Selected quad for the lemma: nation_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nation_n	let_v	lord_n	praise_v	2,458	5	9.7983	5	true

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

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

Fourthly Yet with this holy heat and freedome of spirit let your Praises this day have a temperament of holy fear and your rejoycings an allay of spirituall trembling We finde this directing corrective in the Psalm too For a little beyond the text at the 10 verse thus David concludes The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome a good understanding have all that doe his commandements his praise endureth for ever We must not be afraid to praise God but we must praise him with fear and they who have most true courage and holy boldnesse in praising God praise him with the greatest mixture of this gracious fear Moses put this ingredient into his Song of triumph for the overthrow of Pharoah and his Hoast in the red Sea Who is like unto thee O Lord among the Gods who is like unto thee glorious in holin●ss fearfull in praises Exod. 15. 11. Therefore Praise him with fear what fear with fear First Lest we should not have praised him as we ought or with this fear that we have not come up to that holinesse and spiritualnesse of the duty in which it ought to be performed We have no reason to think we have done this work so well as that all 's well but rather to fear that we have failed much in it When we are at highest in any duty we are below our duty how much more in this duty of praise which is our highest duty Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord who can shew forth all his praise Psal 106. 2. Had we as the Apostle speaks in another case ● Cor. 13. 1. the tongues of men and Angells yea the best hearts of both we could not shew forth all his Praise what then have we done with our stammering tongues and straitned hearts to the Praise of God Secondly Praise the Lord with this fear lest you should forget the benifits which you have praised him for Holy David Psal 103. 2. bespeaks his soule thus Blesse the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benifits that is forget none at all of them They that are afraid of forgetting the benifits of God are most likely to remember them Such fear will write the Praise of God upon your hearts and provoke you to Praise him with your lives Thirdly Praise the Lord with this fear that you neither are nor shall be able to answer his loving kindnesse nor returne to him according to the mercy now received The great things which God hath heretofore and now done for us will undoe us in the end unlesse we doe somewhat I say not equall but sutable to them Successe of affaires whether at home or abroad is a Talent yea there may be many talents in one successe And who knows not that hath read the Gospel how dangerous it is to wrap up our talent in a napkin If once God seeth that we are not bettered and strive not to doe better when he doth us good he will not onely not doe us good any more but doe us hurt yea destroy us as he told his ancient people by the mouth of Joshuah their leader and chiefe Magistrate Josh 24. 20. Therefore let this holy fear be strong and stirring upon your hearts lest you come short of the Praise of God both in the frame of your hearts and in your performance to him Be afraid that you shall neither have such strength of faith in God in future streights nor such faithfulnes to God in any of your enlargements as the experience of this day calls for Be afraid that ye shall never shew forth such a zeale for God as God hath shewed for you for as the Prophet tells us the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall so we may say the zeale of the Lord of hosts hath done this great thing for us and that zeale of God will yet doe greater if the work of God cool not upon our hands Fear lest ye should not know what this mercy calls you to doe and be more afraid lest you should not doe what you know As the correcting rod so the supporting staffe of God hath a voyce in it They are wise indeed who hearing understand that voyce and understanding it do thereafter Whatever your hand finds to doe for the name of God and for the prosperity of these Nations doe it with all your might There 's much to be done for the promoting of justice and righteousnesse in the Nation That our Judges may every where be as at the first and our Counsellours as at the beginning And that there may be no more pricking bryar nor grieving thorn among our selves as Israel was promised in reference to those about them Ezek. 28. 24 There 's much also to be done for the promoting of truth and holinesse which in consort with justice and righteousnesse are at once the beauty and stability the honour and the safety of Nations Let both evill deeds and damnable doctrines be witnessed against let no errour find encouragement let no faith-devouring and conscience-wasting errour appear with open face in our borders without a rebuke from Magistraticall power God hath been tender of the honour of the Nation abroad let not the honour of God suffer or be ecclipsed at home through any defect in the exercise of that great power wherewith you are entrusted That fear of the Lord with which I have been pressing you to Praise the Lord will surely guide you in all your counsels to the doing and accomplishing of all these things For so saith this Psalmist v. 10 The sear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdome The word which we render beginning signifies also the head or top the perfection and highest pinnacle of wisdome Indeed the holy fear of the Lord is the beginning and ending the first and last the Alpha and Omega of all true wisdome and therefore the Psalmist adds in the close of the same verse A good understanding have all they that doe his commandement● Understanding and doing are two things yet they onely understand the commandements of God who doe his commandements and they onely doe his commandements who fear him Solomon puts both these together and makes them the sum of all the duty of man and therefore surely the sum of all the wisdome of man Eccles 12. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandements for this is the whole duty of man or this is the whole of man As if that Preacher-royall had said You have heard me long and I have spoken many words I will now ease your labour in hearing and mine in speaking when you have heard and I have spoken but two words more Fear God and keep his commandements To fear God is to honour him in our hearts To keep the commandements of God is to honour him in our lives And is not this whole man A man without this though in honour understandeth not but is like the beast that perisheth A man in highest honour and of greatest understanding can not goe beyond this Therefore This is all man in the best of men To this end as every man was made so every man lives who knows why he was made and why he lives And hence to return to my text David had no sooner said The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have all they they that doe his commandements but presently he concludes His praise endureth for ever There is a twofold reference of these words First to God whose Praises David had been inditing and singing all the Psalm over His praise eminently endureth for ever Secondly to that man who praiseth God kowingly and with his whole heart who praiseth God boldly and with holy fear this man hath a good understanding and his praise endureth for ever Right Honourable You have now kept a day of Praise to God If you shall approve your selves to God and to his people to have kept it according to the counsell and example of his Kingly Prophet there will be more then a day of praise for you your Praise will endure for ever the children who are yet unborn will praise you and praise God for you And consider how sad your account will be if you who have now kept a day of Praise should give the Nation any just and r●all occasion to dispraise and speak evill of you hereafter if your name and honour should receive a blot or blemish by any thing that you do or advise to be done after you have thus beautified the name of God with these solemn Praises While your hand is upon the helm of government let your eye be to heaven for guidance both as to the way and issue of your counsells that you may have praise in the gate praise in the City and praise in the country that you may have nothing but praise in the hearts and by the tongues of all those whose praises are worth the having or that if you miss praise at present from men you may have that praise of God at last which will indeed endure for ever Well done good and faithfull servants FINIS