and sacrifice to their God Numb 25. which the Prophet insists upon next 1. They joyned themselves to Baal-Peor because the Idol was set up upon that Mountain 2. And eat the offerings of the dead They left the Sacrifices of the living God and eat of those meats which were offered to their dead Idols That have eyes but see not and hands but handle not Upon which there followed Gods wrath and their punishment 1. God was angry For they provoked him to wrath with their inventions Gods wrath and vengeance inventing a new god 2. And the plague brake in upon them It rush'd in upon them as some mighty waters or as an Army into a City at a breach for there dyed of the plague 24000 Numb 25.9 In the former Idolatry Gods anger was averted by Moses intercession in this by Phinehaz execution of judgment for 1. Then stood up Phinehaz Phinehaz averts it moved no question with the zeal of Gods honour Ver. 30 2. And he executed judgment upon Zimri and Cozbi for which let men conceive as they please I see nothing to the contrary His zeal rewarded but he had his Commission from Moses or God rather Numb 25.4 5. 3. The event was and so the plague was stayed execution of Justice on Offendors pacifies God Which zeal of his was well rewarded This was accounted to him for righteousness unto all Generations for evermore God that knowes the heart knew his good intention and so accounted it not murder but a just punishment that
for our former ingratitude and forgive this great sin of thy people once more let thy light shine amongst us and do for us O Iehovah the Lord for thy Names sake because thy mercy is good deliver us Thou art the mighty Iehovah Thou then canst and thy mercy is great and therefore we hope thou wilt do it for us we plead no merit we ask it not for any desert but méerly for thy Names sake for we are assured that by the doing of it thy Name will be magnified thy Clemency thy Goodness thy Faithfulness in defence of thy Church and thy Iustice in executing vengeance upon the enemy will be exalted and celebrated Our condition O Lord at this time is very low poor we are and men of a troubled spirit néedy we are being robb'd and outed of our worldly Goods Ver. 22 our heart is wounded within us in a sharp and true compunction for our rebellions against Heaven drawing we are to our last home as the shadow that at Even departs and yet we can have no rest but are tost up and down from Herod to Pilate from Pilate to Herod as the Locust we have chastised ou◠soul with fasting till our knees are weak and our flesh is worn away for want of fatness And yer all this we could digest with patience were it not for the opprobrious language and usage we sustain from them it wounds our hearts and pierceth our souls that we should become a reproach to them when they these mockers of Religion these wolves in shéeps cloathing these monsters of men destitute of all humanity and piety looked upon us in our affliction so far they were from remembring to shew mercy That they persecuted us whom thou hadst smitten they shaked their heads at us and cryed Ah thou wretch Arise help us O Lord our God O save us according to thy mercy They blasphemously entitle thée to all their Actions they impute all to thy Providence ashamed they are not to declare That thou art pleased with all their enormities But O our God arise and in thy good time make them know That they were but thy Rod and thy Scourge that the blowes they gave were from thee and so many as thou pleasest in which they ought to take small content that it was thy hand thus for their sins to chastise thy people and that thou Lord hast done it and that being done Thou wilt take them and cast them into the fire Let them then O Lord curse Let them speak evil as they do of us let them vlaspheme and account us the off-scouring of the World out-casts and a spectacle to men and Angels But do thou O Lord bless bless thy people bless thine inheritance They arise against us but let them be ashamed and astonished that all their plots are frustrate and brought to naught Let our Adversaries be cloathed with shame and cover and enwrap themselves with their own confusion as with a Mantle This at the last day will be certainly done when they shall desire if possible to fly from the presence of the Almighty whereas thy servants then with great boldness shall stand in the presence of the Almighty and lift up their heads and rejoyce O Gracious God defend and help thy poor Church stand at the right hand of every one that is poor in spirit and of an humble heart save him from those that would condemn his soul So will we greatly praise the Lord with our mouths yea we will praise thee among the multitude in all the Churches of the Saints with great affections and many Jubilees we will honour thy Name and sound forth thy praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CX Propheticus de Regno Christi THIS Psalm is short in words but copious and deep in Mysteries the Subject of it without doubt is Christ which no Christian can deny since both St. Peter Acts 2.34 and St. Paul Hebr. 1.13 expounds it of Christ and Christ applieth it to himself Matth. 22.44 In this then Christ is described as a King and a Priest In it are to be considered 1. Christs Kingdom in the three first verses 2. His Priesthood in the fourth fifth sixth and seventh 1. The first part Christ a King As touching his Kingdom the Prophet first acquaints us with his Person 2. His Power and the Acquisition of it 3. The Continuance of it 4. The Execution of it first over his enemies and secondly over his own people which is the sum of the three first verses 1. The Person that was here to reign was Davids Lord 1 His Person his Son according to the flesh but his Lord as equal to God Phil. 2.6 7. As made flesh Ver. 1 the Son of David as born of a Virgin the Son of David but as Emmanuel the Lord of David which the Jewes not understanding could not answer Christs question Mat. 22.45 2. As for his Power the Authour of it was God The Lord said to my Lord. 2 His Power The Lord said said it that is Decreed it from everlasting And said it again when he made it known The Seed of the woman shall break the Serpents head 3. And of this Kingdom as I may so say he then took Possession 3 His Inauguration to his Kingdom at his Ascension when the Lord said unto him Sit at my right hand Christ as the Son of God was ever at Gods right hand equal with him in Might and Majesty but as Man was not exalted to this honour before his glorious Ascension Acts 2.34 Ephes 1.20 Phil. 2.8 This then was the day of Inauguration to his Kingdom 4. For the continuance of it It is to be donec 4 The continuance of his Kingdom which notes not a piece of time but a perpetuity Sit till I make all thy enemies thy foot-stool Sit he shall at Gods right hand that is in power and glory till he shall say to all Tyrants and Hereticks and Hypocrites and Antichrists Depart from me Mat. 25. Yet not so as if he were to be dethron'd then but till then he shall reign in a secret manner for now though he executes his Power yet it is not seen Tyrants acknowledge it not But when once all his enemies shall be made his foot-stool then he shall openly and visibly Rule Sitting at his Fathers right hand for evermore Bellarmine interprets it well Go on to reign neither desist to propagate and enlarge thy Kingdom by converting men to faith and obedience until there be not an enemy alive not a man which will not bow his knee to thy Name till all Opponents be beaten down 5. The beginning of this Kingdom was in Zion 5 The beginning of his Kingdom in Zion The Lord shall send the Rod of thy strength out of Zion 1. The Rod of his power and strength was his Scepter and his Scepter is his Word the Gospel the Wisdom of God 1 Thes 2.13 Ver. 2 The Sword of the Spirit
the head of the corner that was rejected that it was Gods doing alone and a marvellous work that the day in which this was done was a Festival and the people to rejoyce in it that then they pray'd to God to save them by his hand and blessed their King adorned their Temple and offer'd Sacrifices with many thanks to God for his mercies Thus no question these verses may literally be understood of David But it must be confessed that in all this David was but a Type of Christ and that these words properly belong unto him we have a clear testimony first from his own mouth attested by three Evangelists Matth. 21.42 Mark 12.10 Luke 20.17 and by his Apostles St. Peter Acts 4.11 and St. Paul Rom. 9.33 These words to be applied to Christ out of Isa 28.16 Of Christ then I shall rather interpret them than of David without doubt the Prophet being wonderfully illuminated by the Holy Ghost wrote concerning Christ as followeth 1. The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner Ver. 22 1. The Church is oftentimes in Scripture likened to a building of which the Saints are living stones of which Christ is the chief stone the head and corner stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that joins and keeps together the two walls Jewes and Gentiles 2. But the Jewes the Priests especially to whom did pertain the office of building the Church refused this stone and cast him aside We will not have this man to reign over us we have no King but Caesar They crucified him and in his Grave call'd him a Deceiver St. Peter layes it to their charge Acts 4.11 3. But God call'd for him again and he is become the head of the corner Ephes 2.20 That is he is made head of the whole Church and such a head that whosoever is not built upon him cannot be saved 2. This saith the Prophet was the Lords doing both his rejection and raising again was from him it was done by his Election and Divine Power not from any counsel or hand of man Acts 2.23 24. 3. And it is marvellous in our eyes For who can do less than wonder that a crucified man dead and butied should by his own power rise again after three dayes be immortal and have all power given to him and be made Head and Prince of all men and Angels For this mercy a day set apart and that by him there should be a way made to mortal men to the Kingdom of Heaven to the society of Angels and an immortal life For so great a work fit it is that a day be set apart and such there is saith David 1. This is the day that the Lord hath made which questionless was the day of his Resurrection and God is said to have made this day more than other as honouring it above other making it memorable to posterity in which the Son of righteousness arose from the Grave and making it an high and holy day from which every other Sunday had his Original This is the Lords day 2. And the end why this day was made for joy and gladness The duty of the day The day wherein Adam fell was a doleful day but this day wherein Christ rose from the dead is a joyful day The Redemption by Christ is a year of Jubilee the Resurrection of Christ is the chief day in the year We will therefore rejoyce for it and be glad in it 3. Yea and in the midst of our rejoycing we will pray and sound forth Osanuah to the son of David which is being interpreted Save now we beseech thee O Lord O Lord we beseech thee send now prosperity Blessed be he that comes in the Name of the Lord Which was the gratulatoâ—â— and precatory words that the people used to our Saviour when he rode in Triumph into Jerusalem Mat. 21. That we may be assured that the Form of Acclamation belongs nor so much to David as to Christ and it was the opinion of the Jewes That when their Messiah came these words should be sung before him that being the cause that the people used them then The whole Prophesie of Christs coming riding into Jerusalem in Triumph The Priests duty then to bless Rejection Passion Resurrection Benediction being thus explained the Prophet turns his speech to the people putting into the mouth of the Priests these words in which they were to do their Duty Numb 6. and to bless 1. We have blessed you as we ought to do all happiness be to you under this King 2. And all happiness be to you out of the house of the Lord from the Church and to the Church alone the blessing belongs Ye are the blessed of the Lord. 3. God is the Lord which hath shewed us light Revealed unto his Son the light of the World and removed from us the darkness of errour sin hell c. 4. Therefore be thankful unto him bind the Sacrifice with cords even to the horns of the Altar make a solemn day for it and meet in the Church to praise him 5. The fifth part Being a Doxology The Prophet concludes with a Doxology fit to be used by the people met and assembled in which he sets forth his faith and gratitude 1. Thou art my God 2. And I will praise thee which he ingeminates Thou art my God and I will exalt thee which ingemination shewes his ardent desire to be thankful 3. And so concludes with the same Exhortation that he began the Psalm and in the same words O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and eighteenth Psalm O Blessed and Holy Iesus King of the World and Head of the Church who hast bought us by thy blood and espoused us in mercy and loving-kindness Ver. 13 it is not unknown unto thée how the enemies of thy Truth dally oppose us and with what storms and tempests of persecutions we are daily assaulted The Devil daily thrusts sore at us that we might fall and Antichrist with his complices compass us about they compass us about they compass us about in anger and rage they swarm about us as thick as Bées to sting us even to death might they have their will upon us In these our dangers we have none to fly to but thée we have none to call upon in our distress but on thée Who art the Lord our God answer us O Lord and set our feet in a large place Be on our side and then we will not fear what man can do unto us take our part with them that help us and so shall we see our desire upon them that hate us We confess O Lord we confess before men and Angels that our sins with which we have provoked thy justice Ver. 18 have deserved far greater punishments and that for these Thou hast sorely chastned and corrected us yet in mercy Thou hast not
3 And quicken him Quicken me according to thy Word For thy promise made in thy Word concerning the reward of good men and punishment of bad quicken me put life into me by refreshing me by the life of grace and comforting me with the hope of the life of glory 2. He beleves he shall be heard because no wicked person Were I a wicked person this I could not hope from thee nor grace nor glory nor help nor deliverance I could not be perswaded that thou wouldst either consider or plead my cause or pass any judiciary sentence in my favour 1. Ver. 3 From whom salvation is far removed For salvation is far from the wicked In the former Section he said They are far from thy Law of which the consequent is That salvation is far from them Gods Law then must be kept by him that looks for salvarion If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments Mat. 19. Do this and live 2. And this Davids Reason confirms For they seek not thy statutes Saved they cannot be Because they seek not Gods Law for they do not so much as seek to know thy Will the way of salvation they esteem it not make no account of it and therefore no wonder if thâ—y seek it not for men seek after that they esteem this is a sin of which a good man is never guilty transgress he may and doth yet he is alwayes seeking what is the mind of God and will find it if he can and live thereafter 3. And yet he desires mercies In which notwithstanding all his seeking and finding he still fails and comes short therefore he flies to Gods mercies with David in this place Great or many Ver. 4 are thy tender mercies O Lord. Two Epithites he bestowes on Gods mercies and we need both Which are great and many 1. Great or many for our sins are great and many Great they are in continuance they endure for ever great in extension for they they are above all his works and also many they are There is his preventing mercy his sparing mercy his pardoning mercy his renewing mercy his continuing mercy his crowning mercy there is a multitude of them Psal 51.1 2. And as they are great so are they tender Racham loving mercies 2 Tender and easie to be intreated they flow from his bowels and inward affection they are miserationes as well as misericordiae pitiful mercies tender as is the Matrix of the mother to the infant 3. Quicken me according to thy judgments To quicken him David found the life of grace in him dull'd deaded hindred impugned therefore so often he desires that God would quicken him 4. And now he begins to complain 't is not without reason He complains of his persecutors that I desire to be quickned and to have new life put into me for 1. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies many Devils many men many visible more invisible that go about to mortifie me Ver. 5 2. And yet I remain constant yet I do not decline to the right hand But is yet constant to Gods Law nor to the left I swarve not from thy Testimonies It is no great matter to cleave to the Law of God when none pursues thee for it when Authority allowes it when honour and prosperity followes it When the Lord gloried of his servant Job remember Satans answer Doth Job serve God for naught c. But do this and this to him and he will blaspheme thee to thy face But he was deceived for the more Job was cross't the more he cleaved to the Lord and so must a good man endure the fiery trial resist men to blood never decline or swarve 3. And a second strein of his complaint is Ver. 6 That these men were not only violent against him and malicious The qualities of his persecutors For which he grieved And appeals to God for the Truth of it but they were injurious to his God 1. They were Transgressours not simple sinners but workers of iniquity 2. Now this was it that went near his heart that his God should be dishonoured by them and his Word contemned I beheld the Transgressours and was grieved so before ver 139. 143. He took not so heavily his own persecution as the injury done to God An admirable Argument it is of love when the Glory of God and his Word is dearer to us than our lives It was so in Eliah in the Martyrs in David that melted away for grief to see wickedness exalted and Piety and true Religion trode under foot 5. This was I say an evident Argument of his love and for probation of it he appeals to God desiring the Lord to consider it whether it were so or no. 1. Consider Vide. No man dare say to God look upon me And desires him to consider it but he that is perswaded that God will like him when he looks upon him for he that doth evil hates the light and flies as did Adam that hid himself It is an Argument of a good conscience when we dare present our heart to God 2. Consider how I love It is not consider how I perform the comfort of a Christian while he lives in this body of sin is rather in sincerity And the love he bears to Gods Law and fervency of affection than in the absolute perfection of his actions for though he may fail oftentimes in his actions yet love in his affection still remains 3. And his love is to the precept He loves the Law because it is Gods Law from a just God and just in it self To love the promises of God is no such great matter for every man out of that love he bears to himself will be in love with these but to love Gods Law which is contrary to and restrains our corrupt nature is a great denial of himself and a manifest of true love so it was in David I love thy precepts 4. Therefore he petitions again for comfort And upon this he presseth on his Petition Quicken me O Lord according to thy loving-kindness As if he said Aequum est 't is but Reason thou be kind to me and quicken me since I grieve for the Transgressors and love thy Law 6. The Encomium of Gods Law viz. Now for the confirmation of his constancy he concludes with a commendation of Gods Law and Truth But these words are read or may be translated two wayes and they will have two senses for if we read 1. Thy Word is true from the beginning then the meaning is That when in the beginning thou commandest Adam not to touch the forbiden fruit under pain of death since thou hast verified thy Word for all men are since mortal 2. But if we read The beginning of thy Word is true Caput verbi tui veritas Vatab. The sense is Thy words proceed from Truth as from their Principle and Fountain and therefore are most true the
2. He goes on For thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble And that upon mercy Freedom he desires but still upon mercy 8. His last Petition is for the destruction of Satans Kingdom 1. Of thy mercies cut off my enemies 9 He petitions for the destruction of Satans Kingdom His reason and destroy all them that afflict my soul 2. His reason For I am thy servant a Client a Follower one under thy Protection and Patronage one of thy Family honoured with the dignity of thy servant and well contented to do my Duty and serve thee honestly therefore defend me and destroy my enemies for these in being mine are thy enemies The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and forty third Psalm being penitential O God Thou God of mercy and compassion Ver. 1 hear the prayer of an afflicted penitent soul and give ear to my humble supplications answer me O Lord in thy faithfulness and remit my sin in thy righteousness many promises I find thou hast made to a grieved spirit and to blot out the transgression of a returning sinner to which now in anguish of my spirit I lay claim Ver. 2 I believe thy promises I rely upon thy equity in performance of them as thou art then both faithful and just remit my sin Merits good God before thée I have none to plead I could produce a Bill loaden with a Mass of corruptions and rebellions these make me unworthy to approach thy presence and appear in thy sight O my God pity me for thy Names sake 〈…〉 thy own goodness sake and enter not into a severe account and reckoning with thy servant be not my adversary contend not in judgment with me for if thou shouldst call me to the Bar Ver. 3 I have nothing to put in against the dreadful sentence nothing of my own that can appease thy anger or abate the fury of one stroak of thy severe arm My case is the same with other men with all men when thou shalt call us to an account of our stewards place silent we must be as having nothing to say for our selves because in thy sight shall no man living be justified That enemy of Mankind hath persecuted my soul pursued me he hath with a whole storm of tentations and by these he hath smitten and wounded me and made me vile and contemptible in thy sight He hath so far prevailed Ver. 4 that I have fastned my affections on earth and earthly things Walked I have in the vanity of my mind my understanding hath béen darkned I have béen alienated from the life of God by ignorance and blindness of heart I became past séeling and gave my self over unto all lasciviousness working uncleanness with greediness and this hath brought me to the sad condition in which I am Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me and my heart within me is desolate shame and sorrow is upon me for so offending so gracious a God a stonishment and amazement possess my soul because I am destitute of thy comfort I put my mouth in the dust and my face in darkness and hate my self because I have yielded to that sin which I am sure that thou hatest just cause I have but yet I will not despair methinks as in thy servants from the beginning of the World Thou hast set me a pattern of repentance so thou hast prescribed me a remedy against desperation I remember then the dayes of old that Adam transgressed Ver. 5 and that thou graciously madest a promise unto him for the womans Seed to break the Serpents head that Noah was dronken and incestuous Moses refractery and disobedient Aaron â—â—olatrous and perverted by the people to sin to all which with infinite others when they turned unto thée by hearty repentance Thou gavest a pardon upon these monuments of thy mercy I will meditate upon these examples of thy grace I will muse and when I sée thy works of goodness in them and upon them encouraged I am to stretch forth my hands unto thée as hoping to receive the like savour and as a thirsly Land doth gape for the latter rain Ver. 6 so doth my soul hunger and thirst after thy righteousness as knowing well that without it my soul can neither be beautiful in thy eye nor yet fruitful in the works of piety or charity Hear me then gracious God spéedily and without delay for till thy grace descend Ver. 7 my spirit faints and fails hide not thy loving countenance from me any longer lest my heart become as cold as a stone within me and I be wholly comfortless and like them that go down into the pit cause me to hear of thy loving kindness and let the morning of thy grace comfortably shine upon me who have too long sate in the darkness of sorrow Ver. 8 for in thée alone is my confidence in thée my trust Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk Ver. 10 and teach me to do thy Will and let thy good Spirit lead me into the Land of righteousness Ver. 11 quicken me O Lord for thy Names sake and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of this agony and trouble Thou art my God and I lift up my soul unto thee deliver me O Lord from my enemies for I flie unto thee to hide me and of thy mercies cut off mine enemies and destroy all them that afflict my soul For thou art my Lord my Patron and I am thy Client and servant The seven following Psalms are Eucharists or Thanksgivings Hymns properly they are PSALM CXLIV An ode of David THis Psalm is of a mixt kind for in it is contain'd a thanksgiving A prayer And doctrine Interpreters are not agreed upon the occasion and time of the writing of it For some think being moved thereto by the Title that it was composed by David upon his victory over Goliah Others upon his victories after over the Philistines Ammonites c. Some again in the beginning of his reign before he was fully setled But be it as it will The parts of the Psalm are 1. A thanksgiving from vers 1. to 5. 2. A petition from vers 5. to 12. 3. A discussion of happiness and wherein it consists from vers 12. to the end 1. The first part He gives thanks In the beginning the Prophet gives thanks and praiseth God 1. He gives him thanks Blessed be the Lord. And he expresseth his reason Ver. 1 Which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight In general 1 For the Art of War God taught him Who hath taught me the Art of War In particular That taught my hands to use the sling and my fingers to choose the stones and direct them to the forehead of Goliah For this was Artis opus non virtutis Skill not strength which he taught me 2. Ver. 2 He praiseth God and that for many Titles He is my strength my goodness 2 Because his strength his goodness c.
Vers. 1 That many multiplied and increased So many they were that he could not on a sudden number them Vers. 2 For all Israel was gathered from Dan to Beersheba as the sand of the Sea for multitude 2 Sam. 17.11 2. From their malice They came together to do him a mischief 2 That malicious They rose up not for him but against him not to honour him but to trouble him not to defend him as they ought but to take away his Crown and life 2 Sam. 17.2 3. From their insultation and Sarcasm It was not Shimei only 3 That insulters scoffers but many that said it Many there be that say unto my soul Vers. 2 There is no help for him in his God 2. The second part of the Psalm sets forth Davids confidence The second part Davids confidence in God 1. To their maltitude he opposeth one God But thou O Lord. 2. To their malicious insurrection Jehovah who he believ'd 1. Would be a Buckler to receive all the arrows they shot against him Vers. 3 2. His glory to honour though they went about to dishonour him 3. The lifter up of his head which they would lay low enough 3. To their vain boast of desertion There is no help for him in his God Vers. 4 he opposeth his own experience I cryed unto the Lord and he heard me out of his holly hill 4. By whose protection being sustained and secured he deposeth all care Which quiets his soul and gives him rest and fear all anxiety and distraction 1. He sleeps with a quiet mind I laid me down and slept I awoke Vers. 5 2. He sings a Requiem I will not fear Vers. 6 I will not be afraid for ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about The third part He prayes that God would deliver him as hitherto he had 3. In the close or third part he Petitions and prayes notwithstanding his security Arise O Lord Save me O my God To move God to grant his request he thankfully remembers him of what he had done before 1. Arise and save me Vers. 7 for thou hast smitten all my enemies on the cheek bone For to him alone Salvation belongs thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly Thou art the same God do then the same work be as good to thy servant as ever thou hast been 2. Vers. 8 He intersets an excellent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Maxime Salvation belongeth to the Lord. Which he desires may be extended to his people also As if he had said 'T is thy property and peculiar O Lord to save If thou save not I expect it from no other 3. Lastly as a good King should in his prayers he remembers his Subjects Thy blessing be upon the people The Prayer collected out of the third Psalm O Omnipotent and wise Jehovah without whose providence nothing falls out in this world that broughtst thy own people through the red Sea and Wilderness before thou gavest them rest in the land of Canaan We acknowledge that thy wrath is just and that all the punishments brought upon thy people procéeds from thy righteous hand and that we have deserv'd for our disobedience and rebellion to be cast out of thy sight and to have thy Candlestick removed from us But gracious God cast us not off as a people in whom thou hast no delight once more make trial of us whether we will not serve théé with more fear rejoyce before thée with more reverence and give kisses of love and obedience unto thy Son So sanctifie all afflictions unto us that they may be a means to bring us to rest Behold Vers. 1 Lord how they are increased that trouble thy poor Church how many they are that rise up against us Vers. 2 how many that say There is no help for us in our God Will the Lord absent himself forever and will he be no more intreated Is his mercy clean gone for ever and is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore Hath God forgotten to be gracious and will he shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure And I said It is mine own infirmity but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most high I will remember the works of the Lord and call to mind thy wonders of old time Our fathers O God our fathers trusted in thée and thou didst deliver them With their voice they cryed unto thée Vers. 4 and thou heardst them out of thy holy hill They laid them down with a quiet mind and slept without anxiety and thou sustainedst and upheldst them Vers. 5 We are the children of the same fathers sons of the same hope heirs of the same promises Be then O Lord a buckler to us to desend us Vers. 3 our glory who are despised and lift up the heads of thy people that are brought very low Secure us and we will not fear save us Vers. 6 and suffer us not to be afraid of the ten thousands of enemies that have set themselves against us round about Put them in fear that they may know themselves to be but men Vers. 7 Arise and help us and save us O our God and smite all our enemies on the cheek-bone and break thou the teeth of the ungodly Repress their Serceness and break their strength who more cruel than brute beasts séek to devour us Whom have we in heaven but thée Vers. 8 and there is none we desire on earth in comparison of thée Salvation belongs only to thée O Lord Let therefore thy blessing be upon the people that fears thée and wait for deliverance from thée Thy people of Israel many times by their sins provoked thine anger and thou punishedst them by thy just judgment yet though their sinnes were never so grievous if they once return'd from their iniquity thou receivedst them to mercy We therefore wretched sinners bewail our manifold sins and earnestly repent us of our former wickedness and ungodly behaviour toward thée and whereas we cannot of our selves purchase thy pardon and blessing yet we humbly beséech thée for Iesus Christs sake to shew thy mercy upon us and to receive us again to thy favour Let the smell of his garment ascend into thy nostrils and through him let thy blessing be upon the people Let our sons be as the young plants and our daughters as the polish'◠corners of the Temple let our garners be plenteous with all manner of store let our shéep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our stréets let our oxen be strong to labour that there be no decay no leading into captavity no complaining in our stréets O good Father impart to us so great a share of thy blessing that we may be fully perswaded that our help and salvation depends upon thée alone Vngracious children we are and deserve it not yet out of thy méer mercy we humbly beséech thée to bestow thy benediction upon us for his
thy fear will I worship And yet not relying so much upon himself as in the goodness and mercy of God he professeth vers 7. As for me I will come into thy house upon the multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear will I worship toward thy Holy Temple In which observe 1. A difference betwixt bad and good men In their wayes and hope As for me Vers. 7 2. And shews his demeanour in Gods service That David would come to Gods house the place of prayer 3. But not presumptuously or Pharisaically Upon hope of mercy 4. There he would worship I will worship 5. But with reverence In thy fear I will worship And thus David having petitioned for audience The second part Davids Petition and deliver'd the grounds of his confidence he brings forth his Petition That his life be holy and innocent 1. Lead me forth in thy righteousness 2. Make thy way strait before me of which he gives this reason Vers. 8 Because of his enemies which dayly laid wait to intrap him and subvert him in his goings These his enemies he describes to the life The third part He farther describes his enemies By their Mouth Heart Throat Tongue 1. There is no faithfulness in his mouth 2. Their inward parts are very wickedness Vers. 9 3. Their throat is an open Sepulchre 4. They flatter with their tongue And then he falls to prayer again 1. Against his enemies 2. The fourth part He again prayes against them Then for Gods people or the Church 1. Against his enemies 1. Destroy thou them O God 2. Let them fall by their own counsels 3. Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions Vers. 10 Of which Imprecation he gives this reason For they be Rebels For they have rebell'd against thee Rebels not against David but against God for he that resists the power resists the Ordinance of God They have not rejected thee but they have rejectect me The fifth part And for Gods people The Conclusion contains his Prayer for Gods people whom he here describes and calls The righteous 2. They that put their trust in God 3. They that love his Name And he prayes for them that Vers. 11 1. They may rejoyce that they may shout for joy 2. They may be joyful in God And he adds this reason Whom he knows God will favour Because thou defend'st them thou wilt bless them and with thy favour thou wilt compass them as with a shield The Prayer collected out of the fifth Psalm O Most Gracious and Holy God who hast saught us that thou art not a God Vers. 4 who hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall any evil dwell with thee Vers. 5 in whose sight the foolish shall not stand Vers. 6 and by whom those who speak leasing shall be destroy'd Thou that hatest all the workers of iniquity and abhorrest both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man We a sinful Nation press'd with the weight of these grievous sins and sensible of thy heavy judgements Vers. 7 yet are bold to come into thy house upon the multitude of thy mercies and in thy fear to worship toward thy holy Temple We beséech thée to give us a true sight and sense of these our heinous transgressions that so our true repentance and amendment may move thée to repent of all the evil thou hast brought upon us Vers. 8 And hereafter lead us in thy righteousness iâ— an innocent and harmless course of life and make thy way strait before us that we erre not in it and fall not from it and from thée Thou who wast pleased to pay that dear ransome upon the Cross for us on purpose that thou might'st redéem us from all iniquity and purisle unto thy self a peculiar people zealovs of good works We beséech thée write thy law which is our way in our hearts that most excellent divine law of thine that we may know it and do it and turn every one from our iniquities Enemies O good God we have too many Vers. 9 besides the devil and the flesh to turn us out of this good way Enemies in the way of truth Enemies in the way of life Enemies in whose mouth there is no faithfulness Enemies Vers. 10 whose inward parts are very wickedness Roaring enemies whose throat is an open Sepulchre to devour us Lying crafty enemies who flatter with their lips for to deceive us Frustrate Gracious God their counsels destroy their power and forces cast all those out in the multitude of their transgressions who have rebell'd against thee Give ear Ver. 1 O Lord to our words and consider our Meditations hearken to the voice of our cry Ver. 2 our King and our God For unto thee do we pray To thee alone we fly Ver. 3 Our voice shalt thou hear in the morning In the morning will we direct our prayer unto thee and will look up expecting thy comfort and help from heaven to descend upon us O let us then hear the voice of joy and deliverance beâ—ime in the morning Vers. 11 that those who love thy name may rejoyce at thy justice done upon the wicked and at thy goodness and mercy shew'd toward the righteous let them glory and make their boast that thou art a just and a merciful God just to deliver thy people from evil and merciful to reward them with the chiefest good Arise O Lord to bless us and compass us with thy loving-kindness as with a shield Confirm us in faith and hope that we may rejoice make us love thy name that we may once more shout for joy Impute unto us thy righteousness that may make us just and give us the graces of thy holy Spirit that may make us righteous in our generation so that thou may'st be moved to bless us in this valley of tears and to crown us with blessings in the life to come where we may live an everlasting blessed life of love and holiness with thée O Father of mercies and with thy Son and holy Spirit for ever PSAL. IV. Which is the first of the Penitentials and is fit for a Penitent afflicted under Gods hand THE streins of this Psalm are two in general 1. A Petition to God for himself contain'd in the seven first verses â— An insultation over his enemies contain'd in the three last The Petition stands upon two leggs 1. A deprecation of evil 2. A petition of good First he prayes to God to avert his wrath The first part He prayes that God avert his wrath O Lord rebuke me not in thine anger nor chasten me in thy heavy displeasure Secondly he intreats to be partaker of Gods favour Have mercy upon me 1. Vers. 1 To his body Heal me O Lord. 2. Then to his soul Return O Lord deliver my soul oh save me 2 Shew mercy And this his Petition he inforceth upon divers and weighty reasons Vers. 2 1. Vers. 4 This he inforceth 1. From the greatness of his calamity From
discipline and science strength defence that he had from god 4. from the safe custody that in the battle he receiv'd no wound Vers. 36 5. From the success of the battle He had his enemies in chase Vers. 37 and follow'd them in pursuit 6. From the greatness of his Victory Vers. 38 it was a compleat and full Conquest For by it his enemies were taken consumed wounded not able to rise they fell under his feet subdues their necks brought down c. 7. From the cause in which he takes nothing â—o himself but attributes the whole to God Thou hast girded me c. Thou hast subdued Thou hast given me the necks of my enemies Which is indeed acknowledged through the whole Psalm 2. The Consequent upon this Victory The consequent of the Victory viz. The enlargement of his Kingdom was the propagation and enlargement of Davids Kingdom 1. That before these Victories there was murmuring at him by the people but now being a Conquerour they were all quiet Thou hast deliver'd me from the strivings of the people His Crown was quiet Vers. 43 2. He was exalted to be the head of heathen Moabites Ammonites c. serv'd him Vers. 44 3. Nay a people whom I have not known Aliens shall serve me nay assoon as they hear of me they shall obey me c. Vers. 45 4. 'T is true indeed they shall dissemble in it and do it for fear more than love and take every occasion to fall off and fade away But yet however they shall do it submit and be content to serve me The fourth part Davids Doxology for his Victories The last part contains the main Scope and intent of David in this Psalm which is to celebrate and extoll the Name and Mercy of God for his Victories And it hath two parts 1. His present thanksgiving 2. And his profession for the future 1. The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock Vers. 46 and let the God of my salvation be exalted And to that end in the two next verses he maketh mention again of his Victories and attributes the whole success to God 2. And he professeth that he will never cease to do it no not among the heathen Therefore I will give thanks to thee among the heathen and sing praises c. 3. And he professeth that he had great reason to do it Great deliverance giveth he to his King His one of his own chaise And sheweth mercy to his Anointed Uncto suo to David And not to David a lone but to his seed for evermore An 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Thanksgiving for some great Victory collected out of Psalm 18. O Lord whose eyes are brighter ten thousand times than the Sun thou who beholdest all the wayes of the children of men and wilt reward every man according to his doings Vers. 25 who to the good and innocent wilt shew thy self good and merciful and to the perverse and froward wilt shew thy self averse and severe We thy afflicted people have in the depth of our sorrows cryed unto thée and thou hast out of thy goodness saved us and hast brought down the high looks of the proud The sorrows of imminent death and the incursions of furious men like torrents of water encompassed us the snares they laid for us made us afraid the grave was open and ready to swallow us But in these our distresses we call'd upon the Lord and cryed unto our God and he heard us out of his holy dwelling in Heaven and the cry of our ardent and instant supplication was heard by him accepted and granted Lord when thou wentest out against our enemies when thou marchedst out into the field against Edom Vers. 13 the earth trembled and the heavens dropt the Lord also thunder'd from heaven and the highest gave his thunder hail-stones and coals of fire From Vers 7. to 15. He fought from Heaven the Starres in their courses fought against Sisera O my soul thou hast troden down strength For O Lord the Earth the Heavens the Mountains the lightning the thunder the dark and thick clouds the wind and rain the bail-stones and tempests all have obey'd thy voice and conspired at thy command to the destruction of our enemies to tear them to scatter them to discomfit them They were too strong for us Vers. 16 they took all advantages against us in the day of our trouble and weakness but then thou Lord wert our Protector and Defender even then he reached us his hand and help from Heaven he sent his Angels from above he took us he drew us he deliver'd he fréed us from our strongest Enemies from those who hated us from those bitter calamities which like many waters did environ our souls And he brought us out of these straits into a large and safe place he deliver'd us even because he had a favour unto us Thou Lord out of thy frée love and mercy hast done it So it was because so Lord it pleased thée What shall we give unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto us Assist us with thy Grace and we will from henceforth keep thy wayes and not depart from our God as the wicked do His judgements shall alway be before us and we will not put away his Statutes from us We will walk more closely and uprightly with our God and keep ourselves from our own iniquity even from the temptation of that bosome-sin with which we have been hitherto defiled For then we know that the Lord will reward us after our righteous dealing and integrity according to the cleanness of our hearts and hands in his eye-sight We will therefore love thee Vers. 1 O Lord our strength for thou art our Rock and our Fortress and our Deliverer thou art our God our strong hold in thee will we trust our Buckler and the horn of our Salvation and our high Tower For who is God save the Lord Vers. 31 or who is the Rock save our God It is God that hath girded and arm'd us with strength and blessed us to make his work perfect He hath given us expedition in our actions and power to possess the strongest Fortresses He hath taught and instructed us in the art of Warre and fitted our arms making them in strength like a bow of steel nimble to shoot dextrous to hit and kill the enemy And in the very mouth of danger thou hast given us thy salvation for a shield and the power of thy right hand hath upholden and sustained us Vers. 36 that we fell not and thy favour hath made us great increased us in power and dignity We séemed to be inclosed and shut up in inexecrable difficulties but thou hast enlarg'd our steps and in these slippry places not suffered our féet to flide In thy name and power it is that we have pursued our enemies Vers. 37 that our féet being not wearied in the pursuit we have overtaken them that we have not turn'd again till we have
