too much of our time in those Christian Duties and Devotions which tend immediatly to the Honour of our Saviour Christ that so we may not be defective either in our preparation before them or in our Affections in them or in our Thanksgivings after them First That we be not defective in our preparation before our Christian devotions for this is a main cause of our great shame and greater sin that we have been hitherto so bad Christians in so good a state of Christianity that whereas Christ hath been so long and so powerfully applyed unto us both in Prayers and Word and Sacraments yet we have been so little benefited by that Application as scarce to perceive the loss of it or at least scarce to grieve for that loss A shrewd sign of Edomites rather then of Israelites to be content to lose our Prayers our true spiritual Birth-right that we might keep our Pottage our Temporal interests of which we may now truly say as he did Gen. 25. 30. Feed me with that Red with that Red for the just vengeance of God hath lately made it so with our own Blood or at least a shrewd sign of Ephraimites if not of Edomites for they being armed and carrying bows turned back in the day of battle Psalm 78. 9. The reason is given in the verse before they were a generation that prepared not their heart and whose spirit was not stedfast with God They did not set their heart right by preparation and therefore could not keep their spirit stedfast by perseverance and it is to be feared this is our case For it had scarce been possible for so admirable a form of publike Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments which had in it the most pithy Devotions both of Greek and Latine Churches and the superstitions of neither to have been so long amongst us to so little advantage of our souls had there been good things found in us and had we prepared our hearts to seek our God as that good King did 2 Chron. 19. 3. and hath left his example as a mandate for us so to do since no Scripture is of private Interpretation and much less of private Jurisdiction The old Testament in all precepts and precedents of morality no less commanding the Christian then it did the Jew but if any be contentious touching the Old Testament though we have no such custome nor the Churches of God yet we have both a Precept and a Precedent in the New Testament to reprove and to reproach his contention and the fittest that can be alledged for this Argument even that of Saint John Baptist the forerunner of Christ For he came preaching saith the Text and his Sermon consisted so much of this doctrine of Preparation that he was chiefly to be known by this character The Voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord Mat. 3. Secondly We need imploy our time readily and carefully in those Christian duties which immediately concern the honour of Christ that we be not defective in our Affections whiles we are at our Christian Devotions actually conversing with our blessed Saviour For our Affections have been so long standing on the lees and dregs of the earth that they are not to be refined and much less to be elevated and lifted up to Heaven without multiplied Essays of most holy meditations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Priest to the people in the Greek Liturgie And they answer him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us lift up our hearts we lift them up unto the Lord so we in our Liturgy from theirs But it is observable that neither Greek Church nor ours used these words till after many prayers were past in which the Communicants had poured out their souls before God to be sanctified by his Grace And so likewise the Apostle requiring us to seek those things which are above doth as it were pass through all the Creed to the Article of the Resurrection before he hopes throughly to raise our Affections Col. 3. 1 2. If ye be then risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right Hand of God set your Affection on things above c. He doth not only say Christ is risen but also if ye be risen with Christ he is fain to presuppose and as it were to antedate the day of the Resurrection of the bodies that so he may perswade them to a Resurrection of their souls O God work in us this great miracle of thy Grace to raise our souls that we may all rejoyce in that great miracle of thy power which thou wilt at the last day work on us in the raising of our bodies Thirdly and lastly we need imploy our time readily and carefully in those Christian Duties which immediately concern the honour of Christ that we be not defective in our thankfulness after our Devotions after we have had the honour and the happiness to converse with our blessed Saviour For if I may not give mine alms without a full purpose of my heart 2 Cor. 9. 7. Shall I think that I may give my self without it or doth God indeed love a cheerful giver of the hand and not much rather a cheerful giver of the Heart To what purpose is ihis wast Mat. 26. 8 9. seems in it self a question of Piety and in its reason For this ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor a question of charity yet St. John brands him that made it That for his Piety he was a Traytor ready to betray Christ And for his Charity he was a Thief not ready to relieve but to pillage his poor members John 12. 