Loue it selfe in the abstract The extent of thy goodnesse loue and mercy is such as hath no bounds the depth is such as hath no bottome The influence of it will make me feele that which no eloquence can vtter no intelligence can containe No man can tell how sweete hony is but hee that tasteth it I see O Lord great fruite of thy rich roote of Mercy For were not thy mercy exceeding great few or none could liue here the life of grace or there the life of glory Looke how many Saints there be in heauen or on earth by inchoation here in perfection there So many worthy examples so many infallible demonstrations there are of thine vnspeakeable mercy without which they should 〈◊〉 haue perished and sunke downe to Hell If therefore thy Iustice lift vp it selfe as the high Mountaines to eclipse the light of thy gracious countenance from mee I will raise my selfe yet higher in confidence of thy Truth which reacheth to the clouds and thy Mercy which mounts euen to the heauen of heauens I will frame this comfortable consequence to my distressed soule if thy mercy bee magnified aboue thy Iustice it must needs bee farre aboue my transgressions O Lord I haue caused my sinne to abound farre beyond the bankes and bounds of thy Law but it is thy property to pardon and the property of thy Mercy where sinne abounds there to superabound Thy mercy doth euen crosse and controule thy Iustice and as the highest Orbe doth by violence carry with it the inferior Spheres against their proper inclinations and motions So the force of thy powerfull mercy doth ouerrule my naturall and wilfull courses running to wickednesse and in that race hasting to iust condemnation My sinnes therefore how great soeuer cannot stop the flowing of thy vast Ocean of Mercy When I fall into computation and comparison of my sinnes on the one side and thy mercies on the other I finde by diuine Arithmetike and the true Iacobs-staffe to my singular comfort that my sinnes how great and how many soeuer yet may bee both measured and reckoned but on the other part that neither the magnitude nor the multitude of thy mercies can be either fathomed or numbred I beg thy great Mercy because thy lesser mercies will not doe the turne which my miserable condition requires For they may ease me of lesser miseries of afflictions in body of distresses in estate of other incumbrances in the world but it is thy larger Mercy that must forgiue not my lesser only but my greater sinnes which haue prouoked thy iust and heauy indignation against me Thy wayes O God are not as mans wayes nor thy mercies as mans mercies Mans mercy is short and scant mingled with hardnesse and maymed with sundry imperfections In ciuill matters some man will forgiue the interest but not the principall some man will forgiue the halfe but not the whole debt some man will forbeare to demand the debt yet will not forgoe the Bond hee will keepe that to curbe his debtor vpon all occasions In matters criminall one will forgiue the fault but not the punishment another will remit a part but not all the penalty a third will forgiue but not forget the iniury But thy Mercy O Lord is great large free and absolute intire and indefinite or rather infinite Thou forgiuest both the fault and punishment royally and really all is acquitted and discharged at once in accomplishment of that comfortable clause in the cloze of thy new Couenant Thou wilt remember our iniquities no more The multitude of my sinnes occasions me to parallel them with the multitude of thy mercies that there may bee a medicine for each malady a salue for euery sore I touch still vpon one and the same string though with some variety because the meditation and modulation of this mercy of thine is as sweet Musicke in mine eare and a ioyfull Iubile in my soule I striue to expresse one and the same thing in diuers words or phrases great mercy and a multitude of mercies being all one in sence and meaning for great mercy comprehends a multitude of mercies and a multitude of mercies amounts to one great masse of mercy The greatest mercy that the greatest person can doe to the most miserable wretch vpon earth is not to bee compared to the least of thy mercies which thou affoordest to the holiest man that liues in regard of the infinite disproportion that is betweene the Offendor and the Offended the Creator of Heauen and earth and dust and ashes Howbeit euen in thine infinite mercy as it hath relation to sinfull man there be degrees whereof we cannot better take the skantling then by our greater or lesser offences committed against thy diuine Maiesty for the Law of gratitude amongst men teacheth mee to acknowledge that thy loue is greater to them to whō thou forgiuest greater thē to such as thou acquitest of smaller debts Therefore as my more heynous sinnes at the Tribunall of thy iustice do call for seuerer punishment so at thy throne of mercy which is aboue thy seate of iustice and to which I appeale as to thy Court of last resort they begge and craue for thy more great and tender compassions Debt is a burthen and a great debt is an heauy burden hee that beares an honest minde cannot be quiet in minde so long as hee continues in debt My sins are my debts and that scoare runnes still in my minde whereon I haue runne so fast and so farre I professe truly that my sins haue gone ouer not my body only but my head also and that they are a burden too heauy for