being this I will be thy God and the God of thy seed upon which follows Walk before me and be thou perfect 4. Upon the confidence of which Promise and Covenant David repeats his prayer Upon which he repeats his prayer For thy Name sake O Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great Multa magna And yet David proceeds in the consideration of Gods Nature his Goodness his Truth and Mercy to those that keep his Covenant And admires the happiness of him that trusts in God and by way of admiration asks Quis i. e. Quantus qualis O how happy how blessed is the man that fears the Lord worships God loves his Word and casts not away his hope and faith in the day of trouble and tentation Ver. 12 which happiness he sets forth by the fruits that follow his piety 1. The first fruit and benefit that he shall reap is instruction and direction in his Vocation and private life For God shall direct him Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose 2. Ver. 13 The second is that his happiness shall not be momentary but firm and lasting 2 He shall dwell at ease not molested but quiet His soul shall dwell at ease 3. 3 Happy in his seed A third is that he shall be happy in his children and posterity His seed shall inherit the land 4. The fourth is that Redemption of Mankind by the blood of Christ and all the effects of it Remission Reconciliation c. which is a secret unknown to flesh and blood shall be revealed and applied to him Ver. 14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him 4 Gods Covenant applied to him and he will shew them his Covenant Being confirmed with these promises and cheered with these fruits he The fourth part 1. Testifies his acquiescence and faith in God for deliverance My eye◠are ever towards the Lord he shall pluck my feet out of the Net In this he acquiesceth 2. And then returns to his Prayer again being in effect the very self-same that he began with which he offereth in several Clauses 1. Turn thee unto me He renews his former prayer 2. Have mercy upon me 3. O bring thou me out of my distresses 4. Look upon my affliction and trouble and forgive me all my sins 5. Consider mine enemies 6. O keep my soul and deliver me 7. Let me not be ashamed 8. Let integrity and uprightness wait upon me Petitioners and men in misery think that they can never say enough this makes him so earnest and so often repeat the same thing in which longing there is yet an incrementum The sum is That God would hear and grant him defence and deliverance in his dangers remission of sins which caused them and protect direct and govern him in his troubles Now that he might prevail in his Suit as an excellent Orator And useth many Arguments that God be propitious to him he useth many Arguments to induce God to be propitious to him 1. His faith and trust in his promises Min◠eyes are ever towards the Lord. 2. The danger he was now in His feet were in the Net Ver. 15 3. He was oppressed and alone had none to help him I am desolate and afflicted Ver. 16 4. His inward afflictions and pain was grievous Ver. 17. 18. The troubles of my heart are enlarged by which he was distressed in pain in sorrow 5. And without his enemies powerful many merciless cruel Ver. 19 My enemies are many and they hate me with cruel hatred Ver. 21 6. And yet I am an Innocent and desire to be so thy servant Let integrity and uprightness preserve me for I wait upon thee And thus David having through the whole Psalm pray'd for himself He prayes for the Church The fifth part at last in the close he offers up a short but earnest Petition for all the People and for the whole Church which proceeded from that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 22 which ought to be among the Saints Redeem Israel O God out of all their troubles The Prayer collected out of the twenty fifth Psalm UNTO thée O Lord I do lift up not only my eyes and hands Ver. 1 but my very soul and heart early in the Morning will I direct my prayer unto thée and will look up O Lord I am not ignorant how uncapable I have made my self of thy favour by my transgressions multiplied against thée but O Lord Ver. 6 declare thy self mindful of thy pity and mercy which thou hast shewed to Mankind from the beginning of the World and according to the multitude of thy mercies deal with me My sin is very great more in number than the sand heavier in weight than the greatest burden O pardon my iniquity for thy Name sake The offences of my younger years are over-many Ver. 11 into which the boyling of concupiscence inconsideration and my youthful heat and imprudence hath cast me head-long but O good God I beséech thée Remember not the sins of my youth nor the transgressions of my unruly and unbrideled Age but according to thy mercy think thou upon me blot out of thy remembrance my abominations and remit my crying exorbitances for thy goodness sake O Lord. O Lord Ver. 8 Thou art good and upright all thy paths are Mercy and Truth Thy Goodness and Mercy is shewed in admitting sinners to Repentance and thy Vprightness and Truth in pardoning them and making good thy Promises admit me then among the number of thy Penitents and seal my pardon as thou hast promised to penitent and believing sinners Thou art the God of my salvation Ver. 5 on thee do I wait all my life long from thy Mercy I look for my Instruction Ver. 4 from thée my Direction Shew me thy wayes and reach me thy paths and lead me in thy Truth I am a man of a broken and contrite spirit guide me in the day of Iudgment and suffer me not to be tempted above my strength and whatever way I choose be thou my Teacher and Monitor that I slip not and fall not in it I desire O Lord to kéep thy Covenant and Testimonies let therefore that great secret of Mans Redemption by the blood of thy dear Son be made known to me and the mercies of thy Covenant assur'd to my soul by which alone my heart shall dwell at ease and my Conscience be quieted from the guilt of sinne and sense of thy wrath These my sins have procured me many enemies and thou hast justly raised up these Rebels to revenge my Rebellions against thée with these I am so compassed that I know not what to do But mine eyes are toward thee O Lord and except thou pluck my séet out of the Net I must néeds perish in the snares that they have privily laid for me Turn thee then unto me and have mercy upon me for I am destitute of all humane help left
what to do that I may please thee and lead me in a plain path that I may escape the ambushes and snares of my enemies deliver me not over to their will for they seek my ruine Ver. 11 1. Who are They are perjured men false witnesses are rise up against me 2. Ver. 12 They are mischievously bent They breath out cruelty 5. 1 Perjured men And their cruelty and falshood is so great that I had fainted were it not for my hope in thee 2 Cruel men I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Ver. 13 At last he concludes with an Exhortation The fourth part He takes heart and perswades others to it that all others would take out his example and in their greatest extremities be couragious and put trust in God as he did Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart Wait I say on the Lord Be an expectant for he that shall come will come in his good time The Prayer collected out of the twenty seventh Psalm O Heavenly Father whatsoever the World plots the Devil endeavours and wicked men conspire against us that we are fully perswaded shall come to nought Ver. 1 and be utterly frustrate For thou O Lord art our delight to direct and comfort us our salvation to deliver us the strength of our life to support us whom then should we fear of whom then should we be afraid when we have so powerful a Saviour to defend us Though an Host of armed men should encamp against us our heart should not fear though War should rise against us Ver. 5 in this we would be confident that in the time of trouble he will hide us in the secret of his Tabernacle he shall set us upon a Rock to which the malicious hand of our enemies shall never be able to reach How often have our enemies Ver. 3 no otherwise than ravening Dogs set upon us to fear and eat up our flesh and how often have they béen defeated and frustrated of their purposes and fallen before us This O Lord is thy doing this the work of thy hand Ver. 6 Thou only hast lift up our heads above our enemies round about us For which great mercy One thing I have desired of thee this One before all other things Ver. 4 and this I will ever seek deny me not that in peace and quietness I may dwell all the rest of my life in that place where the House of my God is that I may have experience of the beauty of holiness and taste of that delight with which thou dost affect thy servants by the manifestation of thy presence that I may there inquire and learn my Duty and make a progress in the knowledge of spiritual things Ver. 6 that I may there compass thy Altar and offer the Sacrifices of Joy and sing Psalms of Praise and Hymns of Thanks to thee my God O my God hear my voyce for I have long cried and called unto thee deliver me from mine enemies that pursue me Ver. 7 and bring me back and give me a quiet Mansion in the place thine Honour dwelleth being moved by my unjust persecution have mercy upon me and return me a favourable answer My careful heart hath alwayes thought upon thée and béen revived with thy command Seek ye my face call upon me in the day of trouble and therefore with elevated eyes and hands and with an intent heart I have sought thy face thy presence thy favour thy protection and I will never cease to séek it till I shall sée thée face to face And since from my heart I séek it O do not turn and hide thy face from me and deny me not thy favour Conceive not so great anger and displeasure against thy servant who yet have deserved it for his sins as to cast me away and deny me that help which thou hast hitherto graciously afforded me My father my mother my friends my acquaintance my neighbours have all stood afar and forsaken me in my trouble and wilt thou also leave me at this time This hath not béen thy custom for when I have béen destituâ—e Thou hast been my help when I have béen exposed Thou hast taken me up Forsake me not then now O God of my salvation be my Helper who without thée am nothing be my Saviour who except thou save am like to perish Teach me thy Law and set me in the way in which I am to walk make it plain to me that I mistake it not lest by the errour in thy way and transgression of thy Law being forsaken of thée I fall into those snares and ambushes which my enemies have set for me O never deliver me over to their will Consider O Lord their injustice who have suborned false witness against me and such as breath out cruel words to take away my life So great is their malice That I had utterly fainted but that I believe verily to receive that happiness which thou hast promised in this life and after to enjoy those good things which thou hast engaged to give in Heaven which is truly the Land of the living For these thy word is past and therefore I will wait on thee this shall make me of good courage and strengthen my heart I will wait I say on the Lord with patience and though he defer me I will not faint but I will be instant with him in prayer and beg his aid being assured that at the last he will hear me for the merits of Iesus Christ my Saviour Amen PSAL. XXVIII A Prayer for Help and a Thanksgiving THREE parts there are of this Psalm 1. A Prayer from ver 1. to 6. 2. A Thanksgiving from ver 6. to 9. 3. A Prayer for the Church ver 9. The first part is a Prayer to God and he first prayes for Audience ver 2. The first part He prayes for Audience Hear me And his prayer is so described that it sets forth most of the conditions requisite in one that prayes 1. The object God Unto thee O Lord I cry Ver. 2 2. His faith To thee I cry who art my Rock Ver. 1 The conditions required in a supplicant 3. His fervour it was an ardent and vehement prayer I cry 4. Humility it was a supplication Hear the voyce of my supplication 5. His outward gesture I life up my hands Ver. 2 6. According to Gods order Towards thy holy Temple His Argument to perswade Audience The Argument he useth to perswade Audience is drawn ab incommodo Lest if thou make as though thou hearest not Ver. 1 I become like them that go down into the Pit have no hope of life in me no comfort no heart at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he prayes for is that he might not partake with hypocrites 2. Then he expresses what he prayes for which is that either First He might not be
corrupted by the fair perswasions of hypocrites Secondly Or that he might not be partaker of their punishments Draw me not away with the wicked and workers of iniquity upon whom he sets this mark Ver. 3 Who speak peace with their Neighbours but mischief in their hearts Against whom he imprecates 3. Against whom he useth this imprecation which is the second part of his prayer Give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavours Ver. 4 give them after the work of their hands render unto them their desert He doth not simply pray that punishment may overtake them but that it may be proportionable to their desert and he prayes earnestly for it as appears by the often repetition of words importing the same thing which that it seem not strange in the next verse he gives the Reason that they were enemies to Piety and contemners of God far from repentance and any hope of amendment Do this unto them Because they were enemies to piety Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands And then intimates that this their punishment was just and that it should come from above Ver. 5 Therefore he shall destroy them and not build them up Then there follows an excellent form of giving Thanks The second part His thankfulness into which he falls by an admirable Acclamation Blessed be the Lord of which blessing he assigns the Reasons which excellently expresseth the chief parts of Thanksgiving 1. Ver. 6 That God heard him He hath heard the voyce of my supplications 2. The Reasons of it That he would be his Protector The Lord is my strength and my shield 3. Ver. 7 For his grace of confidence My heart trusted in him 4. That from him he had relief I am helped 5. The testification and annuntiation of his Gratitude Therefore my heart greatly rejoyceth and in my song will I praise him He remembers the Indenture I will deliver thee and thou shalt praise me and therefore with heart and tougue he gives thanks 6. And that God should be sure to have all the Honour he repeats what he said before Ver. 8 The Lord is not my strength but their strength i. e. of all those that are with me and he is my strength also the strength of salvation for there were a plurality of them of his Anointed He concludes the Psalm with a Prayer The third part He commends the Church to Gods care and tuition in which he commends the whole Church to Gods Care and Tuition 1. Save thy People in the midst of these Tumults and Distractions 2. Bless thine-Inheritance that they may increase in knowledge piety wealth 3. Feed them and give them a better Shepheard than Saul 4. Lift them up for ever Make their name famous among the Gentiles give them dominion over them that it may be known they are thy peculiar people The Prayer collected out of the twenty eighth Psalm VNLD thée O Lord with all intention of heart and fervour of spirit I cry forsake me not and withdraw not thy help from me be not deaf and still silent to answer my prayers Ver. 1 lest I become as heartless and hopeless as they that descend into the grave Ver. 2 Hear the voyce of my supplications when I call unto thee when with affectionate desire and heat I lift up my hands to thy Mercy-seat Suffer me not to be corrupted with the fair perswasions of hypocrites Ver. 3 nor to be drawn away and deceived by the flattering lips of the workers of iniquity lest I be partaker of their sin and punishment who give good words and speak peace to their Neighbours when yet they imagine mischief in their hearts I know Ver. 4 O Lord that thy justice will overtake their sin and therefore as thou hast decréed Reward them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavours Ver. 5 give them after the work of their hands pay them what they have deserved I know they are malicious sinners that break thy Commands not upon ignorance and infirmity but presumptuoufly and with a high hand Shew thy great works in the Earth they regard it not let thy power of thy hand work wonders they pass it by without the least observance therefore O Lord destroy them with an irreparable ruine and never permit them to be raised and built again Blessed and thrice blessed be the Lord Ver. 6 to whose ears this my supplication is come and who I am certain will grant what I have asked of him The Lord is my strength to confirm me my shield to defend me in him my heart trusted and I am helped therefore my heart greatly rejoyceth my mouth I will open to his honour my song shall be of him all the day long and with a chearful mind and a grateful tongue I will praise him Lor save thy people and bless thine inheritance save them with thy hand bless them that they may increase in knowledge piety and wealth feed them with thy Word and lift up their heads above those that hate them that it may be known they are thy chosen Israel the people of thy love Be unto them a Tower of strength against the face of their enemy and send them salvation by the hand of thy Anointed and at last bring them to eternal life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Another out of the same Psalm O Heavenly Father we humbly beséech thy goodness when we cry unto thée to hear our supplications for if thou turn away thine ear and neglect to give us Audience in these our pressures and afflictions the men of thy hand will prevail against us and bring down our life unto the pit We do acknowledge before thée that our wayes have béen perverse our works wicked and the imagination of our hearts only vain and evil continually yet O Lord we desire to be holy render therefore not unto us not according to our deserts but according to thy great mercies Of thy insinite goodness reckon us not with the workers of iniquity suffer us not to be seduced by and punished with wicked men as we have deserved return unto them O Lord seven-fold into their bosome but to us thy people be propitious Be unto us O Lord strength and a buckler save us in our dangers féed us in our necessities favour us in our enterprises and give us success in our actions O Lord we are thine inheritance the people that thou hast adopted to be thy children and heirs heap upon us here thy mercies and hereafter bring us to an everlasting inheritance in Heaven by the precious merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. XXIX An Exhortation to praise God THERE be two parts of this Psalm 1. The Exhortation it self ver 1 2. 2. The Reasons to perswade drawn 1. From his Power from ver 3. to 11. 2. From the Protection of his people ver 11. The Exhortation which is
rare proceeds from a King 1 He exhorts Princes to praise God and not from a common man a Prince a great Prince minds Princes and great men that there is one greater than they and that therefore they yield unto him his due honour and worship 1. That they withold it not from him but freely yield it up and give it Ver. 1 for which he is very earnest as appears by the Anaphora Give give give 2. That in giving this they yield him no more than his due Give him the honour due unto his Name 3. What they are to give Glory and strength They must make his name to be glorious give him such glory as is fit for his name 2. Then again attribute their strength to him 4. That they bow before him and adore him Incurvate Junius 5. To perswade this he proposeth two Reasons That they exhibit this honour in that place they ought in atrii sancto ejus Vulg. In decoro sanctitatis Jun. In decore splendore ornatu sanctitatis Moller In the beauty of holiness his Temple And that they may the easilier be perswaded to give the Lord this honour due unto him he proposeth two Reasons to be considered 1. 1 His power shewn His Power a Power though they be Filii fortium high and mighty Potentates far beyond theirs which is seen in his Works of Nature but passing by many other he makes choice of the Thunder and those impressions that follow it this he describes 1. From the nature of it for however men of it do conceive natural causes In the thunder which is Vox Jehovae yet religious men will look higher and when they hear those fearful Murmures in the Aire will confess with David it is Vox Jehovae Vox Jehovae here seven times repeated and this voyce hath affrighted the proudest the mightiest Tyrants 2. From the place whence this voyce is given the watery Clouds The voyce of the Lord is above the waters Ver. 3 upon many waters 3. From the force and power They are not vain and empty noises but strike a terrour Humanas motura tonitrua mentes The voyce of the Lord is powerful Ver. 4 the voyce of the Lord full of Majesty 4. The effects of it From the effects which he explains by an induction 1. Upon the strongest Trees the Cedars the Cedars of Lebanon The voyce of the Lord breaks the Cedars c. 2. Ver. 5 Upon the firmest Mountains even Lebanus and Sirion for sometimes the Thunder is accompanied with an Earth-quake and the Mountains dance Ver. 6 and skip as a Calf 3. Upon the Aire which is no small wonder for when nothing is more contrary to fire Ver. 7 than water it is miraculous that out of a watery Cloud such Balls of fire should be darted The voyce of the Lord divideth the flames of fire Ver. 8 4. In the Creatures of all kinds especially the wild for it makes them fear and leave their Caves and the Woods yea makes the Dear for fear abortive The voyce of the Lord shaketh the Wilderness c. The voyce of the Lord maketh the Hindes to calve 5. In the mighty Rains that follow upon it When the Cataracts of Heaven are opened and such floods of water follow that a man may justly fear a second inundation would drown the World out of all which he draws this conclusion The Lord sits King for ever Ver. 10 2. 2 His works of grace His second Reason is drawn from his Works of Grace when he moveth the hearts of his people to acknowledge his voyce and to give him glory in his Temple Ver. 10 in his Temple doth every man speak of his honour Secondly by the security he gives in people even in that time he utters his voyce and speaks in Thunder whereas the wicked then tremble and quake The Lord will give strength unto his people Ver. 11 the Lord will bless his people with peace i. e. security and peace of conscience The Meditation collected out of the twenty ninth Psalm O Omnipotent God wheresoever we cast our eyes Ver. 1 we have occasion to fall low before thy Foot-stool to adore worship and praise thée so admirable and illustrious is thy dignity and glory which is apparent in all thy Creatures Thy voyce O Lord is heard in the Clouds above whence thou roarest to us in Thunder and whence being resolv'd into Rain thou sendest many and mighty waters In this murmur of the Aire thy voyce is heard with so much power and Majesty that the greatest Atheists have trembled at it and hid themselves thy voyce hath béen so terrible to their ears thy presence in that voyce so full of horrour to their guilty consciences This thy voyce is of so great strength that it breaks the Cedars and splits to pieces the strongest Daks Those mighty Trées have béen torn by the voyce of thy Thunder and rent asunder by thy hot Thunder-bolts The earth was also moved and shook withall and the rocky mountains and strong hills of Lebanon did tremble and quiver and leap too and fro at thy voyce At thy voyce it is that those bottles of Heaven at the same instant send down Rain and dart flames of fiery lightnings miâ—'c with that water Thy voyce it is that makes all the Beasts of the Desert to tremble and shake and to leave for fear their Dens and Thickets and to discover themselves to pursuit and danger yea to abortion The breath of thy mouth makes bare the Trées and thy blasts rend off the branches The Rain sometimes descends in such Spouts and violence as if it threaten to drown the World but it is thy hand that preserves the earth For thou sittest upon the flood and kéepest in the waters that they overflow not nor pass farther than thou hast decréed O Lord our God thou remainest a King for ever O then all ye who are mighty upon earth give unto the Lord give unto the Lord glory and strength acknowledge that you have your power and glory from him Give unto the Lord the glory due to his Name worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness adore him in his holy Temple where his service hath beauty in it and in which every one doth speak of his glory O Lord while the wicked do tremble at thy voyce thy people are thereby confirmed against dangers and calamities For thou Lord wilt give strength unto thy people Bless O Lord thy people with the blessing of peace A Prayer out of the same Psalm O Almighty God great hath béen thy mercy unto us that by the voyce of thy Son thou hast made known unto us the great mysteries of our salvation O let this thunder never sound in our ears but let it strike a terrour into our hearts that we despise not so great Redemption and let it raise in our eyes a showre of penitent tears that our sins should crucifie the Son of God O let this thy voyce be
prorogue my life and for thine honour sake I entreat that thou respite me that thy servants may sée that thou hast made good thy Word unto me and thy enemies may not have occasion to deride the Truth of thy promises and blaspheme For this reason especially unto thee O Lord I cry in my distress and unto the Lord do I make my supplication Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me Lord be thou my Helper And when I thus prayed Thou O Lord in mercy hast heard me I cryed and thou hast healed me I called in the pit and thou stast lifted me up Thou hast brought my soul from the Grave Thou hast kept me alive that my enemies should not rejoyce over me Thou hast turned for me my heaviness into joy Thou hast put off my sack-cloth with which I am cloathed as became a Mourner and girded and compaised me on every side with gladness For thine anger in which thou didst justly chastise me though sharp was but for a moment and in thy favour I have found life weeping hath endured with me for a night but joy came to me in the morning Therefore my tongue shall sing and praise thee I will not be silent of thee O Lord my God I will extoll thy Name and give thee thanks for ever And all you who are his Saints joyn your voyces with me and give thanks to him remember that he is a good and merciful God remember that he is a holy God and will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth Generation Remember that he is a gracious God and will not alway be chiding nor keeps his anger for ever Appear then before him and where he is pleased to be present sing Praises to him O Lord we will â—lwayes send forth thy honour through the Name of Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. XXXI For one in anxiety of spirit THIS Psalm is composed and mixt of diverse affections for David sometimes prayes sometimes he gives thanks now he complains now he hopes one while he fears another while he exults This vicissitude of affections is sixfold and it may very well divide the Psalm 1. With great confidence he prayes to God from ver 1. to 6. 2. He exults for mercy and help received ver 7 8. 3. He grievously complains of the misery he was in from ver 9. to 14. 4. He prayes again upon the strength of Gods goodness from ver 15. to 18. 5. He admires and exults and proclaims Gods goodness from ver 19. to 22. 6. Lastly He exhorts others to love God and be couragious ver 23 24. In the six first verses He prayes The first part he prayes to God and shews his Reasons 1. Ver. 1 That he be never shame in his hope Let me never be ashamed 2. That he be delivered speedily delivered 3. Ver. 3 That God would be his Rock and House of defence to save him 4. That God would lead him and guide him Lead me guide me 5. That God would pull his feet out of the Net that they privily laid for him In effect his Petition is the same His Reasons viz. to be delivered from his danger and his Reasons to perswade God to do this for him Ver. 1 are 1. His faith and confidence In thee O Lord I put my trust 2. The reason of his faith God a Rock Thou art my Rock and Fortress 3. That this would redound to Gods honour For thy Names sake lead me 4. Thou art my strength 5. I rely upon thee Into thy hands I commit my spirit 6. Do to me as thou hast ever Thou hast redeemed me heretofore 7. I do not as other men trust to vain helps but on thee only I have hated them that regard lying Vanities but I trust in the Lord. And in effect as his Petition was the same so are his Reasons also His confidence in God to be his Deliverer his Fortress Rock Redeemerâ— c. In which we have an example of a man in misery that thinks he can never say enough for himself and that makes him descant on the same thing which is no flat Tautology but an elegant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Expolition Then again we have a pattern for a pious soul in trouble to imitate Ver. 1 that be the pressure never so great yet he sayes to his God Thou art my Rock my Fortress my Strength Thou hast redeemed me I know I shall not be ashamed of my hope therefore I will trvst in thee So he begins so he concludes this first part of his prayer 2. Next he exults and gives thanks for some former deliverance The second part and by the experience of that doubts the less in this Perhaps the Chorus sang this He exults and gives thanks Moller 1. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy And his reason follows from his experience 2. For thou hast consider'd my trouble 2. Thou hast known i. e. Vers. 7 seen my soul in adversity I have seen Upon his deliverance I have seen the afflictions of my people c. 3. And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy 4. But hast set my feet in a large room 3. And now he prayes again 2. The third part He prayes again And complains of what he suffer'd within and without 1. He prayes Have mercy upon me O Lord. Vers. 9 2. Then he complains Complains and in his complaint shews the reason of his prayer for mercy 1. Within at home he was in a sad case For I am in trouble my eye is consumed with grief yea my soul and my belly Totus marcesco Of the sad case he was in My life is spent with grief and my years with sighing my strength faileth because of my iniquity and my bones are consumed 2. Without I have little comfort either from friends or enemies 1. I was a reproach among all my enemies 2. Then for my friends they stood afar off They especially but especially among my neighbours and I became a fear to my acquaintance They that see me without fled from me 2. And then he aggravates the greatness of his grief and scorn This he aggravates and contempt I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind u muertos y ydos no son amigos I am become as a broken vessel What more vile what more useless 3. And which is yet more the people they mock me I have beard the slaunder of the many 4. And the Consequent was mischievous Fear is on every side 2. While they conspire or took counsel together against me 3. And their counsel was they devised to take away my life What could enemies do more or friends permit And after his Complaint The fourtâ—â— part he comforts himself with his first and chief reason again But I have trusted in thee O Lord and said Thou art my God Vers. 14 Let them conspire take counsel and devise
that fear thee It passeth mans understanding to conceive and the eye of humane reason sées it not which judgeth of all things by the present success This thou hast reserv'd in secret for those which serve thée with a sincere heart and in thy good time thou by great works which thou wilt do for those who trust in thee wilt manifest it even before the sons of men The pride of man is great and in their pride they attempt to throw down those who in sincerity worship thée their tongues are sharp and contentious and in their malice they invent many lyes and scandals against them but thou O Lord wilt hide those thou lovest in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man and wilt keep them secretly as in a Pavilion from the strife of tongues And yet I pressed with the consideration of many evils in which I thought my self forsaken said rashly in my hast Surely I am cut off from before thine eyes thou wilt never certainly cast any favourable look toward me Such was my infirmity so great my inconsideration But thy mercy passed by even then my weakness and setled my staggering soul Notwithstanding my imperfections thou heardst the voice of my Supplications when I cryed unto thee Hear me then now O Lord consider my troubles know that my soul is in adversity have mercy upon me for I call unto thée for help and let me not be ashamed But as for the wicked let them be put to confusion and let them be cut off for the grave that they be able to do no more mischief Let those that invent and speak lyes be put to silence that with pride disdain and cruelty speak against the righteous Blessed be the Lord and praised be his name who hath not only delivered me out of danger but hath shewed unto me in a superabundant manner his marvellous great kindness and loaded me with happiness glory and superfluity of all things yea and set me in a safe and defenced place O lovâ— ye the Lord all ye his Saints all ye that serve the Lord in holiness murmure not against his providence but when ye sée me a man destitute of all humane help delivered hope for the same favour from his hands be of good courage and strengthen your hearts O Lord preserve the faithful and though the wicked flourish and pride it in their success yet look upon our affliction and plentifully reward the proud doer As for those who with an honest heart serve thée give them constancy and perseverance in thy love fear and Truth and let their hope in thée be well rooted and confirmed through the Son of thy love Iesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen PSAL. XXXII Is Doctrinal and sets forth the happiness of one whose sins are remitted THE Title of the Psalm is Maschil and at the eighth verse the reason is given I will instruct thee and teach thee In this then there is an instruction given especially about these three points which divide the Psalm 1. The Happy estate of a justified person vers 1 2. 2. The unhappy condition of that man who is not assured that he is justified and reconciled to God vers 3 A justified person is happy 4. and the way prescribed how to gain that assurance vers 5. 3. A Lesson given for obedience after a man is brought into that state v. 8 9. 1. The Prophet first instructs us in what justification consists It is a free remission The first part How he must be qualified a covering of sin a non-imputation of iniquities 2. How the man must be qualified that obtains it He must have an honest sincere and upright heart Vers. 1 be far from guile doubling hypocrisie vers 3. Now such a one he pronounceth Vers. 2 A Happy man Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered He must confess his sin not excuse or hide it Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile who doth not excuse palliate extenuate his sin but confesseth it 2. The second part And this he makes good by his own experience he hid his sin he doubled with God he confessed not and he was in an unhappy and unquiet condition all the while This David did he hid it 1. I held my peace I confessed not I did not ask pardon and When I held my peace And he was unquiet in his soul and kept silence dissembled my sin 2. I was wounded with the sting of a guilty conscience fears horrours troubles of soul c. My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my moysture is turn'd into the drought of Summer 3. But when he confessed it And then he shews you the way he took to recover his happiness which was a clear contrary course He would conceal his sin no longer from which he had so much unrest but he was resolv'd to open and display it before his God 1. Vers. 5 I acknowledg'd my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid 2. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. Of which the effects are divers 1 He obtained remission 1. The first upon himself He recover'd his happiness consâ—â—ing in Remission And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin 2. 2 By his example others seek for grace The second upon the whole Church upon every good man that took out and follow'd his example For this i. e. that thou hast been so merciful to me Vers. 6 and pardoned me a penitent confessor shall every one that is godly pray unto thee for pardon in a time when thou may'st be found in the day while grace is offered 3. Vers. 6 Comfort in extremities and safety in the greatest dangers Surely in the floods of great waters 3 And are secure in extremities in an inundation of calamities the troubles shall not come nigh him that depends upon Gods goodness and mercy and is reconcil'd unto him by repentance And he shews the reason from his own experience God was his Protector 1. Thou art my hiding place thou shalt preserve me from trouble 2. Thou shalt compass me about with Songs of deliverance deliver me and make me sing for joy and give thanks 3. And now David sets down the Duty of a justified person The third part David instructs a justified person in his way that he be after his pardon obedient to his God and that not out of compulsion but freely and willingly About which that he be not to seek either God from Heaven or David in his person becomes his Doctor I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go I will guide thee with my eye Vers. 8 And a good servant needs no stripes he will observe nutum or nictum heri As my eye is alwayes over you carefully to instruct
as some great King in his Throne providing for all the parts of his Empire examining all Causes and doing justice to every one 1. Vers. 13 The Lord looks from heaven and beholds all the sons of men 2. That he sees all From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth Vers. 14 3. And he is not â—â—iosus spectator neither Vers. 15 He sees and considers their hearts their works Considers in what men put their trust And he sees in what they put their confidence in their Armies in theiâ— strength in their Horse not in him But all in vain Vers. 16 For there is no King that can be saved by the multitude of an Hoast Evacuates their designs A mighty man is not delivered by much strength An horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any man by his great strength Multitude strength c. without God are useless 2. Hitherto he hath given a proof of Gods providence toward all men 2 But defends his Church but now he descends to a particular proof of it by his care over his Church which he wonderfully guides defends protects in all dangers and assaults And that notice be taken of it he begins with an Ecce Behold the eye of the Lord his tender'st care is over them that fear him Vers. 18 upon them that hope in his mercy To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine Upon this Gods people The third part The three last verses contain the Acclamation of Gods people who believe and place all their hope and trust in God For being excited as it were by the former Arguments They do three things Vers. 20 1. They express and profess their faith and dependance on God 1 Wait on him Our soul waiteth on God he is our help and our shield Vers. 21 2. They publish upon what hope they are held up and how comforted 2 Publish his name and rejoice in it For our heart shall rejoice in him because we have trusted in his Holy Name Vers. 22 3. Upon this hope they commend themselves by prayer to God 3 Commend themselves to Gods mercy Let thy mercy O Lord be upon us according as we hope in thee The Prayer collected out of the thirty third Psalm O God thy goodness is so great thy faithfulness so constant thy power so wonderful thy providence so universal but thy care so Fatherly toward thy people that we were unworthy of the least of thy mercies should we not acknowledge them and return thee due honour and thanks For there is nothing in the whole world which doth not witness thée to be a bountiful God Vers. 4 and a most Merciful Father Thy Word O Lord thy Decrée for the Creation and Government of the World is right and equal and all thy works are done in true wisdom righteousness and judgement Vers. 5 For there is nothing that thou hast commanded which is not just Nothing that thou hast promised which thou wilt not make good and bring to pass Out of that love thou bearest to righteousness and judgement the earth is full of thy goodness there being in it nothing so minute and vile which one way or other doth not partake of thy bounty Vers. 6 and commend thy goodness and mercy to us By thy Word alone and sole Command were those incorruptible Orbs of the Heavens made and confirm'd and all the hoast of them that multitude of starres so orderly and beautifully disposed by the breath the word the Fiat of thy mouth Thou hast gather'd together those unruly waters of the Sea into one place and shut them up with bounds and limits that they return not again to cover the earth And thou hast hidden and laid up great streams of waters in the bowels of the earth as in a Treasure-house which at thy pleasure thou bring'st forth to water a thirsty Land He spake and all this was done he commanded and it stood fast For so great is thy power that without any labour without any delay without any help all this was done and that by thy Will and Word only and by thy Word and Will it is that it doth so now continue and remain without dissolution Therefore O ye righteous rejoice in the Lord Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner Vers. 2 praise therefore a righteous God with an upright heart Neither with your mouth only express his praise but set it forth with musical instruments Praise the Lord with the Harp sing unto him with the Psaltery and an instrument of ten strings And you who have so often sung of his honour now since he hath renew'd his mercies set forth your joy with a New Song play skilfully with a loud voice So set forth his praise his power his wisdom his mercy that all the earth may fear the Lord and the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him For what he hath ordained by his eternal counsel shall be fulfill'd and stand fast for ever and the thoughts of his heart to all generations Since then thou O Jehovah art most just most merciful most Mighty blessed is that Nation who have chosen and worshipped thee O Lord for their God and happy is the people whom thou hast chosen for thine inheritance O make us Lord alwayes of this people that we may be happy under thy protection Dwell in the midst of us and bless us But O Lord bring the counsels of wicked men against this thy people to nought and make the devices of the people of none effect Look down from heaven and behold all the sons of men from the place of thy habitation look upon the inhabitants of the earth Thou searchest the very hearts and reins and knowest all their plots and secret counsels they take against thy people thou séest their preparations and provisions O Lord make them know and so fashion their hearts that they may perceive that all hope and confidence is in vain which is not in thée Because there is no other can save besides thy self For there is no King that can be saved by the multitude of an hoast neither is a mighty man deliver'd by much strength An Horse whether in battle or flight is a vain-deceitful thing to save a man neither shall he deliver his rider by his great strength It is not in these vain helps we put our considence our hope is in thée alone on thée we relie to thée we trust from thée we look for help Let thy eye therefore O Lord be upon us that fear thee who relie not upon any merits and creatures but on thy méer mercy let thy everlasting mercy then follow us and deliver our souls from temporal and eternal death and suffain us with a sufficient livelihood in the time of famine Upon thee O Lord our soul doth wait be our shield to protect us our help to deliver us So shall our heart