4 6. so dangerous a thing is it for men to begrutch any expence either of Time or of Pains or of Patrimony that is bestowed upon Christ and much more to disturb the woman the Church that bestoweth it For wheresoever this Gospel of the great condescention and greater goodness of the Son of God shall be Preached in the whole world there also shall this be told for a memorial of her Duty that wrought the good work upon her Saviour but of their undutifulness who opposed her in working it Mat. 26. 10 13. Gods mercies in our Saviour Christ are too many and great to come all Ex tempore to us so should our Devotions be to thank him for their coming since it is every jot as good Divinity for our Prayers and Sermons which we offer up for the parts of Gods publick worship as it was for Davids sacrifice Neither will I offer burnt-offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing 2 Sam. 24. 24. For what can I profess by the unworthiness of my offering but either That I have a less worthy esteem of God then David had to whom I offer that which he would not offer or that I have a more worthy esteem of my self then he had as if forsooth God would at
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That in all things he might be first or that in all things he might have the preheminence Col. 1. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith his most faithful interpreter Saint Chrysostom The first in heaven as the beginning the first in earth as Head of the Church the first under the earth as the first born from the dead Thus hath God ordained that our Saviour Christ should have the preheminence in all things and in all places from whence we must conclude that the same is the duty and ought to be the work of all that profess godliness even to give all honour and glory to this Son of man whom the King of Kings is pleased to honour And in this respect those Christians like Mary have chosen the better part though the other like Martha trouble themselves and all the world besides about many unnecessary things who carefully observe all those anniversary Festivals which have been instituted entirely for the honour of Christ and consequently observe our weekly festival rather as a Lords day then as a Sabbath For these sit quietly and orderly at Jesus his feet hearing his Word and place him at their head promoting his honour according to the Apostles example and advice To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ for ever Rom. 16. 27. They look upon this festival as instituted for Gods glory and think it neither safe nor fit for Christians to glorifie God through Moses but through Christ And therefore desire to honour him not by a Sabbath but by a Lords day for that the Sabbath was a type of Christs rest in the grave who rested there only that whole day as it were to bury it with himself but the Lords day is an undoubted memorial of his resurrection So that the one carries in its name if not in its nature a false protestation concerning the Christian faith and may possibly in time make us turn Jews The other carries in its name and nature a true profession of our faith and can only help to make and to keep us good Christians as immediately directing our thoughts and our thankfulness to our Saviour Christ which alone is the way to make us true Evangelical professors this being the summe of the whole Gospel That he was delivered for our offences and rose again for our Iustification Rom. 4 26. And it is plain that the whole Gospel doth so directly tend to the Article of Christs resurrection that Saint Paul saith expresly it can neither be rightly preached nor professed without it If Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith also is vain 1 Cor. 15. 14. It nearly concerns all Christian Ministers to abandon those tenents which may either directly or indirectly make vain their own preaching or the peoples faith And it is to be feared the Sabbatarian Doctrine may tend to this for it is to be avowed that the turning those solemn festivals out of the Church which peculiarly commemorate the Incarnation Nativity Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and teach us to bless God for the same that the Sabbath may be set up as Lady paramount and Queen Regent to controule and confine all our publick worship can in no case make for the honour of Christ and therefore not for the truth of Christianity For Saint Paul saith expresly that in all things he must have the preheminence and if in all things then surely both in duties and in daies and if in duties then much more in daies for if the worship be not acceptable to God but in him then sure the day cannot be acceptable but for him T is proper for the Jew to keep a Sabbath who thinks himself still bound to worship God through Moses but t is proper for the Christian to keep a Lords day who knows himself bound to worship and glorifie God only through Christ Jesus the Lord of glory And Saint Paul readeth this Lecture to the Jews themselves and much more to us Christians in those words to the Hebrews Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen Heb. 13. 