Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n
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A30058
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The church's request to all her faithful sons and children that they would now pray for her, and stand by her, and help her what they can, and not forsake her in her desolate condition, and the dark time of popery that is coming upon her / written by Digby Bull ...
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Bull, Digby.
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1695
(1695)
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Wing B5409; ESTC R37486
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34,998
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41
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THE CHURCH's REQUEST To all her Faithful SONS AND CHILDREN That they would now pray for her and stand by her and help her what they can and not forsake her in her desolate condition and the dark Time of Popery that is coming upon her Written by Digby Bull M. A. and late Rector of Sheldon in Warwick-shire LONDON Printed for the Author And are to be Sold by J. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1695. Psalm CXXII VI Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem They shall prosper that love thee THE Royal and Devout Psalmist King David who was the Composer of this Psalm as the Title of it declareth doth shew that he was not a Man wholly intent upon his own private Concerns and Interest and wholly taken up with his own Pleasures and Profit and Advancement as too many now are but that he was a Man of a publick Spirit and greatly concerned for his own Land and Nation and the Good and Prosperity thereof And in an especial manner was he concerned for the pure Worship of Almighty God being not lukewarm herein but very fervent and zealous for the true Religion and for the Honour and Service of the true and only God That he was tender of the common good and welfare of his People he sheweth in many instances and particularly in bewailing the loss of them by the Plague that God sent upon them and desiring that they might be spared and that the Hand of God might be against him and his Father's House 2 Sam. 24.17 And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the Angel that smote the People and said Lo I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done Let thine hand I pray thee be against me and against my Father's house So much doth he shew himself concerned for the common good and so much troubled for the loss of so many of his People by the Plague that God sent upon them And in an extraordinary manner doth he shew himself zealous in all Matters of Religion and for the pure Worship and Service of Almighty God composing Psalms for that purpose and ordering the courses of the Priests and taking great care that they duely executed their Offices and Functions to the Glory and Honour of Almighty God And he sought out a place for his sacred Temple and intended to build it out of hand if God had not prevented him and told him that he should leave that work to his Son Solomon because he had been a Man of War and shed much blood Lord saith he Ps 132.1 remember David and all his afflictions How he sware unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed I will not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eye-lids until I find out a place for the Lord an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. So zealous and intent was he upon this matter and likewise towards all other matters of Religion And for his Zeal especially towards the Worship and Service of Almighty God it is as we may conceive that he is so highly commended and renowned in the Word of God for being a Man after Gods own heart Acts 13.22 And he is not only zealous herein himself for the preserving and promoting of the pure and sincere Worship of Almighty God and the good and prosperity of his Church and People but doth earnestly exhort all others to be so too and to pray for the Peace and Prosperity of them assuring them that those that should do so that should bear true love towards them and seek their Peace and Welfare should be well rewarded for all their care and pains herein And this he doth here in the Text. Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper that love thee In which words we have these two parts I. An exhortation or command to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem And II. A promise and assurance of a Blessing upon such as should bear true love thereto and seek the Peace thereof They shall prosper that love thee I. The Exhortation and Precept wherein we have first the Duty that he exhorts others to and that is Prayer secondly the subject matter of this Prayer and that is for Peace and thirdly the place for which he solicits their Prayers and that is for Jerusalem Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem First In exhorting and enjoining them to pray for Jerusalem we may conclude that he requires them to use their utmost endeavours in all lawful ways for the good and happiness of that place and what he means thereby And in exhorting and persuading of them to pray for it he doth thereby mind them that this was the best help and assistance that they could yield towards it that all humane endeavours are but vain and fruitless without the divine Help and Assistance and Protection of Almighty God and that it must be he alone that must protect and advance it And so the Psalmist hath more fully taught us that all the endeavours of Man are to no purpose without the divine Succours and Help of Almighty God Psal 127.1 Except the Lord build the House saith he they labor in vain that build it Except the Lord keep the City the watchman waketh but in vain All proves but vain and lost labor without his Almighty Aid and Defence And saith the Psalmist Psal 124.8 Our help is in the Name of the Lord who made Heaven and Earth And the Psalmist affirmeth him to be the builder of Jerusalem Psal 147.2 The Lord doth build up Jerusalem he gathereth together the Out-casts of Israel And he it is that effecteth and worketh this peace that the Psalmist exhorts others to pray for as we may see Psal 147.12 Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Zion for he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates he hath blessed thy Children within thee He maketh peace in thy borders and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat He it was that thus blessed and preserved Jerusalem and while Judgment and Righteousness were therein he gave assurance that he would defend and protect it in a mighty manner Is 31.4 It was Almighty God that did defend and preserve this beloved City of the Jews and that did fill it with Peace and Plenty and made it to flourish in all kinds of prosperity And to supplicate his divine Goodness in behalf of it in a due and devout manner was the greatest service and assistance that they could yield towards the Good and Welfare thereof But we may conclude that in exhorting and enjoyning them to pray for it he doth also exhort and enjoyn them to give all the help and assistance that they were able towards the Good and Prosperity thereof in all respects That they should not let their helping hand be wanting in any good deed that they were able to do for it Secondly We have here the subject matter of