troubles from which thou hast delivered thy servant therefore I will praise thy name at all times and thy honour shall be continually in my mouth It shall be the boast of my soul and the joy of my heart that when I sought thée thou hast heard me and deliver'd me from those fears with which I was surprised For behold I a poor afflicted wretch forsaken by all contemn'd by all in the midst of my miseries have implored thy help and thou didst hear me out of thy Holy Heaven and camest down and savedst me from my troubles O let this thy mercy shew'd to me raise the hearts of thy afflicted people let all those who are of a méek and patient spirit under the cross heat thereof and be glad Let them magnifie the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together being fully perswaded that that God who sent his Angel and deliver'd me will also send his Angel to encamp round about them and will deliver them When their eyes are dejected even then let them look up to thée when their faces are clouded with sorrow then enlighten them with thy favourable countenance Refresh them with thy aspect as with a pleasing light and never suffer them to be ashamed that they have relied and put their trust in thée Though those bruitish men who prey and tear like Lions may want and suffer hunger yet let not those who séek thy name want any manner of thing that is good supply them with necessaries for this life and in their penury teach them to be content because thou hast made them to abound with the spiritual and true riches O teach them to taste and confess that the Lord is good and that the man is blessed that trusts in him O Lord let thy eyes be upon the righteous and thy ears open to their cry They are of broken hearts be nigh unto them they are of contrite spirits O save them they in their afflictions cry to thee O hear them and deliver them out of all their troubles Thou hast said it O make thy word good That many are the troubles of the righteous but do thou deliver him out of all And that we may be alwayes in thy favour and under thy care good God instruct-us ever in thy fear Keep O Lord our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking guile Teach us to depart from evil and to do good And because it is a hard matter to have peace with all men make us to live without offence and to seek peace so much as in us lies and to pursue it So shall we have our desires and obtain what we love long life sée many dayes and much good O Lord let thy face be against those that do evil and cut off the remembrance of them from off the earth Let their own malice if they persist in it slay the wicked and their death be miserable And let them which hate the righteous because his life is not like theirs but of another fashion be desolate adding sin unto sin to their destruction being destitute of thy grace destitute of thy favour for which they are subject to thy anger in this world and obnorious to eternal punishment But as for those who serve thée with a single heart though they are exposed to many troubles and over-weakly yield to many temptations yet O Lord redéem their souls from death deliver them from the craft and violence of Satan frée them from the dominion of sin and suffer them not to commit that great offence for which thou in thy just displeasure shouldst cast them off Pass by their weaknesses pardon their infirmities and negligences renew them daily by the power of thy Spirit increase their hope confirm their saith and because they put their trust only in thy mercy forsake them not leave them not but let the riches of thy mercy guide and conduct them through the many afflictions and troubles of this sinful world to that place of everlasting habitations that they may live with thée and rest with thée in glory and perpetual felicity for ever and ever And O Lord grant that I with thy Saints may have this for my portion through the merits of my only Redéemer Iesus Christ my Lord. Amen PSAL. XXXV Is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE parts of it are 1. A prayer for defence against his enemies In which he prayes first for protection vers 1 2 3 17 19 22 23 24 25. Then imprecates evil to fall on them vers 4 5 6 8 26. 2. A bitter complaint against the malice of his enemies which he pours out into the ears of God as motives to plead his cause vers 7 11 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 21. 3. A proposal of his trust and confidence in God for help and deliverance his joy in it vers 9 10. His thanks for it vers 18 28. and a motive to others to do the like vers 27. 1. The first part He prayes God to be his Advocate In the Courts of men and Princes innocents are often oppressed by false accusations and calumnies persecuted and over-borne by power He then First Prayes to God to be his Advocate his Patron and Protector 1. Litiga Plead my cause O Lord with them that serive with me Vers. 1 2. Fight against them that fight against me Take hold of the shield and buckler and stand up for my help Dram out also the spear and stop the way against them that persecute me 3. Say unto my soul Assure me I am thy salvation 2 He imprecates against his enemies Secondly He falls to an Imprecation against his enemies 1. Let them be confounded and put to shame c. vers 4. 2. Let them be as chaff before the wind c. vers 5. Vers. 4 3. Let their way be dark and slippery c. vers 6. 4. Let destruction come upon him at unawares vers 8. And here he interserts some reasons of his Petition and Imprecation 1. From the justice of his cause and their unjustice 3 The reasons of both Without cause they have hid a net c. vers 7. Vers. 7 2. Vers. 9 From his gratitude that being deliver'd he would be thankful And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord c. vers 9 10. 3. From his enemies dealing with him from vers 11. to 17. And so enters upon his Complaint The second part His complaint of his enemies which is the second part of the Psalm and upon this he stayes long And he layes to their charge 1. Perfidiousness and extream malice and perjury False witnesses did rise up Vers. 11 they laid to my charge things that I know not 2. Vers. 12 Ingratitude They rewarded me evil for good Good he did to them he when they were fasted and pray'd for them But they were cruel to him 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In my adversity they rejoiced c. 4. Mocking jesting jeering The abjects gather'd themselves against me they
the highest Heaven there is not any thing which is not partaker of thy goodness Those bottles of Heaven that continually resolve and water the Earth are expresses of thy Constancy and Truth Thy way of suffice is incomprehensible and thy judgments by which thou dispensest all things in the Earth a great deep Ver. 6 which no man can search an abysse which no humane understanding can find out Man and Beast have their being life motion from thée to man and beast thou suppliest wharsoever is necessary for food or existence they are sustained by thy goodness and preserved by thy mercy But thy care O Lord and providence over thy people is far more gracious Who can Ver. 7 as it ought estéem it Who can set a sufficient price upon it O how excellent is thy loving-kindness toward them thou lovest and them that love thée These thou wilt protect as a Hen doth her Chickens under the shadow of thy wings These shall enjoy not only temporary good things common to man and beast but in this present life thou wilt give them a taste of thy heavenly treasures by the Holy Ghost diffused in their hearts which as Rivers of pleasure will refresh their thirsty souls and after receive them into a celestial mansion where they shall be satisfied with the abundance of thy House that is with the beatifical vision and full fruition of thyself for thou art the fountain of that life which is true life indéed and perpetual Thou art the spring of light and when we come to enjoy that light all darkness being dispelled we shall sée light indéed Till we come thither we pass through a vally of darkness and live a life that may rather be called a death 't is so full of cares so full of miseries so full of sin howsoever in this let us have a taste of thy mercies protect us under thy wings let us dwell in thy house satisfie us with the graces of thy Spirit let us drink of the Rivers of thy pleasure make our life comfortable and let us enjoy the light of thy countenance This will be life to us even when we sit in this shadow of death this will be light to us even while we remain in this darkness Here we are subject to many temptations and the ungodly thrust sore at us that we might fall But O never let the foot of pride come and prevail against us let not the hand of the wicked remove us We know O Lord that their malice is so great against thy Truth that they are not moved with any fear or reverence of thy Name resolved they are to please and flatter themselves in their own eyes till their iniqity be found out and made apyear to be odious before God and man whatsoever they speak is full of iniquity and fraud they are not only ignorant but they will not be taught to be wise whosoever shall advise them to do good is accounted their enemy and hateful in their sight In the night-season when the mind is retired and should meditate on the best things then they fasten it upon the worst in their Bed they devise mischief and so hardned in their sin that they will not set themselves in any good way nor abhor even the foulest evil Therefore O Lord for thy mercy and faithfulness for thy loving-kindness and righteousness sake we beséech thée suffer not our souls to be delivered over as a prey into their hands and since they will not desist from their mischievous and bloody enterprise let these worker of iniquity fall together for peace let them find war for security trouble let them be cast down from their fancied state of dignity and felicity and never be able to rise again by the power of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen PSAL. XXXVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE intent of this Psalm is that good men be not over-much troubled at the prosperity of wicked men and what is here delivered may be reduced to these two general Heads 1. He sets down the Duty of a good man which is to be patient and put his confidence in God when he sees the wicked prosper and flourish The first part That we fret not at wicked mens prosperity 2. He gives many Reasons to perswade unto it 1. He begins with an Interdict and then descends to give forth some Commands 1. His Interdict is Fret not thy self because of evil doers neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity Be nor angry not envious to which he adds this Reason That their prosperity is but short for they shall be cut down as the grass and wither as the green herb This interdict is repeated ver 7 8. and the reason ver 9 10 35 36 38. He sets down some Rules to keep from envy 2. Then he sets down some commands or rules to keep from fretting and anger 1. The first is a perpetual rule for our whole life Trust in the Lord rely not on humane helps riches friends c. trust to God 2. Do good increase not thy state by ill arts and means 3. Dwell in the land desert not thy station for verily thou shalt be fed 4. And therefore enjoy quietly what thou hast at present 5. Delight thou in the Lord be pleased with his way Ratio Dabit petitiones cordis 6. Commit thy way unto the Lord labour in an honest vocation leave the rest to him for he shall bring it to pass he shall bring forth thy righteousness c. 7. Rest and acquiesce in the Lord and wait patiently for him his time is the best and then he repeats his Interdict Fret not thy self Then he resumes his former Reason mentioned at the second verse The first Reason and amplifies it by an Antithesis viz. that bonis benè malis malè erit ver 9 10 11. The second part Evil doers cut off and so it falls out plerumque but not semper which is enough for temporal blessings 1. Evil doers shall be cut off but those that wait on the Lord shall inherit the Earth 2. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be yea and thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be But the meek shall inherit the Earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace To this he adds a second Reason taken from the Providence of God 1. The second Reason Gods Providence Object 1. Bad men hate good men In protecting the righteous and confounding their enemies 2. In blessing the little they have in which he seems to remove a double objection The first about the tyranny of the wicked over just men The second that they were commonly in want and poverty The first Tentation that much troubles pious souls is the power the cruelty the implacable hatred of wicked men The wicked plotteth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth To which David answereth Resp God shall revenge it The Lord shall laugh at
life I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were therefore parce Faith is alwayes strugling with tentations before ver 7. he is confident God is his hope but yet his calamities his sickness his enemies the brevity fugacity troubles of his life ever and anon come into his memory and therefore he prayes again for mitigation of these and his prayer ariseth by a gradation 1. He prayes for Audience Hear my prayer O Lord. 2. He inforceth his prayer Then that his cry for such it was be heard Give ear unto my cry 3. For admission of his tears Hold not thy peace at my tears the Reason is a stranger thy grace thy favour 4. For some relaxation and ease O spare me that I may recover my strength which he quickens with this motive before I go hence and be no more seen Restore me to thy favour in this life hereafter it will be too late to expect it Ne moriar desperans The Prayer collected out of the thirty ninth Psalm O Lord when I beheld the flourishing estate and successes of the wicked and the life of the godly worn out with sorrow and afflictions I being not able to comprehend the secret wayes of thy Providence was resolved to lay my hand upon my mouth and acquiesce in thy will and wisdom Even so Lord it pleased thée so thou wisely disposest and brings to pass all things and though I were able to put in a just Apology for this thy doing yet I said weithin my self Ver. 1 I will take heed to my wayes that I sin not with my tongue I will keep my mouth with a bridle especially while the wicked is before me that I say nothing against thée my God nothing unworthy my self But while I was dumb with silence while I held my peace and refrained even from good words Ver. 2 that which my heart gave me I must justly speak the grief within me was so vehement and my sorrow was so stirred Lord I confess my own weakness and infirmity that my heart was like fire within me and in that intemperate heat zeal and indignation at the wickeds prosperity I spake thus unadvisedly and immodestly with my tongue being tyred and wearied out of my life I desired to dye O Lord make me know when this my miserable and calamitous life shall end in which I suffer such heavy things and of which I am over-weary make me know the period and measure of my dayes that I may be certain what and how long I am to suffer and what the delay is that I must be under this Cross Short I know my time is and easily measured as easie as a hand-breadth 't is a moment 't is as nothing in comparison of thée and eternity and wilt thou not then suffer me to swallow my spettle Behold all things that are in the World are vanity of vanities and man among the rest his labour his power his strength his favour promise much and little satisfie and wilt thou then contend with such an one and persecute him as the dry stubble O Lord man is but the shadow of a shadow which is the image of a thing and yet is truly nothing so he passeth away being onward his journey toward death never continuing his condition in one and the same state and wilt thou then add so his affliction This O Lord néeds not for he is apt to afflict himself that little time which thou hast given him which he ought to endeavour that he might enjoy in a quiet and peaceable manner is disquieted with the perturbations of the mind for he disquiets himself in vain with fear and joy and hope and a covetous desire especially he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them The Prodigal and unthrifty here dissipates what he had with so much care and perhaps sin heaped together or else Thieves or enemies violently plunder and carry them away These considerations O Lord I must confess pierced my soul and these thoughts wounded my heart and made me a little impatient till by thy mercy I recollected my self and retired my heart from all things below and fixed upon thée For now Lord what wait I for what is my erpectation what my confidence what my wealth my power my command my strength my life No no Lord I renounce my trust in all or any of these Thou Lord only art my hope my rock my strong Castle my defence my help my subsistence Thou O Lord which savest all those who hope in thy mercy deliver me from all my transgressions and make me not a reproach to foolish men to whose hands thou hast now justly delivered me for my iniquities against this thy just procéeding I will not open my mouth because I know that thou who wilt and dost all things uprightly hast caused me thus to be troubled to correct my enormities and exercise my patience But yet O Lord I beséech thée make an end of beating me and remove thy stroak that sense of thy wrath those terrours of conscience and pains of body under which I groan for I am even consumed and am ready to faint by the blow of thy heavy hand Thou hast made me an example that when thou correctest and rebukest man for his iniquity Thou makest his beauty to consume away insensibly as the fair gloss doth from the garment that the Moth frets so vain a thing is man As therefore thou hast made me an example of thy justice so set me forth as a Monument of thy mercy in hearing my prayers and cries and considering my tears which I poure out before thée Lord hear my prayer and give ear to my cry and hold not thy peace at my tears for I am as all my fathers were a man in this World of a short continuance the City I séek is above my way thither through this vally of tears in which for a time I must sojourn a Citizen I am of that City a pilgrim and a stranger here and the time I am to abide in it is but a little while O spare me then and deal more remissly and kindly with me forbear these severe stroaks that I may a little recover my strength by an assurance of thy grace and favour unto me before I go hence and be no more séen among men Cease good Lord to smite and afflict me in this grievous manner give me some ease and relaxation of my pain lay no more upon me than thou wilt make me able to bear O let me recover my strength of faith and hope in thée in this my pilgrimage it is not long but I must depart from hence and not be séen any more in this land of the living Grant therefore good Lord that I leave not this World with a conscience oppressed and affrighted with the grief and burden of my sin but that being discharged of that guilt I may quietly and peaceably resign my soul into thy hands being cloathed and beautified by
his soul as every good man ought in the like vicissitudes of trial and combate by a full assurance faith confidence of Gods favour and protection 1. Chiding himself for his discontent and diffidence Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me 2. Then encourageth and revives his heart upon Gods goodness and faithfulness Hope thou in God for I shall yet give him thanks who is the help of my countenance and my God PSAL. XLIII THIS Psalm is of the same nature with the former and is as it were the Epitom of it and it contains two chief things 1. A Petition which is double 1. One in the first verse 2. The other in the fourth verse Davids Petition that God would be his Judge 2. A comfortable Apostrophe to his own soul ver 5. First He petitions to God The first part 1. That being righteous he would be his Judge Judge me O Lord. 2. That being merciful he would plead his Cause Plead my Cause Ver. 1 3. That being Omnipotent he would deliver him Deliver me ver 1. Of this he assigns two Reasons 1. The first the unmerciful condition of his enemies The Reasons of it two 1. They were a factious bloody inhumane people Plead my cause against an ungodly Nation an unmerciful people ver 1. 2. They were men of deceit and iniquity Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man ver 1. 2. The other from the Nature of God and his relation to him Ver. 2 For thou art the God of my strength ver 2. Thou hast promised to defend me His expostulation upon it and upon it he expostulates 1. Why hast thou cast me off For so to the eye of sense it seems to me 2. Wh◠go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ver 2. Secondly The second partt of his Petition is The second Petition for Gods favour that he may be restored to Gods favour and reduced from banishment to his Countrey ver 3. 1. O send forth thy Light and thy Truth Ver. 3 the light of thy favour and countenance and make thy promises true to me let them lead me ver 3. 2. Let them guide me whether to my dignity and honours No I ask not that so much as to thy holy Hill and to thy Tabernacles where I may enjoy the exercises of piety ver 3. Thirdly Ver. 4 Now that he might the more move God to hear his Petition he does as good as vow Which if granted he vows to be thankful that this courtesie should not be cast away upon an ungrateful wretch thankful he would be and make it known how good God had been unto him 1. Then will I go to the Altar of God unto the God of my exceeding joy the joy and content he would take in this should not be vulgar 2. Yea upon the Harp will I praise thee O God my God His joy should be expressed outwardly and Gods Name celebrated with a Psalm and instruments of Musick ver 4. The Petitions being ended The second part His faith by which he quiets his soul and he now confident of audience and favour he thus bespeaks his heavy and mournful heart just as in the former Psalm 1. Chiding 2. Encouraging himself Ver. 5 Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou disquieted within me Hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God ver 5. The Petition collected out of the forty second Psalm O most just God for our heinous transgressions and profaness it hath séemed good unto thy Majesty to turn away thy favourable countenance from us and to banish us from those comforts which we were wont to enjoy in thy Temple and in thy Courts By the want we are come to know the just value of those enjoyments and brought to confess the advantage of those Petitions which in publick we offered with thy Saints and servants before those suits which now we singly make in our retirements This is it that in secret setcheth sighs from our hearts and tears from our eyes that we may once more méet in the beauty of holiness Behold as the chased Hart ready to perish for heat and thirst panteth after the water-brooks Ver. 1 so our souls panteth after thee our God our soul thirsteth for God Ver. 2 even for the living God in whom are the Fountains of living water Oh therefore that that day would once come that we might go to thy Sanctuary again and fréely appear in thy presence The insultations of our enemies are many and bitter they judge us quite rejected and cast off by thée and this is it which breaks my heart and my tears have been my meat day and night Ver. 3 while they continually say unto me in derision Where is now thy God Now when I compare my former estate with my present condition I poure out my soul within me for I lay to heart How I had gone with the multitude I went with them to the House of God with the voyce of joy and praise with a multitude that kept Holy-day But now it is otherwise I am driven from thy Sanctuary I am cast out from thy Temple and this is it which makes my soul within me like melting wax this is it which makes my life a burden to me O my God my soul is cast down within me 't is a trouble that I must remember thée even from this place of banishment even from these desolate places and land of strangers to which I am driven here the evils I suffer are grievous heavy many continual One déep of miseries calls upon another and thy Cataracts and Spouts of calamities fall with a great noise upon my head All thy waves and billows of afflictions are gone over me and are ready to sink and drown me Yet Lord I despair not of thy mercy and goodness I know the Lord will command and make me sensible of his loving-kindness in the day-time and in the night-season he will continue his love so that I shall have just reason to sing of him and my prayer shall approach and come unto the God of my life Why then art thou cast down Ver. 5 O my soul why art thou thus disquieted within me why dost thou despair why art thou so impatient O hope and put thy trust in God be bold upon the confidence of his presence and help for I know the day will come when he will yet look upon me with a favourable eye when I shall yet confess his Name and praise him for the help of his countenance I will say unto God O thou my Rock my stay my hope Ver. 9 why hast thou forgotten me why go I mourning while the enemy oppresseth me Their reproach is no less grief unto me than if I felt a Sword of death in my bones Ver. 10 it wounds me to the very heart to hear them daily say unto me Where
the Ark or else by the setling of it in the Temple by Solomon to foretel the Ascension of Christ into heaven who was the true Ark of the Covenant and the Propitiatory Then there was a Jubilee and so there must be at the remembrance of this It contains a Prophesie of Christs Kingdom and it hath two especial parts First Christs ascension typified An invitation to sing praises to Christ Secondly The reasons that perswade to it 1. Vers. 5 The Ascension of Christ is under the Arks ascension typified Verse 5. God is gone up with a shout His invitation to praise God for it the Lord with the sound of a Trumpet 2. Upon which he invites that we do that at this feast which was then done Vers. 1 viz. That we clap hands and sing praises That this be done 1. Cheerfully O clap your hands for clapping of hands is an outward sign of inward joy Nahum 3.19 2. Universally O clap hands all ye people 3. Vers. 6 Vocally Shout unto God with the voice of melody 4. Frequently Sing praises sing praises sing praises sing praises vers 6. And again sing praises vers 7. It cannot be done too often 5. Knowingly and discreetly Sing ye praises with understanding know the reason why you are to praise him 3. Now these reasons are drawn from his Greatness and his Goodness 2 The reasons to perswade to it 1. He is Great He is the Lord the most high 2. Terrible 3. A great King over all the earth All power at his Ascension 1 God great given to him in heaven and earth Vers. 2 2. He is a Good God Vers. 7 1. In collecting his Church by subduing the Nations 2 Good and that in four respects not by a Sword but by his Word and Spirit by which he would subdue their iniquities the iniquity of the Jew first Vers. 3 and then of the Gentile For the Law was to come out of Zion and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem To the discipline of that Religion and Service which we profess both were to submit and therefore both might well be said to be subdued to us and be brought under our feet Vers. 4 2. In honoring and rewarding his Church He shall chuse out an heritage for us even the worship of Jacob whom he loved 1. His Church was his choice A chosen generation a select people 2. His heritage for he will dwell among them and provide an inheritance for them blessings on earth and an inheritance in heaven 3. This is the worship and glory of Jacob of Jacob after the Spirit the Kingdom Priest-hood and all the promises made unto Jacob and the Fathers being theirs 4. The cause His love only He chose Vers. 7 c. because he loved 3. In increasing and amplifying his Church God is the King now of all the earth not of the Jews only For he reigneth over the heathen also He sits upon a Throne of Holiness rules by his Holy Word and Spirit making them Holy who were unholy 2. Yea and a willing people also For the Princes of the people are gathered together even the people of the God of Abraham 4. In protecting his Church whether by himself Vers 9 or by the Princes he raiseth up for her defence For the shields of the earth belong unto God Princes and Prelates are shields of the Church but God is the chief He is greatly exalted The Eucharistical Prayer collected out of the forty seventh Psalm O Lord God who hast exalted thy Son Iesus Christ with great Triumph into the Kingdom of heaven we beséech thée leave us not comfortless but send to us thy Holy Spirit to comfort us and exalt us to the same place whither our Saviour is gone before And thou O blessed Saviour Vers. 5 who when thou hadst finished our Redemption on earth didst ascend to the beaven in great glory and Majesty Vers. 2 and satest down on the right-hand of thy Father and art become the Lord the most high terrible and a great King over all the earth receive the petitions of thy humble Servants present them at the Throne of Grace and make intercession for us Subdue the people by the power of thy Spirit Vers. 3 and bring the Nations under thy féet by the sharp edge of thy Word Cause those who are yet strangers and aliens from thy worship to fall low before thée and perswade all those who are yet afar off to come néer and to embrace thy Gospel and the truth and equity of thy Law The time was Vers. 4 when in Judah only God was known and thy Name was great in Israel it was the excellency of Jacob which thou didst love but now thou hast merited Vers. 7 and art ordained to be the King of all the earth since therefore thou hast chosen these also for thine inheritance Vers. 4 reign thou even over the Heathen Vers. 8 and subduing their iniquities sit upon thy Throne of Holiness among them O happy day Vers. 9 when not the meanest and lowest but the greatest and the noblest when the Princes of the people shall be gathered together and be united to the people of the God of Abraham being all worshippers of the same God professors of one and the same Faith and partakers of one and the same mercy For then should the name of our God who is truly the shield and defence of his people be greatly exalted in the earth The praises of our God should then be in our mouths Vers. 7 and with-wisdom and understanding should we sing our Psalms heart and hand affections and work being every way agréeable to our Psalmodie O Lord infinite and wonderful are thy wayes and works toward the children of men but the work of Redemption by the blood of thy dear Son farre excéeds them all For this love for this mercy O work upon our hearts to sing praises to thy honour our tongues to sing praises to thy glory our lips to shout with the voice of melody O all ye Saints of his Vers. 1 Clap your hands for joy shout for triumph sing praises to God Vers. 5 sing praises sing praises to our King sing praises Let hands and tongue and works and words be ready prest to sing praises to the God of Jacob. Amen PSAL. XLVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 UNder the Type Jerusalem is set down the happiness of the Church which is alwayes protected by Gods favour Three parts there are of this Psalm 1. The excellencies and priviledges of the City of God from vers 1. to 4. 2. A Narration of a miraculous deliverance she obtain'd and upon it the Terrour that fell on her enemies from vers 4. to 8. 3. An Exhortation to consider it and praise God from vers 8. to 15. 1. The first part He begins with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised Great in himself Vers. 1 and greatly to be praised for all things in all
their hope who commend themselves to thy goodness and are favoured by thee The Prayer collected out of the fifty second Psalm O Lord God Almighty who hast seperated the Tribe of Levi to come near unto thée and hast commanded them to teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy Laws behold and look down from Heaven and consider the disgrace and injury we suffer for thy Name Thou hast sent us as shéep among wolves and as wolves they fall upon us and devour us counted we are as the off-scouring of all things for thy sake and made a spectacle to Men and Angels The tongue of the Mighty deviseth mischief against us like a sharp Razor they wound and cut Ver. 2 and work deceitfully instead of love they return us haired Their tongue is deceitful they speak lies against us and words that may devour us Nay to that height of pride and impiety they are come that they glory they boast in this mischief Ver. 1 as if in destroying of us they thought they should do God good service And now Lord what is our hope truly our hope is even in thée Thy goodness O Lord endureth continually we know whom we have trusted we know on whom we rely and we are assured that thou wilt perform thy promise unto us as they have sought to destroy us so shall God likewise destroy them for ever he shall take them away and pluck them out of their dwelling place and root them out of the Land of the living This the righteous shall live to see done with their eyes and for it serve thee their Lord with more fear and rejoyce before thee with the greater comfort being delighted not so much with their destruction as with the express of thy justice Laugh they shall and say So so let it happen unto all those who make not God their strength but trust to the abundance of their riches and strengthen themselves in their wickedness But O Lord let the fate of him that for thy sake is seperated from his brethren be altogether otherwise Let every one of the Tribe of Levi that seeks his God with a clean heart and in sincerity serve thee in thy house be like a green Olive tree full of fruit and full of youth and for ever and ever be joyful in thy mercy Which thing if thou wilt do for us then shall we praise thy Name then will we wait upon thee and expect to see thy goodness in the land of the living through Iesus Christ our only Lord and Saviour PSAL. LIII THIS Psalm is the very same with the fourteenth The Analysis then must be the same and the Prayer and therefore I refer you thither PSAL. LIV. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID in danger in the Wilderness of Ziph composed this Psalm There be 2 parts of the Psalm 1. His Prayer for help and salvation from vers 1. to 4. 2. His Confidence that he should have help and upon it his gratitude to vers 7. David preferres his Petition in the two first verses 1. Save me plead my cause Hear my prayer The first part Davids Petition Give ear to the words of my mouth Earnest he is and he ingeminates his desire and yet he desires not to speed except his cause be just Vers. 1 If so it appear then he desires God to plead it Plead thou my cause 2. He produceth two grounds upon which he petitions The name The ground of it the strength of God 1. He that calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved I call Save me in thy Name 2. Thou art a powerful God able to do it Save me in thy strength And this his Petition he quickens by the greatness of his danger His enemies The greatness of his danger 1. Were strangers from them he could expect very little favour 2. They were violent oppressors formidable cruel tyrants and from such I must expect no mercy 3. Nothing can satisfie but my blood They arise not for me but against me and seek after my life 4. They are a sort of impious people They have not set God before their eyes Well yet be they Aliens The second part In which he expresses his confidence and by their works unworthy of the name of Israelites formidable and cruel men who will shew me no mercy bloody-minded whom nothing can satisfie but my life Impious and ungodly people that remember not that God hath a revengeful eye Yet I will not fear For behold God openly favours me 2. And is against them Me he favours and those who are with me 1. God is my helper As he hath promised so he hath done and will do to me 2. God is with them also that stand for me and uphold my soul Ecce Behold both these But he opposeth them that oppose me Is an enemy to them who are mine enemies He shall reward evil to such enemies that observe me Vers. 5 and lay wait for my soul Of which being assured in the Spirit of Prophecy he imprecates Destroy thou them And imprecates cut them off in thy truth Promised thou hast that it shall go well with the righteous but on the ungodly thou wilt rain snares fire and brimstone Let God be true Fiat justitia pereat mundus As thou hast said Cut them off Now for so great a mercy Vows to be thankful David vows not to be unthankful For this 1. He would Sacrifice I will praise thy Name 2. Vers. 6 He would do it with a cheerful ready heart which is the fat of the Sacrifice I will Sacrifice freely For which he gives two reasons 1. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which internally moved him unto it For it is good The reasons 6. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 occasional or outwardly impulsive His deliverance 1. For he hath deliver'd me out of all my trouble 2. And mine eye hath seen to my great admiration and content his desire upon my enemies Delivered I am they confounded The Prayer collected out of the fifty fourth Psalm O Almighty Lord who heardst the cryes of thy people Israel when they were oppressed in Egypt Vers. 1 look upon the afflictions of us thy people who have just reason to groan under our hard Task-Masters and heavy burdens By experience we find that all the help of man is in vain we therefore invoke thy name and implore thy power Hear our prayer O God and give eat to the words of our mouth Now we stand in néed of thy strength now we have use of thy powerful arm since our enemies become strangers to their own blood and shew us no favour are violent oppressors and load us with heavy burdens are cruel tyrants from whom we must expect no mercy are bloody men whom nothing can satisfie but our lives are a sort of impious people that have not set thee before their eyes O God be thou our helper and Saviour and be present with all those that fight for thée and
2. Their treachery this The Mighty men are gathered against me They run and prepare themselves 3. They are diligent about it They return at Evening 2. Mad and set to do it they make a noise like a Dog and threaten boldly 3. Unwearied and obstinate in their purpose They go round about the City 4. Impudent and brag what they will do to me Behold they belch out with their mouth 5. And their words are bloody Swords are in their lips 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. And the cause of this is that they are proud and atheistical Who say they doth hear Secure they think themselves supposing they may contemn God and man neither regard what 's done or what becomes of poor David Ver. 3 4. 5. In the mid'st of which aggravations he inserts his own innocency Expresseth his own innocency They gather themselves together not for my transgression nor for my sin O Lord they run and prepare themselves without my fault And upon this he renews his Petition Ver. 4 1. Awake to help me and behold He renews his Petition 1. Thou therefore the Lord God of Hosts the God of Israel the Lord God of Hosts therefore powerful 2. The God of Israel therefore merciful 2. Awake to visit all the Heathen i.e. Punish the Heathen and the Israelites in this no better 3. And be not merciful to any wicked Transgressors i. e. malicious obstinate To this rage and implacable hatred of his enemies The third part Comforts himself in Gods promises he now begins to oppose the comfort he had upon the assurance of Gods promises this I know 1. Thou O Lord shalt laugh at them as it were in sport destroy them be their power never so great yet thou wilt laugh them to scorn 2. Them and all that are like them Thou shalt have all the Heathen in derision 3. I confess that Saul's strength is great but my Protector greater Because of his strength I will wait upon thee for God is my defence 4. This I am assured also That the God of my mercy that hath hitherto shewed me mercy shall prevent me come in feason to my help 2. Expresseth his desire about his enemies And God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies And to the 16th verse he expresseth what his desires were 1. Negatively He would not have them slain and eradicated He would not have them slain and be gives his Reason for it Slay them not lest my people forget for a dead man is quickly out of mind and his punishment out of mind and so few are the better for it 2. Positively The first degree of which is dispersion But 1. Sâ—attered vagrancy and banishment Scatter them which how heavy a judgment it is let the Jewes be witness 2. The second degree is Humiliation Bring them down O Lord our shield 2 Humbled Bring them from their power command honour to a low degree which is no small heart-breaking to a great spirit Fuimus Troes is never remembred without a groan And now he assigns the cause why he would have them scattered and brought low The causes that their blasphemies and lies may never be forgotten but they stand as a terrour to all lyars and blasphemers 1. For the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips 1 Taken in their own snaâ—e let them be taken in their pride The Jewes cryed Beelzebub Nolumus hum and taken they were 2. And for cursing and lying which they speak They cursed themselves his blood be upon us and upon them it is with a witness 3. He goes on in his desires Consume them O Lord emphatically consume them in wrath that they may not be which at first sight seems contrary to his first desire Slay them not But it is not so 4 Consumed for he speaks not of their life as if he would have them so consumed that they should not remain alive but he desires only a consumption of their power royalty command c. And so these words are a farther explication of his second desire Bring them down He would have them so brought down and consumed in their strength dignity command wealth riches that made them proud that they never be able any more to oppose God hurt his people trample upon Religion and his Church he would have them live 4. The final cause to deter others And shews the end why he would have them live and remain still it is ut cognoscant that they might know by their calamities and miseries That it is God that ruleth in Jacob and unto the ends of the Earth that he doth wonderfully govern and preserve his Church that is scattered over all the Earth 5. His insultation over them by a Sarcasm And now by a bitter Epitrope or Synchoresis rather he insults over them before at the 6th verse he shewed their double diligence threats malice to do mischief 1. They return at Evening Well esto be it so And at Evening let them return 2. They make a noise like a Dog Well Let them make a noise like a Dog 3. They go round about the City Well Let them go round about the City So withall they know that they shall be but in a miserable poor mean condition 1. Let them wander up and down for meat Let them find no setled habitation but wander among strange Nations to seek for necessary food 2. And grudge if they be not satisfied Let them be famelici so hunger-bit that is nor little that will satisfie them let them be alwayes grudging if they have not content so that if they be not satisfied they will stay all night be importunate and unmannerly Beggars vexed with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. The fourth part The Doxology The Conclusion is a Doxology and contains Davids thanks in which he acknowledgeth That God is his defence his refuge his strength of him therefore he would make his song 1. But I will sing of thy power 2. I will sing of thy mercy 1. Aloud 2. In the morning 3. The Reason he gives For thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble Both he repeats again 1. Vnto thee O my strength will I sing 2. The Reason The Reason For God is my defence and the God of my mercy And he joyns these two Attributes strength and mercy very well for take away strength from him and he cannot remove morcy and he will not protect both must go together in any one that will defend Power that he can mercy that he will otherwise 't is but in vain to hope for help from him David found God to be both and for both he extolls him The Prayer collected out of the fifty ninth Psalm OMy God Ver. 1 whom only I serve on whom alone I do depend deliver me I beséech thée from the hands of my enemies defend me from the malice of those that rise up against me
