They part my goods among them and cast lots upon mine inheritance But O thou God of Israel thou continuest propitious and benevolous Vers. 3 why then doest thou stop thine ears at my prayers Thou hast perform'd thine Oath to out fore-fathers they trusted in thée in the depth of their calamities and thou didst comfort or deliver them They cryed in their afflictions and thou sentest them help they hoped in thée and were not ashamed or frustrated of their hope But me who have alwayes call'd upon thée who have alwayes hoped in thée thou hast deserted and forsaken exposed as the vilest and most contemptible worm to be trampled upon by every foot and insulted over by my cruel enemy Yet O Lord I am thy creature and thy hands have fashioned me in my mothers womb and being fashioned thou art he that brought'st me into this light upon thée have I fastned all my hope even from my infancy even from that time to this very hour thou hast shew'd thy self a merciful God in nourishing governing and preserving me from all evil Do not thou therefore who hitherto hast béen present with me whom I have acknowledged whom I have honour'd in whom I have hoped Do not O do not thou depart be not farre from me for most grievous trouble is near and there is none besides to help me none to mitigate the pressnre of my calamities with any comfort But O thou Father of Mercies deferre no longer but haste thee to help me O Lord my strength deliver my soul from the Sword my soul I say which is only dear to me from the power of the Dogg Save me from the Lyons mouth from my Adversary the Devil that goes about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may devour and hear me and frée me from the hands of Tyrants This if thou shalt do for me Vers. 22 as I certainly believe thou wilt then I will appear before thee in the great Congregation then I will declare thy Name thy Power thy Goodness to all my brethren to those who are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh to all those who are partakers of the same Covenant and of the same spirit with me I will fréely and openly profess and praise thée Before thée and of thée shall I make my boast in the most frequent Assemblies of thy Servants Thy praise shall ever be in my mouth and those sacrifices of thanksgiving which I have vowed these I will pay in the presence of all thy people And I will call to my brethren to ioyn with me saying O ye of the seed of Jacob that fear the Lord and O all ye of the seed of Israel that imitate his faith and piety praise the Lord glorifie my and your God fall low before him adore and worship him for he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of me a poor afflicted despised wretch neither hath he hid his face from me but when I cryed unto him he heard me O Lord thou heardst thy Son when he pray'd for himself hear him we beséech thée Vers. 16 when he prayes for us And look nor upon us as we are in our selves wretched polluted creatures but look upon the face of thine anointed behold his hands and his féet digg'd through with nayls for our sake behold his blood poured out like water and all his sinews stretched upon the Cross and his bones put out of joint consider his bitter Agony in which as if he had béen near some furnace he fell into a sweat and melted into drops of blood when thou hidd'st thy face affordest him no comfort when in bitterness of soul being forsaken by thee he complain'd and cryed My God my God Remember how for us he became the reproach of men Vers. 1 and the out-cast of the people Vers. 7 how they laugh'd him to scorn and shak'd their heads at him forget not those Bulls those Lyons those Doggs that came about him to devour him and when they had brought him to the dust of death they parted his garments among them and cast lots upon his vesture O let not this blood be spilt in vain but for these sufferings unknown to us but felt by him have pity upon us and save us Since he hath given his soul a Sacrifice for sin Isa 53. divide him a portion with the great and let him divide the spoil with the strong because he hath poured out his soul to death and was numbred with the transgressours and bare the sins of many let him see his seed let him prolong his dayes and let the pleasure of the Lord prosper in his hand Since he hath borne our iniquities and made intercession for the transgressours let him see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied and let this thy righteous Servant justifie many Let all the ends of the world remember themselves Vers. 27 mourn and deplore their former estate lament for their impiety and forsaking their lewd conversation be turned unto the Lord and let all the kindreds of the Nations instead of the creature worship the Creatour For thine O Christ is the Kingdom and Power and Glory and thou by the meritorious Death and Passion Vers. 28 hast merited to be the governour among the Nations A seed even of the Gentiles shall serve thee they shall be counted to the Lord for a generation Vers. 26 These are the méek upon earth these are the poor in spirit these are the contrite and broken-hearted To these thou hast sent the glad tidings of the Gospel for these thou hast prepared a banquet of thine own flesh and blood Oh give us grace so to eat thy flesh and drink thy blood that we may eat and be satisfied and being fill'd with joy of heart we may praise thée that we séek to thée and please thée and our consciences being quieted and secured by this repast we may acquiesce and live in the perswasion of thy peace and reconciliation for ever O let the fat on earth the greatest the richest the mightyest Princes and Potentates on