20 21. Where he briefly declares the summe not only of that whole Epistle but also of the whole Christian Faith and that by way of benediction to shew we cannot have the blessing of Christians unless we have the faith of Christians And that faith teacheth us to believe and confess 1. That God is reconciled to us Now the God of peace 2. That our Saviour Christ alone hath wrought for us and offereth to us this reconciliation as our King our Lord Jesus as our Prophet the great Shepherd and as our Priest through the blood of the everlasting Covenant 3. That he hath given us sufficient proof of his great work that he is brought again from the dead 4. That he is ready to give us the superabundant fruits of all by making us perfect in every good work to do his will working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight In all these inestimable and undeserved mercies it is Christ alone that is all in all wherefore it follows in the next words through Christ Jesus and consequently he in himself and the Father in him is to be glorified for all as it is said To whom be glory for ever and ever Amen God is the God of peace to us men in that he brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus so that we cannot rightly glorifie him for the reconciliation unless we glorifie him for the resurrection And for this cause happily it was that the Church did antiently interpose Halleluiah in the midst of those sentences of the Text which she chose for her publick service in celebrating the memory of Christs resurrection not to interrupt the words or sense of the Scriptures but rather to explain them teaching us that good Christians should not read or hear any part of the Text without thinking of Christ and that they should not think of Christ without praising God in him and for him and that praising God in and for their Saviour Christ they can never be zealous enough in their praises nor rejoyce too much in his salvation Therefore they intermingled Hallelujah not only in the Hymns of the Text where it might be thought a natural appendix but also in the Doctrines of it where at first sight it might seem altogether an unnecessary addition As for example thus they recite that Hymn of the Psalmist He brought forth his people with joy Halleluiah and his chosen with gladness Psalm 105. ver 42. And thus also that doctrine of Saint Peter As new born babes Halleluiah desire the sincere milk of the Word 1 Pet. 2. 2. Where
a woman as still a Virgin The Praise of the seventy Interpreters Christs love to us that he would be made the son of a woman whereby he hath exalted men above Angels a mercy not to be forgotten till there be no man left to remember it That the Jews corrupted not the Text proved from the prophesies concerning Christ GReat was the love of the Son of God towards man that he would be sent forth from his Father yet much greater if greater can be that he would be sent forth after so mean a manner as to be made the Son of man And yet even in this meaness was no less then a miracle For our blessed Saviour was so made the Son of man as that he was not made the Son of a woman but of a pure Virgin and therefore Saint Paul saying that he was made of a woman Gal. 4. 4. doth call the blessed Virgin-mother a woman only to declare her sex not to dispute much less to disparage her Virginity for she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 semper Virgo alwayes a Virgin before in and after the birth of Christ in the judgement of the Catholick Church which reputed Helvidius an Heretick for concluding otherwise from some slight Grammatical notions whereby he did rather blaspheme the Text then understand it whiles he let the itch of his Criticism as too too many in these latter times have done overspread and infect his Divinity Accordingly Saint Chrysostom justly finds fault with Aquila and Theodosius for rendring the words of Isaiah 7. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Behold a young woman shall conceive and he confutes them by the Authority of the Septuagint which saith he are to be preferred before all other Interpreters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys hom 5. in Mat. For their antiquity for their number and for their consent and they interpret the words thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son But Justine Martyr hath sufficiently cleared this doubt to Trypho the Jew and I have not to do with Jews that I should need insist on this controversie but with Christians for such we are in our belief and had need labour to approve our selves to be such likewise in our practice for fear our practice should else subvert and ruine our belief For he that hath said I will shew thee my faith by my works Jam. 2. 18. hath thereby assured us that contrary works do at least shew if they do not make a contrary faith For which cause they are certainly much to be pittied who scoff and mock at our most Christianlike commemoration of this great Mysterie and greater mercy of the Incarnation of the Son of God for though the Angels were thought worthy of the Mysterie and desired more and more to look into it 1 Pet. 1. 12. yet it was man only that had the blessing of the mercy so saith the Apostle to the Hebrews Heb. 2. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham Hence it is the priviledge of men equally with Angels to be called the Sons of God but above them if we consider the reason why they may be so called For as the Sons of God is spoken of the Angels Job 1. 6. so the Sons of God is spoken of men Genesis 6. 2. And Saint Ambrose expounding those words thus Viderunt Angeli Dei for he did not read but only expound them so which if our late Criticks had observed concerning the rest of the Fathers they would have found less various lections but more various Expositions of the text I say Saint Ambrose expounding those words of Gen. 6. 