13. the fertility of the Deserts Hills Valleys Meadows Pastures is from thee in all parts of the Earth thy riches are conspicuous so much That they even the little Hills shall rejoyce they shall laugh and sing Redebit ager i. e. florebit His meaning is that men may plow sowe dig dung c. but it is God that gives the encrease A Thanksgiving collected out of the sixth fifth Psalm O Heavenly Father the great the good God so many and so great are thy mercies and benefits toward the children of men that honour and praise and glory is thy due from all into whose Nostrils thou hast breathed the breath of life Ver. 1 but more especially from those whom thou hast chosen to be thy people In Zion then the Mansion that thou hast made choice to dwell in we will sound thy praises in Jerusalem the City of the great King will we perform our vows Such is thy gracious goodness Ver. 2 that thou wilt encline thine ear and hear the prayers of a poor afflicted people In trouble when man would turn away his face and stand afar off then thou hast commanded to call on thée and hast promised deliverance in trouble therefore shall flesh weak and sinful but penitent and believing flesh come unto thée being assured that thou wilt hear Is this the fashion of men O blessed Lord God nay they stop their ears they turn away their faces this thou wilt not do and for this thy Name be praised This is an act of thy méer mercy Ver. 3 not of our desert for our iniquities prevail against us many they are even a plurality of them great they are sins of a scarlet dye of a crimson colour and they prevail against us far excéeding our strength to master if either the multitude or quantity or prevalence were able to condemn our condition were miserable our case desperate But we know O Lord that thou art a merciful God and that thou hast ordained a Laver for us of thy dear Sons blood and we believe That the blood of Jesus Christ shall purge us from all our sins as for our transgressions we know thou wilt purge them away This is an inestimable favour but thy goodness stayed not here Ver. 4 as out of love Thou hast elected us before the foundation of the World so again after our submission Thou wilt again be reconciled unto us and cause us to approach unto thée O the blessed estate of that soul whom thou hast chosen for he shall dwell in thy Courts and be satisfied with the goodness of thy House even of thy holy Temple O satisfie our thirsty souls with the pleasures of this house séed us with the bread of thy heavenly Word refresh and strengthen our souls with thy holy Sacraments so shall our dying hearts rejoyce and our mouth shall be filled with thy praise for thy loving-kindness is better than life it self our lips shall praise thee O God of our salvation Thou that art the hope of all the ends of the Earth Ver. 5 and the confidence of them that remain in the broad Sea we know thou hast done terrible things for thy people and shewed mighty signs and wonders for their deliverance in righteousness thou hast procéeded against their Oppressors and answered their Petitions when they cryed unto thée Thou art the same God still hear us and answer us also and do wonders for us on Earth and signs in the Heavens above that so the out-goings of the Morning Ver. 8 they that dwell where the Sun ariseth and the out-goings of the Evening that dwell where the Sun sets may rejoyce and sing beholding the great deliverance which thou hast given to thy people Vnworthy we are of the least of thy mercies but yet thy goodness hath overflowed unto us Thou hast opened thy hand and filled us not only with these but with many temporal blessings Thou by thy strength hast set fast the Mountains Thou hast stilled the noise of the Seas and set bounds to its pround waves that they return not again to cover the Earth Thou hast quieted and stilled the tumults and madness of the people Thou hast appointed the Moon for certain seasons and the Sun knoweth his going down Thou in mercy to us hast visited the Earth when it was parched and burnt and dry and by the Bottles of thy Clouds hast watered it and greatly enriched it by thy Rivers causing that dry Element to be a kind nursing mother to all kind of fruits and herbs for the sustenance of man and beasts The Corn that stands in the Vallies is thy Corn the water that descends into the furrows thereof is thy rain Thou makest it soft with thy showres for so thou hast prepared it so thou hast provided for it that it bring forth meat for the use and service of men The séed fastens upon the root shoots into the blade knits in the ear but this spring is from thée it is thy blessing that it fills it swells it ripens for the Sickle The crown and glory of the year is thy goodness and the fatness and fertilty of the earth is from thee Paul may plant and Apollo may water but it is God that gives the increase That every part of the year yields its fruits in dus season is from the continuance in that path which thou hast ordained for every creature to walk in Thy drops descend upon the Pastures of the desert places that the wild Beasts may have whereon to féed thy Clouds empty themselves upon the little hills that the clusters of Grapes shrink not and wither by the abundance of pasture the shéep are cloathed with wool and from thy bounty the Vallies stand so thick with corn That men shall laugh and sing Great and marvellous are thy works O Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes Thou King of Saints thy wisdom is infinite thy mercies are glorious and we are not worthy to appear before that presence at which the Angels cover their faces yet since thou O Lord art worthy to receive glory and honour and power because thou hast made preserved redeemed us we unworthy wretches do in all humility and obedience offer thée all possible laud praise and honour O my God I will give thanks to thée for ever Amen PSAL. LXVI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE occasion of this Psalm was some great deliverance which God shew'd to his people for which David invites the Church to give thanks and proposeth himself for an example of Gratitude The parts are 1. An Invitation 1. To praise God from ver 1. to 5. 2. To consider his works from ver 5. to 8. 2. A Repetition of the Invitation ver 8. for the benefit and deliverance lately received from ver 9. to 12. 3. A Protestation and Vow for his own particular to serve God ver 13 14 15. 4. A Declaration of Gods goodness to himself from ver 16. to 20. 5. His Doxology ver 20. 1. An
vers 1. and the reason vers 2. 2. A double vow vers 3 4. with the reason The vow repeated vers 5. 3. The effects which were to follow vers 6 7. 1. The first part A prayer for 1. Mercy He first desires of God that he would so carry himself to his Church and people that it might appear that he hath a care of them that he loves them 1. Vers. 1 God be merciful to us favour us for his Mercy is the fountain of all our good 2. 2 A blessing Then Bless us Give whatsoever is good Temporal spiritual blessings 3. 3 The blessing of favour and grace Vers. 2 In particular Cause his face to shine upon us Clear up his countenance to us Every man desires a blessing the good man this blessing 4 That this blessing be extended to all people the blessing of the right-hand Let him openly shew that he favours us And for this he gives his reason viz. That the light may be communicative and the benefit pass over to others The second part even unto all men all Nations 1. In which he votes praise to God and desires that all may join with him That thy Way thy Will thy Word thy Works may be known on earth 2. Thy saving health not in Jury alone but among all Nations He desires that all men may come to the knowledge of the Truth and take notice of those wayes which he takes for the salvation of his people 2. And upon it he Votes honour to God for one will easily and naturally flow from the other Vers. 3 his mercy brings knowledge and his knowledge praise Let the people praise thee O God Let all the people praise thee This verse is Emphatical 1. Vers. 5 In respect of the Object Te. Thee Not other strange gods 2. Celebrent omnes All the people Not mutter thy praises but make them illustrious 3. And do it he artily And do it often Repeat them again and again as he doth this verse vers 5. 4. Vers. 4 And do it with a joyful and glad heart O let the Nations rejoice and sing for joy And of this also he gives his reason The reason the Acts that flow from Gods special providence his governing his moderating his directing his people 1. 1 Gods equity in judging His equity in judging Thou shalt judge the people righteously 2. 2 His wisdom in ordering His wisdom in governing Thou shalt govern lead and direct the Nations and that on earth that they know the way to eternal happiness Via gratia via gloriae 3. The third part The Consequences The effects of his blessing and our praise are expressed in the two last verses 1. Vers. 6 Then shall the earth yield her increase Which literally is an ample Harvest Spiritually 1 An increase the inhabitants of the earth shall increase in knowledge thanks c. 2. And God shall bless this increase for without his blessing 2 A blessing of that increase the increase will be to little purpose God even our God shall bless Which he ingeminates that it be not forgotten God shall bless Vers. 7 3. The last effect is 3 Gods worship that God shall be worshipped and honoured all the world over And all the ends of the earth shall fear him The Prayer collected out of the sixty seventh Psalm O God great in power but infinite in mercy acknowledge we do that thou art the Father of all gifts and the Fountain of all goodness Vers. 1 and from thy bounty and liberality it is that we receive whatsoever we can call ours and therefore we humbly beséech thée to be favourable and merciful to us to bless unto us whatsoever is good and make it openly and plainly appear that thou doest carry a serene aspect and a clear countenance towards us That so while we remain in this earth we may perfectly know that way that leads to thée and to our future happiness And this mercy we ask not for our selves alone but for all Nations Vers. 2 O happy day when not in Jury alone but all the world over thy wayes shall be made known when there shall be but one fold and one shepherd and thy saving health made evident and receiv'd by all Nations Bring to pass O God that many may come from the East and West and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Vers. 3 Thy name will be glorious thy honour enlarg'd when the Gentiles with the Jews and the Jews with the Gentiles shall with one heart and one voice sing hymns to thy name O then let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee Thou art a just God in equity judge for us thou art a wise God in wisdom govern and direct us Deliver thy people from the tyranny of men and from the rage and fury of Devils direct and govern our hearts in the way of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments so shall we appear in thy presence with joyful and glad hearts and sing merrily our songs of Zion to thy name Again and again I beg of thée O Lord that all men may come to the knowledge of thy truth and confess thy name O let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee Let them cast away their strange gods and fall low before thy foot-stool and adore thée alone the Maker of all things the Redéemer of all men for then the Lord will hear the heavens and the heavens shall hear the earth and the earth shall hear the corn and the wine and the oyle and they shall hear Israel Out of thy mercy O God bestow upon us the light of thy countenance and grateful hearts that so all other things may be administred unto us bless our fields with increase and our houses with abundance and because all plenty is no better than poverty without thy blessing give thy blessing to that thou hast given so shall we fear thy name and adore thy Majesty and admire thy wise providence and in all reverence and humility set forth thy praise from generation to generation Amen PSAL. LXVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DIverse conjectures there are of the occasion of the composure of this Psalm But the most probable is that it was composed by David when he brought up the Ark of God which was the Type of the Church and Symbol of Gods presence to Jerusalem This after it was sent home by the Philistines rested first in the obscure Lodge of Aminadab then for a while it stay'd with Obed-Edom near sixty years in both places It was Davids care to provide a fit room for it in the head of the Tribes even in his own City And to express his joy and honour the Solemnity David led the way dancing with all his might in a linnen Ephod and all the house of Israel followed with shouts and instruments of
found their hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pind. 4. The cause of this consternation At thy rebuke O God of Jacob both the Chariot and Horse are cast into a dead sleep Thus God became Glorious and Excellent among good men 2 Terrible 2. Vers. 7 But he became Terrible also to wicked men So Terrible that 1. Thou even thou art to be feared for who may stand in thy sight when thou art angry None be he never so proud 2. Vers. 8 Of which this is an evident Argument Thou didst cause judgement to be heard from heaven It was so in the destruction of Senacherib The earth feared and was still Men saw it were amaz'd at it and put to silence And this work of God in overthrowing his enemies The effects of it and saving his Church he farther amplifies When God arose to judgement to save all the meek of the earth Vers. 9 The consequent was this 1. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee 1 Praise from the wicked The fierceness and rage of man against thy Church shall at last turn to thy praise confess they shall being conquered by thy hand that thou art mightier than they so did Pharaoh This is the finger of God so Julian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain 2 And victory Though they body and rally again yet thou shalt overcome and conquer their fury 3. In the Close he exhorts all Gods people to vow him honour The third part For which and to perform their vow 1. Vow and pay unto the Lord your Gâ—d let all that are round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared All to vow praises 2. And he adds his Reason in an Epiphonema 1. He shall cut off the spirits of Princes Take away from Tyrants their courage and prudence 2. He is terrible to the Kings of the earth They shall know he is God A Psalm of Thanksgiving after some great Victory collected out of the seventy sixth Hsalm O Omnipotent God and most merciful Father it hath pleased thy unspeakable goodness beyond any merit or desert of our's Ver. 1 to make thy self known to us in thy Gospel and thy Name great and famous in our Israel Declared thou hast to all Nations that Salem the City of peace is that place where thou wilt set up thy Tabernacle and Mount Sion thy Church Ver. 2 that habitation which thou wilt defend from the violent attempts of her malicious enemies Our ingratitude no question was very great and our provocations many our lives not answering to the light of thy Word which thou madest shine unto us and because we rebelled against thée therefore this great Army of rebellious men is justly risen up against us who threatned to unroot thy people and utterly to lay waste thy Zion But thou O Lord passing by our transgressions hast put a hook into the nose of our enemies and a bridle into their lips defended miraculously thou hast thy City Jerusalem for thy own sake and for thy servant Davids sake our blessed Saviour There hast thou broken the strength of the Bowe Ver. 3 and not suffered him to shoot an arrow there in our land thou hast made void their Shield dull'd the edge of the Sword scattered their Army and by thy power dissolved and brought to nothing all their warlike preparation and ammunition When we are compassed as it were with a darksom cloud of fear and even despaired of any help and succour then thou didst appear in glory thy excellence then arose to save us our aid was from Heaven our deliverance from above thy Kingdom established in righteousness and holiness far excéeds that power that is gotten by violence murder and robbery therefore they that came to spoil us are spoiled they are consumed and have slept their sleep out of which when they awaked they have béen amazed that in their hands of so much wealth and plunder which they dreamed of they found nothing which hapned unto them not by the course and ordinary changes and chances of things in this World no nor yet by our force and power but at thy rebuke O God of Jacob by thy command by the severity of thy judgment both the Chariot and those who trusted in it both the Horse and his Rider are fallen O Lord Thou even thou art terrible Thou even thou alone art to be feared Who is there though never so potent though defenced with the strongest Army that is able to resist thée that may stand in thy sight when thou art angry At this time thou hast fought from Heaven for us Thou didst make all people to hear thy judgments from thence and the Tyrants of the earth when they felt the power of thy hand trembled and shaked at it their heart melted and their knées smote together quiet they were and silent not daring to mutter against thée or against thy people O Lord the fierceness the rage the pride of man shall turn to thy praise even thy enemies the profanest men being humbled by thy judgments shall confess thy power and acknowledge thy hand say they shall This is the finger of God that thou Lord goest before thy people that thou hast done it and their posterity shall by their example be restrained from doing any such wickedness and by their fathers punishment taught to fear God And now O all ye which are Israelites indéed and perptually stand in his presence Vow unto your God for this his great mercy and pay the sacrifice of praise bring presents unto him whom alone you ought to fear and reverence To him I say vow and perform your vows who for your sake hath cut off the animosities and taken down the courage of Princes and made it appear That he will be a terrible God to all the Kings of the earth to whom be praise to whom be glory now and for ever Amen PSAL. LXXVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In this Psalm the Prophet shews the bitter agony which a troubled spirit undergoes upon the sense of Gods desertion and the comfort again it receives upon the consideration of Gods great and gracious works Two parts of this Psalm 1. He sets forth the strife betwixt the flesh and the Spirit and how the flesh tempts to despair and calls into question the goodness and favour of God from ver 1. to 10. 2. Next he shews the victory of the spirit over the flesh being raised encouraged and confirmed by the Nature Promises and Works of God from the 10th verse to the end of the Psalm an excellent Psalm this is and of great use in all spiritual desertions 1. The first part I cryed unto God with my voyce even unto God with my voyce and he gave ear unto me Ver. 1 in the day of my trouble I sought the Lord ver 1 2. Here David shews the course he took to find ease in his extream trouble of soul he accused not
shew thy power severity and mercy All which should breed in us fear and reverence But like those rebellious Israelites we have not kept thy Covenant nor walkt in thy Law we have forgot thy works and thy wonders then done we have turned back we have tempted thee our God these ten times we have provoked and grieved the holy One of Israel We have not remembred thy hand nor the day when thou deliverest us from the hand of the enemy Of a truth Lord when thy hand hath been heavy upon us by the pestilence famine or sword when thou by any of thy severe judgements didst stay us and bring us to the jaws of death then we sought thee then we returned and enquired early after God then we remembred that God was our Rock and the high God our Redeemer Novertheless we did but flatter thee with our mouths and lyed unto thee with our tongues for thy heavy hand was no sooner removed but our obedience was at an end We have again rempted and provoked the most High God we have not kept thy Testimonies but turned back and dealt unfaithfully with our fathers Thine own people were not more contumacious Israel not more stubborn forgetful wilful than we have been If they dissembled with thee we have done the like if they provoked grieved tempted thee we have done the like Our great deliverances have not wrought upon us thy apparent judgements have not bettered us thy returns of mercy have stiffned our hard hearts Wo be to us for our infidelity and disobedience whither shall we fly to whom shall we go Were it not that we consider that thou art the Father of mercies our hearts would faint Those words upon record are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb to our dying souls Israel was not right with him nor stedfast in his Covenant But he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity and destroy'd them not yea many a time he turn'd his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath For he remembred that they were but flesh a wind that passeth away and cometh not again Remember O Lord the mould of which we are made consider that we are but weak and vain flesh strive not alwayes with us remember that the breath in our nostrils is but a wind that passeth away and cometh not again then turn away thine anger and stir not up all thy wrath Out of thy meer compassion pardon and forgive our iniquity and destroy not the work of thine own hands Raise us by the power of thy Spirit and confirm us in thy truth that there never may be in us hereafter a heart of unbelief Never let us depart from the living God or harden our hearts from thy fear The natural branches are broken off and we who were slips of the wild Olive are graffed in of which we have not so much reason to boast as to tremble lest that thou who hast refused the Tribe of Joseph and cast aside the Tribe of Ephraim for their ingratitude rebellion impiety and disobedience shouldst upon the same ground reject us also We will not boast against the natural branches but come before thee with fear and hope with fear lest what hapned to them may befall us and yet with hope that the same mercy which followed them may yet follow us In the hottest of thy anger thou yet madest choice of the Tribe of Judah and sett'st thy love upon Mount Zion there thou built'st thy Sanctuary on high and sett'st it like the earth which never should move at any time David thou madest choice of to be their Prince and brought'st him to feed Jacob thy people and Israel thine inheritance Let this thy love notwithstanding our wickedness continue unto thy Church let the Tribe of Judah be dear in thy eyes take pleasure and do good to Zion build thy Sanctuary on high and make it conspicuous and beautiful in the eyes of her very enemies never let the gates of hell prevail against it Call thy servant David from his low condition to guide thy people and rule thy inheritance And let the power of thy Spirit be so effectual in him that he may feed thy people according to the integrity of his heart and guide them prudently with all his might So shall we who are the sheep of thy pasture give thee thanks for ever and ever PSAL. LXXIX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm was composed when the Church was oppressed as some conceive by Antiochus certain it is it was in a very distressed condition And it hath These parts Viz. 1. A Complaint for the desolation of Jerusalem from vers 1. to 5. 2. A Deprecation of Gods anger vers 5. 3. A twofold Petition 1. Against the enemies of the Church vers 6 7 10 11 12. 2. For the Church vers 8 9. 4. A Doxology vers 13. 1. The Complaint is very bitter and riseth by many degrees The first part The Complaint bitter and amplified by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance The Antithesis is elegant The heathen those Wolves impure beasts are come into thy Land thy peculiar 2. Thy Holy Temple have they defiled Vers. 1 Prophaned the place consecrated to thy service 3. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps Funditus deleverunt Vers. 2 4. Their cruelty they have exercised upon the Dead The dead bodies of thy Servants have they given to be meat to the fowls of the aire the flesh of thy Saints to the beasts of the Land Vers. 3 5. A second part of their cruelty was that they made no more reckoning to let out the life-blood of a man than of so much water Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem 6. They wanted a grave And there was none to bury them 7. Vers. 4 And to make up the full measure of their calamities their enemies looked on and scoffed at it We are become a reproach to our Neighbours a scorn and derision to them that are round about us 2. The second part The misery being fully decipher'd in this pathetical Complaint next the Psalmist acknowledgeth the cause of their calamity and expostulates with God The cause Gods anger 1. The cause was Gods anger and jealousie 2. Vers. 5 He expostulates with God about it and deprecates it How long O Lord About which he expostulates with God wilt thou be angry for ever shall thy jealousie burn like fire i.e. Cessairasci 3. The third part And prayes And now he begins his Prayer which is two-fold First Against the enemy 1. Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee and upon the Kingdoms that have not call'd on thy name 1 For vengeance to fall on the enemy for their cruelty Not upon us but on them 2. And he adds the reason and 't is a reason of weight in which he respects not himself but Gods people For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste
his dwelling place The other part of his Prayer 2 For the Church is for pardon and help for the Church 1. He said vers 5. that God was angry and anger ariseth from sin First then he begs remission 1 Remission 1. O remember not against us our former iniquities 2. Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us Ratio For we are brought very low 2. 2 Help And then he prayes for help Help us O God of our Salvation using the most powerful Argument Gods glory Help us for the glory of thy name 3. Which both he conjoins His Arguments to prevail with God Then joins both together Deliver us and purge away our sins for thy Names sake And now he adds to his first reason viz. Gods glory two more why he desires sudden help which are The Blasphemy of the heathen 2. The Misery of his people at this time That if not delivered the enemy would Blaspheme 1. If they were not delivered the enemy was like to blaspheme and say Now wherefore should the heathen say Where is their God Therefore Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenge of the blood of thy Servants which is shed 2. That their condition was miserable Our case is miserable we are an object of pity Let then the sighing of the prisoners come before thee according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to dye 3. And thirdly render unto our neighbours seven-fold into their bosomes i.e. largely even the reproach with which they have reproached thee O Lord. 4. The fourth part The Vote or Obligation to be thankful for the deliverance 1. So we that be thy people and sheep of thy pasture shall give thee thanks for ever The Doxology for their deliverance 2. We will shew forth thy praise to all generations We thy people thy sheep will do it For praise is not comely nor acceptable out of the mouth of a sinner The Prayer collected out of the seventy ninth Psalm O Merciful God and loving Father thou hast chosen us from among all people to be thine inheritance and hast omitted nothing either for our instruction or future happiness Thou hast written unto us the wonderful things of thy Law thou hast open'd to us the Mysteries of thy Gospel thou hast washed us with water and fed us with the flesh and blood of thy Son But with shame and confusion of face we confess before thee that we have walkt unworthy of so great mercies and unthankful wretches as we are have been disobedient to thy holy Will For this thy wrath and jealousie is justly kindled against us and it hath brought in a cruel and barbarous enemy upon us Vers. 1 These infidels and miscreants O Lord by thy permission have invaded that people whom thou hast chosen for thy inheritance They have prophaned with their imaginations and wasted without any reverence thy holy Temples and they have laid upon heaps Jerusalem Vers. 2 those houses which were dedicated and consecrated to thy honour Neither hath their fury only extended to these material buildings but they have shew'd their rage against the dead bodies of thy Saints sometimes the Temples of the Holy Ghost These they have not suffered to be brought with honour to the grave and to be gathered to their fathers in peace but have given them to be meat to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the Land While they liv'd they made no more account of their blood than of so much water that being spilt upon the ground cannot be gather'd up again and therefore without any commiseration they have poured it but round about Jerusalem Which affliction falling thus heavy upon us and suffered by us when our Neighbours that are enemies to thy truth behold they deride and mock us to them we are become a Proverb of reproach a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us not without the ignominy of thy Name in which they boast that we have bellev'd in vain But O Lord how long how long wilt thou be angry with us for ever shall thy jealousie and hot indignation be continually kindled and burn against us like a mighty fire that wastes and devoures all before it O let thy wrath cease from the shéep of thy pasture And if thou wilt be angry still pour out thy indignation upon the barbarous bloody and blasphemous people that have not known thée or if known dishonour'd thée and empty thy vials upon their heads who have not call'd upon thy name or if called yet hypocritically and so lyed unto thée These are the people that have devoured Jacob thy servant these have laid waste his dwelling place Let them not escape thy fury and force them to drink up the dregs of that Cup which is in thy hand and wring put the lées of it We beséech thée therefore for thy mercies sake and at the intercession of thy beloved Son our Lord that thou would'st not remember our former iniquities which we and our fathers have committed against thée but that passing by our demerits thy tender mercies would spéedily prevent us now that we are brought very low before we are utterly consumed Help us therefore now O God of our salvation to thée we fly to thée we cry help us and deliver us and that not for our selves for we have justly deserv'd thy wrath but for the glory of thy name For it will much redound to the honour of thy name that such sinners such men so low so disconsolate and helpless should be saved Come therefore O Lord and deliver us and purge away our sins for thy Names sake If we now perish under our enemies hands they will not insult only over us but thée ask they will in scorn and derision Where now is their God He is either so impotent that he cannot or so cruel that he will not deliver those whom he calls his people out of our hands Oh why should the heathen say this or blaspheme thus Be therefore O Lord known among the heathen in our sight by the revenge thou takest for the blood of thy servants which is shed O let the sighs and groans of those who are led Captive and now in prison come before thee and by the greatness of thy power preserve us the remainder and sons of those who have béen slain from death And to our malicious Neighbours Vers. 12 who have adjoyn'd themselves to our enemies and glory at our calamity render seven-fold unto them as they have reproached us so let them be a reproach So we that thou hast honour'd to be thy people and chosen to be the sheep of thy pasture shall give thee thanks for ever So shall we be encouraged to shew forth thy praise from generation to generation PSAL. LXXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE occasion of this Psalm is the same with the former viz. An oppression of Israel and devastation as
each form hath a reason annexed 1. Ver. 1 Bow down thy ear hear me Ratio For I am poor and needy i. e. destitute of other help 2. Ver. 2 Preserve my soul Ratio For I am holy i.e. pious and studious of holiness ready to serve thee 3. Ver. 3 O thou my God save thy servant Ratio That trusteth in thee relies on thy help and for that exposed to dangers 4. Be merciful unto me O Lord Ratio For I cry unto thee dayly I cry and call without intermission 5. Rejoyce the soul of thy servant comfort me with thy presence and sense of thy favour Ratio For unto thee O Lord I life up my soul i. e. with great desire I long after thee And all these Reasons perswade to Audience from the person of the Supplicant who because he was in distress and yet studious to please his God did rely upon God and daily cry and earnestly desire the sense of his favour therefore he did lift up his soul to him The second part A continuance in his Petition from the nature of God 2. And yet he continues his Petition from the consideration of the Nature and Person of God to whom he prayes Hear me and turn away thy wrath 1. For thou O Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee Ver. 5 give ear therefore unto my prayer and attend to the voyce of my supplications 2. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee Ratio For thou wilt answer me it runs thus Thou art merciful to them that call upon thee ver 5. I call None like to him in his works therefore thou wilt answer 3. There is none among the gods like unto thee O Lord neither are there any of their works like thy works None like in goodness wisdom power in thy works which thou dost to save thy people and therefore I call and cry to thee for help And this the Prophet amplifies in the two next verses as if he had said the event doth shew That there is none like thee no works like thy works for 1. All Nations which now worship Idols she ll come i. e. be converted and worship thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy Name 2. For thou dost great and wondrous things of which the conversion of the Gentiles is one Thou art God alone And upon this Reason Therefore he begs to be governed by his Word and Spirit that none is like God none comparable to him in his works 1. He falls to prayer again and first begs of God that he may be governed by his Word and Spirit for then he would be an obedient servant Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy Truth unite my heart to fear thy Name For which he professeth to be thankful 2. And secondly professeth he would be a thankful servant I will praise thee O Lord my God with all my heart and I will glorifie thy Name for evermore To which he subjoyns his Reason For great is thy mercy toward me and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Hell i. e. from the greatest troubles And upon both these his obedience and thankfulness he pleads to be heard 3. And yet he presseth another Argument viz. The third part He presseth his prayer from the nature of his enemies The person and quality of his Adversaries 't is but Reason that God hear him for he was beset with enemies and these were proud men 2. Potent men 3. Ungodly men 1. Proud they were The proud have risen up against me 2. Potent they were and many of them The Assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul 3. Ungodly men Atheists Scorners They have not set thee before them 4 And now he hath recourse again to his former Arguments The fourth part He amplifies his former Argument but amplifies them 1. First drawn from the Nature of God ver 5. But thou O Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth 2. The second from his own condition ver 1 2. O turn unto me and have mercy upon me give thy strength unto thy servant and help the son of thy Handmaid i.e. one born within thy Covenant and of a poor humble mother 3. The third from the quality of his Adversaries that they which were Atheists might see Gods hand in his deliverance and confounded by it Shew me a token for good i.e. shew by some evident sign that thou art not angry with me but that thou hast received me into thy favour That they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou Lord hast holpen me and comforted me The Prayer collected out of the eighty sixth Psalm O Lord great in Power infinite in Majesty so great is our misery and poverty and so destitute we are of help Ver. 1 that we are unworthy of any gracious aspect from thée but since thou art a God who lookest upon thy néedy and poor servants vouchsafe us one good look let our humility bend thy Majesty Bow down thine ear to our prayers and condescend to our requests Ver. 2 Kéep our lives that we fall not into the hands of our enemies O thou who art our God sée'st and know'st that we desire and endeavour to serve thée in holiness preserve therefore the souls of thy servants who have no other hope but thée Be merciful unto us O Lord who every day call and cry to thee Rejoyce the grieved and sad souls of thy servants who renouncing all worldly helps do lift up their souls unto thee Give ear O Lord to our prayer and attend to the voyce of our supplications if not for our sake if not out of the consideration of our present miseries yet for thine own be to us now what thou hast alwayes béen and alwayes wilt be Thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy toward all that call upon thee This Lord is the day of our trouble a day of darkness and gloominess and in this we call upon thée Lord hear us bow down thine ear and according to thy wonted mercy receive our Petitions O good God be propitious for if thou wilt thou canst relieve us among men some would but cannot some can but will not help And among the Angels there is none of what order soever like unto thée their power though great is not to be compared to thy power their works though marvellous are nothing to thy works which are so full of wonder that even those Nations who yet know thée not and are out of the Covenant upon whom thou hast together with us set thine own image even these being moved by the greatness of thy works shall at last come and bow and worship before thee and magnifie and glorifie thy Name for thou dost great and wondrous things Thou art God alone O God at this time because we have béen ungrateful