earth long after this food and in testimony of their faith and Religion eat adore and worship These even these must go down to the dust for no man can keep alive his own soul Let these then together with all other Mortals bow their knées at the Name of Iesus and come and eat this spiritual meat that they may live for ever Thou O Iehovah art our righteousness this will we declare to a people that shall be born our childrens children shall know that thou alone hast done this for us that thou hast redéemed us that thou alone art the Authour and Finisher of our justice and salvation that thou doest justifie thou doest sanctifie thy people and wilt save them by the meritorious Death and Passion of our Lord Iesus Christ And therefore for this we will declare thy Name unto our brethren we will praise thee we will glorifie thee we will fear adore and worship thee Our
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
to praise him 1. The first is his Majesty his infinite Power Glory this extends not to men alone but to the Heavens and all above the Heavens Ver. 4 The Lord is high above all Nations and his Glory above the Heavens above Princes 1 Gods Majesty Heavens Angels therefore praise him 2. The second is his admirable Providence Benignity and Bounty 2 His. Providence and Condescension which being joyned with so great Majesty appears the more admirable Who is like the Lord our God who dwells on high None in Heaven and Earth to be compared to him and yet which sets forth his goodness Ver. 5 the care he hath of all things He as it were humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in earth He is present with the greatest Angels and ready to help the meanest creature Two instances of it Now of his Providence in humbling himself to behold the things on earth he gives two instances the first is in States and Kingdoms the second in private Families 1. In States He raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth the needy out of the Dunghil 1 In Kingdoms in which he exalts men of low degree The examples of it may be Joseph Moses David Daniel Job Mordecai let then no man say Non vacant exiguis rebus adesse Jovi And the end is That he may set him with the Princes even with the Princes of his people He vindicates their name not only from contempt but exalts them to the highest places of honour 2. 2 In private Familes opening the womb In private Families As the infelicity of men is a low and despised condition so the infelicity of women is barrenness as therefore he looks upon humble men and raiseth them to a Crown so he looks upon humble women and makes them fruitful in which the happiness of a Family consists and therefore the Prophet adds this other instance of his Providence He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children A joyful mother for that women rejoyce in nothing more than in bearing of children the examples may be Sarah Rebeccah Rachel Annah Elizabeth Jo. 16.21 But by most Expositors This appliable to the Church of the Gentiles this last verse hath a higher meaning and relates unto the Church of the Gentiles which was the barren woman before Christs coming but hath now more children than she that hath a Husband i. e. the Jewish Synagogue Isa 54.1 Rejoyce O barren that didst not bear break forth into joy and rejoyce thou that didst not travel with child for the desolate hath more children than the married wife and is to this purpose applied by St. Paul Gal. 4.27 The Prayer collected out of the One hundred and thirteenth Psalm O Omnipotent Lord Ver. 1 whosoever are addicted in faith and fincerepâ—ety to thy worship and service are bound at all times in all places to return unto thy Name immortal praises Ver. 2 we then who acknowledge thée to be our Lord and our selves thy dassals and servants with our whole hearts both secretly and in the Congregation of Saints do sound forth with full voyce Blessed be the Name of the Lord our God Ver. 3 from this time forth for â—vermore from the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same our Lord's Name be praised O Lord thy Majesty is great thy Glory illustrious thy Goodness Clemency and Providence wonderful Ver. 4 thy Power is high above all Nations and the greatest in those Nations thy Glory above the Heavens and the most glorious in those Heavens Ver. 5 Who O Lord our God is like unto thée or among men or Angels may be compared with thée And yet though thou dwellest on high such is thy care thy provision thy clemency toward us men below Ver. 6 that thou dost as it were humble thy self and descend from thy Throne of Majesty to behold the things that are in Heaven to take a care for the things that are done in and on the Earth there is no action no event either in Heaven or Earth which thou rulest not which thou guidest not and orders not If the proud Angels in Heaven aspire to thy Throne Thou beholdest it and they shall féel thy power If insolent men on earth shall exalt themselves against thée they shall drink of the cup of thy wrath when thy servants sin against thée and yet shall humble themselves before thée Thou wilt behold their contrition and accept their tears and forgive their ungracious behaviour Look down O Lord at this time from thy dwelling place and behold the afflicted slate and condition of this thy Church Ver. 7 we have for many years béen trod under foot and lain in the dust we have béen and are yet oppressed and cast aside as it were to the Dunghil Thy judgments O Lord are just and thy wayes equal for unsavoury salt we were and deserved no better But thou who raisest the poor out of the dust and liftest the needy out of the Dunghil