2. thus Viderunt Angeli Dei did not meant by his Angeli the spiritual and heavenly substances saith Vellosillo in his Theological Problems but holy and religious men of the Progeny of Seth who because they persisted and persevered in the true Religion and worship of God when all the rest of the world fell away from it by a damnable Apostacy were by the Holy-Ghost honoured with the glorious title of the Sons of God and Saint Ambrose for that same reason calls them Angels O that we would consider how far we have degenerated of late from being Angels in this sense when for want of constancy in Gods undoubted and everlasting truth we may scarce justly be reputed or called men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But holy men were indeed called the sons of God not only because they were holy which gave the Angels that same title but also because they were men did carry about them that nature which the Son of God was determined to take upon himself so that in the title it self the sons of God men are equal with the Angels But in the reason of that title the son of God made man they are above them And for this cause it is that men are often called his brethren as Heb. 2. 17. It behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren because he is of the same flesh and blood with men but never was it said of Angels that they were brethren to the son of God O mercy of mercies the Son of God made lower then the Angels to exalt the sons of men above them This was the good Angels joy for us and sheweth how much more it should be our own joy for our selves They have still joy in heaven for our conversion Luke 15. 10. but they had once joy in earth also for our redemption Earth the place of sorrow because of sin till Christ came on it and then the place of joy because he came to take away the sin and with the sin the sorrow This made earth at that time seem heaven to the Angels and that made them leave of looking on God in God that they might look on God in men leave of praising God in heaven that they might praise him in Earth Luke 2. 13. Lord keep us men from ceasing to praise thee for this mercy of mercies here on earth least we keep our selves from beginning to praise thee for it hereafter in heaven for this mercy God made man is a mercy not be forgotten till there be no man left upon earth to remember it But if it should be forgotten upon earth through our perversness or profaness yet sure we are it will never be forgotten in heaven where this very same son of man now sitteth on the right hand of God and shall at the last day come in the same flesh to judg us in the which we now acknowledge his coming to save us Lord grant that we may so praise thee in this day of salvation that we may not be condemned of thee in that day of Judgement It is an excellent argument that Bellarmine useth amongst others to prove that the Jews never corrupted the Hebrew Text because they still in their Bibles retain all the prophecies concerning Christ insomuch that they are far more powerfully
to devour his Pastor then to follow him one more ready to scatter and tear the flock then to associate and joyn with them I must take heed of being a Wolf towards my Brother If I desire to be a Sheep towards my Saviour Homo homini lupus Christo agâ—â—â— were a strange proverb and more strange Divinitâ— That he who is a Wolf to man should be a Lamb to Christ It was an evil Spirit that made Saul a Wolf to David 1 Sam. 19. 9. And the same evil spirit shewed him to be none of Gods sheep He watches to catch David but to lose himself and whiles he seeks to destroy Gods servant he doth indeed destroy his own soul This makes the spirit of God look upon him as a heathen not as an Israelite as appears from Psal 59. 5. Thou therefore O Lord God of hosts the God of Israel awake to visit all the heathen This Psalm was made upon that occasion that Saul had sent and watched Davids house to kill him and we must expound these words according to that occasion So Tremelius Ad visitandum omnes gentes ist as i. e. Copias Saulis quae eodem animo Davidem persequebantur quo gentes aliene à populo Dei facturae fuissent Awake to visit the heathen that is the Armies of Saul which did persecute David with as malicious a Spirit as the very heatheÌ„ who knew not God would have persecuted him Thou which laughest the heathen to scorn saith Isacides wilt also laugh those men to scorn And Ezra shews how he is able to do it saying that he is the Lord of hosts of the Armies of Angels that are above in heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no less then of the armies of Israel that are below on the earth God is not said to laugh any to scorn but only heathen as in this Psal ver 8. And in the second Psalm v. 4 or such as make themselves like heathen by raging as furiously as they against the Church of Christ and the ministers of his Gospel as appears Acts 4. where the Apostles being persecuted for preaching Christ make use of this very Psalm in their prayer Why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things For such men whether they be Jews or Christians are no better then heathen in Gods account and accordingly he that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn the Lord shall have them in derision He laughs them to scorn because of their vain imaginations of opposition against Christ and much more because of their vain endeavours in opposing him and his laughing ends in their weeping and their weeping ends as their cruelty began in gnashing of teeth They gnashed on him with their teeth Acts 5. 