to thee for what thou hast done the proud are risen up against us and a whole assembly of armed and violent men have invaded us and sought after our souls and all they imagine is to take away our lives and thy worship not without a great and high contempt of thy Name But thou O Lord art a God full of compassion and gracious long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth Turn thée then unto us and have mercy upon us give thy strength unto thy servants save those who are thy Vassals and deliver our souls from the nethermost Hell O Lord we are oppressed do thou answer for us teach us the way in which we are to go and we will walk in thy Truth unite our hearts close unto thée and we will take delight to fear thy Name shew some token of thy favour at last to us that they which hate us may see it and be afraid let them sée it openly That thou Lord hast holpen us and comforted us So shall we praise thee O Lord our God with all our heart and we will magnifie and glorifie thy Name for evermore PSAL. LXXXVII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm is short but sweet for it contains many excellent priviledges of the Church of God of which every one must be a Member that hopes for salvation whosoever was the Authour it was his purpose to excite men to be in love with the Assemblies of Gods Saints and to that purpose the dignity and amplitude of the Church is set forth in this Psalm and the notes of her beauty and perfection may well serve for the Analysis 1. The Church commended 1. For the foundation laid on a holy Mountain First the Church is here commended for her foundation the Authour of it is God it is his foundation and it is surely laid not in the sand but upon a Mountain and no common Mountain neither but a consecrated place laid it is in the holy Mountains His foundation is in the holy Mountain No question the Prophet alludes to the hill of Zion Ver. 1 which was the Type of the Catholick Church and indeed the foundation of it 2 From Gods love to her For the Law was to come out of Zion 2. Ver. 2 The second Prerogative of the Church is taken from Gods love and favour to it 3 From the predictions that went of her far beyond that of any other Assembly The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3. Now besides the commendation it hath from the builder which was God and his free love to it Ver. 3 a third Prerogative it hath and that is from the testimony and predictions of the Prophets 4 From the increase of it by the access of the Gentiles Isaiah Haggai Saint John who not Glorious things are sprken of thee Thou City of God Selah 4. And one of those glorious things foretold by the Prophets was the great increase and amplitude of the Church Ver. 4 by the access of the Gentiles even those Nations which were the greatest enemies to Gods people should become friends and Citizens of this City even the Egyptians Babylonians Tyrians Aethiopians in effect all the Gentiles of what language Countrey soever 1. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me i. e. among my friends and family Behold Phylistia and Tyre with Aethiopia some of all Nations are come into my family there is one Fold one Shepherd 2. This man was born there this man whom you now see a Citizen of Zion was an Alien he was born there in Egypt Babylon c. 5. But now having renounced his Countrey and his fathers house Vers. 5 his Idols and old wayes it shall be said of Zion Vir Vir 5 From her continuance for ever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This and that man was born regenerate and become a new man in her Here he receiv'd his adoption and the earnest of the Spirit 6. Farther yet the felicity of this City shall in this far exceed all other 6 From her free Denizons whose names are that whereas they fall to decay and perish this shall our-last all time The gates of hell shall not prevail against it For the most highest shall confirm and est ablish her 1 Eniâ—ll'd 7. A seventh Prerogative of the Church is That God agit Censum Vers. 6 and does as it were enrole the names of the Citizens So that now there is no difference betwixt Jew and Gentile bond nor free all are one in Christ Jesus The Lord shall count when he writes up the people That this man this cast-off Gentile was burn there Be as free a Denizon and have all the priviledges and prerogatives of this City as the natural Jew 8. Another Prerogative of these Citizens is 2 And they shall enjoy a perpetual Solemnity That they shall enjoy a perpetual Solemnity grief and sorrow shall cease and with Songs and instruments of Musick they shall sound forth Gods praises As well the siagers as players on instruments shall be there 9. Lastly He concludes the Psalm with an excellent Epiphonema Vers 7 that indeed comprehends all that can be said in the praise of the Church viz. For that in her all good is to be found All my springs are in thee Here are the fountains of living water Here are to be found the hidden treasures of all knowledge Here the waters that will refresh a thirsty soul and a fainting spirit Here all comforts all content The waters that are muddy and troubled in other streams in this are as clear as Cristal 'T is Virgo aqua A Prayer collected out of the eighty seventh Psalm for the Catholick Church O Lord Iesas Christ that by thy Almighty power madest all creatures both visible and invisible that by thy wisdom hast disposed all things in a comely order and now doest govern them that by thy unspeakable goodness yet doest preserve protect and promote all actions and successes who by thy mercy doest restore what is decay'd renew what is fallen and raisest the dead Vouchsafe to cast thy eye upon and view with a pleasing countenance thy well-beloved Spouse thy Church which thou hast purchased with thy blood and betroth'd to thy self in righteousness and in judgement and in loving-kindness and in mercies Look upon her with that amiable and merciful face wherewith thou pacifiest all things in heaven and earth Vers. 1 This is that new City that new Jerusalem which thou hast founded upon the Mountains of holiness Thy holy Apostles and Prophets were at thy command the chief Labourers in the building of it and all men since as living stones are built upon their Doctrine Be pleased then to love the gates of this City by which all must enter that look for salvation and prosecute with greater care and affection this thy chosen Spouse than thou didst the old Synagogue even as thou didst love the hill of
in heaven nor Monarch in earth his Peere For who in the heaven can be compared to thee O Lord Vers. 6 who among the sons of the Mighty i.e. Celestial Spirits can be likened to the Lord Which is so true that the very Angels fear and reverence his Majesty and ought to do it Vers. 7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him And because this should be alwayes fix'd in our memory he comes over it again Vers. 8 vers 8. O Lord God of hosts who is strong like unto thee or to thy faithfulness round about thee 2. 2 No such Agent or Governor By his Agency in governing the world as for example First The Sea 1. Thou rulest the raging of the Sea when the waves thereof arise thou stillest them Thou brokest Rahab i. e. the Egyptian Pharaoh in pieces as one that is slain Thou hast scatter'd thine enemies with a strong arm viz. in the Red Sea 2. Heaven and earth The heavens are thine the earth also is thine 3. 3 No Creator but he alone By his Creation of all things As for the world and fulness thereof thou hast founded it The North and South thou hast created them Tabor and Hermon i. e. East and West shall rejoice in thy name And then he concludes this part of the Majesty and Power of God with this Epiphonema Thou hast a mighty arm strong is thy hand and high is thy right-hand 2. 2 The Subject of their praise is also his Attributes The other part of the praise which both the Prophet and the Angels sing to Gods honour is taken from his Attributes summ'd up in the 14. verse Justice and judgement are the habitation of his throne mercy and truth shall go before his face He presents God as a great King sitting in his Throne 1. The Basis of which is Justice and Judgement 2. The Attendants Mercy and Truth 1. Justice which defends his Subjects and does every one right 2. Judgement which restrains Rebels and keeps off injuries 3. Mercy which shews compassion pardons supports the weak 4. Truth that performs whatsoever he promiseth 4. The fourth part And in regard that God is powerful just merciful faithful he takes an occasion to set out the happy condition of Gods people that live under this King Blessed are the people In which rejoicing his people are happy divers wayes that know the joyful Sound do know that God is present with them and his Kingly Majesty is at hand to protect them The phrase is taken from Moses For the Law was given by sound of Trumpet The calling of the Feasts by sound of Trumpet At that sound they removed At that sound they assembled Balaam said Clangor Regis The sound of a King is among them Happy then are the people that know the joyful sound God present their King speaking ruling defending pardoning them That they are Happy the effects do evince which are 1. They shall walk in the light of thy countenance i. e. Though beset with troubles yet they shall walk confidently being assured of Gods favour 2. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day long Their joy is firm 3. In thy righteousness shall they be exalted They shall get a name strength In their Union and Communion with God they shall be happy Confident then joyful and strong they are in all temptations which yet they have not from themselves All is from God For Thou art the glory of their strength and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted Vers. 17 For the Lord is our defence the Holy One of Israel is our King 5. The Doxology being now ended The fifth part The Prophet enlarges himself on the Covenant made with David and the happiness of Gods people expressed and proved the Prophet now enlarges himself upon the Covenant formerly mentioned vers 4 5. exemplified in David but truly verified in Christ Which he continues to the 30 vers 1. Then i. e. when David was chosen to be King and invested with the Regal Robe Vers. 19 2. Thou spakest in Vision to thy Holy One. To Samuel for his anointing And saidst 3. I have laid help upon one that is mighty I have exalted one chosen out of the people That is David in Type but Christ in the Antitype So explain'd I have found David my servant with my holy Oyle have I anointed him To which there follows the promises made to him The particulars of it 1. For his establishment and confirmation in the Throne With whom my hand shall be established mine arm also shall strengthen him 2. For protection against his enemies The enemy shall not exact upon him nor the son of wickedness afflict him 3. A Conquest over his enemies And will beat down his foes before his face and plague them that hate him 4. And that there be no doubt of the performance of these ample promises nor yet those that follow the Prophet interserts the cause viz. The Faithfulness and Mercy of God In Mercy he said it and it should so come to pass But my Faithfulness and Mercy shall be with him And now he goes on 5. His Horn shall be exalted He shall have as it were the strength of an Unicorn And this his exaltation appears 1. In the dilatation of his Empire I will set his hand also in the Sea and his right hand in the rivers i. e. From the Sea to Euphrates 2 Sam. 8. 2. In the Honour done him to call God Father his God his Rock He shall call me Thou art my Father my God and the Rock of my salvation 3. Then that God asserts and fixes this Prerogative upon him acknowledging him to be his Son his first-born Son Also I will make him my first-born higher than the Kings of the earth 4. In the perpetuity of his Kingdom which is rightly attributed to Gods mercy as vers 25. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my Covenant shall stand fast with him 5. In the promise made to his seed His seed also will I make to endure for ev er and his Throne as the dayes of heaven 6. And next the Prophet puts a Case and answers it The sixth part Object But what if Davids seed prove rebellious But what if Davids seed transgress Gods Covenant break his Laws violate his Statutes become rebels and disobedient will God then keep Covenant with them shall his seed endure for ever and his Throne as the dayes of heaven To this doubt God answers from vers 30. to 38. shewing us how Davids seed if they transgress shall be dealt with 1. If his children forsake my Law That is my whole doctrine of Worship Religion Faith c. 2. And walk not in my judgements i. e. in those Laws which set out rewards and punishments 3. If they break my Statutes Those Statutes I have set down for my service
not submit to his Laws and wayes But they escaped not unpunished vengeance as God had sworn overtook them and their carcasses fell in the Wilderness nor above two of six hundred thousand souls entred into that rest promised them the land of Canaan I read and tremble I tremble and pray Lord kéep me from this disobedience this obstinacy this hardness of heart melt my soul with the fire of thy Spirit and soften it with the oyle of thy grace that when thou speakest I may answer and at the sound of thy voyce I may be obedient so that shewing not the least reluctation to thy commands and never murmuring at thy doings I may obtain by thy infinite goodness after the manifold errors and furious storms of this life that secute Port of Heaven where there remains a perpetual rest to the people of God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. XCVI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ALthough this Psalm was composed by David at the bringing back of the Ark 1 Chr. 16.23 yet with one voyce all Christian Expositors acknowledge it a Prophesie of Christs Kingdom and Church to be enlarged by the access of all Nations and of his coming to judgment Two parts of the Psalm 1. A general Exhortation both to Jewes and Gentiles to praise God 2. A Prophesie of Christs Kingdom described by the Greatness ver 4 5. the Honour and Majesty verse 6. of the Majesty of the King verse 6 7 8. 2. The amplitude of it ver 10. 3. His judicature in it from ver 10. to the end 1. The first part An invitation to praise God The first three verses contain a general Exhortation to set forth Gods praises for the benefits exhibited to the whole earth by Christ 1. First That the praise be full he thrice repeats Cantate O sing sing sing to the honour of the Trinity Ver. 1 saith Bellarmine obscurely insinuated in the Old but plainly to be preached in the New Testament 2. Ver. 2 Shew forth Benedicite i. e. Cantando laudate or gratias agite 3. Ver. 3 Declare Hashern 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carry good news a fit word for the Gospel Ver. 1 which is Evangelium glad-tydings 2. The Song that was to be sung was to be a new Song Sing unto the Lord a new Song New for a new benefit New to be sung by a new people 3. It was to be sung by the whole Earth by new men and all men all the World over for God was not now to be known in Judaea only but to all Nations Ver. 2 4. It must be continually sung from day to day without cessation or intermission for as one day succeeds another so should there be a continual succession in this praise After he expresseth the benefit or matter that all the earth is to praise him for For the redemption of the World by his Son which in one word is the Redemption of the World by his Son 1. Shew forth his salvation which he hath conferred on Mankind by Christ Ver. 2 2. Ver. 3 Declare his glory among the Heathen his wonders among all people His glory and wonders which is the self-same with salvation which was a glorious work and full of wonders and this now was to be Evangelized as before to the Jewes by the Prophets so now to all people by the Apostles 2. The second part To this end he presents God as a great King And that his Exhortation might seem more reasonable he presents God as a King and sets down the Greatness the Amplitude and Equity of his Kingdom 1. Sing to the Lord all the Earth for he is Lord of the whole Earth 1. The Lord is great great in power great in wisdom great in goodness great in mercy great in dominion and riches great every way that any thing can be great 2. 2 Worthy of all praise He is greatly to be praised or worthy of all praise for his innumerable benefits he bestows spiritual temporal his Creation Redemption Preservation of the world What can be found praise worthy in any King may be found superlatively in him 3 To be feared above all gods Moller Quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non dii Bellarm. Muscul Supreme not so any of those gods They Deastri 3. He is to be feared above all gods For he can cast body and soul into hell They though call'd gods can do nor good nor hurt The devils that set them up do believe him to be above them and tremble Jam. 2. Sing to him then and not to them for the Supremacy is his He is Super omnes Deos. Gods did I call them alas they are nothing less they are all of them Elilim Deiculi petite gods or Deastri ridiculous gods or Elilim Vanities Idols no gods If they be Gods shew their works produce the heavens they made or the earth they framed whereas our God made the heavens and all things that â—â—e in it and under it Ver. 5 He then to be feared and not they In which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prophet doth elegantly deride the heathenish gods Especially the gods of the heathen and the heathen for fearing such gods 1. For the multitude of them For they were many which is contrary to the nature of God who must be but one in reason there can be but one Supreme 2. For their division one of the Ammonites another of the Moabites one of the Philistines many of the Assyrians Egyptians Greeks Romanes according to the number of the Cities were there gods three hundred Jupiters thirty thousand of these Deities 3. They were Elilim petite gods Moloch had the rule of the Sun Astarte of the Moon Ceres over Corn Pluto his dominion in heaven Neptune in the Sea c. Their power was not universal as the power of God ought to be 4. For their Vanity they could not help If Baal be a god let him plead for himself Judg. 6. Bell boweth down Nebo stoops c. they could not deliver the burden they themselves are gone into captivity Isa 46.1 2. For an Idol is nothing in nothing in the world 1 Cor. 8. 4. Lastly in the opposition They Dii facti he Factor which lively shews the difference betwixt God and Idols It was man that first made them gods and made Idols for them They then are at best but works of mens hands But our God is Factor a Maker a Creator He made the Heavens those great and beautiful bodies and all that is contain'd in and under those Orbs. He then is terrible he to be feared and not those diminutive those vain those unprofitable gods of the Nations and their Idols 2. And so having removed out of his way all the gods of the Nations he returns to the description of our God and King He said he was great greatly to be praised to be feared above all gods and now he adds that which makes farther for his honour For he presents God
feet to dance at it he calls to them to join with him in the mirth Let the Sea roar Vers. 7 and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein Let the floods clap their hands Vers. 8 let the hills rejoice together It is a Prosopopeia frequently used in Scripture as afore Psal 96.11 12. 5. And let it be heartily and sincerely done For it is before the Lord in his eye For he cometh to judge in his sight in his presence who can judge with what affection any thing is done And for this he gives a reason Vers. 9 with which he concludes For he cometh to judge the earth which may be referred to his first or second coming 1. 1 Either in humility as at his first If to the first then the sense is Let all creatures rejoice because he comes to judge that is to govern and order with just and excellent Laws the whole Orb of the world not only by the invisible Majesty of his Divinity but being made into the similitude of man and in form now found a true man 2. If to the last his second coming then let all creatures rejoice 2 Or in Glory as at his second coming because he shall root out sinners from the earth and make new heavens and a new earth The whole creature shall be delivered from corruption under which it greans and travails in pain together until now and shall be restored into the glorious liberty of the children of God Rom. 8.21 22. 3. Now both these shall be done with that rectitude of judgement that there be nothing crooked nothing oblique nothing savouring of iniquity in it With righteousness shall he judge the world and the people with his Truth A Thanksgiving and Meditation upon the Redemption of Man-kind taken out of the ninty eighth Psalm I Will sing unto thee O gracious God and merciful Lord a new Song Vers. 1 as it becomes me for a new savour an ordinary hymn might be in my mouth for ordinary blessings but this was extraordinary and therefore requires thanks more than ordinary That thou didst create me after thy image was a great mercy that thou hast governed me by thy Word preserved me by thy Power provided for me by thy Fatherly goodness ever since I was born are all acts of mercy but that thou hast set thy love upon me from all eternity and in the fulness of time didst send thy beloved Son to be born to live to dye for me and redéem my poor soul from thy just wrath and the consequents of it is a favour more than I could expect more than I could deserve and therefore I sing with the blessed Virgin My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people This is a favour so beyond all favours and so neerly concerns all the world that I wish all men had hearts and all creatures tongues to sound it forth O come and make a joyful noyse unto the Lord all the earth make a loud noyse and rejoice and sing praise Your voices are not swéet enough take then the Harp and join to the Harp the voice of a Psalm Your voices are not loud enough call then for Trumpets to sound it out and blow it abroad with the wind of a Cornet Let the praise vs illustrious and the noyse joyful for it is before the Lord the King And O that the inanimate creatures who shall be by this one day freed from the bondage of corruption had tongues also to join with you However in their kind let them do what they can let the Sea roare forth the praises of God and the fulness thereof resound the fulness of his mercy and let the world and they that dwell therein as in a clap of thunder say Amen Amen to it Let the floods join with the Sea and clap their hands let the hills be joyful together and eccho forth the praise of the Lord our Redeemer For he hath done marvellous things Things which we may admire Vers. 1 but shall never be able to comprehend shall and must search into but shall never fully fathom For without controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifested in the flesh justified in the Spirit séen of Angels preach'd unto the Gentiles believ'd on in the world receiv'd up into glory Marvellous O swéet Saviour was thy conception marvellous thy incarnation marvellous thy life marvellous thy death We cannot choose but wonder that the Lord of life should dye that the Lord of heaven and earth should be buried in the earth And that which increaseth the wonder is that he should rise from thence to justifie us that he should ascend in our nature to heaven to prepare a place for us that he should sit on the right-hand of God to be our Advocate to plead for us to be our Intercessor to step between and make our peace when our God is offended with us And that we yet marvel the more all this was done for us when we were without strength and could not help our selves without grace and could not deserve his when we were ungodly and thought not of him sinners that did provoke him enemies that did cebell against him In this then God commended his love that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us O sweet Jesus thy love to us was wonderful passing the love of women This was a work that passed the power of men and Angels Angels were too weak and man too sinful to undertake in it Yet so great was thy love to lost man that rather than he should perish for ever thou who wert without sin Vers. 1 wouldst be made sin for him thou who wert the arm and power of God wouldst appear clothed with our infirmities Yet so powerful thou wert in this weakness so mighty in our infirm flesh that by thy right-hand and thy holy arm thou hast gotten to thy self the victory conquer and triumph thou didst over Sin Death and Hell and over all the power of the Prince of darkness It was thine own right-hand without any other power that did it thine own arm without any assistant that led Captivity Captive and received gifts for men yea even for thine enemies that the Lord God might dwell among them We the heathens Vers. 2 were the greatest part of these enemies yet to us thou sentest thy Apostles to preach these glad-tidings and ever since by thy Ministers hast made known thy salvation Thy righteousness which is now our righteousness blessed be thy name for it by which our pardon is sealed and we are justified is not as a Candle hid under a bushel but is openly shew'd in the sight of the heathen It is not in Judaea only that God is known but all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God all Nations now sée and know that thou wert a merciful
chief Ruler as 2 Sam. 8.18 1 Chron. 18.17 and so it may have reference to Moses a chief Prince but in the proper sense to Aaron for he was the chief Priest Samuel 2. And Samuel no Priest but a Levite yet chief Judge among those call'd on his name 3. They called upon the Lord for themselves and the people and he answered them Of Moses the story is extant Exod. 32.31 Of Aaron Numb 16. 46 47 48. Of Samuel 1 Sam. 7.5 9 10. 4. Vers. 7 He spake unto them that is to Moses Exod. 33.8 9 11. and unto Aaron Numb 12. from 5. to 8. But unto Samuel we read not that he spake in the cloudy Pillar And now he aptly adds the reason why God so readily heard these three Why he heard them it was because they were his servants and obey'd the commands of their King For as Christ saith He that loves me will keep my Commandments He then that will be heard in his prayers Because they were obedient servants ought to hear God in his Commands So did they 1. They kept his Testimonies those Precepts that were common to all others 2. And the Ordinances he gave them as Publick persons who were to rule in Church and State And that this was a great mercy and favour to them and the people the Prophet acknowledgeth by his Apostrophe to God in the next verse 1. 1 He answered them Thou answeredst them O Lord our God Which the Story confirms Vers. 8 2. 2 He forgave them Thou wast a God that forgavest them that is the people for whom Moses and Aaron and Samuel pray'd For as Moller observes in Hebrew the Relative is often put without an Antecedent 3. 3 Even when he punished the people Though thou takest vengeance on their inventions The Calf was broken Exod. 32. and the false gods put away 1 Sam. 7. Though their sin was remitted yet a temporal and corporal punishment follow'd them Numb 14.23 30. Numb 20.12 2. The second part The Prophet concludes the Psalm Carmine Ambaebaeo with the repetition of the fifth verse The Conclusion of all That we only what he calls there Gods footstool he here calls Mount Zion And in the verse is contained the full scope and intent of the whole which is That we exalt our King and adore him 1. Exalt the Lord our God not that we can do it Vers. 9 or make him higher but we must contribute what we can to his exaltation 1 Exalt God which is then done when we gratefully acknowledge his Power in defence of his Church and his Clemency in hearing our prayers and the Intercessions of his servants for us 2. Worship at his Holy Hill 2 Adore which literally is to be understood of Zion the place which he had chosen for his worship where now the Tabernacle was and after the Temple was built But concerns us also that live in the Catholique Church to serve him in unity meeting together in such holy places which are set apart for his worship 3. For the Lord our God is holy which is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or reason For he is Holy why Zion was Holy and many other persons and things in relation to him A consideration very necessary as Musoulus well observes for this profane age The Prayer collected out of the ninty ninth Psalm O Omnipotent Lord who reignest sitting above she Cherubims and governest the whole world by thy wisdom Vers. 1 though the enemies of thy Church be many yet will we not fear though the whole earth be moved yet will we not be afraid For the Lord is great in Zion and high above all people Vers. 2 Yet because the united force of our enemies is great and their iniquity twisted together for the ruine of thy Church Vers. 3 that they be not alwayes prided with their success and thy people over-much disheartned arise O Lord and make them know that thy name is great terrible and holy so great that thou canst and so holy that thou wilt and so terrible that thou wilt in fury take vengeance upon pride and iniquity We are assured O Lord Vers. 4 that thy authority and Kingly power loves equity that thou doest establish equal Laws and doest execute judgement and righteousness in thy Church by punishing the wicked and rewarding the just Arise up for us therefore in the judgement that thou hast commanded and reward the just according to the integrity of their hearts stir up thy strength and come amongst us and help us for thy Name-sake O God our King and Saviour And if at any time our wickedness go over our heads to provoke thy wrath against us then turn thy face from us upon thy dear Son our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ whose intercession is far more powerfully with thée than that of Moses or Aaron and Samuel could be for thy people He is our High Priest be mindful of his invocation his Sacrifice his Blood his tears his cryes which he offered upon the Altar of the Cross for us His blood speaks better things than that of Abel That of Abel shed by us cryes aloud for vengeance against us and what we suffer are the effects of that cry the revenge of that blood O blessed Saviour still the cry of that blood with thy blood wash the stains of it away with those streams which issued from thy bloody side and for the merit of that blood hear the prayers of Moses Aaron and Samuel who had no hand in that blood but kept and do yet keep thy Testimonies and the Ordinance thou gavest them that offer unto thee for themselves and for thy people They dayly call upon thée hear them O Lord our God and answer them though the sin of this people be great yet forgive them though thou takest vengeance according to their inventions So shall we praise thy great and terrible Name for it is Holy So shall we exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool for he is Holy We will exalt the Lord that reigneth over us our God that delivers us and hears our prayers and worship at thy Holy hill and chant with a loud voice that the Lord our God is holy for evermore PSAL. C. A Psalm of Praise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE Title shews the Scope that it was composed for a form to praise God yea and in the publique Congregation and therefore is well chosen to be a part of our Liturgy There be two parts of this Psalm 1. An Exhortation to praise God vers 1 2 4. And the manner how to be done 2. The reasons that perswade to it vers 3 5. 1. He exhorts to praise God In his Exhortation to praise God required it is 1. The first part That the praise be Universal none exempted from it All ye lands or all the earth Vers. 1 2. That it be hearty full and performed with a cheerful soul Make a
joyful noyse 1 Universally that it be done in gladness and singing 3. 2 Heartily That it be not partial and restrain'd but complete the Copia verborum in which the Exhortation is offer'd 3 Completely shews it Jubilate colite scitote Vers. 2 venite laudate benedicite 4. 4 Sincerely That it be sincere and not feined done as in his eye and presence Vers. 3 5. 5 Knowingly That it ought to be well grounded arise from knowledge Know ye that Vers. 4 6. 6 Thankfully But thanksgiving be a part of it 7. 7 Publickly That it be as oft as occasion is offer'd Publick Enter into his Courts with Thanksgiving 2. The second part The Duty being set down reasons the Prophet sets down also to perswade to it The reasons for it drawn from the Nature of God 2. The benefits he bestows on us 1. First from his Essence Know ye if you know not so much already that the Lord he is God Vers. 3 Other gods there be talk'd on but none True but he 1 He is God Which shewed by his works of And therefore none to be serv'd but he 2. And this he shews himself to be by his work of Nature and Grace upon you 1. 1 Nature or Creation By his work of Nature for he is your Maker It is he that hath made us and not we our selves Parents are said to get chilcren but that ability is from God He makes the barren to bear and to be a joyful Mother of children Thou hast fashioned me in my mothers womb What saith Elkanah Am I in the place of God when his Wife was displeased she had no child 2. 2 Of Grace By his work of Grace For we were out of the fold but he call'd us into it and ever since accounted of us as his people of his pasture He governs us feeds us And that we be yet the more cheerful and ready to perform this duty in the last verse he puts us in mind of three Attributes of God His Mercy his Goodness his Truth for which he is worthy to be praised by us because we the better for them for be cause he is good he hath mercy upon us and because he is merciful 2 He is he promiseth us aid and assistance and because he is faithful and true he will perform it 1. Vers. 5 For the Lord is good O how good to those that are true of heart He is reconcil'd to us 1 A good God pardons our sin justifies us adopts us for his children and that freely without any merit of ours 2. His Mercy is everlasting He is the Father of Mercies 2 Merciful and begets Mercies as oft as we bring forth sins It is the Mercy of the Lord that we are not consumed 3. And his Truth endureth to all generations 3 Faithful For he never made promise but either he hath or will perform it God is not as man that he should lye The Prayer collected out of the one hundred Psalm O Omnipotent and holy God Vers. 1 the excellency and transcendency of thy Nature and those infinite benefits by thy favour conferr'd upon us exact at our hands that we appear in thy presence to celebrate thy name with joy and gladness and enter into thy Gates with thanksgiving and into thy Courts with praise But being conscious to our own unworthiness which ariseth from the thoughts of our manifold transgressions afraid we are that we dust and ashes sinful dust and ashes should take upon us to speak unto our Lord we tremble at thy presence and are ready to sink under thy displeasure If thou Lord should'st be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Remember yet we are thy creatures and the work of thy own hands Vers. 3 for thou hast made us and not we our selves Remember that when we were not a people worthy of love thou calledst us and madest us thy people when we were clean without the pale that wentest after us and broughtest us home to thy fold and madest us the sheep of thy pasture Give us grace then O thou great Shepherd of our souls that we may lament our unthankfulness and forgetfulness of these favours and the heinousness of our rebellions being removed be reconciled unto us and inable us that instead of a corrupt and impure life we may serve thée in righteousness and holiness all our dayes Of this we have yet some hope because thou art good Vers. 5 thy mercy is everlasting and thy truth endureth from generation to generation from thy goodness procéeds thy mercy and because thou art merciful thou hast made promises to penitent believing sinners and we are assured thou wilt perform them because thou art faithful and true O seal these promises to our disconsolate hearts by the graces of thy Holy Spirit Vers. 2 then we shall be bold to come into thy presence then will we enter into thy Gates with thanksgiving then we will be thankful unto thée and bless thy holy Name We will serve the Lord with gladness and make a joyful noyse to our Lord the God of Jacob for ever Amen Here ends the Third Book of the Psalms according to the Hebrews PSAL. CI. A Psalm of David Didascalicus DAVID being Anointed by Samuel to be King or as most conceive newly made King promiseth and vows to God to reign in Righteousness and Holiness In a word he would so govern Himself his Palace the Church the State that all wicked doers being taken away and all good men countenanc'd by him God should be honour'd and justice peace temperance piety flourish Two parts of the Psalm 1. The Syllabus or brief of the Psalm with the Dedication of it vers 1. 2. The full Explication of what he means by Mercy and Judgement and how practised 1. Toward himself For he shews what his life shall be from vers 2. to 5. 2. Toward ungodly men vers 4 5 7 8. and the end of it vers 8. 3. Toward all good men vers 6. These should be his Counsellors and Servants 1. The sum of the Psalm The first part He Summarily sets down what he will treat of in this Psalm viz. Mercy and Judgement the two great vertues of a King I will sing of mercy and judgement Ver. 1 1. Mercy Judgement which he really vowes Mercy in countenancing giving audience judging for and rewarding the good 2. Judgement in discountenancing punishing and being a terror to evil works and workers And that he would do this really not talk and seem to profess a great love to Mercy and Judgement as Princes use to do when they mean no such matter He makes a Solemn Vow to God to perform it Unto thee O Lord will I sing From thee proceed these gifts to thy honour they shall be referr'd and by me as in thy sight impartially executed This I Vow and Promise to thee 2. The
thou break a leaf driven too and fro Ver. 11 How long wilt thou pursue the dry stubble While thou Writest these bitter things against us our dayes are like a shadow and decliues and we are withered as grass whose beauty and glory fades in a moment But why art thou thus vexed O my soul Ver. 12 and why art thus disquieted within me O put thy trust in God Call to mind that he endures for ever and the remembrance of his Covenant to all generations 'T is thy promise O Lord we look to 't is thy Covenant only we hope in according to thy word arise and have mercy upon Zion pity thy poor afflicted people for the time to favour her is now very seasonable Ver. 13 yea the time is come For thy servants think upon and take pleasure in her stones not so much those stones with which those goodly structures Ver. 14 in which we were wont to meet and praise thee were built and beautified as those living stones built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Ver. 17 Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone and it pitieth them to see her in the dust In the dust Lord we favour them and for these we pray that they may be restored to their places in thy Sacred Temple Ver. 16 O regard the prayer of the poor destitute and despise not our desire for this will tend to thy honour and enlargement of thy Kingdom being alsured Ver. 15 that when the Lord shall build up Zion and when he shall appear in glory that the heathen shall fear the Name of the Lord and all the Kings of the earth thy glory Look down then O Lord from the height of thy Sanctuary and from heaven behold the earth Ver. 19 Hear the groaning of the Prisoners and loose those that are appointed to death Ver. 20 that they may declare the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise at Jerusalem Ver. 21 May we but obtain so great a mercy it shall be written for the generations to come and the people our children that shall be born Ver. 18 shall praise the Lord They shall praise thee and sing of thy mercy in the great Congregation even when the people are gathered together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. That thou wilt make an Inquisition for innocent blood I am assured that those who have profaned thy dwelling place shall be as a rolling thing before the wind Ver. 23 I do believe that they who have swallowed down riches shall vomit them up again I know for God shall cast them out of their belly But thou hast so weakned my strength in the way and so shortned my dayes that it is not likely I shall lide to sée it Lord might my eyes sée thy salvation I would willingly sing with old Simeon Ver. 24 Now let thy servant depart in peace Yet will I pray O my God take me not away in the midst of my age I am thy Creature O Lord created after thy own image yet not to live for ever on earth as thou shalt live in heaven for thy years are throughout all generations Even the earth whose foundation thou hast laid and the heavens which are the work of thy Power and Wisdom wax old as a garment and as a vesture shall be wrapt up they shall perish and be annihilated spare me a little then because I am a creature of a short continuance and can bear no proportion to thy esernity for thou art the same and thy years have no end But I yield my self to thy Will I submit my self to thy dispose if I cannot arrive to what I desire to sée Jerusalem in prosperity yet grant that I may see my Lord in the Land of the living for I am assured that the children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee and live in thy presence for evermore Amen PSAL. CIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Psalm to David THE Title shews the Psalm to be inspired into David by the Holy Ghost and the end is to comfort a soul heavy and laden but especially with the burden of sin To him every word in it drops like an Honey-comb so that had not the comfort been revealed and sent from heaven it could never have been believed that Almighty God should be so merciful to sinful man Three parts there are of this Psalm 1. The Exordium in which David by an Apostrophe turns to his own soul and stirs it up to bless God ver 1 2. 2. The Narration or an ample Declaration of the Benefits from the first to the last conferred by God upon him and others and the causes of them from ver 3. to 20. 3. A Conclusion in which he makes a motion to Angels and all other Creatures to joyn with him in the praise of God from ver 20. David stirs up his soul to praise God The first part to the last 1. David being fully perswaded that he was one of the number of the Elect stirs up himself in the person of the Elect to praise and speak well of God in the two first verses 1. Bless God think on the Benefit and bless the Benefactor Ver. 1 Extoll him with praises 2. O my Soul bless him because the Soul alone can know and inform the whole man what God deserves for his blessings 2. Again he would not have it a lip-labour but come from a heart affected with it Heartily done for quod cor non facit non fit 3. Not the Soul alone but that all that is within him Totum hominis And the whole man whatsoever is within his skin every part every faculty about him Will Understanding Memory Affections Heart Tongue Hand Eyes c. All joyn 4. And bless Jehovah for he gave them their Being and their Properties and Operations 2. Praise his holy Name his Essential Properties his Wisdom Power Goodness Justice for to oclebrate God in all these is To praise his holy Name 5. Bless the Lord O my Soul for he comes over it again Ver. 2 that he might press the Duty more emphatically and shew his vehement desire to have it done it shewes we freeze and are cold in the Duty and need a Goad to quicken us 6. And forget not all his benefits He repeats it and adds That we forget not His Benefits 1. Forget not He would not be guilty of the common Errour forgetfulness of a good turn for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which if it happen 't is impossible to be thankful and therefore Omnium ingratissimus qui beneficii accepti non reminiscitur Forget not then 2. All his benefits Not all no nor indeed any of them for not one but deserves a blessing 3. His benefits Some read Munera the Vulgar Retributiones If Munera they are freely given if Retributiones they are more than we can deserve yet it pleases him to accompt them so Let but a man well consider how many evils we