vouchsafe to stretch out thy arm of power and right hand of help to our Princes and Armies set our King whom thou hast hitherto dejected once again with Princes even the Princes of his people O Lord who makest the barren woman to keep house Ver. 8 and be a joyful mother of children take pity on the afflicted woman thy Church and let her not mourn and longer for her barrenness grant that by thy Word and Spirit Ver. 9 she may be a mother of many children with whom she may rejoyce in thy house and celebrate thy Name with perpetual praises through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. CXIV 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID in this Psalm chants forth the wonderful works and miracles that God wrought when he brought forth the people of Israel out of Aegypt Two parts there are of this Psalm 1. A Narration of Israels deliverance amplified by the state they were in ver 1. The state to which they were brought ver 2. The miracles then done first at the red Sea and Jordan ver 3. and at Sinai when the Law was given wer 4. 2. A Prosopopeia set down by way of Dialogue first For the Prophet asks the Sea and Jordan Why they fled turned back ver 5 6. secondly To which the answer is made by the brutish Earth which is enough to strike a terrour a veneration and fear into all men That it trembled at the presence of the Lord ver 7 8. 1. In the Narration Israâ—ls condition is set down by way of comparison The first part Israels condition in Aegype set down that so their deliverance might make the deeper impression First we are to know that Israel and the house of Jacob and Judah in this place signifie the same thing viz. The whole Nation of the Israelites that descended out of Jacobs loins but of the house of Jacob there is peculiar mention because with him
altogether Out of all which David concludes that it is both precious and sweet Ver. 10 1. The price of it beyond the best gold More to be desired it is than gold Precious Sweet yea than much fine gold obrizo the gold of Ophir 2. The sweetness thereof beyond honey than the honey-comb 3. Yea and besides all this Ver. 11 he shews upon his own experience the excellency of it Moreover by them is thy servant taught probatum est 4. Nay such is the fruit benefit use of it Beneficial to those that keep it That the observers of it are like to be well rewarded no man shall serve God for nought For in keeping of them there is Merces a reward 2. Ampla Merces a great reward 3. But these last words set David to his prayers What a reward The third part Yea but David kept it not a great reward only to those who keep Gods Law My conscience then tells me that the reward belongs not to me for I cannot plead this observance In many things we sin all and I among the many There were but these wayes to help him Confession Petition for Grace and Faith and these he makes use of 1. An offender he was known sins he had too many Ver. 12 and many more that he knew not and even for these he asked pardon This he confesseth desiring to be quit of them not only from the guilt but the filth Who can tell or understand his Errours 2 Asks pardon Cleanse thou me from secret faults 2. However so long as he carried about him this body of sin Ver. 13 he could not choose but erre upon ignorance infirmity c. 3 Begs grace against presumption yet he petitions for so much grace that he may not maliciously offend Keep back also thy servant from presumptuous sins 1. Because the effect would be lamentable sin would become a King For then sin wold domineer and reign in him and reign in his mortal body which is inconsistent with grace Keep back c. Ne lest they get the dominion the upper hand over me command rule and I obey and become a drudge a slave a vassal to sin 2. This is the great offence a sin not of a small size And make him guilty of the great offence therefore keep back thy servant from these sins and then however I be a sinner and guilty yet I shall be innocent from the great offence 3. Lastly that his prayer be heard he begs also he prayes for his prayer Ver. 14 and the meditations of his heart Let the words of my mouth 4 That God would accept his prayer and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight And that which put him in heart notwithstanding his many Errours to do it to pray to trust to confess was because the Lord was his Strength Who was his Strength and Redeemer his Redeemer 1. His Strength his Rock to keep him that he fell not 2. His Redeemer if he did fall In the words he coucheth two benefits 1. Conservation 2. Acceptance of his person through Christ and expresseth his faith The Prayer out of the nineteenth Psalm O God thou art a gracious God to the sons of men and because this is life Eternal to know thee to be the only God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ That man perish not in his ignorance Thou hast revealed thy self unto him in the Book of Nature and in the Scripture The Heavens declare the Glory the Wisdom the Goodness Ver. 1 the Power of thee their Creatour and that ample whéel of the Firmament bestudded with infinite variety of Stars of several Magnitudes doth manifest that they are the work of thy hands and not of any inferiour power They speak to us day after day Ver. 2 and night after night and plentifully teach the knowledge of thee The constant and perpetual succession of times and seasons caused by the uncessant motion of those great luminaries inform us that there is a wise and infinite power that over-rules them Neither do they speak thy glory in an unknown tongue or whisper thy power and wisdom in a low voyce or to some people only but they proclaim