54. there 's their sin which shewed them be men little better then Wolves and again there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Mat. 8. 12. there 's their punishment which will shew them to be men worse then nothing The first gnashing of teeth was from the fierceness the last shall be from the anguish of their hearts And the spirit of God seemeth to pray that it may be so saying and be not mercifull unto them that offend of malicious wickedness Psal 59. v. 5. So that we need not wonder why so many Christians now a dayes come not to the state of true Christianity which alone puts them in a capacity of mercy for the reason is plain t is because they sin out of malicious wickedness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be not mercifull to any wicked prevaricator Selah Tremelius renders the words thus Ne gratiam facias ullis perfidè agentibus iniquitatem summe He finds a new signification for Selah to shew he had found a new Selah for their sin that is a new hight or exaltation in the sin of those men who are praevaricatores iniquitatis who do not only continue but also prevaricate in their iniquity Qui Deum cultu honore Davidem prosequi simulantes perfidè ea perpetrabant quae sequuntur saith he who pretending to fear God and to honour David did perfidiously act all that follows in the Psalm against them both How are such men like to come to Salvation when the Son of God will not preach for it and the Spirit of God doth pray against it Be not mercifull unto them that offend of malicious wickedness Surely OLord mercy is thy delight no less then it is our desire It is above all thy works and shall it not much more be above all ours shall there be any sin which is properly our work of so vast an extent as to reach beyond thy mercy or of so loud a cry as to make thee stop thine ears against the prayer of a distressed sinner Oh no t is not iniquity but prevaricating in iniquity that makes man not care to pray T is not sin but impenitency in sin that makes God not hear his prayers Your iniquit es have separated betwixt you and your God Isa 59. 2. that is your multiplied your malicious sins committed wth a shameless face with a stiff neck with a high hand and with a hard heart which first fill your Souls with iniquity and then with impeniteney such iniquities as these whiles unrepented and t is like they will be unrepented whiles they would be unreproved do separate betwixt you and your God For froward thoughts separate from God there 's the separation of a perverse sinner from God the Father who is God of himself and again into a malicious soul wisdom will not enter there 's his Separation from God the Son who is the wisdom of the Father And lastly wisdom is a loving spirit there 's his separation from God the Holy Ghost who is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son the spirit of love Wisdom 1. 3 4 6. This is the reason why not Iscariot is annexed to that Judas who spake to our blessed Saviour and whom our Saviour Christ was pleased to answer God the Son did not answer such an Apostate such a Traitor as Iscariot was and God the Holy Ghost would not have us think that he did answer him he that once thought it better to be a Traitor then to be a Disciple doth now think it better not to be then to have been a traytor He that once was willing from an Apostle to become a Divel is now much more willing from a Divel to become nothing He then would not hear the voice of Christ and now he cannot hear it unless it be that voice which hath already filled his heart with the horror though it shall not till the last day fill his ears with the noise of it Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire Mat 25. 41. A voice that Christ hath reserved as a Judge for those who would not hear him as a Saviour A voice which he will utter to the goates on his left hand not to the sheep on his right hand Lord make me consider in
true Christian communion that man may be edified and brought to the knowledge and enjoyment of his Redeemer And all those Texts in the Old and New Testament which concern the publick worship of God are so many interpretations of the twofold end of this commandment as for example in the Old Testament Psalm 95 which was made to be used in publick assemblies according to Aben Ezra's gloss commandeth singing to the Lord and worshipping of him there 's the exercise of Religion q. d. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day and commandeth us to sing and worship there 's the establishment of communion q. d. Thou and thy son and thy daughter c. and gives this reason of those commands The Lord our maker q. d. For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth So again Psalm 100. O be joyful in the Lord serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song there 's the Religion All ye lands or as it is in the Hebrew all the earth there 's the communion It is he that hath made us and not we our selves there 's the reason of both from our Creation For the Lord is gracious his mercy is everlasting c. there 's that reason further enlarged to us Christians from our redemption who are taught that God by his son both made the worlds and also purged our sins Heb. 1. 