mee to beare I know O Lord thou keeper of men that thou markest what is amisse in me thou scorest vp my sinnes my wilde and wandring thoughts my vaine and wicked words my foule and filthy actions thou keepest a day and a debt-booke of them to charge mee by way of account whensoeuer it pleaseth thee thou settest them downe in capitall and red letters to declare thine anger thou grauest them with the poynt of a Diamond and writest them with a pen of Iron both in thy Registry of Heauen and in the Tablet of mine own conscience on earth placing on the right side thereof the straight rules of thy Law and mine Obliquities on the left each as a foile to set forth the other Debts must either be paid or forgiuen else they cannot be discharged Pay O Lord I cannot I am become bankrupt I am not able no not by way of composition to answer thee one for a thousand Therefore it remaines onely that I beseech thee whose propertie it is to haue mercy and forgiue to crosse this debt-booke to wipe out the score to cancell the hand-writing and deface the record that is against me to put away and blot out my transgressions that there may remaine no memory of them either to prouoke thy heauy vengeance or to affright my
THE PSALME OF MERCY OR A MEDITATION vpon the 51. Psalme by a true Penitent LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston and are to be sold by Matthew Lownes 1625. TO MY REVEREND FRIEND Mr. IOHN DOVVNAME Bachelar in Diuinity and Preacher of Gods Word REVEREND SIR WHen first I fell into my grieuous affliction as a man surprized with a mighty Tempest I did in the midst of mine astonishment bethinke my selfe how to apply my courses to the appeasing of Gods anger whence 〈◊〉 crosse proceeded and the sauing of my perplexed soule the mayne marke whereat 〈◊〉 aymed In that case I suddainely and strongly resolued to take Gods Booke into my hand by it as by the true Card and compasse to saile safely thorow the sea of this worlds troubles in hope ioyfully in the end to arriue at the hauen of rest and true 〈◊〉 Among the bookes of holy Writ I 〈◊〉 mine eyes and thoughts specially vpon the Psalmes of Dauid which are a short and sweete 〈◊〉 of all Scripture and 〈◊〉 mysteries therein comprized Among the Psalmes I conuersed more frequently in those that are singled from the rest and stiled by a speciall title The Penitentialls as the fittest medicines for my malady which are as one saith the Anatomy of the spirit and the heart as it were of the new man True it is which I confesse ingenuously though to mine own reproach that albeit I had very often heretofore heard and red those Psalmes wherein Dauid his pangs and passions are liuely described with a kinde of 〈◊〉 delight and pleasing regret as men behold Tragedies on a stage and reade lamentable stories Yet could I not fully rellish and truly tast them whiles I liued in quietnesse and contentment nor indeed vntil I had by personall experience felt in some proportion Dauid his 〈◊〉 and wounded spirit So true is that which sundry of the Fathers haue obserued and Saint Bernard deliuers in these words You shall neuer rightly vnderstand Dauid vntill by experience you haue put on the very affections in which Dauid his Psalmes were endited for none can expresse a passion that feeles it not neither can the penne deliuer but what it copieth out of the 〈◊〉 Now being best acquainted with mine owne disabilities and defects I did 〈◊〉 chuse this Plaine-song to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being the prime 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Penitentiall and a liuely Character of a true Mourner though shaped to the particular condition of Dauid yet fitting euery penitent sinner because it seemes to require the compunction of the heart rather then the consideration of the head an imitation rather then an interpretation an application rather then an explication This is The Psalme of Mercy by excellency so called because it beginneth with Miserere which prisoners indicted and conuicted for lesser fellonies at our Assizes and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe so often call and 〈◊〉 for at the Iudges hands For 〈◊〉 that can neither vnderstand nor reade the Latine tongue can say it by rote as they say and doe craue mercy in desiring to be put to reade this Psalme of mercy But without all question the most holy and iust man vpon earth had neede to beg of the great Iudge of heauen and earth that hee will 〈◊〉 to heare him read with his tongue and tune with his heart this sweete though 〈◊〉 Psalme of mercy in his daily 〈◊〉 lest he be condemned when hee comes to be arraigned at the grand Assizes When all offendors without witnesse or Iury are to be accused conuicted 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 of their own consciences 〈◊〉 not to appeare it will bee impossible and to appeare without this Psalme of mercy it will be intolerable For who is he among the sonnes of men that may not truly say with that ancient Father A sinner I am spotted with all manner of staines borne for nothing else in this life but to act repentance all my life what other person 〈◊〉 I sustaine vpon the stage of this world Vpon perusall of the Psalme and some few 〈◊〉 thereof for I did not 〈◊〉 many chewing the Cud as it were I haue cast it and them into mine own mold expressed the sense in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plaine