it in every Language and Idiom they roar it louder than the voyce of Thunder in all mens ears Ver. 3 there is nor speech nor language nor Nation nor people that may not hear their voyce and understand their language Their light Ver. 4 their constant and perpetual motion their efficacy and general influence is so admirable and well known that their direction is gone out through all the Earth and their words to the end of the World But among all those celestial bodies there is not any which doth so clearly set forth thy Majesty as that bright Globe of the Sun in which thou hast as it were Ver. 5 set up thy Throne and Tabernacle whose lustre and splendour being far more beautiful than that of a Bridegroom Ver. 6 when he comes out of his Chamber whose motion is so swift that in a few houres it cometh from one end of Heaven to another and runneth to the end of it again whose heat is so vigorous that there is nothing hid from the power and vertue of it proclaim and preach to the World that there is a wise and potent God who by his power made and by his wise providence disposeth rules and orders all things in Heaven and Earth Thou then O God hast not left thy self without witness for the invisible things of thée from the Creation of the World are clearly séen even thy eternal Power and Godhead being understood by the things that are made whence we confess that we are left without excuse For we ought to have béen perswaded by the authority and obedience of these thy Creatures to love to honour to fear thée and to adhere unto thée alone but wrethes as we are little regarding these good instructions and instructors we have followed the counsels of our own hearts and béen seduced by our own vain imaginations with the Fool we have said privately to our selves There is no God But such was thy goodness and care of us an ungrateful Generation that in mercy pitying this our carelessness and that which followed upon it our misery and deviation from thée thou hast set us over a better Tutour from whom we might not only learn to know thée but a way to live well here and a way to live for ever Ver. 7 Thou gavest us in mercy thy Law which is a perfect Master and able to convert the soul this is a sure Teacher and can make wise the simple These thy Commandments are pure Ver. 8 and admit no admixtion of false-doctrine false-worship Ver. 9 or iniquity These thy Commandments are right and rejoyce the heart setling a quiet conscience These teach us thy fear in sincerity and Truth and they teach it for ever They enlighten the eyes and keep
do it in such a place and such an Assembly as may most redound to Gods honour I will praise thee O God among the people I will sing of thee among the Nations Now that all this be done The Reason David ver 10. gives a sufficient Reason that which may move any man to do it Gods Mercy and Truth his Mercies his infinite Mercies in promising his Truth in performing For thy Mercy is great to the Heavens and thy Truth to the Clouds And then as is usual in Poesie he repeats the verse before in which we meet with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Be thou exalted Lord above the Heavens and thy Glory above the Earth The Prayer collected out of the fifty seventh Psalm O Lord our enemies are many and mighty they roar against us like Lyons they are set on fire to devoure us their teeth are as spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword to wound us in our good name crafty they are for they have digged a Pit and cunning they are for they have spread a Net to ensnare to take us O Lord be merciful O God be merciful unto us send down we beséech thée help from Heaven and save us from the reproach of them that would eat us up Declare thy power O Lord and come amongst us and send forth thy Mercy and Truth for our deliverance thy Mercy is infinite thy Word is past and in that my soul trusteth and in the shadow of thy wings in thy protection only shall be my Refuge till these calamities be over-past Continually and with an ardent soul I will call upon that God which is the most High most potent that God that hath so often done me good and I doubt not but be will perform his word and make perfect his salvation Do thou O Lord declare thy power and shew that thou art the Lord of the whole Earth get thy self a Name by the punishment of these wicked men that all things both in Heaven and Earth may exalt thy justice and give thée the glory To do this O Lord my heart is ready my heart is fixed for thy benefits shall never slip out of my memory nor thy goodness recede from my heart neither will I remember them alone but they shall be my song in the house of my pilgrimage I will compose Hymns to the honour of thy Name and in my song praise thée I will say to my heart and tongue which art my glory awake out of thy bed of forgetfulness shake off this dulness in which thou hast slept so long and readily and chearfully sing Hymns to the honour of thy Saviour and that the praise may be the fuller call for thy Harp and Psaltery and all other instruments of Musick which in these troublesome times have béen broken and cast by call for these I say and make a melodious sound in the ears of the God of Jacob. Come along with me and we will enter together into the house of our God then before the morning Sun that we may praise him early with joyful lips There will we praise thee O Lord in the Assembly of many people there will we chant Hymns to thy honour before many Nations For thy mercy is so great That it reacheth to the very Heavens and thy faithfulness in keeping thy promises such That it extends above the Clouds for both these mount up