2 3. So again in the New Testament Mat. 18. 20. Where two or three are gathered together there 's the communion In my name there 's the Religion I am in the midst of them there 's the reason of both so Heb. 10. 22 23. Let us draw neer with a true heart let us hold fast the profession of our faith there 's the exercise of Religion for he is faithful that promised there 's the reason of that exercise And ver 24 25. Let us consider one another not forsaking the assembling of our selves together there 's the establishment of communion To provoke unto love and to good works there 's the reason of that establishment If we be sure of Christs name we cannot be too zealous of our gathering together if we be sure of the Religion we cannot be too zealous of the Communion but if we be not sure of the name which cannot well be without a set and known Liturgie every good Christian must be contented to say with Joshua I and my house will serve the Lord and mouâ—n that he cannot say with David I was glad when they said unto me we will go into the house of the Lord for it is more agreeable with the end of the fourth Commandment that men have the right Religion in their own houses without a publick visible communion then that they have a publick visible communion in Gods house without the right Religion They must first say Let us hold fast the profession of our faith and after that Let us consider one another not forsaking the assembling of our selves together For if the Assemblies have forsaken the faith it can be no sin to forsake the Assemblies since the end of the Commandment is without doubt above the letter of it the substance of worship above the adjunct of it or to speak in one word since Christian Religion doth challenge precedency before and preeminency above Christian communion So then without question the end of the Commandment is the first thing to be considered for if the end be rightly understood the letter will not easily be mistaken for the letter of the Law is subservient to the end of it and therefore may not have so scanty an interpretation as will not reach the end And such is that interpretation of the fourth Commandment which would have the letter mean no more then it mentions that is the bare circumstance of time and leaves men at liberty to do what they please with the other adjuncts of publick worship to wit the persons by whom and the places in which it is to be performed and regards not the end or reason of the command at all This was the fault which our blessed Saviour did find with the Scribes and Pharisees interpretations of the Law that they interpreted it not in its full extent or latitude and this made him so often in one Chapter use these words Ye have heard it hath been said of old But I say unto you c. not opposing his authority against the authority of God who gave the Law but against the authority of the Scribes and Pharisees who misinterpreted it As for example God had said thou shalt not kill they intepreted this Law only of the act of murder our Saviour interprets it also of the intent or occasion of it of hatred in the heart and of calumny in the tongue Again God had said thou shalt not commit adultery this the Scribes and Pharisees restrained to the act of fornication or adultery but our Saviour tells us plainly that God meant otherwise and forbad not only the act but also the inclination thereto lusting nay the occasion thereof looking on a woman to lust after her Mat. 5. 28. The like interpretation have some of late given of the fourth Commandment as if the day were all that God required whereas questionless he requireth also the other adjuncts of publick worship as much as the day and he requireth the worship it self much more For publick worship must first be publick in its substance then in its adjuncts first in its substance by having such prayers as are of publick concernment to all good Christians according to the pattern given us in the Mount that is to say in Gods most holy word wherein we find the Spirit of God himself the first author of Liturgie or of common prayer having taught us such prayers whose matter and form is common alike to all good men and taught them not only for our direction but also for our use as plainly appears by the Hebrew inscription on the ninty second Psalm A Psalm for the Sabbath because saith Jarchi and Ezra both they were to say that Psalm on the Sabbath And Musculus saith the same after them concinendus in Ecclesia die Sabbathi this Psalm was to be sung in the assemblies on the Sabbath Nay the Psalmist saith as much being nothing else but an invitation to praise the name of God for all his works most especially for the wonderful dispensations of his power in pulling down his enemies and of his mercy in relieving and upholding his servants So again Psalm 102. hath this inscription A prayer for the afflicted when he is over-whelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord which plainly sheweth that the Psalms were made to be used not only as publick but also as private devotions and consequently that set forms do not confine the Spirit of prayer because the Holy Ghost commandeth the use of this Psalm to the afflicted not for the hinderance but for the furtherance of his devotion not only as a prayer