language and paralelling mine with Dauids perplexities applied his plaisters to my sores I 〈◊〉 with the same measure of spirit I hope with the like successe of grace If you meruaile that I being no Diuine should aduenture the conceiuing much more the publishing of a Meditation of this nature My answere is briefely That the subiect of it belongs to the art of Christianity which euery man is bound to know and not onely to the profession of Diuinity and that in absence of the Master one 〈◊〉 now and than teacheth another and he that learnes of his Schoolefellow will sometimes apprehēd it sooner from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his Master And I hope to suffer the more gentle censure for suffering this weake Essay to see light in this Age which is actiue in scribling and printing euen to ryot and excesse because I see mens wills of their gifts to charitable vses daily printed to incite others by their example to the like courses Why then may not any man declare publish the pious bequest of his soule as it were and set the presse on worke to expresse and record his repentance build his tombe of black-Marble erect it in the Temple of Gods people that by looking vpon 〈◊〉 Ensignes and reading the Epitaph others may be mooued as in Christian affection to condole with him so by a kinde of reflection to mourne for themselues If a man would prouide a mourning suite for his sorrowfull heart what hurt or losse were it to see diuers formes and fashions to make choyce of for patternes The more course the Stuffe and lesse curious the fashion the fitter for the grat Dueil or solemne mourning My model may better please some mourner then a better If no other vse be made The often iteration and frequent renouation of this matter 〈◊〉 vsuall and ordinary resort to houses of mourning may giue occasion to refresh and reuiue that diuine passion which should euer liue in vs till it dye with vs to wit Repentance What fruite others may reape by this my meditation I know not but sure I am that by entertayning the time and employing my thoughts vpon this subiect I haue excluded a world of idle fancies and tumultuous cogitations which otherwise would haue seized vpon me and swallowed many indignities and discontentments that would haue disturbed the peace of my soule had it not beene foreprized by an exercise of this nature as an Antidote against such poisons The cause why I present and submit it to your view and censure is not only for that I reuerence your great learning and singuler piety well knowne to our whole Church by your sundry books but specially in a recognition of the much contentment I found in that worke of yours which deseruedly beares the Title of Consolations for the afflicted or
and then I shall not faile to heare of this redoubled ioy and gladnesse which my sorrowfull perplexed soule doth so much hunger and thirst after I doe the more earnestly desire and affectionately long to heare of this ioy because it is an assay and foretaste of that ioy which I hope fully to enioy in heauen it is not the pawne or pledge that must bee returned againe but the earnest or Godspenny which continues still with the receiuer of a farre greater ioy heereafter and where thou giuest earnest thou neuer failest to performe the bargaine This ioy is great in the present exhibition far greater in the future expectation no meane ioy in the meane time while I liue in this valley of teares the life of grace but glorious and vnspeakable ioy hereafter in the life of glorie such ioy in the end as shall be without end in the heauenly 〈◊〉 where there shall be peace without trouble plenty without want light without darkenesse health without sickenesse melody without discord security without feare felicity without misery ioy without interruption or intermission ioy vpon ioy ioy exceeding all ioy without or beyond which there is no ioy at all If I heare this word of comfort in this life which giueth mee title and interest Thy sinne is forgiuen thee I shall be sure then to heare the warrant for possession and fruition Enter good seruant into thy Masters ioy Without this ioy there is nothing but disquiet and discomfort nothing but 〈◊〉 and horror nothing but apprehension of wrath and vengeance The wicked who heareth nothing of this ioy feeleth no serenitie or tranquillity of minde but as holy Iob saith is like a woman that is alwayes in trauaile like the raging sea still foaming and casting vp dirt and myre on the other part the penitent sinner who in anguish of soule harkeneth after these tydings deriueth ioy from the wel-head where there is Gods plenty as they say fulnesse of most sweet and delightfull comforts euen a torrent or strong running streame of pleasures flowing perpetually He shall haue incomparably more ioy than the worldling whose corne and wine and oyle are increased and therefore may lay him downe in peace and rest in security because thou makest him to dwell in safetie Such as the matter is whereof ioy ariseth and consisteth such is the ioy it selfe If the matter bee slight flitting and momentary as the world and the flesh are how can the ioy be constant solid and durable On the other side the ioy that is grounded vpon so precious a foundation as remission of sinne and reconciliation with thee how can it bee but vnchangeable and inexplicable This ioy will eate vp all false ioyes and flitting delights which