return daily to God for his good things he freely bestowes on us and how many good things he returns to us daily notwithstanding the evil we return him and we shall easily understand how great is the goodness of God That retributes good for evil and makes his Sun to shine on the just and unjust Luke 6. And Beneficia they are to us for we are the better for them The second part Which now he beginâ— by an 〈◊〉 to number the Benefits 1. Done to himself 2. At the third verse the Prophet begins his Declaration and by an Induction of particulars reckons up the benefits and that in this order 1. Those done to himself in which yet he excludes not others as if they might not share with him 2. Done to the whole Church But of the first he had a true sense and experience what others felt he could not say Now these benefits to himself were either spiritual or temporal 1. Ver. 3 The first spiritual Benefit was Justification or Remission of sin by which of an unjust man Spiritual as 1. Justification he made him just of an enemy a friend of a slave a son Bless God who forgiveth all thine iniquities freely forgives thy Debt or unjust Actions although many All everyone Original and Actual 2. 2 Regeneration The second Benefit is Regeneration by which the Power of Concupiscence that dwells in us is daily weakned and subdued though not wholly abolished The full cure must be expected in the life to come but such a cure is done upon us in this life That it shall not reign in our mortal bodies and we obey it in the lusts thereof And of this cure in himself David was sensible and therefore he saith Who heals all thy diseases or infirmities is daily cutting away and snubbing these roots of sin 3. Ver. 4 The third Benefit is Redemption Who redeemeth thy life from destruction 3 Redemption from the Pit from the Grave from Death and that which followeth it eternal Destruction 4. 4 Glorification all out of mercy The fourth Benefit Glorification Who Crowneth thee gives a Crown of Glory and the cause of this and the other Benefits be conceals not it is with or out of loving-kindness and tender mercies ex visceribus miserecordiae Neither is he behind with thee for temporal Benefits for however Bellarmine refers these and the following words to the felicity of the Soul 2 Temporal and immortality of the Body in the life to come which I dislike not in the Anagogical sense yet I conceive the Literal sense of the words may properly be referred to this present life in which God feeds and nourisheth our Bodies and supplies what is necessary for Food and Rayment and also conserves us in this life and gives us health and strength Ver. 5 both which the Prophet teacheth us in the following words 1. 1 Abundance Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things He gives not sparingly and with a Niggards hand but gives abundantly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6. He satisfieth and good things they are till we abuse them 2. 2 Long life and health So that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles An Eagle is a youthful and lusty Bird in her old age and of long life and this often God grants to many of his that they be long-liv'd healthful and lively active and vigorous old men as to Moses Joshua Job which if it happen it is a Gift of God 2. 2 Benefits to the whole Church As man is to pray so also is he bound to bless God for the good that befalls his Neighbour which course David here takes for he blesseth God not only for the Benefits of God bestowed upon himself but such as were common and did belong to the whole Church and in two he gives his instance The first is the defence of his people and deliverance of all that are oppressed The second is the Manifestation of his Will by his Servants the Pen-men of Scripture to them 1. 1 Deliverance Most just God is to his and good in punishing their Adversaries The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed with wrong Ver. 6 which is a new Benefit Two Alms he distributes 1. A righteous portion to his servants 2. Judgment and a just revenge to his enemies to all that are oppressed with wrong The Israelites were preserved in Aegypt but Pharaoh plagued 2. 2 Manifestation of his Will Most kind in making known his Will which had he not declared to his servants Ver. 7 we had never known it It must then be acknowledg'd for another favour That he made known his Wayes to Moses his Acts unto the children of Israel And here the Prophet interserts four Epithers or Attributes of God Both the Benefits bestowed because God is which declares unto us the true cause of all the former and following favours The Lord is Merciful and Gracious flow to anger and plenteous in mercy 1. Ver. 8 Merciful Rachum because he bears a pateâ—nal Affection to pious men 2. Gracious Channum the Giver of Grace and Benefits For he that loves with a fatherly Affection will give 3. Slow to anger Not easily drawn to strike he will bear long and much as a Father before he punish 4. Plenteous in mercies When he does us good being moved by no merit of our's Of all which Attributes the Prophet shewes the effects and applies them singula singulis in the following verses 1. He is merciful bears a paternal Affection to his Children 1 Merciful He will not alwayes chide neither keep his anger for ever Ver. 9 Angry he will be with his Children when they are untoward yea and chastise them too For every father chastises the son that he loves But his anger shall not last long for in his heart there remains the love of a Father from whence the stripes proceed 2. He is gracious Ver. 10 and therefore out of meer Grace he will give us a Pardon For if he should deal with us according to our deserts 2 Gracious who could abide it Psal 130. For what doth a sinner deserve but death Rom. 6. Whereas he forgives us and gives us Life Grace Glory and therefore we may truly say with David here He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Ver. 11 This Grace and Favour the Prophet amplifies by two Comparisons 1. The first is the distance of the Heaven from Earth which from the Center to the highest Orb is of an immense Altitude Yet look As high as the Heaven is above the Earth so great is his mercy toward them that fear him 2. The second is the distance of the East from the West which is of an immense Longitude and yet look Ver. 12 As far as the East is from the West so far hath he set our sins from us Let the sin be of what extent it will it is
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
above and alone was their Physitian 3. This was the manner of their Cure He saveth them out of their distresses 1. And he restores them to life and health He sent his Word and healed them He said the word only and they were made whole or if any Dos were applied as put case a Brazen Serpent Ver. 20 or a Bunch of Figs yet it was his Word his Will his Command that made them Medicinal Wisd 16.12 13. And therefore the Prophet useth an apt word to put us in mind of this He sent his Word no otherwise than some great Prince sends forth his Embassadour to do his Command and I little doubt but the Centurion had this in his mind when he said to our Saviour Say the word only and my servant shall be whole Mat. 8. 2. And he delivered them from their destructions which is opposed to the danger they were in ver 18. They draw nigh to the gates of death For which he calls on them to be thankful 3. But again he remembers the delivered to acknowledge the Cure with a grateful heart Ver. 21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men And he adds 1. And let them sacrifice their Sacrifices their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. But yet with these conditions and limitations Ver. 22 1. That it be with a thankful heart they must be Sacrifices of Thanksgiving an outward Sacrifice was nothing worth without it 2. That with the Sacrifice there go an Annunciation that men declare his works publish what great things God had done for them that the Cure was his 3. That it be done with rejoycing that we have an experience of Gods presence his mercy and favour in which the heart ought more to rejoyce than for the Cure done upon the Body 4. The fourth Misery ariseth from the danger at Sea of which all Travellers The fourth misery Shipwrack Merchants Mariners have experience which 1. He describes 2. Shewes the course they take in a storm 3. And the event following upon their prayers 4. Upon which he calls upon as upon the three before to praise God 1. They that go down to the Sea in ships Go down Ver. 23 for now the Sea is lower than the Earth The storm described to which he prefaceth 2. That do business in great waters Have a Calling and Vocation to go down as Merchants Mariners for as for Pyrates they have no Vocation they may perish they have no promise of Protection nor Audience 3. These men see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep Ver. 24 Others hear of them by Relation but these see them They see the great Whales innumerable kinds of strange Fishes and Monsters they see what the vastness and depth of the Sea is they see Islands innumerable dispersed and safe in the Waves they find in it many Whirle-pools Quick-sands Rocks they have experience of the virtue of the Load-stone they discover many Stars that we know not they behold the working of the Sea the raging of it through which fear and horrour of death invades the hearts even of the most valiant men 4. For he commandeth Now he begins to describe the Tempest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. From the cause God it is that sayes the word and his word is a Command 2. And with his word He raiseth the stormy wind Incutit vim ventis 3. Which inspired with his word lifts up the waves thereof that is the Sea Fluctus ad sidera tolli Virgil. Aenead 1. 4. They that is the passengers mount up to heaven they go down to the depth Hi summo in fluctu pendent his unda dehiscens Terram inter fluctus aperit 5. Their soul is melted because of trouble Their strength fails and their spirit for fear and horrour faints Extemplo Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra 6. They reel too and fro they are tossed this way and that way Tres curus ab alto in Brevia Syrtes urget 7. They stagger and totter as a drunken man an apt similitude Cui dubii stantque labantque pedes 8. And are at their wits end Or Omnis sapientia corum absorbetur Their Judgment roves their Art fails their Skill is at end Et meminisse viae media Palinuras in unda Denegat Acts 27.14 Hitherto the Prophet hath Poetically described the Tempest and Storm Then they cry to God and now he comes to acquaint us with the Course they in this danger took for to save their lives They all flie to the common Remedy this they thought was safest and might do it when all failed Then they cryed unto the Lord in their trouble The Course that the Mariners in Jonah took Jonah 1. I see the old Proverb will be true Qui nescit orare discat navigare And the Consequent was as before And he quiets the Tempest And he brings them out of their distresses The manner this 1. He makes the storm a calm Dicto cirius tumida aequora placat 2. So that the waves thereof are still Et cunctus pelagi cecidit fragor 3. Then are they glad because they be quiet which is the first Effect No more reeling too and fro no more at their wits end but taken out of the jawes of death by a sudden calm whence ariseth much joy Laeto testantur gaudia plausu 4. And sets them safe on shore And to increase it at last he sets them safe on shore So he brings them to their desired Haven Magno telluris amore Egressi optata nautae potiuntur arenâ Et sale tabentes artus in littore ponunt 3. For which he calls on them to praise God And now in the last place he puts them in mind of their Duty and wishes that they would pay their Tribute for the miracle done upon them in saving of their lives out of so great danger Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men And it might be that in their danger they had made some Vow as was usual for men in a great danger at Sea to do Read the life of Nazianzen who in such a case vowed himself to God This the Prophet would have paid and yet openly 1. Let them exalt him also in the Congregation of the people In a Congregation where all the people are assembled to praise God 2. And that not only before the promiscuous Multitude but in the presence of those who excel in Authority Wisdom and Power even the Princes Let them praise him in the Assembly of the Elders Me tabula sacer votiva paries indicat vida suspendisse potenti vestimento Maris Deo 3. The third part Gods Providence in the alterations of Kingdoms After the Prophet had exalted Gods mercies in freeing men from these four former Miseries and Calamities Banishment Captivity Sickness and Shipwrack now he manifests
his Power Providence and Wisdom in the vicissitudes and alterations we find in things below which proceed not from Chance and Casualty but from his wise Dispensation In the Earth we see strange Mutations in Kingdoms wonderful Revolutions and though for these we are apt to assign inferiour Causes and fix on them yet we must go higher and not rest till we acknowledge Gods Hand in all whose Wisdom orders all and whose Power hath an influence in all these Alterations and Revolutions let Epicurus and his Scholars think what they please to the contrary Now of these Changes the Prophet produceth some Instances upon which Tertullian very wittily descants in his Cap. 2. de Pallio His first Instance is in the Earth for in that he finds a great Change but yet so as God is the Cause of it that he would have remembred 1. He turns Rivers into a Wilderness and Water-springs into a dry ground 1 Changes in the Earth The fertility of any Land ariseth from the Rivers Ver. 33 as is apparent in Aegypt which is made so fruitful by the overflow of Nilus From fertile to barren and è contra And when Elisha would free the Soyle from barrenness he first healed the waters Now when God pleaseth to bring sterility upon a Land he can dry up these Rivers or stay them that they shall not overflow as it was in Aegypt in the seven years Famine And easie it were to produce examples of Rivers that have left their Channels and diverted their Courses by which the Land that was formerly fruitful is become barren and desolate as a Wilderness and when there were Springs of water now very dry ground so that a fruitful Land is turned into barrenness as Sodom Gomorrah Gen. 14. 19. And if stories be true the whole Land of Canaan which was a Land flowing with milk and honey but is now in comparison of what it was very barren 2. And the Cause of this is The iniquity of them that dwell therein Iniquity the cause Sodom is an instance In my ears are the cry of your sins saith the Lord of Hosts and therefore of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without an Inhabitant yea ten Acres of Vineyard shall yield one Bath and the seed of an Homer shall yield an Ephah Isa 5.9 10. 2. And now on the contrary 2 From barren to fruitful land that which more yet illustrates his Mercy and Providence is the Change we find in barren dry and incultivated grounds which at his will become fruitful inhabited and abundant in all necessaries for the life of man which must be ascribed to his Power for no Power is able to turn Nature into a better course but that of God Or if it be done by mans industry yet it is God that teacheth him the skill to do it and gives the blessing to his labour It was an impious Speech of Cyclops in Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now this our Prophet in this place insists on and amplifies at large This from God 1. He that is God turneth the Wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into Water-springs i. e. He hath brought to pass that in desert and dry places there should be Pools of water and the Earth which had no water should abound with Springs and Rivers which is all one as if he had said They should be very fertile and fruitful which is done for mans sake 2. For there he makes the hungry to dwell Upon the discovery of some new found good Land Colonies are transported thither He puts into mens minds to plant Colonies and such who live in want and hunger at home betake themselves to these Forrain Plantations which yet is done so much upon their own choice as Gods secret direction For there he makes the hungry to dwell 3. Yea and to build houses That they may prepare a City for habitation Pars aptare locum tecto Aenead 1 c. pars ducere muros 4. Farther yet the studies and endeavours of these new Colonies are 1. To sowe Fields 2. To plant Vineyards which may yield fruits of increase That innocent work of Husbandry is their Profession which was the first Trade in the World 5. And Gods blessing is upon their honest endeavours He blesseth them also 1. In Children So that they are multiplied greatly 2. In Cattle And suffereth not their Cattle to decrease 2. 2 But even in these changes But there is nothing in this World perpetual and stable which leads the way to his second Instance even those that God sometimes had blessed and by blessing multiplied and enriched continue not alwayes at the same stay 1. Ver. 39 These are minished and brought low 2. These are worn out by oppression affliction and sorrow by some publick Calamity or other either War Famine Pestilence Invasion Inundations c. Neither is this only true in common men but even in the greatest Princes 3 Monarchy mutable Principalities and Monarchies even these are subject to Changes All the Monarchies are fallen 1. He poures Contempt upon Princes This to our grief we have liv'd to see and feel And it is a heavy judgment both to Princes and people and a great Argument of some grievous precedent sins that he suffer Princes whether Civil or Ecclesiastical to become contemptible for then the Reins of Discipline is let loose confusion followes and all things grow worse which effusion of vengeance when it happens is sometimes caused for the sin of the Prince sometime of the people sometime of both 'T is certainly as he said before For the iniquity of those that dwell in the Land 2. Monarchs brought low And causeth them to wander in the Wilderness where there is no way which Clause is subject to a double Interpretation 1. Either that he suffers Princes to erre in their Counsels in their Lives and Examples being destitute of the light of Wisdom and Grace they live vitiously and scandalously or they enact unjust Lawes favour wicked men and oppress the good in which there is no way of God 2. Or else he suffers them to be Wanderers in the World as banished Persons which I read with tears well knowing That there cannot be a greater Calamity to a Noble and ingenious spirit But yet there is some Comfort in the following verse To whom he will look and raise them That it shall not be so alwayes 1. Yet he will look upon the poor afflicted penitent and raise him Yet setteth he the poor man on high from affliction He will give him ease and release from his temporal and spiritual affliction 2. And make him Families like a Flock He will yet multiply him gather him and his Family into one Fold become his Shepherd feed him and govern him by his singular Providence and Manuduction 4. The fourth part All this written for our meditation He concludes the
thy hatred to sin and incorrigible sinners for this is caused for the wickedness of them that dwell therein Good God so let us lay to heart this judgment That our Houses be not desolate great and fair without an Inhabitant that ten Acres of Vineyard yield not a Bath and the seed of an Homer yield not an Ephah And in this vicissitude thy Mercy is as conspicuous as thy Iustice for on the contrary Thou turnest the Wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into Water-springs Put into the hearts of thy hungry to dwell there thither lead their Colonies in them let them prepare their Cities for habitation give life to the séed of the Fields which they sowe and water the Vineyards that they plant That they may yield them fruits of increase Bless them also O Lord so that they be multiplied greatly in the fruit of their bodies and suffer not their Cattle to decrease But yet if these sin against thée and kick after they are waxed fat visit their offences with the rod and their sin with scourges as thou didst multiply them so again diminish them as thou didst exalt them so again bring them low let some oppressing enemy or sharp and afflictive disease put them to grief and sorrow My bowels my bowels I am pained at the very heart my eyes do fail with tears and my liver is poured out upon the Earth for the Lord hath despised in the indignation of his anger the King and the Priest How long shall I sée thy Standard and hear the sound of thy Trumpet How long wilt thou poure contempt upon Princes and cause them to wander in a strange land where yet they can find no way no way of relief no way of help In mercy return good God and visit the séed of the righteous cast not his Crown to the ground for ever but set the poor man on high from affliction build him a sure house gather him and his family into one flock and fold become his Shepherd féed and govern him by thy singular Providence and Manuduction and let thy work in it be so manifest that all who sée it may fear and say This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes The righteous shall see and consider it and rejoyce and then all iniquity shall stop her mouth Make us wise O Lord to observe and in observing to consider and by considering to lay to heart these things That thou sitting in thy Throne above yet orderest the things below that honour and contempt are from thée that sickness and health are thy gife that relief in a Famine that restitution to the Banish'd that liberty to the Captive that deliverance from any furious storm and tempest is from thy hand that the barrenness of the ground is from thy curse and the fertility of the earth followes upon thy blessing for so shall we understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and fo◠his wonderful works to the children of men O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Let the redeemed of the Lord say so those whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gather'd them out of all lands and brought them into his Church that they bow their knees at the Name of Jesus by whom all mercies pass to us and to whom be all praise honour laud and dominion this day and for evermore PSAL. CVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm is wholly composed and drawn into one out of two Psalms The first part of it untill the 6th verse is verbatim taken out of the 57th Psalm beginning at the 7th verse the latter part from ver 6. to the end is taken out of the 60th Psalm beginning as it doth here at the 6th verse and is continued as here unto the end I shall not need therefore to Analyse and explain or insert a Meditation upon it since it is done already and therefore I pass on to the next PSAL. CIX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE later Expositors expound this Psalm of Doeg Achitophel and other Persecutors of David and so it may be understood in the Type But the Ancient Fathers apply it to Judas the Traytor and the Jewes that put Christ to death which opinion because it is more probable being occasioned by those words of Peter Acts 1.20 which by him are applied to Judas out of this Psalm I shall expound it of Christ whom David doth personate and of Judas and the malicious Jewes very fitly understood in the persons of his wicked and slanderous enemies There be four parts of this Psalm 1. A short Ejaculation ver 1. and the Reasons of it express'd in a Complaint of the fraud and malice of his enemies ver 6. 2. A bitter Imprecation against them from ver 6. to 21. 3. A Supplication presented to God for himself from ver 21. and the Reasons to ver 30. 4. A profession of thanks ver 30 31. 1. The first part He begins with an ejaculation He begins with an Ejaculation Hold not thy peace O God of my praise ver 1. Observe 1. Ver. 1 The Epithite or Title he useth O God of my praise In the reading Translators vary O God for thus they read Deus laudis meae Deus laus mea Deus laudabilis mihi and they expound it 1. Either actively that is O God whom I praise even in my greatest pressures or calamities 2. Or passively Who art my praise the Witness and Advocate of my innocency and integrity when I am condemned by malicious tongues which sense seems fittest for this place and to this the Vulgar gives more light that thus reads it Domine laudem meam ne tacueres And Bellarmine puts the words into Christs mouth in which he desites that God would not conceal his Charity Innocence and other Virtues being very like that prayer John 17.5 Father glorifie thy Son 2. Hold not thy peace Hold not thy peace Tacere in Scripture when referr'd to God is to connive and rest and seems as it were not to regard and the contrary loqui to speak to do somewhat for revenge or deliverance This then is that which David here asks That when the malice of his enemies arrived at that height that it could be no longer endured that God would connive at them suffer them and hold his peace no longer but would declare his displeasure against them 2. The reason the malice of his enemies Whom he describes to be And after by way of Complaint he describes unto us their malicious nature and unsufferable conditions which he aggravates by an elegant Gradation For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me they have spoken against me with a lying tongue They were 1. Impious 2. Deceitful 3. Lyars Impiety deceit lying were then the ingredients of their sin Ver. 2 1. 1 Turpious For the
and full of compassion 1 A gracious God 1. Gracious in doing these works for they came from his meer grace pity and favour 2 Full of compassion and not from any desert of mans 2. And full of compassion Rachum affected with the bowels of a father toward his children The instances of his mercy are gracious in habit compassionate in act Of which the Prophet now descending to particulars gives in several instances gracious and full of compassion he was in that 1. 1 Manna given He hath given meat to them that fear him He nourished his people for forty years in the Wilderness and gave them Manna from Heaven this meat he gave especially to those that fear'd him and for their sakes to others or else the whole Congregation might well be said to fear him because at that time they took him for their God and worshipped him 2. 2 Keeping his Covenant He will be ever mindful of his Covenant which is his second instance A mercy it was to make a Covenant with them but notwithstanding their high provocations to be ever mindful of it and keep it is a higher degree of mercy 3. 3 Doing miracles for them He hath shewed his people the power of his works which is a third instance His works were the turning of Jordan backward the overthrow of Jericho by the sound of Rams Horns the staying of the Sun and Moon in the valley of Ajalon at Joshua's prayer c. All these were works of power which he then shew'd his people 4. 4 Giving them the land of Canaan And these he did That he might give them the heritage of the Heathen which is his fourth instance For who can deny but it was a work of mercy to expel the Canaanites before them and bestow upon his own people their inheritances Now as before he used an Acclamation when he entred upon the works of God in the Creation of the World Ver. 7 and the Conservation and Governance of it The works of the Lord are great honourable glorious So after these instances of his works of mercy lest any man should suspect him unjust in this last instance especially viz. ejecting the Canaanites and giving away their inheritances he aptly interserts this Elogy of them The Elogy of these done 1. Ver. 7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment 1. 1 In verity 2. In judgment The Elgoy of the moral Law Verity these works had truth in them for by it he had made good his promise made to Abraham to give them the land 2. And secondly Judgment for by it his Justice was executed upon Idolaters and profane persons 2. Which shewes unto the whole World that 1. All his Commandments are sure That his Laws 1 It is sure especially that which is Moral are certainly true and that he deceives none in the promulgation of them but that they bring a punishment to the Transgressors and a reward to the Observers of them as it appears by the example of the Canaanites that were ejected for the breach of them Levit. 18.24 c. 2. That these Commands being but the Law of Nature stand fast for ever Ver. 8 2 Eternal that they are indispensable and immutable and for this reason because they are done and established in truth and uprightness containing in them the most absolute Justice Equity Rectitude and Truth that is conceivable 5. The Elogy of Gods Law being ended 5 His last instance of mercy Redemption he at last instances in a work of mercy that exceeds all the rest to wit the work of Redemption of all Mankind by his Son for however it be true of the Redemption of Israel out of Aegypt yet it is better with the Fathers to expound it of that Redemption purchased by Christ of which he saith 1. He sent Redemption i. e. a Redeemer so often promised Ver. 9 so much expected to his people who redeemed them from the power of darkness 2. And with them in him he established an eternal Covenant For he hath commanded this his Covenant for ever which is extant Jer. 31.31 Hebr. 8.8 3. Thus the Prophet having enumerated many of Gods works both of Power The third part For all these his Name to be accounted Wisdom and Mercy concludes the Psalm with three Epiphonema's which shew us the manner how God is to be praised holily reverently fearfully Ver. 9 1. The first Epiphonema is to the Name of God 1 Holy Holy and Reverent is his Name i. e. his Service or any thing whereby he is signified This is 1. Holy It may not then be polluted with a false hypocritical Service the Command being Be ye holy for I am holy 2. Reverent Not then rashly carelesly negligently to be performed 2 Reverent Terrible but with the greatest Reverence that may be Or as some read it Terrible and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God 2. The second Epiphonemn followes upon the other Ver. 10 for if the Name of the Lord be Holy and Reverent then it is wisdom to fear him Wisdom therefore to fear him Now 1. This fear is the beginning of wisdom for then men begin to be wise when they begin to fear God eschew evil and do good and it is best out of filial fear out of love rather than dread of punishment 2. This fear if it be right will be practical And this fear will be practical and this practice will proceed out of science and knowledge of what is to be done all other knowledge is but vain For a good understanding have all they that do his Commandments for to him that knows what is good and doth it not to him it is sin Jam. 4. 3. The third Epiphonema or Acclamation is His praise endureth for ever Hi. praise and fear will continue for ever which some refer to God others to the man that fears God and both are true 1. For the praise of God will and must continue for ever his power his wisdom his mercy is for ever and then his praise must continue for over 2. But if referr'd to the man that fears God then the sense will be that 1. His praise that is the praise with which a man that fears God praiseth him will endure for ever For they that dwell in thy house will be alwayes praising thee Psal 84.4 2. And the praise of him that fears God Or his praise that is the commendation of a good man will be had in everlasting remembrance Psal 112.6 The name of the wicked shall rot but the memorial of the just is blessed Prov. 10.7 The Lord will say to such a man Well done thou good and faithful servant Matth. 25.21 His praise is in this World lasting in the future everlasting The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and eleventh Psalm O Omnipotent most wise and merciful God it is our Duty to
they came into Aegypt and of Judah because from him they were called Jewes This being premised I come now to Analyse and explain the Psalm in which is described 1. The condition of the Jewes before their deliverance they were in Aegypt Ver. 1 all one as if he had said in bondage and liv'd among Idolators 1 They were in bondage nor form'd into a State nor into a Church 2. Among a barbarous people or a people of a strange language 2. The condition of the Jewes after their deliverance 2 But delivered by God they were then his Sanctuary and his Scigniory When Israel went art of Aegypt c. then Judah was his Sanctuary and Israel his Dominion 1. Ver. 2 His Sanctuary a people sanctified and adopted by him a peculiar people consecrated to his Worship 1 His Sanctuary a holy people as holy Temples and Sanctuaries and having holy Priests to govern them in points of Piety 2. 2 His Seigniory he their Lord and King His Dominion or Seigniory in whom he reigned as a King by his Lawes and spirit and appointed godly Magistrates to rule them in matters of Policy for the Government among them was first a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till they cast it off by choosing to themselves a King whence God told Samuel They have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them 1 Sam. 8.7 2. 2 The manner of their deliverance by wonders done The Prophet sets down the manner of their deliverance which was not by ordinary means but extraordinary by signs miracles and wonders of which he gives us these instances 1. Ver. 3 In the red Sea The Seasaw that and fled That is the Sea seeing Gods people come toward it 1 At the red Sea and desirous to pass through it at the presence of the Lord turned back all night Exod. 14. Wisd 19.7 Where in a Poetical stâ—rein he attributes sense to the Sea The Sea saw that 2. 2 In and at Jordan In or at Jordan forty years after when they were entring the Land when Jordan was driven back and suffered a reflux for a long time Josh 4. Ver. 4 3. 3 At Sinai At Sinai where the Law was given where the greater parts of that Mountain and the lesser Hillocks about it trembled and quaked The Mountains skipped like Rams and the little Hills like Lambs The sum is That all the Creatures at the Commandment of the Creator were then turned upside down ready to do or not to do to continue in or to change their natural courses according to his good-will or pleasure Wisd 19.18 2. The second part The Psalm is composed after a Poetical vein and therefore having related the wonderful deliverance His Expostulation and the manner of it he expostulates with the Sea Jordan and the Mountains what the matter was with them that they so strangely alter'd their course with what passion they were affected and why What aileth thee Ver. 5 O thou Sea that thou fleddest and thou Jordan that wast driven back 1 With the Sea and Jordan O ye Mountains what aile ye that ye skipped like Rams and ye little Hills like young sheep 2 And the Mountains To which The answer of the Prophet in the person of the earth speaking to her self the Prophet answers so that it is both a Prosopopeia and an Apostrophe 1. Ver. 7 Tremble thou earth at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob. That Gods presence was the cause As if it had been said Would you know the reason why we flie turn back move The cause is this The Lord hath appeared and shewed his Force and Power and laid his Commands upon us and therefore not abiding his Presence trembleth the Mountains are moved c. 2. Now of his Power let this miracle suffice for an instance 't is that God Who turned the hard Rock into a standing water Ver. 8 and the flint-stone into Fountains of water Caused not only waters to flow from thence but turned the very substance of a flint which is apter to yield fire than water into that fluid Element Numb 20. The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and fourteenth Psalm O Lord our Governour how excellent is thy Name in all the World Thou art glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders able to do whatsoever thou wilt Ver. 2 and willing to do whatsoever is best for Judah whom thou hast adopted to be thy Sanctuary wherein thou wilt be served and Israel thy Dominion over whom thou wilt reign as a King by thy holy Word and Spirit O God Thou hast béen very gracious unto us that were Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel for in every Nation every one that feareth God and worketh righteousness is now accepted of thée all true believers are now become the séed of Abraham and the house of Jacob. Thou hast brought us out of Aegypt out of that Kingdom of darkness and ignorance in which we lived into a marvellous light Thou hast fréed us from the bondage of Pharaoh the Prince of darkness under whom we served and groaned Ver. 1 Thou hast taken the burden of the Law a yoke grievous and heavy to be born from off our shoulders and cancelled the Hand-writing that was against us laying upon our necks an easier yoke and upon our shoulders a lighter burden Thou hast overturned as it were the Chariots and Horse-men and destroyed the Host of our enemies by suâ—â—uing our iniquities and casting all of them into the bottom of the Sea that they may never appear before us again to confound our Consetences in this World or condemn our Souls in the next O Lord shall the dumb and insensible Creatures tremble at thy presence and shall not we be moved with so great mercies Shall they all in their kinds praise thée and shall not we who are endued with reason alwayes sing of the loving-kindness of our God Shall the Sea flée and the waters r etire and the Mountains and Hills skip at the presence of the God of Jacob Ver. 3 and shall not Jacob himself serve the Lord in fear and rejoyce before him in trembling Shall the hard Rock be turned into a standing water and the flint-stone into a springing Well and shall not our hard and flinty hearts in consideration of our own miseries Ver. 8 and Gods unspeakable mercies in delivering us from the bondage of our sins and tyranny of Satan if not gush forth into Fountains of tears express so much as a little standing water in our eyes It is a hard heart indeed that is not rent with compunction nor softned with kindness nor moved with prayers nor will yield to threats and blowes And yet O Lord such are our hearts so hard so flinty O touch thou the Mountains and they shall smoke touch our lips with a Coal from the Altar and they shall shew
that they may glorifie my Father which is in Heaven Thy praise I will sound forth thy Name I will magniffe confess I will that thou hast been to me a gracious God and merciful Father even in the Courts of the Lords house even in the midst of thee O jerusalem in which I know thou wilt alone accept of thanks and hear and grant the pelitions of thy servants that are offered unto thée through the merits and in the Name of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord and Saviour PSAL. CXVII A Hymn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THIS Psalm is short and sweet it contains a Doxology to God for his mercy and truth and it is also Prophetical in reference to the calling of the Gentiles as it appears Rom. 15.11 Two parts there are of it 1. An Exhortation to all Nations to praise God The first part 1. A Doxology both Gentiles and Jewes 1. He speaks to the Gentiles Praise the Lord all ye Nations he means after they were converted and made sons of the Church For how shall they call on him in whom they have not believeâ—â— Rom. 10. 2. He speaks to the converted Jewes whom he notes under the name of people as they are call'd Psal 2.1 Acts 4.25 Praise the Lord all ye people Both now make but one Church and therefore both now ought to joyn together in the praise of God 2. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Reason give for it The second part 1. Because his merciful kindness is great nay confirmed toward us 2 The reason in sending his Son to be a Saviour both of Jewes and Gentiles His Church is built on a foundation against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail 2. Neither is his mercy only by this confirmed but the truth also of his promises fulfilled as he promised to send a Messias so he hath performed it and this his truth endures for ever for it shall never be challenged there is no other Messiah to be expected now for this Praise ye the Lord. The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and seventeenth Psalm O Omnipotent and gracious God when all Mankind walked according to the course of this World according to the Prince of the power of the Aire the spirit that works in the children of disobedience When they walked according to the lusts of the flesh and fulfilled the desires of the flesh and were by nature the children of wrath Thou who art rich in mercy for thy great love wherewith thou hast loved us wast pleased to send thy only begotten Son Jesus Christ and to deliver him to death for the salvation of the World This thy great mercy it pleased thée to make known to us by thy Apostles and to call us who were Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the Covenant of Promise to be partakers of thy merciful kindness In Christ Jesus we who were sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ so great hath thy mercy béen even toward us therefore from us immortal thanks are due unto thée who find our selves saved not for our merits but by thy sole goodness We therefore beséech thée that thou wouldst so confirm our hearts by the Spirit of faith that without any doubt adhering to thy truth which endures for ever we may apprehend those good things which thou hast promised and offerest fréely to us O Lord have mercy upon all Iewes Turks Iufidels and Hereticks and take from them all ignorance hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and so fetch them home blessed Lord to thy flock that they may be saved among the remnant of thy true Israelites let us all méet in one Fold and have but one Shepherd that all Nations may praise the Lord and all people sing Hallelujah to thy holy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID being freed from many dangers and confirmed in his Kingdom according to Gods promise in this Psalm gives thanks The parts of this Psalm are 1. An Exhortation to praise God for his mercy from ver 1. to 5. 2. A perswasion to trust in God and that from his own example who call'd upon God in trouble and was deliver'd from ver 5. to 15. 3. The Exultation of the Church for it from ver 15. to 19. 4. A solemn Thanksgiving kept for it and in what manner it was celebrated from ver 19. to 28. 5. David invites to praise God The first part A short Doxology ver 28 29. 1. David invites all to praise God O give thanks unto the Lord and adds his Reasons 1. For he is good than which nothing could be said more briefly nothing more powerfully he is properly and absolutely good and therefore ought to be praised because there is nothing rightly worthy of praise but that which is good Ver. 1 Solum honestum laudabile 2. His reasons are 1. Good Good to us a mercifull God But secondly He is good and ever good to us a merciful God which flowes from his goodness and is then most conspicuous when it is imparted to those in misery Praise him because his mercy endureth for ever His mercy created us his mercy redeemed us his mercy protects us his mercy will crown us there is then no end of his mercy This his mercy extends especially to his people To his people and therefore he puts into the mouth of all his people this song of his mercy whom he distributes into three parts 1. Ver. 2 Let Israel now say the whole Nation that his mercy endureth for ever 2. Ver. 3 Let the house of Aaron that whole Tribe consecrated now to him say that his mercy endures for ever 3. Ver. 4 Let them now that fear the Lord Proselytes c. now say that his mercy endures for ever that is the burden of the Hymn so he begins so he ends ver 29. 2. The second part And so in general having given a Commendation of his mercy he desoends to that particular in which his mercy did consist The particulars of his mercy viz. A great deliverance of him when he was in a great strait which he could impute to no other cause than his mercy 1. Ver. 5 I was in distress And that 's the case of Gods people as well as Davids 2. I called upon the Lord I boasted not of my merits I complained not that I suffered unjustly but I fled to his mercy and invoked so did the Church in Peters case Of which he is an example Acts. 12.5 3. The issue was The Lord answered and set me in a large place and so it fell out to Peter Upon which experience David exults Shewing how God had been mercifull to him upon which he makes three Conclusions as the Church in the like case may so that all be still attributed to God and his mercy 1. The Lord is my helper And the first inference upon it