to the Heavens above and pass through the Earth beneath both these are so high and wonderful that they can never be comprehended by us Therefore I pray and I pray again that thou wouldst shew thy self Lord of the Heaven and that thou wouldst shew thy Glory in the whole Earth which though thou dost eminently when thou dost frée the innocent from the hand of the Oppressor yet then thou shalt perfectly bring it to pass when the goodness and mercy and glory of thy justice being divulged through the World by the preaching of thy Gospel all false-worship being destroyâ—â— thou shalt drow all men unto thy self Arise therefore O good Father Be thou exalted and make thy glory illustrious convert all Nations to the Truth break the Nets fill up the pits make the craft and subtilty of Antichrist and his Followers of none effect which they use to eclipse the light of thy Gospel so shall our hearts be every day more and more confirmed to confess praise and celebrate thy Name and to exalt it above all things through Iesus Christ thy only Son and out only Saviour Amen PSAL. LVIII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 DAVID deprecates the danger that hung over his head from Saul and his counsel The parts of the Psalm are three A sharp Invective or Reprehension of his Adversaries ver 1. An Imprecation or Denunciation of Gods judgments upon them from ver 6. to 9. The Benefits that the reby would redound to the righteous ver 10 11. 1. The first part He reprehends his Adversaries David begins with an Apostrophe and figures it with an Erotesis which makes his reproof the sharper 1. Ver. 1 O Congregation O ye counsel of Saul By which he intimates that indeed they did neither 2. Do you indeed speak righteously By which he intimates that indeed they did neither 3. Do you judge uprightly O ye sons of men By which he intimates that indeed they did neither 2. Ver. 2 Which in the next verse in plain terms he affirms and layes home to their charge Yea in heart you work wickedness 2. You weigh the violence of your hands in the earth heart and hand are bent to do evil which the words well considered do exaggerate 1. They were iniquities a plurality of them 2. It was their work 3. Their hearty work 4. Their handy work 5. Weighed out by their scale of justice 6. Which indeed under the colour of justice was but violence 7. And it was in this earth in Israel where no such thing was to be done 3. He aggravates their crime This their wickedness he amplifies both from the Original and the Progress of it 1. Ver. 3 The root of it was very old into the World they brought it with them 1. 1 From their birth The wicked are estranged from the womb Alienati from God and all goodness 2. They go astray even from their Cradle they take the wrong way 3. 2 From their malice and obstinacy Assoon as they be born speaking lyes enclined from the very Birth to falshood 2. And in this their falshood they are malicious and obstinate 1. Ver. 4 Malicious The poyson of their tongue is like the poyson of a Serpent innate adanct deadly 2. Obstinate for they will not be reclaimed by any counsel or admonition They are like the deaf Adder that stops her ear which refuseth to hear the voyce of the Charmer charm he never so wisely 2. The second part He prayes against 1. their wayes and plots Their wickedness malice and obstinacy being so great now he prayes against
servants Which was done for the good of Gods people it was that thy beloved may be delivered That the Godly and good men and those that fear thee being hitherto oppressed and in these distractions harraz'd robb'd kept low and under might be delivered 5. Which that it may be done he inserts a short ejaculation for himself and them Save with thy right-hand and hear thou me And now he begins to commemorate the particulars that God had done by him and the several victories he had gotten as also in what manner he ruled these people To all which he prefaceth with this Oracle Vers. 6 God hath spoken in his holiness David entering on the Kingdom by Gods promise exults Vows to govâ—th He certainly and truly hath promised to save us And as he is a Holy God so certainly it shall be performed And hath he so spoken Laetabor I will be glad and rejoice in it With much joy and comfort I shall enter upon the Kingdom being confirm'd by his promise which I will administer in a different manner My government shall be paternal to the Israelites which are his people But more severe and sharp to the Moabites Ammonites Edomites Syrians because they are aliens from the Common-Wealth of Israel 1. I will divide Sichem and measure out the valley of Succoth 1 Paternally to Israel I will bring under my power those places of Israel and as a true Lord of them I will divide and measure out what portions I shall think fit to the inhabitants 2. Gilead also is mine and Manassch is mine the Israelites that followed the house of Saul are come into my power and I will divide and apportion them also Yet as being mine I shall deal mildly with them 3. Of Ephraim I shall make reckoning Ephraim shall be the strength of my head as this Tribe had more men than any other so they were great Souldiers these therefore David esteemed as his Life-Guard 4. Judah is my Law-giver His chief Counsel was of this Tribe in whom with himself was the Legislative power according to that old Prophecy of Jacob The Scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet till Shiloh come And thus having shew'd his Kingdom and the administration of it 2 Severity to strangers over the Israelites he passeth to the strangers whom he had conquered over whom he would carry a more severe hand putting