men fansie to take in the pleasures of sinne as the Rod of Aaron did deuoure the rods of the Aegyptian Sorcerers This ioy like water will quench and extinguish all the hot desires and fiery lusts of the world and the flesh whatsoeuer That the bones which thou hast broken may reioyce I made my moane heeretofore that my bones were sore vexed that there was no peace or rest in them by reason of my sinne I now professe that they were not only crushed and bruized but euen disioynted and broken that is the most strong able powers and faculties of my soule and body which I describe by the name of bones haue been oppressed battered as it were with the terrible pangs and restles tortures which I haue suffered by the hammer of thine indignation conceiued against my grieuous and enormous transgressions But if thou Lord wilt now be pleased after my vnfained repentance to make me heare of this ioy and gladnesse all these bones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the 〈◊〉 and marrow of thy 〈◊〉 shall in iust 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cry out Lord who is 〈◊〉 vnto thee It is thy 〈◊〉 and manner of proceeding O Lord with thy dearest children Thou makest the wound and bindest it vpagaine thou smitest and healest againe thou killest and quickenest againe thou castest downe to the nethermost hell and thou raisest vp againe to the heauen of heauens shewing and declaring thereby thine irresistable power to worke mine humble obedience 〈◊〉 vnspeakable wisedome to breed my reuerent admiration thy seuere Iustice to beget mine awefull feare thy supereminent tender mercy to purchase mine affectionate loue towards thee The deeper mine humiliation is the greater will bee mine exaltation the sowrer the sorrow is the sweeter will the succeeding gladnesse prooue when thou shalt please to affoord it vnto me for not my spirit onely but all the parts of my soule and body will exceedingly reioyce when after these tempestuous stormes I shal safely arriue at the hauen of rest and contentment For as water is more grateful to the way-faring man after a long drought and a calme more 〈◊〉 to a sea-faring man after a terrible tempest so will my deliuerance bee after my tribulation O how beautifull will thy mercy appeare after the depth of my miserable affliction How shall I reioyce 〈◊〉 euer I was sorrowfull How shall my bones bee glad that euer they were broken I shall gratefully acknowledge that thy 〈◊〉 and thy staffe haue 〈◊〉 mee that is I shall take comfort that euer I was chastized with them and that according to the multitude of my griefes thy consolations haue made my minde ioyfull that is for euery sorrow that I receiued in time of my tribulation I shall receiue a consolation after my deliuerance O then what a madnesse is it to buy a little vaine idle frothie and momentany pleasure at so deare a rate as the vexation and anguish the terrors and tortures both of soule and body which none can conceiue by imagination but he that feeleth and he that feeleth is not able by any representation to expresse Hide thy face from my sinnes and blot 〈◊〉 all my transgressions Because my sinne is the source of my sorrow and the bane of my blisse I make this the burthen of my song and doe reiterate my Prayer for pardon I beseech thee once againe O Lord either to remooue thy sense from the obiect or the obiect from thy sense hide thine eyes from such an vgly sight looke another way behold any thing rather then it or if being all Eye thou canst not but see all things that are and so all my sinnes if they be at all O Lord blot them out let not them be to be seene blot them out all and at once vna litura with one dash of thy pen efface all my transgressions Hide thy face not from me but from my sinnes Thou hast charged me louingly Seeke my face and I haue answered resolutely Thy face Lord will I seeke If thou withdraw thy face from me woe is me I shall bee like those that goe downe into the bottomlesse pit wherefore still shew me the light of thy countenance looke vpon thy
things in heauen earth for the seruice of man and man for thy seruice who hast disposed all things in number 〈◊〉 and measure who hast caused all things contained in holy Writ to be recorded for the instruction and direction of thy Church and chosen giue me grace so to behold this mirror of humane frailety and diuine mercy with the eye of true iudgement that I may not with the Spider draw poyson to the destruction but with the Bee sucke such honey as may bee gathered out of it to the solace of my sinfull soule Thou diddest permit Dauid being an holy Prophet as well as a mighty King aduanced anoynted specially for the gouernement of thy people to fall fouly into the heynous and grieuous sinnes of Adultery and Murder that no man might presume of thy fauor or confide in his owne strength but euermore serue thee in feare and reioyce in thee with reuerence Thou didst also endue him with grace after his fall by humiliation and repentance to rise againe and recouer his former estate notwithstanding his long security and carelesse continuance vpon the dregs of his wickednesse as it were in contempt of thy Iustice that no man might dispaire of thy rich and tender mercy Thou didst propound his fall for caution that all men might shun that dangerous racke whereon he suffered shipwracke his repentance for imitation that euery man plunged into the sea of