affection and delight that he took to walk in it For therein do I delight Ver. 4 3. 3 He prayes to God to remove all impediments And now he prayes to God to remove all impediments that might hinder him in his walk 1. Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies No doubt David found his heart evil inclined and tempted to a wrong way averse and backward to obey and that therefore God would remove this averseness and bend and incline his heart the right way 2. But especially that he would avert his heart from covetousness 1 Covetousnes for that 's the root of all evil The Word in the Original may signifie profit Gen. 37.26 Psal 30.9 These profitable sins do take away the inclination of the heart to Gods Law David prayes against them 4. The next impediment is the lust of the eyes By the eyes Ver. 5 as by the windowes death too often enters into the heart Eve saw the apple fair to the eye 2 Lust of the eyes Achan the wedge of gold David himself Bathsheba from the top of his Palace Vt vidi ut perit and therefore Job makes a Covenant with his eyes not to look upon a Maid and David here prayes 1. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity The objects of which are vain The objects are but vain and empty things they have no solidity in them O turn my eyes from them He that will keep his heart with diligence must have a care of his senses especially his eyes for Qui exteriori oculo negligenter utitur interiori non injuste caecetur Gregory in Job 2. Quicken me in thy Law Man is quick enough to walk in his own way 4 He prayes for quickning he can do it without a Teacher but except God put life and keep it in his soul he hath nor knowledge nor life nor strength nor pleasure to walk in the wayes of God and therefore David prayes Quicken me raise enliven refresh conserve me in life 5. And here he inserts a Petition for perseverance Ver. 6 he vowed and promised it in the two first verses but being conscious to himself 5 And for perseverance how unable he was to perform it without Gods help he prayes 1. Stablish thy Word unto thy servant Make good thy Word give me grace to stand 2. And his Reason to perswade God to this is because he was his servant and such a servant that was devoted to his fear wholly dedicated to serve and fear thee I observe the condition that thou requirest in any servant Lord then make good thy Word and stablish me 6. It will be a great reproach in the sight of God at the last day For not to have persevered a reproach and is now in the fight of Angels not to have persevered in the keeping that Law which is so good and therefore David having prayed for perseverance adds 1. Turn away the reproach which I fear at the last day Ver. 7 let me not be then shamed 2. For thy judgments are good This Reason shewes he fear'd Gods rebuke Mans reproach comes from a corrupt judgment he condemns where God will absolve I pass not for it but I know thy rebuke is alway deserved For thy judgments are good 7. He concludes desiring God to look upon his Petitions Ver. 8 as proceeding from an honest heart 6 He again prayes for grace 1. Behold I have longed after thy precepts It appears by these ejaculations that I desire them seriously 2. Therefore quicken me in thy righteousness Encrease conserve me in this spiritual life false conceptions vanish and come not to the birth so the desires of man not quickned nor conserved by the grace of God This whole Octonary being a prayer there needs no other 6. VAU THIS Octostich is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Contents for he vowes and promises in it to be thankful 1. First He prayes for mercy at Gods hands and the Petition being granted he promiseth to shew his thankful heart two wayes 1. By a bold confession of Gods Law and the defence of it before the greatest Adversary 2. By a holy Conversation toward God in obedience to the Law The whole Section then consists of two Petitions and six Promises 1. Ver. 1 The first Petition is Let thy mercies come also unto me O Lord even thy salvation according to thy Word He prayes for mercy In his first Petition he joyns these two mercy and salvation as the cause and the effect for the mercy of God ever brings salvation 2. Which being granted This being granted he would be thankful and shews it by his boldness in confession of Gods Name in the presence of the proudest Adversary he would fear nor malice nor power of man when he found God kind and merciful to him 1. Ver. 2 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me When thy mercy shall be extended to me 1 He vows to confess Gods Law I shall not fear to answer any Adversary hitting me in the teeth That I fear God in vain For I shall give them a short answer and a true one 2. That I trust in thy Word I put my confidence in thee who canst make good thy promises because thou art Omnipotent and wilt because thou art Merciful 2. Ver. 3 His second Petition is Take not the Word of Truth out of my mouth The Reason And desires to continue in this resolution For I have hoped in thy judgments 1. Take not thy Word of Truth in which I boast and glory before my Adversaries 2. Take not this Word out of my mouth so that I dare not to speak and profess it openly 3. Take it not utterly If for a time I conceal it yet let it not be alway so 4. For I have hoped in thy judgments For my hope is in thy fidelity and justice which thou wilt so execute upon the desiders of thy Word that I shall have no need to be ashamed that I have taken thy Word of Truth into my mouth 3. Ver. 4 And now he begins to shew his thankfulness for Gods mercy by his profession of a holy Conversation 2 To shew himself thankful by a holy Conversation in heart in mind in word in deed 1. In keeping Gods Law So shall I keep thy Law continually for ever and ever 2. Ver. 5 In making the right use of his liberty Deo servire libertas A liberty there is of the flesh Serving God 1. With a free heart taken up by men but not given by God but the liberty that God gives is That being freed from our lusts we serve him with a willing mind not out of fear but love in joy affection and with peace of conscience which David professeth to do in this place For I seek thy precepts as a thing much to be desired and loved 3. Ver. 6 In the service of his tongue I will speak of thy Testimonies also
Conversion to good which he declares for he conformed his life to the Law and Will of God which was the only right way I turned my feet unto thy Testimonies 5. And this his care of Sanctification is declared many wayes Ver. 4 1. By his readiness and zeal in it he delayed not I made haste 1 By his zeal and delayed not to keep thy Commandments 2. By his magnanimity and constancy notwithstanding all opposition 2 Constancy The bands of the wicked have robbed me and plunder'd me for keeping thy Law but for all that I have not forgotten thy Law 3. By his fervour about it he would omit no time to perform his duty 3 Fervour no not the night he would abate rather of his rest and sleep than be defective in this necessary At midnight will I rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments He would observe his Vigils and his nights Psalmody 4. And he would have a care of his company Qui cum claudo habitat 4 His company claudicare discet And therefore avoiding the society of lewd men I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts 6. And lastly he concludes with an Acclamation and Petition 1. The earth O Lord is full of thy mercies Not a Creature Ver. 8 but is partaker of thy goodness one way or other Concludes with a prayer for mercy and instruction let me then have my share in it and in this especially that I may know and obey thy Will for 2. Teach me thy statutes I account it the greatest misery not to know thy Law let thy mercy remove this misery from me for this is that one thing I desire of this I am ambitious because I account thee my portion The Prayer O Lord whereas the men of this World choose their parts and inheritances in and of the earth I despising these transitory good things Ver. 1 have made choice of thée for my portion whom I alone desire and in whom I know all good things are reposed and in order to the possessing of thée I have said I have decréed and am fully resolv'd that I would keep thy words But O merciful God I know that without thy gracious assistance Ver. 2 all my resolutions will be frustrate therefore I intreat thy favour with my whole heart be merciful unto me according to thy Word in which thou hast promised to be present with those who study to please thée and call upon thée Give me grace O Lord seriously to think upon and consider all my wayes Ver. 3 and to co-operate with thy grace and by a diligent examination where I find them irregular and no way consonant to thy Will to conform them to thy Word and to turn my feet unto thy Testimonies yea and to do this chearfully without murmuring and readily without delaying Ver. 4 being neither deterred by the difficulty of the work nor yet affrighted through fear of those who persecute just men and just works Ver. 5 Though the bands of wicked men shall rob and plunder me for continuing in that which is good yet let me be content to leave all and follow thée never suffer either dangers or losses so far to prevail over me that I forget thy Law To this make me obedient in the day to this in the night-season Ver. 6 and to spare some houres from my stéep and meditate and give thanks to thée for thy righteous judgments being fully perswaded that thou dost moderate all things with a just hand and art a just Iudge even in those things which I suffer Lord Ver. 7 forsaking the conspiracies and societies of rebellious men I desire to be a Companion of those that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts Thou art a merciful God Ver. 8 and the earth is full of thy mercy I humbly then beg of thée this mercy that by thy Spirit Thou wouldst teach me thy statutes that in all things I may know what I am to do and by the power and perswasion of the same Spirit I may be ready to do it to the honour of thy holy Name through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen 9. TETH IN this Octonary The Contents David being delivered from some Affliction 1. Shewes how graciously God dealt with him both in bringing him into it and out of it 2. Then he prayes to God for a right judgment and knowledge 3. And expresseth his love to Gods Law 1. Ver. 1 In this verse David gives thanks for a mercy received and acknowledgeth it 1. David acknowledgeth Gods favour in performance of his Word to him Thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant Graciously in afflicting him and graciously in delivering him 2. According to thy Word Natural men will not believe that what God hath said shall come to pass with them the Vision is but wind but godly men find and confess every syllable true and that it shall take effect of which David had experience 2. Ver. 2 In the next he prayes and adds the Reason Teach me good judgment and knowledge Prayes to be taught by God for I have believed thy Commandments 1. Teach me a good judgment For there is a judgment that is not good especially in this point that David now speaks of viz. why Gods servants should be under the Cross for the World judges them for this miserable and so any man would think till he goes into the Sanctuary of God for then he shall judge aright and know the end why God suffers them to be afflicted David then desires that God would teach him a good judgment in this case 2. He asks for science and knowledge that he may understand the mysteries of Gods Law he began to understand somewhat but he desires to know more he would have Tob Tagnam the goodness of taste a true sense and feeling of what he knew as much as was alotted to this life for here at most we know but in part 3. Protesteth his faith in God His Reason is For I have believed thy Commandments David brings the Reason of his Petitions sometimes from the Attributes in God his Mercy Power Goodness c. Sometime from himself as from his own love his fear his faith in God as here I believe in thee It is not sufficient to ask of God in consideration what he is but we must enquire what we are For though he be good and gracious c. yet what is that to us if we believe not in him love him not fear him not 4. Observe how David asks here first for a good judgment then for knowledge for knowledge without a good judgment doth much mischief knowledge puffs up 'T is the same that St. Paul asks for the Philippians cap. 1.9 3. And having obtained by prayer a good judgment Ver. 3 he judgeth rightly of his afflictions acknowledging that Gods chastisements had made him more godly and humble for
which they have endeavoured That salvation which I expect is from thée Ver. 3 and my eyes have even failed for the vehemency of my desire to obtain it Thy promise thy righteous Word is passed unto me deal therefore with thy servant according to thy great mercy in making this promise frée me from these present evils and infuse also so much love and charity into my heart that I may learn what thou teachest Ver. 4 and practice what I learn and edifie others in thy statutes by my practice I am no stranger unto thée but thy bomestique servant and I have addicted my self to thy service by a firm purpose of heart let me not want that grace that may enable me to do my duty give me then understanding Ver. 5 that I may know thy Testimonies for I shall never be able to do that which I know not It is time O Lord to work thy Church is oppressed thy people are brought very low the sins of the Amalekites are at the full their impiety is grawn to that height Ver. 6 That they have not only broken but contemned nor only cantemned butanede vow and by their practice destroy'd thy Law they are not only my enemies and séek to oppress me but are thy enemies and labour to evacuale thy Truth It is now then a time to shew thy self Arise O Lord and take a Just revenge upon them for this their audacious impiety and malice Ver. 7 It must néeds be good which they hate their malice therefore hath inflamed my zeal They would destroy therefore I love thy Commandments I love that Law which I break I love it above gold yea than much fine gold By it I learn to do that which is just by it I learn to hate every evil way therefore I set an high estimate upon every particular Command in it Lord increase this zeal this love this estéem this hatred in me that I may direct my conversation aright so please thée in every one of thy Commands on earth that after this life is ended I may live with thée in heaven for ever and ever Amen 17. PE. IN this Octonary David praiseth Gods Word 2. Shews his affection to it The Contents 3. And prayes for Grace to keep it 1. The Elogy he gives Gods Word in this verse Ver. 1 is from a new quality not mentioned before Davids Elogie of Gods word that it is wonderfull 1. Thy Testimonies are wonderful For though the literal sense of them be easie and plain yet wonderful are the Mysteries contain'd in the two Testaments Great is the Mystery of Godliness The whole Ceremonial Law is wonderful because under those Ceremonies were obscurely shadowed out to us the Mystery of our Redemption by the Blood of Christ The Decalogue is wonderful written in so few words in which yet are hid all the principles of Justice and Charity to which may and must be reduced all the just Laws that have been or shall be made All these are but Conclusions and Determinations of the Laws of the Decalogue And must receive their trial by it As for the Mysteries of the New Testament no man can say but they are wonderful 2. Therefore doth my soul keep them Learn them love them 2 That it illuminates practise them 2. The next Elogy he gives Gods Law is that it is the Word of Illumination Yea the very 1. Entrance into it such the very first declaration of it Ver. 2 whether it be done by God by infusion of divine light or by some skilful Doctor or Teacher And if the first opening as it were of the door gives light what will the progress and continuance do 2. The entrance of thy Word gives light It is a light shining in a dark place 2 Pet. 1.19 without it then men walk in darkness 3. It gives understanding unto the simple The Simple Not to such as are high-minded and double in heart that are so wise in their own eyes that they will examine the Mysteries of Godliness by the strength of their own reason but to such as deny themselves and captivate their reason and submit it to the Word of God and labour more to believe than to reason These are the simple to whom the Word of God gives understanding of whom our Saviour speaks Mat. 11.25 And St. Paul 1 Cor. 1.25 26 c. 4. And now saith David I being one of these simple ones Ver. 3 Opened my mouth and panted For which David pants and longs 1. I opened my mouth by prayer as desirous of this good Spirit of light and piety 2. I panted after it as men do that want breath and defire fresh aire 3. For I longed for thy Commandments had a vehement intention to understand to fulfil them 3. From the praises of the Law David turns himself to prayer He said but now I opened my mouth and here he acquaints us what he said after his mouth was open I said 1. Ver. 4 Look thou upon me either as unjustly oppressed or under spiritual desertion 2. 2 He prayes for Mercy to pardon sin And be merciful unto me This is well subjoyned for God looks upon some in displeasure Shew me mercy who labour under the burden of thy precepts that by my own strength I cannot fulfil 3. As thou usest to do unto those that love thy Name shew me at least so much mercy as thou affordest to others let not thy custom be broken in me but do by me as thou usest to do by thy friends which love thee in sincerity and truth 2. And Grace to be kept from sin This was his first Petition for Mercy and to it he subjoins a second for Grace Many seek for Mercy to forgive sin that seek not for Grace to deliver them from the power of sin Ver. 5 which is to abuse Gods Mercy to wantonness And therefore David prayes 1. Order my steps in thy Word that is my whole conversation inwardly and outwardly let me be ordered by thee for as our director such will be our actions 2. And let not any iniquity have dominion over me Let me be no slave to sin and Satan in captivity to them so that they domineer over me 3. And deliverance from Calumnies And yet he makes a third Petition Gods children have not only to wrestle against the sin that dwells in them but with enemies from without Oppressors Ver. 6 Calumniators there be that by false reports and pressures retard good men in their way therefore David prayes 1. Deliver me from the oppressions of men that being nor disturb'd by their oppressions nor yet dishearthed by their calumnies I decline from the right way 2. So will I keep thy precepts This favour obtained should not disoblige David but bind him the more So will I keep 'T is but an ill use of a benefit obtained by prayer when we abuse it to Licentiousness How inexcusable are we 4. And that he might have a sense
shall be transient not permanent temporal not eternal 1. For the rod i. e. Scepter and power of the wicked shall not rest i. e. Ver. 3 Stay continue stand settle upon the loâ—t inheritance part Not prevail long portion of the righteous 2. The reason is Lest the righteous put forth his hand to wickednesse That good fall not away i. e. Lest the righteous do faint and being discouraged lose their perseverance in piety justice when they see the prosperity of wicked men to be overlong and joyn with them in their villany 3. And because he said there was some danger to pious men Ver. 4 lest they should be scandalized by the oppression of the wicked He prayes for them and be seduced to fall by their prosperity therefore he prayes earnestly for them 1. Do good O Lord send them patience send them comfort and a speedy deliverance 2. I mean those who are upright in their hearts conform their hearts to thy will do acquiesee in thee wait upon thee and expect thy promises 4. Ver. 5 Now to these men that are upright in heart he opposeth the wicked the revolters and shews the end of Apostatees and Apostates and declares what will be the end of them 1. As for such as turn aside to their crooked wayes That decline from their uprighrnesse of heart to some crooked way and in persecution and tribulation let go their patience and revolt from the Truth and confidence either denying the faith complain of God and murmur at his providence 2. The Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity A terrible Commination their portion shall be with their persecutors the worst of men Hypocrites Factors for mischief 3. Whereas the good shall have peace But peace shall be upon Israel The wicked being separated from the society of good men there shall remain an eternal peace to the people of God The Prayer out of the one hundred five and twentieth Psalm O Most gracious God because all humane helps are vain uncertain weak and deceitful therefore we are commanded and according to thy command 't is the joy of our hearts that we can repose our sols considence in thée Ver. 1 For we are assured that those that can rely on thée with a pure heart a good conscience servent love and saith unseined shall be as mount Zion that Mountain which thou hast chosen before all the earth to set thy name there which nor storm nor tempest nor enemy nor persecution shall remove Be Ver. 2 O good Lord a wall of fire about thy Church and as the mountains were placed round about Jerusalem for her defence so Lord stand round about thy people in this néedful time of trouble let not the gates of hell prevaile against them nor the wicked approach to hurt them but be a strong tower of defence unto them from henceforth even for ever Ver. 3 For our sins and hainous transgressions thou hast justly suffered the wicked to lay their severe rod upon the backs of the righteous people but suffer not this their power and scepter to rest stay and continue overlong upon them Lest that they who are infirme and weak in the saith saint and be discouraged and by the tentation of their and thy enemies prosperity deserting the way of piety and justice joyn with them in their villany and put forth their hands unto iniquity O Lord send to all thy good servants constancie send them patience Ver. 4 send them comfort send them deliverance Do good O Lord to them that are true of heart But as for those Ver. 5 who turn aside to their crooked wayes not only imagine wickednesse in their hearts but by their utmost endeavour bring it to effect whose labour it is that thy Word be dishonoured sincere Religion extinguished and the sincere invocation of thy Name obliterated lead them forth with the workers of iniquity and make them séele and know the hottestot thy wrath and indignation But restore unto thy people Israel who serve thée with an honest heart their former peace and tranquility and make them partakers of thy mercy which thou hast promised to thy Church for thy Sons sake Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen The plainer summe of the CXXIV Psalm in which is described 1. The subtilty of the adversaries of the Church in laying snares to entrap it as fowlers do to catch birds vers 7. 2. Their Cruelty in seeking to tear it in pieces yea to swallow it up quick as some cruel beasts of prey or as mighty inundations that overflow all in their way vers 3 4 5 6. 3. The cause of their Subtilty and Cruelty Wrath Displeasure vers 3. 4. The delivery of the Church from both by the power and goodness of God vers 1 2 6 7. 5. The Duty perform'd for this deliverance Praise to God vers 6. PSAL. CXXVI THIS Psalm seems to be penn'd about the end of the Captivity when Cyrus gave liberty to the Jews to return into their own Land and to build again the Temple and Jerusalem For it is the purpose of the Prophet in gratitude to celebrate so great a mercy The Contents of it are 1. An expression of joy for the strange liberty granted them to return which was wonderful both to Jews and Gentiles vers 1 2 3. 2. A prayer for the return of the remaining part vers 4. 3. An excellent Corallary or Moral collected by the Prophet from it that there is a Vicissitude of things that our mourning shall be turn'd to joy vers 5 6. 1. The Prophet first celebrates their return from the Captivity The first part The Prophet exults for the Jews return from Captivity and amplifies it three wayes 1. From the cause 2. From the wonder of it 3. From the joy at it 1. The cause was Jehovah Ver. 1 When the Lord turn'd again the Captivity of Zion though Cyrus gave a Commission for it 1 The Author Jehovah yet it was the Lord that did it 2. So strange and wonderful and beyond expectation it was 2 It was beyond imagination that the Jews were like them that dream When they heard of it for joy they could scarse believe it so that they thought that they nor heard nor saw it but did only dream of such a thing That hapned to them which did to Jacob at the news of his son Josephs exaltation in Egypto he did scarse believe it 3. Their joy for this wonderful deliverance is expressed vers 2. Ver. 2 For from their inward comfort there proceeded an external mirth 3 Their joy for it which they expressed by the joy of their countenance and with the voice 1. Then was our month fill'd with laughter We had a merry look 2. And one tongue with singing Songs they sung to the praise of God This God did for them witness Now that God did this for them he proves by a twofold attestation 1. Of the Heathen Then said they among
the Heathen 1 The Heathen The Lord hath done great things for them i.e. the Jews They saw that it was done at the set time prefix'd by Jeremy That Cyrus named by Isaiah did it that they were not only set free but sent home with rich gifts that a Commission was given to rebuild the Temple and the vessels of gold and silver restored all so far beyond expectation that they could not choose but say This is Gods doing The Lord hath done great things for them Yea and Cyrus himself acknowledgeth so much Ezra 1 2. 2. 2 The Jews Of the Jews 'T is true saith the Jew that you Heathen do acknowledge 1. The Lord hath done great things for us Far beyond our Merit far beyond our Hope Ver. 3 For he hath brought us out of a miserable Captivity and seated us again in our Countrey 2. Whereof we are glad Glad at heart that we are freed from your yoke 2. The second part But there were many of the Jews that stay'd behind They returned not all at once Many Jews stayed behind For the return of these he prayes Some of them went up with Ezra some with Nehemiah and some of them stay'd in those Countries still having married strange Wives and gotten possessions in it and for the return of these they pray to God that there might be a plenary and total reversion 1. Ver. 4 Turn our Captivity O Lord. Put it into their hearts that they may speedily and fully return and dwell with us leaving the Heathen 2. As the streams in the South Or as Junius reads it Tanquam validissimas aquas reducens in regionem siccam They that read it Tanquam torrentes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Austro give this sense of it That God by his Spirit which is in Scripture compared to a South-wind Cant. 4.16 would so move the hearts of the Jews that still lingred and loytered and remained among the Heathen that they would unanimously and in great companies return from thence Come down as a torrent of water some mighty flood or stream from the hills when the South-wind melts the Winter Snows which runs with such violence that it carries all along with it and the like happens also cum madidis Notus evolat alis And such a reduction the Church prayes for here universal total that by a mighty power God would work in them so to melt their hearts that it should generally sweep them along before it and not leave a man behind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the wind sits in the South But they that read it Tanquam valid as reducens aquas in regionem siccam by occasion of the Hebrew word Negheb that signifies also Australem plagam conceive that the Prophet may allude to some desert and dry places such as are those deserts of Arabia a Southern Countrey And they give this sense of it Turn our Captivity O Lord and let it be like those great rains that fall in those desert and dry places which refresh the earth and bring joy to the inhabitants Make it to us a joyful day as it is with those Southern people when the Rivers flow in dry places Both senses are apt but I prefer the first because it respects more properly the power of God in moving their hearts to an universal reduction and the manner of it their confluence and coming together 3. The third part The benefit great they should receive by it Yea but perhaps this their return might be grievous and troublesome to many of them such as married strange Wives which they were to leave◠such as had gotten possessions in Babylon such as learned the manners and Religion of the Heathen c. These liked not to alter their dwellings Well be it so the Prophet puts them in mind of an ample recompence Ver. 5 and illustrates it by a Metaphorical Proverb They that sow in tears shall reap in joy They may mourn for their departure from thence but when they should cast up the income benefit and increase that should come by it that would befall them which happens to the poorest Husbandman that sows his seed perhaps in a der year or which he hath bought or in an ill season with which he should sustain his family and therefore could ill spare it This he commits to the ground and covers it with clods not being sure whether ever he shall see it again or reap any benefit by it which puts him into a dump of sorrow He sows in tears But when once the harvest comes and he finds the increase and that the earth returns him his seed with usury then he reaps with joy For your comfort the like upon your return shall happen to you 'T will be you◠joy that you are return'd to your own Land where you shall enjoy your former possessions and over and above the Religion of your forefathers and abundant recompence for all losses you can sustain And this the Prophet amplifies or declares more fully in the next verse 1. He that goes forth and weeps viz. the poor husbandman for the reasons expressed bearing precious seed Semen acquisitionis or Semen acquisitum Seed bought with a price which augments his grief being so poor that he had none of his own Or else it may be read the Seed-basket but to the same-sense 2. He shall doubtless come again with joy with joy at time of harvest and bring his sheaves with him For every grain he sowed full ears of corn The general collection from this is That no man shall be a loser in obeying the voice of God if he part with any thing for him he shall be sure of an ample recompence There will be a turn extrema luctus gaudium occupat For the Cross they shall have a Crown Some refer these two last verses to the time of the Israelites carrying into Captivity and their return thence Thus. Then when they were carried away Captive they sowed in tears they went forth weeping But at their return they reaped in joy they brought their sheaves with them in that they were inrich'd by many gifts and favours But I conceive the former sense more coherent with the Text and closer to the Prophets purpose being a strong argument to the Jews that were over-backward to return The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and twenty sixth Psalm O Lord our God for our disobedience to thy holy Laws Ver. 1 and our ingratitude for that great light of thy Gospel which thou in mercy hadst caused to shine amongst us thou Lord hast brought us under a heavy Captivity Tyrants have had their wills upon us and have loaded our necks with a grievous yoke It is thy mercy alone that can relieve us Ver. 4 thy hand alone that is able to redéem us To thée therefore we fly Turn our Captivity O Lord and bring back our banished let it be so universal and unexpected that it may put all into admiration that behold
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
stand before thée and abide thy sentence We flée then from thy feat of justice to thy throne of Grace Ver. 4 With thee there is forgiveness Mercy is so genuine and natural unto thée that thou canst no more be than not be Merciful Therefore out of this thy inclination and facility to remit iniquities and pass by transgressions in fear and reverence in faith and hope we opproach thy presence and beg a pardon It is at the gate of thy mercy we lie Ver. 5 there we expect and wait for our Lord our soul doth wait for the accomplishment of thy Word and promise who hast said that if in our tribulation we shall turn unto thée and séek thée with all our heart and with all our soul thou wilt be found by us Remember then thy Word in which thou hast caused thy servants to put their trust for in this night of misery we relie upon it Ver. 6 and our souls wait for it more than they that watch for the morning yea I say more than they that wait for the morning Thou art the hope and fear of Israel Ver. 7 and with thee is plenteous redemption a price thou wast pleased to accept for our ransome and thy beloved Son was pleased to lay down the price for the merit then of that price being the blood of thy dear Son Ver. 8 accept us into thy favour pardon our iniquities and redéem us from the guilt from the power from the punishment of our sins and bring us to thine everlasting Kingdom where we may reign with our belssed Redéemer for evermore PSAL. CXXXI DAvid being accused by Sauls servants that he aspired to the Kingdom protests his innocency his humble thoughts and meek deportment 2. That his confidence was upon Gods promise to that he trusted and therefore was far from any ambition And by his example calls on Israel to trust in God as he did 1. David protesteth his humility He professeth he was far from pride in his heart in his carriage in his undertakings 1. 1 Far from pride No pride there was in heart Lord my heart is not haughty and calls God to witness of it 2. Ver. 1 No arrogance in his gesture carriage brow Nor my eyes lofty 3. Nor in his undertakings Neither do I exercise my self in great matters which are too high for me He kept himself within his bounds and vocation attempted not to meddle with matters of State when out of his employment and beyond his strength 2. Ver. 2 Now that which kept from pride was the contrary vertue Humility to which he brought down 2 Humble as a weined child and composed his soul made it as submissive as is a new weaned child 1. Surely I have behaved and quieted my self Calm'd all high thoughts that might arise in me 2. As a child that is weaned of his mother My soul is even as a weaned child which modestly expects what the mother will give it depends on her and her care and carves not for it self Nor do or will I for I depend on God and shall expect and receive gratefully what he shall bestow 3. Which he confirms by an Oath as some conceive For it is to be read Si non composui seclavi animum If I have not composed and quieted my soul as a weaned child then let this and this befall me Which clause is to be supplyed 3. Ver. 3 Lastly he proposeth his own example of humility for all Israel to follow Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth He proposeth his example to Israel even for ever The Prophets intention was not then to boast of himself as did the proud Pharisee or to be puffed with pride because he was not proud but to admonish the people how little they ought to presume of themselves The they trust not on themselves but God and how much to repose their confidence in God For if a King and a Prophet dare neither boast of his wisdom and power nor presume upon himself but trust upon God fit it is that the people depose their high thoughts that they think not too well of themselves and think themselves to be something when they are indeed nothing that they trust not to their wit strength arms but that they trust in God both for the present time and hereafter also The Prayer collected out of the one hundred and thirty first Psalm O Almighty God who gives grace to the humble and resists the proud suffer not haughtiness and arrogance to puff up our rebellious hearts Ver. 1 or pride and loftiness to take up its feat in our eyes or bold and arrogant actions too high for us to be attempted by our hands But we humbly beséech thée to give us a modest heart a composed and quiet spirit regulated and moderate desires Ver. 2 that may never excéed or attempt matters which are beyond the Bounds of our Vocation O God so subdue our affections that our soul may be as a weaned child that depends only upon the hand of the mother and receives with thanks that nourishment and nurture which she is pleased to give Ver. 3 so let our souls depend upon thy bounty and take thankfully what thou art pleased to bestow We know thy Church can never be happy except despairing of her own strength she take thée for her Resuge we beséech thée therefore give her grace that renouncing her own merits she may humbly pur all her confidence in thée Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever Amen PSAL. CXXXII THE intention of this Psalm may easily be collected out of 2 Sam. 7. and 1 Chron. 17. For when David purposed in his heart to build a house to God where the Ark should rest and God perpetually be served he was commanded to forbear the work by Nathan and leave it to his son the place being shew'd where the Temple was to be erected which pious intention of David was much approved by God so that he promiseth to him and his posterity a perpetuity in the Throne and very great prosperity which promises are mentioned and inculcated in this Psalm Either then Solomon composed this Psalm when the Temple being built he brought the Ark of God and setled it in the place prepared for it Or else which is more likely it was composed by David himself and left to his son to be sung at the Dedication of the Temple That Solomon then made use of some part of it is apparent 2 Chron. 6.16 41 42. The parts of this Psalm are three 1. A Petition before which is express'd Davids care and vow to settle the Ark mentioning the place where it was before and with what reverence they would settle it in the Temple and then sets down the solemn prayer then used from ver 1. to 11. 2. An Explication of the promises made unto David for the continuance of his Kingdom in his posterity ver 11 12. and Gods love to his Church
appear before thee and let not that happen to them that fell to the Bethshemites 1 Sam. 6. 3. He prayes for the King that is himself For thy servant Davids sake 3 For the King turn not away the face of thine Auointed Ver. 10 1. For thy servant Davids sake David is not here to be taken absolutely for his person only but as having the Covenant and Promise made to him and God could not be better put in mind of the promise than by mention of the person to whom it was made He prayes not then to be heard for Davids merits but for the promise made to David 2. Turn not away the face of thine Anointed That is suffer me not who am Anointed in my fathers stead and sit upon his Throne to depart from thy presence ashamed and confounded rejecting my prayer In this Form Bathsheba petitioned to Solomon for Adonijah 1 Kings 2.20 I desire one small Petition of thee ne avertas faciem meam which we translate Say me not nay Or else this phrase imports That we turn our face from God when we sin and he turns away his face from us and so long as we continue in that state our faces are turned from God Solomon then might pray That when at any time he turned his face from God that God would not continue his face from him but look back upon him as Christ did on Peter that so he might repent and amend and not alwayes stand with his face from God for though we freely sin and turn our face from God yet if God be pleased with a merciful eye to look upon us and pity us that so by his mercy and pity we desire and endeavour to sin no more then he does not turn away our face shame and confound us for ever Solomon in this sense prayes Suffer not my face to be turned from thee which will be done If thou suffer not thy face to be turned from me 2. The second part Gods promise made to David The Prophet now proceeds to reckon up the promises made to his father David which were confirmed by an Oath from God that these being remembred he might the easilier prevail in his Petitions asking of God as it were a due debt in which we are to observe 1. Ver. 11 The manner of the promise he confirmed by his own Oath The Lord hath sworn in truth to David 1 Confirmed by oath having no greater to swear by he swear by himsel 2 The matter of his oath 2 Sam. 12.13 Isa 55.3 Psal 89.34 It was mercy to promise but greater for assurance to bind himself by a faithful Oath and irreversible Oath He will not turn from it he will not repent of it Psal 110.4 2. 1 As it relates to Christ absolute The matter of his Oath expressed in the end of the eleventh and in ver 12 13 14. 1. For the seed of David as it concerns Christ is categorical and absolute Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy Seat which words are refer'd by St. Peter unto Christ Acts 2.30 According to the flesh he was from Davids seed Ver. 12 and it is observable that the Prophet speaks reservedly De fructu ventris not de fructu femoris for by the mothers side Christ was to be of Davids seed not by the fathers 2. Again I will set upon thy Seat Luke 1.32 Davids Seat was Zion and Zion typically 2 As it relates to Davids seed hypothetical Isa 2. is the Church over that Christ was to reign as David in Zion 2. For the seed of David as it relates to his posterâ—y the Oath is hypotherical and conditional If thy children will keep my Covenant and my Testimonies that I shall teach them their children shall 〈◊〉 upon thy Throne for evermore 1 Chron. 28.9 Psal 89.28 to 37. Ezek. 21.26 For if his posterity observed not the Law 3 And to Zion i. e. the Church eternal but worshipped their own inventions the promise was at an end 3. As the external Kingdom was by this Oath annexed to one Family so by the same Oath and Covenant Ver. 13 the external worship was assigned to one place 1. Ver. 14 For the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his habitation 2. This my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it From the time of the promise performed Zion was the Seat of the Sanctuary and so continued to the coming of the Messiah so long Zion was Civitas Regia Sacerdotalis But Zion was but a Type of Christs Church The promise which God makes to his Church The third part of which these words are more truly verified for this Christ hath truly chosen and it shall be his rest for ever with it he will be for ever present efficacious in the hearts of Believers and approve their works and worship to the worlds end 3. In the last part of the Psalm the Prophet brings in God promising to his Church many good things 1. Ver. 15 First He promiseth such abundance of temporal things that the poor shall not want I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfie her poor with bread Godliness hath the promise of this life as well as that which is to come Ver. 16 2. Ver. 17 He promiseth for a second blessing That her Priests should be endued with holiness and her Saints shout for joy which answers to the Petition in the ninth verse 3. The third Benefit is That there the Kingdom of David to arise viz. The Kingdom of the Messiah There will I make the horn of a David to flourish that is the power Luke 1.69 I have ordained a Lamp for mine Anointed 1 Kings 11.36 15.4 John 5.35 4. The fourth Benefit is the confusion of their enemies Ver. 18 and eternal Authority in this Kingdom His enemies will I cloath with shame but upon himself shall his Crown flourish The Prayer out of the One hundred and thirty second Psalm Ver. 1 O Lord merciful and gracious declare thy self mindful of the séed of our David be â—uindful O Lord of all his mildness charity and patience Ver. 2 in which he suffered with a constant and invincible fortitude many and great afflictions Remember O Lord his dowes remember how mindful he was of his oath given unto thée for the proservation of thy Church and Truth He gave his eyes no sleep nor slumber to his eye lids that he might uphold the places deckcated to the Lord the habitations of the mighty God of Jacob. These O Lord for our sins Thou hast suffered to be demolished and profaned wicked men are come into thine inheritance and made thy house of proper a den of Thieves Arise O Lord and reward the proud after their deservings Then will we go into thy Tabernacle we will worship at thy footstool Arise O Lord into thy rest and come with us into that place that thou hast peculiarly chose unto thy self and