them into a slavish subjection and to base Offices 1. Moab is my Wash-pot A servant to hold the Basen and to wash my feet 2. Over Edom I will cast my shooe Trample upon their necks â—ick them if I please and expose them at my pleasure to scorn 3. Philistia triumph thou because of me Which is either spoken Ironically as if he should say O Philistines whom I have subdued Go go triumph because I have conquer'd thee Or else Triumph thou that is in the Triumph that I shall celebrate for my conquest bear though unwillingly a part and sing among the rest Jo Paan Follow the train with happy acclamations and proclaim me thy King Lastly After the enumeration of his victories and form of government The third part He gives God the glory of all And for Edom not yet conquered that no man should take this for a vain boast of his own strength he thankfully ascribes all the glory to God both of what he had done and what he was yet to do One people he was yet to conquer and that could not be done except that God who had hitherto gone our with his Armies would again vouchsafe to lead them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore he asks 1. Who will bring me into the strong City Who will lead me into Edom No question had Joab Abishai c. or any of his Worthies been by they would have striven who should have profer'd his service Every one would have said I 'le be the man 2. But he prevents them all and returns this answer to himself Which must be done by God that none but God should do it and that he was perswaded he would do it even that God who was formerly displeased with them had cast them off but was now reconciled and pacified Wilt not thou O God lead us into the strong City which had cast us off and thou O God bring us into Edom which didst not go forth with our Armies 3. And to that purppse he prayes Give us help from trouble and he adds his Reason For which he prayes that nothing can be well done without Gods help and assistance for the strength power prudence skill of man without God are to little purpose for vain is the help of man And he concludes all with this Epiphonema In God we shall do great or valiant Acts And is confident in him to do great acts for he it is that shall tread down our enemies In War these two must be joyned and indeed in all actions He We God and Man 1. We must do valiantly for God helps not remiss and cowardly men or negligent 2. And yet that being done the work is his He shall tread down the blow and overthrow is not to be attributed to us but to him The Prayer collected out of the sixtieth Psalm O Most Mighty God just in thy wayes and righteous in all thy judgments we confess with confusion of face against our selves that we by our crying sins have provoked thée to wrath and indignation against us and that now we justly féel the effects of this thy displeasure Ver. 1 for thou hast séemed to cast us off and delivered us to the will of our enemies Thou hast scattered us among other Nations Ver. 2 There is no part of the Land which hath not béen moved and shaken as with an Earth-quake no corner that hath not béen broken by the fury from a merciless War Ver. 3 In a word even those whom the edge of the Sword hath left alive these have had a sad experience from thy hand of thy displeasure for thou hast shewed unto them hard things and reached unto them a cuy of deadly wine most bitter tribulations which astonish their hearts and most grievous pressures which so overwhelm their senses that they know not which way to turn themselves nor what to do But O God Thou art a God of mercy turn unto us who turn to thée with fasting Ver. 1 wéeping and mourning Heal our wounds repair our breaches set an end to our sorrows and for the Cup of trembling of which we have taken so full draughts for these many years give us a Cup of wine that may exhilerate and glad our afflicted souls Let the man of thy right hand once more set up his Standard and display his Banner and let all thy Beloved and such as fear thée run unto it and save and protect them with thy right hand that they may be delivered at last from the Tyranny of these cruel and bloody Oppressors that
Zion and make choice of it for thy peculiar habitation more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Thou séest Lord with what winds with what storms this thy holy City is assaulted there be who are ready and bent to raze it oven to the foundations Have mercy therefore upon the inhabitants of this City O Lord and thou who hast promised to protect these Walls give the glory to thine own name And suffer not those thy enemies who have not known thée or do envy thy glory Vers. 5 continualiy to reproach thy name and triumph over thy people though they cry Down with it down with it to the ground yet do thou who art the most High establish and confirm it and never suffer the gates of Hell to prevail against it Many Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou City of God The Gates are of pearls the stréets of gold the light in it beyond that of the Sun so that the glory of it was far to excéed the old Temple The glory of any City is in the multitude of the inhabitants bring in hither all Nations and let them walk in the light of this City that they may be saved let the Kings of the Nations bring their glory and honour unto it Day and night let these gates stand open and let those of Rahab and Babylon enter by them and those who were born in Philistia and Tire with Ethiopia be regenerated and born again in her of water and of the Holy Ghost When thou shalt enrole and write up the names of thy Citizens in the book of life set it down in fair Characters that this