sinne might catch hould of the planke of repentance to saue himselfe from drowning As thou didst bring light out of darkenesse and life out of death so dost thou in an incomprehensible manner draw good out of euill turne the very sinnes of thy seruants to thy glory and their good Farre be it from mee to vouch this example by way of excuse or defence much lesse warrant to offend as hee did howbeit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hope confidently with Dauid when and after I haue offended through thy gracious goodnesse and free promise by the teares of mine eyes the contrition of my heart and prayer of my spirit to obtaine a full and gracious pardon of all my offences whatsoeuer Thou canst not O Lord but be highly displesed when wormes of the earth dust and ashes rottennesse and corruption hauing without any desert at all beene adorned with thy gifts and enlightened with thy graces shall presume of thy fauour so farre as vngraciously and vngratefully instead of thankes and prayses to returne contempts and dishonours to thy diuine Maiesty But on the other side thou canst in no wise endure that the most wretched caitiffe the most shamefull and wilfull sinner that Satan can furnish out of hell should despaire of thine endlesse and bottomelesse mercy wherein aboue all other things thou dost so much delight and glory which doth so farre surmount thy iustice as thou dost continually wooe inuite thy greatest enemies to the participation thereof O Lord being a sinner as Dauid was I cannot but pray for mercy as he did and because I haue grieuosly sinned pray for great mercy and because I haue many times and many waies multiplied my sins so as they are growne to a number numberlesses pray for a multitude of thy tender mercies that the whole debt-booke wherein my sinnes are registred may be quite crossed and defaced I must begge againe and againe that thou wilt wash me againe againe wash mee thorowly from the pollution and filth of my sinne Giue me grace O Lord to see my sinnes fully to confesse them freely intirely to giue thee the glory to take the shame to my selfe deseruedly Giue me leaue to lay open my festred wounds and lothsome sores to thy viewe in abasement and humiliation to stirre thy bowels of tender commiseration Make me to loue in my selfe what thou louest inme to wit truth and sincerity of heart accept O Lord my honest study and faithfull indeuour for true and full performance Let me solace my soule in the conscience of my vnfained sorrow for my sins past and my true though weake desires to serue thee better in time to come for which purpose enable me with wisedome teach me the art of godlinesse and the mysteries thereof in my hidden parts And because the Leprosie of sin hath infected mee from top to toe temper and prepare for mee a powerfull purgation with those ingredients which are of strongest operation that is without shadowes or figures the bloud of that Immaculate Lambe slayne from the beginning of the world applied by a liuely faith to my diseased soule Be pleased to bathe my vgly soule in thy Lauer of Iustification till I become white and bright in thy pure and piercing eyes Let mee when I am confounded in my selfe and cast downe into the Dungeon of Sorrow through the sight of my sinnes yet hopefully and zealously seeke ioy and comfort in thee and thy saluation Let mee so place my sinnes before mine owne sorrowfull face that thou mayest hide thy face at least thine angry face from them or rather so quite deface them that they may 〈◊〉 be to be seene hereafter that they may 〈◊〉 rise vp in iudgement either to shame me in this or condemne me in the next world And because my iustification which consists in thy free remission of my sinnes cannot subsist without sanctification and holinesse of conuersation as the light of that Lampe and heate of that fire And because it is impossible to draw a cleane out of an vncleane thing I beseech thee Lord to worke a wonder on me that is to create a cleane heart within mee Purge the fountain and then the streames which 〈◊〉 from it in my thoughts words and actions will be clearer and purer Giue mee a 〈◊〉 spirit that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carry my selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thee and for 〈◊〉 this spirit 〈◊〉 becomes decayed and distorted by the peruersnesse of my nature and obliquity of my transgressions vouchsafe to renew it in me from time to time by a continuall supply of thy heauenly grace Although I haue many wayes and times deserued thy iust indignatiō yet for thy mercies sake abandon me not from thy presence banish mee not from thy Courts let me behold thy face though ouerclouded with a storme of displeasure Although I haue grieued yea and despighted thy good spirit when it endeauoured my reformation direction and consolation yet I beseech thee not to take it vtterly from me let not that holy fire though raked vp vnder the ashes of my sins bee quite extinguished When thou doest for my sinnes bereaue mee of the comfortable confidence I found in the assurance of thy saluation giue mee leaue to claime still mine interest in it euen when I tremble and quake at thy iudgements and thereby to craue a restitution of that tranquility of minde and peace of conscience which I formerly enioyed with contentment make mee by the want rightly to value the worth of so great a fauour then which