unto the Lord. By this and other places in Deut it is plain that God would chuse a place for his sacred Name and that they were to resort thither to perform their more solemn Worship and Service to him there And here at this place were all their Males to appear three times in the year Deut. 16.16 Three times in a year shall all thy Males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose in the feast of unleavened bread and in the feast of weeks and in the feast of tabernacles And the Lord did signify to David that he had chosen Jerusalem for this place where he would put his holy Name And so he saith Psal 132.13 For the Lord hath chosen Zion he hath desired it for his Habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it And Zion was a part of Jerusalem and seems to be put for the whole And unto Jerusalem had David brought the Ark of God and put it in the Tent which he had there made for it until the Temple was builded 2 Chr. 1.4 And here had he prepared a place for the Temple of the Lord and did intend to build it but God would have Solomon his Son to build it and he builded it in the place that David had prepared 2 Chr. 3.1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah where the Lord appeared unto David his Father in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite And not only the City and the place but the very draught of this house of God was shewed to David and God himself seems to order the fashion of it as he did of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and David delivered the pattern thereof to his son Solomon 1 Chr. 28.11 And according to these divine Instructions did Solomon build this extraordinary Temple of the Lord and as soon as it was finished the glory of the Lord appeared in it 1 Kings 8.10 And here was he to be more solemnly worshiped than any where else a great part of his Worship and Service being appropriated to this peculiar Temple of his In Zion it was that praise waited for him and in Jerusalem was the vow to be performed to him Psal 65.1 and 116.18 19. And saith the Psalmist Psal 48.2 Beautiful for situation the joy of the whole Earth is mount Zion on the sides of the north the City of the great King The Temple here was God's peculiar house and to be an house of Prayer to all people Is 56.7 And upon this account of Religion and of God's Worship and Service it is that Jerusalem is called the holy City the City of God the City of the great King and God said to love it above all others Matt. 4.5 and 5.35 And Psal 87.2 The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee O City of God Upon this account especially it is that the Royal Psalmist requires them to pray for Jerusalem because it was the capital City of Religion the City of the Lord of hosts that he had espoused to himself above all others and his great Temple of Worship was to be here for upon this house of God had the devout Psalmist set his heart and affections though it was not then built as he sheweth 1 Chr. 29.3 Moreover because I have set my affection to the house of my God saith he I have of mine own proper good And upon this account it is that he is so much concerned for Jerusalem And this he declareth himself in this psalm 122.9 Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good This is the great reason why he would seek the good of Jerusalem and doth exhort others to pray for it because God's House and solemn Worship was to be here and his heart was set upon them In praying then for Jerusalem he doth exhort and require them to pray for the good and welfare of the Church of God that it might enjoy all Peace and Quiet and that his Worship and Service might here at Jerusalem be performed in a due and publick manner to his great Honour and Glory and to the real benefit and comfort of his Worshippers and Servants That his Sanctuary and holy Place there might not be polluted and profaned by Heathens and unhallowed Persons and his Worship and Service corrupted or quite neglected and cast off and Religion driven to hide her head but that Jerusalem might be as a City upon an hill taken notice of and admired by all the World for the solemn Worship of Almighty God that should there be performed That they might unanimously Serve and Worship God there and that all Nations might flock thither to his Solemnities and to join in his Worship and Service That many Nations might come and say as it is Mic. 4.2 Come and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths That God's Ordinances and Worship should there be duely celebrated and kept where they ought and with that purity and devotion and splendor that they ought too That true Religion might be advanced and in esteem among them and that God's Honour and Service might be set up and exalted above all and that it might be joy and gladness of heart to them to see it so In praying for the Peace of Jerusalem he seems to do no less than require and enjoin them to pray for the good and welfare of their whole Nation which depended hereupon and especially that they should pray for the Good and Prosperity of the Church that it might flourish and enjoy all manner of Peace among them and that God might be duely served at his Temple the place that he himself had chosen And now from this Text we may see that it is our duty to be much concerned and to pray for our Jerusalem in this manner That we should bear hearty good-will to our own Land and Nation and the Israel of God among us and especially to our own Church and that pure Religion among us That we should be very zealous in our Prayers for them and endeavour to preserve them and to do them all the good we can in a lawful way This we are taught by this Text For the Psalmist spake by the Spirit of God and what he hath said here is to be an Instruction to us as well as it was to the Jews Rom. 15.4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime saith the Apostle were written for our learning And we may see that under the names of Jerusalem and Zion the Christian Church seems often to be meant or at the least to be included therein Jer. 33.15 In those days and at that time will I cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up unto