Alien this Stranger from the Common-wealth of Israel was born in thy house And declare it to the whole world at the day of judgement that his portion shall be with thy natural children In the mean time establish unity and concord betwixt all Nations and let us live in such love and peace that there be no dissonancy no jarres no tumults among us but such an Harmony as is among those who with joyful hearts who with Songs and Musical Instruments sound forth thy praises In Zion are the Springs of living water In Zion are to be found the hid treasures of all knowledge In Zion alone are the cléer fountains of all content all joy Lord evermore refresh our thirsty souls with this water enrich out souls with this treasure Affect us with some degrée of this joy while we remain in this City below and give us full draughts of it when we shall be translated into that heavenly Jerusalem which is above through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen PSAL. LXXXVIII THIS present Psalm expresseth to the life the sad case of an afflicted and a troubled soul complaining to God upon the vehemence of the disease and sense of death that he could feel no comfort Four parts of this Psalm 1. A Petition vers 1 2. 2. The cause of this Petition the misery he was in which he describes from vers 3. to 9. 3. The effect which this his miserable condition wrought upon him which was 1. A special Prayer vers 9 13. 2. An expostulation with God for deliverance vers 10 11 12. 4. A grievous Complaint from vers 14. to 18. 1. The first part His Petition grounded on four Arguments The Prophet offers his Petition but before he commenceth it he premiseth four Arguments that may perswade the admittance of it 1. His confidence and reliance on God O Lord God of my salvation Vers. 1 2. His earnestness to speed I have cryed 3. His assiduity in it Day and night 4. Yea and that sincerely Before thee And then he tenders his request for audience Let my prayer come before thee Vers. 2 encline thine ear unto my cry 2. And then next he sets forth the pitiful condition he was in The second part that thereby he might move God to take compassion which he amplifies divers wayes The sad condition he was in 1. From the weight and variety of his troubles many they were and press'd him to death For my soul is full of troubles and my life draweth nigh to the grave Vers. 3 2. From the danger of death in which he was which is illustrated by three degrees 1. That he was Moribundus no hope of life in him even by the estimate of all men I am counted with them that go down to the pit I am as a man that hath no strength 2. That he was planè mortuus but as a dead man Free among the dead Freed from all the business of this life as far seperate from them as a dead man 3. Yea dead and buried Like the slain that lie in the grave whom thou remembrest no more i.e. to care for in this life and they are cut off from thy hand i.e. thy providence thy custody as touching matters of this life 3. And yet he farther amplifies his sad condition by two Similitudes Which he amplifies by two Similitudes 1. Of a man in some deep dark Dungeon Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness in the deeps As was Jeremiah Cap. 37. 2. Of a man in a Wrack at Sea that is compassed with the waves to which he compares Gods anger Thy wrath lieth hard upon me and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves Vndaque impellitur unda The recourse of his troubles was perpetual one no sooner gone but another succeeded 2. And to add to this his sorrow his friends And over and above his friends afforded him no comfort Which he amplifies by an Auxesis whose visits in extremity use to alleviate the grief of a troubled soul even these proved perfidious and came not at him He had no comfort from them Which was Gods doing too the more was his grief The auxesis is here very elegant 1. Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me Thou 2. Thou hast made me an abomination to them No less an abomination 3. I am shut up I cannot come forth As a man in prison I cannot come at them and they will not come to me 3. The effect of which grievous affliction was threefold 1. The third part The effects this wrought on him An internal grief and wasting of the body 2. An ardent affection in prayer And 3. An expostulation with his God 1. My eye mourns by reason of affliction An evidence it is that I am troubled and grieved to the heart 1 A wasting of the body that my eye droops and fails For when the animal and vital spirits suffer a decay the eye will quickly by her dimness deadness and dulness discover it 2. It produced an ardent affection a continuance 2 A fervency in prayer and assiduity in prayer which is here made evident by the adjuncts 1. His voice I have call'd dayly upon thee It was 1. Clamor 2. Assiduns 2. By the extension of his hands I have stretch'd out my hands to thee Men use to do so when they expect