that Attribute is made the burden of the Psalm and the close in every verse And this was a Solemn form in use in the Jewish Church as is apparent 2 Chron. 7.3 6. 20 21. The parts of this Psalm are 1. A general exhortation to praise God for his goodness Majesty vers 1 2 3. 2. A declaration of his goodness and Majesty by the effects 1. Of his Creation from vers 4. to 10. 2. Of his Providence especially in conserving his Church and exercising his judging toward her enemies from vers 10. to 25. 3. That his Providence extends to all creatures vers 25. 3. A conclusion fit for the exordium for it calls us up to praise God vers 26. 1. The first part An invitation to praise God In the three first verses the Prophet invites to praise God for his goodness and mercy 1. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good For his Mercy endureth for ever 2. O give thanks to the God of Gods For his Mercy endureth for ever 3. O give thanks to the Lord of Lords For his Mercy endureth for ever In these verses Expositors find the Trinity 1. In the first Jehovah God the Father who is the fountain of Being 2. In the second God the Son who is the God of Gods whether Angels or Princes who are called Gods but he is over them 3. In the third the Holy Ghost who is Lord of Lords who as the wind blows where when and on whom he will Other Lords have not Free-will but as Servants must do his pleasure Bellarmine His reasons are The chief reason because good merciful for ever that we give thanks to him because he is good because merciful and his mercy endures for ever For 't is his mercy that we shall live for ever so that his mercy is extended to us both while we live on earth and when we live with him in heaven It is no improbable conjecture of Musculus that this Psalm was sung by the Quire and that the people at the end of every Versicle sung this Responsory For his Mercy endureth for ever Which was no Battology neither saith Moller for it follows and applyes every particular benefit 2. The second part The Prophet now begins to praise God for his great and wonderful works which he alone was able to do such as was the work of Creation in which he used not the power of Angels And farther for his works but his own only Give thanks to the Lord 1. Who hath done wonderful things His instance is presently in the Creation 1 Of Creation in all which he shews his mercy 2. For his Mercy endureth for ever His Mercy was conspicuous in this work for he made not any thing of necessity as if he needed the creature Ver. 4 but meerly out of his ineffable good-will and Mercy Of these wonderful things Instance first the Prophet his 1. 1 The heaven First instance in the heavens To him give thanks that by wisdom made the heavens It was his first work Gen. 1. For whether we look upon the magnitude the figure the beauty the motion the order of the Orbs the splendor the influence the effects of the celestial bodies there is a strange and wonderful evidence of wisdom and power in them not unitable by any creature 2. For his mercy endures for ever because it pleased him to create these heavens out of nothing to be an eternal habitation for Men and Angels 2. Ver. 5 His second instance is in the earth In the beginning God made heaven and earth 2 The earth Heaven to be the Palace of immortal Citizens The Earth to be the Mansion of Mortals 1. Give thanks to him that stretch'd out the earth above the waters So naturally it could not be because it is the heavier element but he furrowed the earth and let into the concavities thereof the water that men and beasts might live upon it 2. For his mercy endureth for ever In this there was a threefold mercy 1. In respect of the earth to make it something of nothing 2. In respect of the water to which he prepared a setled place 3. In respect of man to whom he gave the earth uncovered and safe from the waters yet watered with rivers that he might live in it till it and reap the fruit of it 3. Ver. 6 The third instance is the two great Luminaries and the Stars in the three following verses 3 The Sun and Moon 1. Ver. 7 Given thanks to him who made great lihts For his Mercy endureth for ever The Sun to rule by day For his Mercy endureth for ever The Moon and the Stars to rule the night For his Mercy endures for ever These do wonderfully adorn the heaven and profit the earth For these lights especially by illuminating the earth do comfort us and are over our works by night and day And he instanceth in these rather than in other works of God because these shine to all the world and therefore every man is unexcusable if by them they acknowledge not Gods wisdom 3. From the wonderful works of Gods Creation The third part 2. Of providence to Israel before he descends to speak of the works of his Providence in preservation of his Church and instanceth in his people Israel whom he delivered from Aegypt with a mighty hand as if he had been a man of War and this in respect of Israel was an act of mercy though on the Aegyptians an act of justice Ver. 10 Give thanks to him that smote Aegypt in their first-born for his mercy endureth for ever And brought out Israel from among them for his mercy endureth for ever With a strong hand and stretched-out arm for his mercy endureth for ever To him which divided the red Sea for his mercy c. And made Israel to pass through the midst of it for his mercy c. But overthrew Pharaoh and his Host in the red Sea for his mercy c. Give thanks to him which led his people through the Wilderness for his mercy c. To him which smote great Kings for his mercy c. And slew famous Kings for his mercy c. Sihon King of the Amorites for his mercy c. Ver. 20 And Og the King of Bashan for his mercy endureth for ever And gave their land for an heritage for his mercy c. Even an heritage to Israel his servant for his mercy c. He performed unto them all the Offices of a good Captain Guide Leader nay Father for he took care for food for them fed them with bread from Heaven brought for them waters out of the Rock cured their sick defended them and avenged them on their enemies c. But the whole History is so plain in Moses that it needs no explanation 4. All this was done for them before they entred the land of Canaan 2 After they entred Canaan the Prophet goes on to
never suffer them to place their felicity in these temporal blessings Sanctifie these unto them and let these be used as arguments to draw them nearer unto thée For I know that they only are truly happy whose God is the Lord those whom he hath chosen and adopted to be hâ—â— people and they who have chosen him to be their God they who relie upon him to de their Protector and they who acknowledge and worship him that they may be protected For God alone is the chiefest good he alone can give good things not only those which are external but those which are internal and eternal even eternal life to those who are his Servants through Iesus Christ our Lord. PSAL. CXLV Hallelujah or an Hymn THis Hymn containeth excellent matter and is penned after an excellent manner The matter of it is Gods holy praise which is the Alpha and Omega of all our actions The manner of it that of the Hebrew Alphabet which is done to help our memory in recording those things which concerns our Makers praise Of which there be These three parts 1. A Proem or a protestation to praise God ver 1 2. 2. And a celebration of divine praises through the whole Psalm and to that end he produceth many arguments which are reduced to these heads 1. From the greatnesse of God ver 3. 2. From his works of wonder ver 4. which works he distinguishes into three kinds 1. Glorious and beautiful of Majesty and therefore wonderful ver 5. 2. Marvellous and full of terror ver 6. 3. Amiable and full of goodnesse ver 7 8 9. But all wonderful 3. From his Kingdom and government of it and in it from ver 10. to 21. 3. A conclusion ver 21. In which be performs his protestation praising God 1. Davids protestation to praise God The first part In the two first verses David proposeth what he will do through the whole Psalm acquaints us fully with his intention 1. I will extoll I will bless I will praise 2. Thee my God my King A King above me Ver. 1 in comparison of whom I am a servant a subject I will bless I will praise thy Name all vertues by which thou art known 3. Every day will I praise thee No day shall passe without a Hymn 4. For ever and ever will I do it It shall now begin and continue by a succession of men who shall sing this and the like Hymns made to thy honour to the consummation of all things 2. And so he sets upon the praise it self The second part He praiseth God for his greatness And the first thing he praiseth God for is for his Essense set forth under this word Great 1. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised This followes on the other for if great greatly to be praised 2. And his greatness is unsearchable Ver. 3 past our weak capacity it is to comprehend it search we may but we shall never find it Higher it is than the Heavens as being higher than the Highest deeper than Hell as passing the depth of our understandings Job 11.8 9. Broador than the Sea as measuring the waters thereof in his fist Isaiah 40.12 And longer than the earth as having no end there it no end of his greatness Or if Great here to be refer'd to him as a King Then a great King he is in respect of extension for all creatures from the highest Angel to the poorest worm are under him great for length for his Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom Great for depth for he rules even in the hearts of Kings of all men over-rules their thoughts affections nothing is hid from him And great again for height being a great King over other gods ruling by his own absolute Power and Authority whereas all other have their Sword from him and Rule by a delegated and Vicarious power 2. From the Essence of God David passeth to his works and effects Ver. 4 which set forth his praise which because no one man is able to do 2 For his works in generall therefore David saith One Generation shall praise thy works unto another and shall declare thy mighty Acts. Every several Age is an eye-witness of several acts of wonder and therefore as one succeedeth another in dayes so shall they succeed in duty The father shall declare them to the son and the son again to his son c. So that no Generation that considers thy mighty Acts but shall have just occasion to admire them and praise thee And so from the works in general all which are mighty he descends to the particulars which he ranks into three sorts In particular 1. His works of glory 1. The first are those which are marvellous and full of glory splendour and beauty such as are his works in Heaven For the Heavens declare his glory The Sun Moon Stars their variety multitude splendour Ver. 5 constant and perpetual motions their influences and effects are all wondrous works and they speak of the glorious honour of his Majesty Why else did the Heathen take and worship these for gods and these works David means in ver 5. 2. A second kind of works there are of God 2 His works of justice and terrour which are full of Terrour and Justice these are terrible Acts and they speak out his Might and Greatness such were the universal Deluge in Noahs dayes the fire of Sodom Pharaphs overthrow in the red Sea Ver. 6 the opening of the earth to swallow Corah Dathan Abiram c. And these he points at in ver 6. 3. Other works are marvellous as being full of his abundant kindness 3 His works of love and mercy love mercy And because he would have us take more special notice of these as those which bring to us more comfort and concern us more to know therefore he in more words insists upon these spending three whole verses in the explication of them of which pag. sequents 1. Ver. 7 They i. e. Thy great works shall abundantly utter Eructabun Vulgar The memory of thy great goodness All Generations fill'd with the abundance of thy bounty they shall be eloquent and without any intermission collect them in their memory and commit them to posterity to be remembred 2. And sing of thy righteousness in exhibiting thy promised blessings Of this kind are all temporal benefits night and day the seasons of the year fertility abundance of Fish Fowle Cattle Rivers Seas Orchards Gardens Groves c. But these are light if compared to the gifts of Grace The incarnation Death Passion Resurrection Ascention of Christ mission of the holy Ghost calling of the Gentiles Justification Sanctification eternal life All which being brought to memory by a pious meditation Eructubunt scaturient eloquentur canent men must abundantly utter Gods goodnesse And sing here with David in the next verse 2. Ver. 8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy of which
receive Petitions of those that call on him in Truth 6. This is the sixth quality of a good King to shew himself easie to receive Petitions and to them that implore his aid which God doth Deâ—â—r 4.7.2 But the Prophet corrects his works and limits them 'T is to all that call upon him in Truth which word includes all the conditions of a good prayer 1. Faith For he that prayes without faith prayes to an Idol of his own brain 2. Hope and confidence He prayes not seriously that hopes not to be heard 3. Love For no man can call on him seriously whom he hates or to whom hateful 4. Desire For no man prayes heartily that desires not to obtain 5. Attention and intention without which the prayer is babling no true prayer Ver. 19 The Lord will fulfil the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and save them 7. 7 To grant Petitions This is the seventh quality of a good King to grant Petitions so that they ask such Petitions as is fit for the King to grant this will Christ do 1. He will fulfil the desires But with this limitation So they fear him 2. He will hear their cry So it must be a cry vehement earnest 3. And will save them Hear he will ad salutem semper licet non ad voluntatem Ver. 20 The Lord preserves all them that love him but all the wicked will he destroy 8 Clemency 8. This is the last quality of a good King Parcere Subjectis debellare Superbos Which Christ will do The Conclusion a Doxology he preserves his Martyrs in patience constancy faith Ver. 21 receives them to glory and takes revenge on their enemies Martyres non eripuit sed nec deseruit 4. The Conclusion is an Epiphonema and answers to the beginning of the Psalm 1. For all these things which I have said My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord This shall be my work while I live 2. And I wish it may be done by all others also And let all flesh blest his holy Name for ever and ever A Hymn collected out of the One hundred and forty fifth Psalm I will ertol thée O my God and King and Governour of the whole World not that my words can make thée Higher who art the most Highest nor my praises make thée more Excellent Ver. 1 who art of all Excellencies the most Excellent but that I may insinuate and commend thy greatness to those that either know thée not or do not honour thée for this end I will bless thy Name through my whole life every day will I praise thée and leave upon Record a Hymn that the people that are yet unborn may magnifie thée it is my desire That thy Name may be praised for ever and ever Ver. 2 For thou Lord art truly great great in Heaven great on Earth there is no end of thy greatness it is unsearchable it is incomprehensible and therefore my desire is That there may be no end of thy praise Ver. 3 but that one Generation report it to another that the father record it to the son and the son deliver over to his séed thy works and thy mighty acts Ver. 4 for which thou art worthy to be praised Glorious O Lord are thy works terrible and yet full of mercy not any of them but beget wonder in me The Heavens above the Sun Moon and Stars speak of the glorious honour of thy Majesty Thy creation of them Ver. 5 declares thy power thy providence for their constant course thy wisdom their light motion influence and their effects in and upon these inferiour bodies thy goodness I never consider those strokes of divine vengeance which thou hast inflicted upon disobedient rebellions and incorrigible sinners Ver. 6 but they declare thée to be a terrible and a jealous God Thy hand was terrible upon the old World mighty upon Pharaoh with his Aegyptians just but full of indignation against that gain-saying Rabble that rose against the King and the Priest At the consideration of these terrible acts I tremble upon the meditation of these works of power I am horribly afraid That only which revives my heart is thy mercy and goodness for I know Thou art a gracious God and full of compassion slow to anger Ver. 8 and of great mercy That thou art good to all and thy mercy is above all thy works which Ver. 9 when I recount in my memory I can no less than abundantly utter thy great goodness Ver. 7 and sing of thy righteousness that gives thy Word and kéeps it that in justice dost administer all things inflicting severe judgments upon the rebellious and sparing thy servants dost reward their weak endeavours with thy choicest blessings Ver. 10 For which thy Saints shall bless thee they shall speak of the glory of thy Kingdom and talk of thy power They shall make known to the sons of men thy glorious Acts and commend to the ignorant the excellency of thy power that it is far beyond any Monarchy on earth in extent of place wealth time For whereas there 's is limited thine is universal there 's encumbred with troubles and wants thine is quiet peaceable and rich whereas there 's have had and shall have their periods thine shall be continual in duration Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and thy Dominion endureth throughout all Generations And since we are assured That thy Church in which thou reignest shall continue for ever O Lord stir up thy strength and come amongst us O let thy Kingdom come O Lord uphold those who are ready to fall and raise up those who are bowed down Our eyes wait upon thee O Lord feed all thy faithful people with thy Word and Sacraments in due season open thine hand and satisfie with thy grace every hungry and thirsty soul Thou Lord art righteous in all thy wayes and holy in all thy works be nigh therefore to all that call upon thee with a pure true and honest heart fulfil the desires of them that fear thee and hear their cry and save them Preserve gracious God with a singular care all them that love thée from all evil but for the wicked which oppress them and séek to trample them under their féet bring them to a spéedy destruction So shall my mouth speak forth the praise of the Lord and I hope also That all flesh shall have just occasion to bless thy holy Name for ever and ever Amen Ver. 21 PSAL. CXLVI A Hymn Hallelujah THE Subject of this Hymn is the same with the former and it hath These four parts 1. An Exhortation to praise God ver 1. which David is resolved to do ver 2. 2. A Dehortation from confidence in man how great soever ver 3 4. 3. On the contrary he pronounceth them happy that trust in God ver 5. 4. And to this confidence in God he perswades for many Reasons from ver 6. to the last 1.
praise God he exhorts upon two grounds 1. Ab utili jucundo decoro ver 1. 2. For his bounty to Jerusalem in building it and bringing back the dispersed ver 2. in comforting the sad and contrite in soul ver 3. 2. For his wisdom ver 4. For his power ver 5. For his mercy and justice ver 6. His first Arguments are taken from the thing it self His reasons to perswade it because it is for to praise God is 1. Ver. 1 Good For it is good to sing praises to our God Good for divers Reasons 1 Good for four reasons 1. That is good which God commands Micah 6.8 So that Thanksgiving is no indifferent Action no Will-worship but it is cultus institutus not to be neglected 2. It raiseth the heart from Earth to Heaven and being the work of Angels and Saints in Heaven joins us with that Quite above 3. Good again because by it we pay a debt in which is justice Lift up your hearts unto the Lord Resp It is meet and right so to do 3. Good because for it we are like to receive a good and a great reward for if he that prayes to God is like to be rewarded Matth. 6. much more that man that sings praises to him for in prayer we consult with our own necessities in our praises we honour God and bless him for his gifts 2. 2 Pleasant in divers respects To praise God is pleasant 1. Because it proceeds out of love for nothing is more pleasant to him that loves than to make Sonnets in the praise of that party he loves 2. Because it must needs please a man to perform that Duty for which he was created for to that end God created men and 〈…〉 that they should praise him Isa 43.7 A check this is to that slowness and backwardness we find in our selves to praise God or when we feel it tedious unto us 3. Because God is delighted with it as the sweetest Sacrifice He that offereth me praise and thanks he honoureth me Psal 50. 4. It is pleasant to God because he is delighted with those vertues which are in us Faith Hope Charity Religion Devotion Humility c. of all which our praises are a manifest 3. It is comely For there is no greater stain than Ingratitude 3 Comely and decent it is made up of a lye and injustice for either it insinuates and denies that the benefit is not received or that if received a man will not pay for it no not thanks There is then all the decency in the World in it that man be thankful to his God that freely gives him all things 2. These are the first Arguments the Prophet useth and they are drawn 2 For his goodness to Jerusalem à natura rei Those that follow are more particular and as the case then stood respect Israel but may well be applied in all Ages to the Church of God 1. The first taken from the reduction of the people from Captivity and the building of Jerusalem in which appeared the goodness of God to them for it was the mercies of God that they were not consumed 1. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem his Church Ver. 2 the Head of the Kingdom and Seat of the Sanctuary he restored their Polity and Religion 2. He gathereth together the out-casts or dispersed of Israel or banished collected them which were scattered so he collected his Church of dispersed Gentiles John 10.16 3. He healeth the broken in heart the sad the calamitous whether oppressed with captivity or sin Luke 4.18 4. And bindeth up their wounds as if he were a good Chyrurgion Ver. 3 Luke 10.34 2. The second Argument is taken from his Wisdom 3 His wisdom in numbring the stars 1. He tells the number of the stars A thing it seems impossible for man Gen. 15.5 For there be many of them immersae orbi which then being shew'd to Abraham he could not number but God hath them upon account 2. And calls them all by their names They are his Army Isa 40.26 He knows their power properties efficacy of every one of them and calls them forth by their names and they answer Here we are Baruch 3. But by these stars some understand Gods Elect The servants of God like stars whose number is to us without number and whose names are written in his Book Now these are well-likened to the Stars 1. The stars are infinite in number So are his Elect to us not to him 2. Among the stars some are Planets Erratica His Elect sometimes wander up and down 3. The stars shine by night clearest His Elect in the darkness of persecutions 4. One star differs from another in glory The Elect excel each other in grace in piety c. 5. The stars are above far from impurity The Conversation of the Elect in Heaven 6. The stars are obscured with clouds but they being dispersed they shine again So the Church is sometime obscured Matth. 25. But at Christs appearing they shall appear in glory 1 John 3.2 For there is not one of these stars how obscure how dark how little or abject soever but Christ will call him by his name and this the Prophet intends What shall God ever tell the number of his banish'd people and gather together the dispersed into one Church why not He that can tell the number of the stars and call them by their names I hope 't is no difficult thing to him to tell the number of his Elect and call them by nomination 3. 4 From his power His third Argument to praise God is drawn from his power Great is our Lord Ver. 4 and of great power and his understanding is infinite Let no man despair of his power though the thing expected be great and difficult for his understanding is infinite And though we cannot find out a way yet he knows how to bring his Will to pass 4. 5 From his Mercy and His fourth Argument to praise God is taken from his Justice and Mercy 1. Ver. 5 His Mercy The Lord lifts up the meek His wayes are not like mens wayes with whom the meek are despised but these are the men whom he sustains defends exalts 2. Justice His Justice He casts the wicked down to the ground Wicked men shall not reign for ever God will laugh them to scorn and cast them from the highest step of dignity and power to contempt and scorn to the ground 2. The second part of the second Section He repeats his Exhortation to praise God But before the Prophet goes on he repeats his Exhortation as if he meant to rub up our memories and that we call to mind to what purpose he used the former and will yet use the following Arguments Sing unto the Lord with Thanksgiving Do it in words Sing praises upon the Harp unto our God Do it in works And presently he falls upon his Arguments Ver. 7 which are drawn from
of the One hundred forty and seventh Psalm O Thou great Lord of heaven and earth Ver. 5 thy power is great and thy understanding infinite thy goodnesse is incomprehensible and thy mercy above all thy works when I consider thy greatnesse I tremble when I look upon thy wisdom I admire but as often as I look back upon thy goodnesse and mercy I am animated to approach thy throne and to pay that debt of thankfulnesse unto thee for thy providence over the whole world and peculiarly thy care and love extended to thy poor Church When the thirsty earth gasps for rain thou coverest the heaven with clouds Ver. 8 and preparest to moisten it thou clothest the mountains with grass and blessest the valleys with plenty There 's not a beast to which thou givest not food Ver. 9 nor a bird of the aire nor a fowle of heaven no nor a young Raven that thou hearest not when they cry for want Ver. 15 Thy command is a Law and thy word runs very swiftly When thou sayest the word in winter the Snow descends like Wooll and the hoar-frost covers the earth like ashes the waters cake into ice and the rivers become stiff and run not But thou again no sooner sends forth thy word in the Spring but their hardnesse is dissolved thou causest thy wind to blow and the waters flow Who Ver. 1 Lord can consider these thy wayes without admiration and admiring Ver. 7 praise and in praising sing unto thée with thanksgiving O Lord make it our work for it is good make it our delight for it is pleasant make it our labour for it is comely that must néeds become us which becomes thy Angels and Saints in heaven whose joy it is day and night to sing prayses to thy holy name for thy wondrous works of providence wisdome goodnesse Ver. 11 and mercy toward the sons of men but especially for thy love and protection over that people that fear thée and hope in thy mercy Gracious God consider their afflictions and how that at this time a principal member groans under the Crosse thy Temples are cast down thy houses of prayer destroyed thy people scattered on the mountains as shéep that have no shepherd Ver. 2 O then build restore and confirme once more Jerusalem Ver. 3 and gather together unto her the outcasts of Israel Heal those that are broken in heart and binde up as a good Physitian the merciless wounds they have received Ver. 4 these are stars in the firmament of thy Church let them not wander up and down in shéeps skins and goats skins being destitute afflicted and tormented for ever their number thou knowest call them all then by their names and though now obscured yet let them shine again in thy Church Ver. 6 These are méek in heart and poor in spirit look to them O Lord and lift them up and execute thy just wrath against their oppressors and cast the wicked who with a proud hand insult over them down even to the ground Take pleasure Ver. 11 O Lord in them that fear thee and tremble at thy word bring back thy banished and build them a sure house provide for them a City to dwell in and strengthen the bars of the gates thereof Ver. 13 blesse her children within her Make peace in her borders and fill her with the finest of the wheat But above all shew thy word unto Jacob Ver. 19 and thy statutes and judgments unto Israel And where thou hast not dealt so with other Nations Ver. 20 to reveal unto them the secret Mysteries of thy Gospel open to us these glad-tydings and inflame our hearts with the love of them and give us grace to conform our lives unto them For so shall Jerusalem praise thee Ver. 12 and Zion magnifie thy Name for ever and ever Hallelujah Hallelujah Praise the Lord. PSAL. CXLVIII A Hymn Or Hallelujah THE Prophet in this Psalm calls upon the whole Creation to be instrumental in the praises of God By which he shews David calls upon all creatures to praise God 1. His ardent desire that God be praised in that as if Creatures endued with reason were too few to praise God he calls even to inanimate things that they would join with him and be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. 2. His intention what he would have done then what could be done 3. That what could be should be done that they by our mouths praise God That is we seeing in them God power wisdom goodness be ready to praise 4. That in their kinds they really do praise him because being made in a wonderful beauty and order which they transgress proclaim to the world and testifie of God even without a voice that he must needs be a wise intelligent understanding that so made them The Psalm is disposed by an excellent Distribution 1. He calls to the celestial creatures in General 2. In special 1. The Angels Praise ye the Lord. 1. 1 The Angels Praise ye the Lord from the heavens Ye Of the celestial Order Or ut caeles i. e. Ver. 1 de habitaculo vestro and this is no command 〈◊〉 exhortation as if the Angels were negligent in their duty but an invitation to continue in doing what they do already 2. Praise him in the heights i. e. the heavens above 3. And yet more plainly For the second verse is but an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or declaration of the first 1. Praise him all his Angels 2. Praise him all his hosts Which in St. Luke are Militia caeli Ver. 2 2. The Sun and Moon Stars Praise ye him Sun and Moon 2 Sun Moon stars Praise him all ye Stars of light Though not with voice which ye want yet praise him by your greatness motion beauty light efficacy Ver. 3 3. He comes to the body of the heaven the Orbs. 3 The Orbs. 1. Praise him ye heaven of heavens that is the Coelum Empyraum Ver. 4 2. And ye waters that be above the heavens that is all the Orbs above the aire which in the Scripture is called heaven as volucres coeli nubes coeli c. For he established them And in the two next verses he gives the reason why the heavens praise God 1. He commanded and they were created They are his creatures Ver. 5 therefore 2. He hath established them for ever Ver. 6 he hath made a decree which shall not pass They are incorruptible they must keep the Order he made 2. From heaven he descends to the earth and all sublunary bodies as the earth 4 All sublunary Bodies Air water and creatures that live in these or are in these Praise the Lord from the earth All that are from the earth Ver. 7 all made of an elementary substance As 1. Ye Dragons Ye Whales Muse Greater fishes Bellar. 2. All Deeps All kind of waters Lakes Ponds Rivers Seas 3. Fire and hail snow and vapours stormy wind fulfilling his word Meteors 4. Mountains and all hills
indulgence to this sin In giving him 1. A right spirit there was a crooked and perverse spirit that had prevailed over him he judged not as he did before of Gods Law but perversly opposed it he desires that God would give him a spirit to judge rightly as he did before and firmly to resolve to keep to that was the right and strait way to happiness Renew O Lord in me a right Spirit 2. A holy Spirit The profane carnal spirit is opposed to this 2 A boly spirit and to that he hearkned by this holy Spirit he was wont to be carried which opposed all carnality but such good and sweet motions he perceived to be departed and therefore he desires of God a restitution of this holy Spirit this sanctifying and renewing Spirit that might again kindle in him the love of God holy motions agreeable to Gods Law and an obedience to the same Take not thy holy Spirit from me 3. A free Spirit He found that ever since he fell into his sin he did his duty 3 A free spirit and served his God with an ill will with much reluctancy he took no delight in the doing of it as he did before this therefore he begs that God would again give and restore to him a free Spirit that freely chearfully willingly he might run the way of Gods Commandments and that he would so uphold him with his Spirit that he might constantly continue in the same to his lives end Uphold me O Lord with thy free Spirit 2. Hitherto the Prophet hath presented his three Petitions The second part of the Psalm in which he vows three things and upon the confidence of these he makes his vows first to teach others secondly to praise God thirdly to offer him the best sacrifice a sacrifice which should be instead of all sacrifices which he knew would accept a contrite heart 1. Then that is after my pardon obtained and my reconciliation unto thee I shall teach Ver. 13 for a man under guiltiness himself is not meet to speak and declare a pardon to others His first vow to teach others 2. I will teach thy wayes to sinners not my wayes of sinning but thy methods of pardoning viz. That to the stubborn thou wilt shew thy self froward and stubborn but to the penitent such as I am thou wilt shew mercy 3. And the effect will be That sinners shall be converted unto thee They who were perverted before and averted from thee being encouraged by the mercy I have found shall be converted 2. His second vow to praise God His second vow and promise is to praise God My tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness Ver. 14 my mouth shall shew forth thy praise But to this he was unapt so long as he remained in his sin Ver. 15 for praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner And also unable to do without Gods special assistance But because not fit to do this he prayes and therefore he prayes for a capacity to do both 1. 1 For remission Deliver me from blood-guiltiness O God and then my tongue shall sing 2. 2 For assistance O Lord open my lips and then my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 3. His third vow is about a sacrifice which should be better than any then in use not the sacrifice of a beast but the sacrifice of a heart a heart well-conditioned His Preface to his third vow Negatively That God delights not in sacrifices seasoned with contrition and sorrow such he knew God would accept and such he should have 1. Thou desirest no sacrifice That is the outward in comparison of the inward would the outward please I would not be behind for that also I would give it thee but I know Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings without the heart 2. Nor in the heart till contrite No nor with the heart neither till it be broken and contrite broken for sin and contrite for meer love that it hath offended so good a Father I vowe therefore to bring thee this sacrifice this is instead of all other instead of many sacrifices this thou wilt not despise and this I will tender The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit His third vow a contrite heart The third part in which he prayes for the Church a broken and a contrite heart Thou O God wilt not despise 3. David having finished his prayers and vows for himself forgets not to petition for Jerusalem for Gods Church and the reason might be a religious fear in him lest for his sin Jerusalem might suffer such a thing might happen for so it did when he numbred the people Peccant Reges plectuntur Achivi His method was to be commended and his charity 1. His method first to be reconciled to God himself before he prayes for others for the prayers of a righteous man prevails much and the Apostle speaks of intercession 2. His charity for we are alwayes bound to remember the afflictions of Joseph and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem He prayes then for her 1. Ver. 18 That God who out of his good pleasure did choose a Church would out of his meer good will and love preserve it 1 That God protect his Church Do good in thy good pleasure to Zion 2. That he would have a special favour even to the material buildings Build thou the walls of Jerusalem 2 Even the walls for these fall not alone Religion and the Service of God fall when the Temple and Houses of God fall to ruine Probatum est 3. Then Religion would flourish For the consequence of Jerusalems prosperity would be this That Religion would flourish with it Then there would be sacrifices burnt-offerings and Holocausts Ver. 19 then they shall offer Bullocks upon thine Altar And which is yet more we shall offer And God pleased with it and thou shalt accept Then thou shalt be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness We being reconciled unto thee justified sanctified righteous upon thy account and in favour all our sacrifices shall find a gracious acceptance The Prayer collected out of the fifty first Psalm O Almighty Lord and most merciful God thou hast shewed compassion to many penitent sinners since the very beginning of the World thou never rejectedst any that sought to thée with a penstent soul and therefore Lord since thou art the same and no shadow of change in thée I beféech thée cloze not that door of mercy on me that hath béen opened to receive so many before me and let not those Rivers of compassion be dried up to me that have flowed so plentifully to others Have mercy on me O Lord on me Ver. 1 that have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am not worthy to be called thy son but according to thy goodness and multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquities I know Lord thou hast thy debt-book wherein thou writest the
transgressions of them with a pen of Iron and point of a Diamond with whom thou mindest to enter into judgment let not me O Lord be of that number let not my debt stand registred in that Book but of thy mercy and not my merit put it away and blot it out for if my sin stand upon thy account I am but a dead man Lord quicken me Lord forgive me my trespass and put away the hand-writing of thy Ordinance that is against me O Lord if thou wash me not I shall have no part with thée spots I have Ver. 2 that are not the spots of a son pollutions that are of a scarlet dye wash me then by thy vower from iniquity and cleanse me by thy Spirit from my sin or else as an Aethiop I shall never change my spots O Lord lest my uncleanness banish me from my fellowship with thée wash I beséech thée not my féet only but my hands and my head also Wash my féet that is my unclean affections wash my hands that is my unclean actions and wash my head that is my unclean imaginations cleanse me in all that the pollution of any do not cast me from thy presence O Lord I do not hide and conceal the iniquity of my bosom Ver. 3 I séek not to cover it as hitherto I have done but behold now I know it I acknowledge it I confess it to thée against my self therefore shew Lord some pity and compassion upon a miserable sinner and forgive it my sin is ever before me do thou therefore cast it behind thy back My sin is so secret to the eye of the World that no eye beholds it Ver. 4 to them I séem to be what I am not from them I find no trouble but thou O Lord art he to whom all creatures must render an account against thee then against thee I confess that I have grievously offended and done evil in thy sight and therefore it is not O Lord without cause that I suffer these heavy things from thy hands I have deserved them all and given thée just Reason to procéed against me as thou hast done and now I here acknowledge it before the world that thou mayest be justified and have the praise of righteousness even in those things which by the hands of men thou hast brought upon me Righteous art thou O Lord and just in thy judgments I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwells no good thing it is not one Fact only in which I am culpable Behold I was born in iniquity and in sin hath my mother conceived me A Transgressor I have béen from the womb for that bitter root of sin ingraffed in my nature hath gathered strength and shot forth new branches my understanding is darkned my will perverted and my affections bent to evil so that I am truly abominable in thy sight and ashamed of my self especially being conscious to those foul and enormous actual sins that grow from this polluted féed Behold Thou lovest Truth in the inward affections but wo is me I am a man of a double heart Thou hast often instructed my conscience by many secret motions of thy holy Spirit and taught me the way of wisdom but I foolishly have given a check to those inspirations and strayed like a lost shéep in the wayes of folly the light of my conscience I have put out and against my own knowledge I have transgressed Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin I thank God through Iesus Christ my Lord he hath shed his blood for me he alone is my Iesus Purge me then O Lord not with hyssop but with his blood nor Sope nor Niter nor Fullers Sope can make me clean but that stream which issued out of his wounds and side Purge me then with this blood and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than snow though my sins were as scarlet yet I shall be whiter than wool though they be red like crimson yet 〈◊〉 shall be white as the driven snow O Lord I hear within me the accusing voyce of a disquiet conscience which pursues accuseth and terrifies me O Lord let me hear the voyce of joy and gladness send down from above the Comforter who alone can speak peace to my soul and then my body which pineth away under this anguish and my bones which séem to be broken through my disconsolate condition shall again recover their wonted strength and my flesh upon me shall rejoyce If then Lord mark what is amiss who can abide it even thy dear Son when he endured the looks of thy angry face fell into agony his soul was heavy his flesh in such pain that he sweat thick clotts of blood how miserable then am I so long as thou shalt look upon me with an angry brow Hide O hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my misdeeds Turn thy angry look from me and look upon the face of thy Anointed that so thy anger when it reacheth me may as the Sun-beams passing through some thick cloud be refracted and mitigated O Lord by my sin I have grieved thy holy Spirit and forced thée who art properly my heart and life of my heart to forsake me come again Lord and restore life unto me without thée I am dead in trespasses and sins I have lost my life Ver. 10 and like a man wanting his quickning spirit when thou wentest away my life went away Return O Lord and come again and create a new heart within me Of my self I have fallen by thy assistance I must rise lend me then the helping hand of thy grace that may lift me up And being fallen my heart is foul Ver. 11 polluted and unclean and who is able to bring a clean thing out of an unclean This is a work much like the producing the first World out of the Tohu and Bohu set O Lord Almighty thy power to work again and create in me a clean heart Fallen I am into the old age of sin begin with me again and make me young and lusty as an Eagle Ver. 12 Cast me not away and forsake me not in my old age of iniquity as a dead man out of mind but let thy presence yet be with me and restore me to the joy of thy salvation O take not from me the graces and assistances of thy Spirit thy right Spirit thy holy Spirit thy frée Spirit A perverse spirit I find in my self thy Spirit will rectifie it and teach me to go the right way an unclean spirit I am possessed with thy Spirit will sanctifie it and purge it from pollution 't is the spirit of bondage to which I am subject thy Spirit can set it at liberty and make it frée impart therefore some nay a liberal portion of this thy Spirit that may teach me the right way that may set me in a holy course that may kéep preserve uphold and confirm me in it that