Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	holy_a	lord_n	spare_v	2,096	5	9.7701	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

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

in a corner Though he would doe it with all his heart yet he would not doe it onely in his heart but saith he I will praise him in the assembly of the upright Nor is that all he would doe it yet more openly I will praise him in the congregation I will praise him not onely in the assembly of the upright or in a meeting of some choice select ones but among good and bad even in the mixed multitude As if he had said As the Lord hath owned me and my cause and my people in the eye of all the world by his signall mercies so also will I own the Lord with signall praises Fourthly we have here the grounds of the duty And these are twofold or of two sorts First his experience of what the Lord had already done for him and his people Secondly his assurance of what the Lord was to them and would further be to and do for them The first sort of grounds upon which David gave order for a day of Thansgiving or the experience of what God had done is set down under four distinct adjuncts or attributes of his works 1. The Lord had not done small matters for them The works of the Lord are great at the second verse 2. The Lord had not done some obscure thing for them His work is honourable and glorious at the third verse 3. The Lord had not done some ordinary and common work for them His workes are wonderfull at the fourth verse 4. The Lord had not done some unprofitable wonders for them his work was beneficiall and advantagious He hath given meat to them that fear him at the fifth verse These are the four characters of the Lords works He had done great and honorable and wonderfull beneficial things for them and were not all these enough to cal up their hearts to the high to the highest praises of God All these make the first ground of Davids order for Thanksgiving The second ground of his order ariseth from the assurance of what God was to them and would further be to and do for them This is set forrh in three particulars 1. Praise the Lord for we have this assurance of him he is righteous and will be righteous His righteousness endureth for ever v. 3. 2. Praise the Lord for we have this assurance of him He is gracious and full of compassion v. 4. 3. Praise the Lord for we have this assurance of him He is faithfull and will be faithfull alwayes He will ever be mindfull of his Covenant v. 5 I am fallen upon a very rich mine of holy truths here 's that which is precious and here 's plenty of it greater plenty of precious and golden Oare then I shall be able to mint and stamp out into particulars at this time and therefore I purpose to propose but one generall point of duty from this large text and draw all the particulars of it together in a way of application for our better improvement of the occasion of this great and Holy Solemnity The point is plainly this It is our duty to pay the Lord speciall praises when he is pleased to bestow upon us speciall and remarkable mercies or speciall praises are due to the Lord for speciall mercies Here is speciall and speciall I expresse it so because to praise God is every days duty Thus the Apostle directs Heb. 13. 15 By him therefore let us offer the Sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name But though praise be an every days work yet there is a day of specialty in prasing God For as it is our duty to pray continually to continue in prayer Col. 4. 2. yea to pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. yet there are some speciall seasons for prayer or peculiar praying times Call upon me in the day of trouble Psal 50. 15. And we have the same rule James 5. 13. Is any among you afflicted let him pray T is both our duty and our interest to pray though we are not afflicted but the duty of prayer is most incumbent upon us in affliction Trouble drives us to God and God only can drive away our troubles Again it is our duty to repent continually yet there are some speciall seasons for repentance as when we have fallen into great sin● or when we are under the fear of great calamities Isa 22. 12. And in that day a day of common danger did the Lord God o● Hosts call to weeping and mourning and to baldness and to girding with sack cloath all which are the most significant acts of repentance and soul humilition before the Lord. So I say though to give thanks be every days duty and that upon a threefold consideration First because every day we receive new mercies and have our former mercies renewed Secondly because every mercy is a witnesse of the goodnesse of God to us and of his power put out for us Thirdly because every the least mercy is more then we have either deserved at Gods hand or could get alone with our own hand and therefore we are bound by this threefold cord to praise the Lord every day yet upon some dayes we are bound more to praise him and that upon a fourfold consideration First Some speciall mercies shew forth more of God then our every days mercies doe more of the power more of the wisdome more of the love more of the mercy and goodnesse of God is stampt and imprest upon them then upon many other mercies Now the more of God appears in any mercy the more and the lowder it cals us to this duty of praising him The least appearance of God is praise worthy His great appearances are infinitely more then worthy of our greatest praises Secondly We have more urgent need of some mercys then of others Some are onely accessary mercies others are extreamly necessary Some concerne only the well being or bettering of our estate others the very being of it Some are only ornamental mercies others are substantiall some respect only the honour and flourishing condition of our affaires others the very life and subsistence of them they are such as we know not how to spare nor what to doe without them such speciall mercies urge us unavoydably to speciall praises Thirdly For some mercies the Lord hath been more then ordinarily sought to in prayer and with a greater exercise of faith and patience then ordinary waited upon for the receiving of them They that know the Lord and have acquaintance with him would not have any mercy without asking they pray for every morsell of bread they eat they love to see all come in a way of prayer through the promise But there are some mercies for which there hath been abundance of striving in our own hearts and much striving and tugging with God that we might attain them we for some mercies have wrestled all night like Jacob before we could prevaile and be Israels Princes with

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

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