5 Reproach From the reproach of them who had been his friends but were now his enemies for a wicked man thinks himself reproached by a good mans honest conversation Wisd 5. Mine enemies reproach me all the day long and they are mad against me are sworn against me have conspited by an Oath to undo me 6. And that which made them so mad and sweâ—r was my repentance which I testified by ashes on my head 6 Sadness and tears in my eyes I have caten ashes like bread my dayly food and mingled my drink with weeping I drank tears with my wine that is I was fed with bitterness and sustain'd with tears which they derided And now behold the reason why every true penitent is thus humbled All these increased by the sense of Gods anger it is not for want nor yet for want of wit but it is out of a true sense of Gods anger which he hopes to pacifie by his sorrow and humiliation 1. Ver. 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath for my former sin 2. Which I collect thus Thou hast formerly lifted me up then sure I was in thy fovour but hast now cast me down whence I may well conclude that I am in disfavour with thee 3. And the effect plainly shews it For my dayes are as a shadow that declines and am withered like grace Become mortal flying fading from thy wrath raised by my own default 2. The second part He yet comforts himself in Gods promises Hitherto the Prophet hath petition'd and complain'd His case was lamentable yet he is notswallow'd up of sorrow Heart he begins to take and comfort he promiseth himself in the Eternity and Immutability of God and his love to his Church Hence he conceives hope of reconciliation and being moved by the Spirit of God foretells the restauration of Zion and Jerusalem and typically the state of Christs Church 1. To his Church on which he will have mercy and had when he restored them True I wither away as grass and so shall all Individual men But 1. Thou O Lord shalt endure for ever and therefore thy Church and promises to thy Church 2. And thy Remembrance from generation to generation The Covenant which thou hast made shall be remembred from father to son Ver. 13 till the worlds end 2. Thou seemest now to sleep But thou shalt arise 1. Thou shalt have mercy on Zion and save thy people 2. For the time to favour her yea the set time is come Literally the seventy years of the Captivity were neer expired Typically by the Spirit the Prophet foresaw and conceiv'd the Redemption of the Church in the future as a thing present And both he calls a time of favour for from the favour and mercy of God both proceeded 3. And this Consideration wrought a double effect This wrought a double effect 1. One upon Gods people for the present viz. an earnest desire to have it so Ver. 14 Earnest they were that Jerusalem should again be built the Church set up For thy servants take pleasure in her stones 1 A desire to have it so and favour the dust thereof Ver. 15 2. The other upon the Heathen 2 Another on the Heathen viz. Compassion Conversion So the Heathen shall fear thy name which began when Darius and Cyrus saw and acknowledged the Prophesies and obeyed them 2. And all the Kings of the earth thy glory which was truly fulfill'd in the conversion of Constantine c. to the Faith And he adds the cause why Kings and Nations should be so strangely converted because he had beyond all belief and expectation of man Ver. 16 so strangely delivered his people from Captivity and so miraculously set up his Kingdom in his Church This shall be done When or because the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in glory Before he cast his people into the grave as it were without any hope of life or restitution but when he shall bring them from thence he shall make his glory and honour manifest And that which moved him to it was the prayers of his people Ver. 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their prayer Which effects followed on their prayer Of this mercy a Record to be kept Now lest the Jews should conceive that what was done for them did concern them only and not their Children or to speak more properly the whole people of God in all ages to come God would have a Record kept of it 1. This shall be written for the generation to come 2. And the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord Ver. 18 Cum viderint impleta quae praedicta And of this he assigns two reasons even the self-same set down at the 16. and 17. Verses 1. For be hath looked down from the height of his Sanctuary Ver. 19 from the heaven did the Lord behold the earth 2. To hear the groans of the prisoners Ver. 20 to loose those that are appointed to death That the glory be returned to God Now this Mercy from God calls upon us for our Duty for the proper end of it was and the effect that it should work upon us is that we should be thankful Therefore he looked down therefore he heard the groans of the prisoners c. That being freed 1. They should declare the name of the Lord in Zion Ver. 21 and his praise in Jerusalem 2. And this praise should be compleated Ver. 22 When the people are gathered simul or in unum united together and the Kingdoms to serve the Lord. The Gentiles join with the Jews in it And here methinks I hear the Prophet breaking off his comfort The Prophet laments he shal not live to see it and breaking out in the midst of his prophecy with Balaam As if he had said I am assured all this shall come to pass and be done for Gods people but alas who shall live when God doth this Whosoever shall I shall not certainly For he weakned my strength in the way and hath shortned my dayes Ver. 23 Yet my desire is it might be otherwise Yet he desires he might and in this my desire is but the same with many Kings and Prophets that have gone before me all which long and desired to see the flourishing estate of the Church under the Messiah and therefore Ver. 24 I said O my God take me not away in the midst of my age But suffer me to draw out my life to see that that all good men have aspired to see to wit that I may behold Christ promised in the flesh and be a partaker of the glory of his Kingdom Which Petition And presseth that he might Perswading God to it upon 24. The consideration of Gods eternity and immutability that it might be the easier granted he presseth it by a Collation of Gods Eternity and Immutability with his own life As if he should say Spare me