direct concerning them particularly Secondly I shall consider the Practice of our Church with relation to those Directions and Examples And Thirdly The Practice of Protestant-Dissenters CHAP. I. Of Praises Sect. 1. What the Holy Scriptures prescribe concerning them I. FIrst then as to the Praises of God The Scriptures both of the Old and New Testaments require the use of the Psalms in offering up Praises to God We find in the Old Testament 2 Chron. xxix 30 Hezekiah the King and the Princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph and they sang with gladness This Command of Hezekiah proceeded from God and was approved by him The same way of praising God continued in the Jewish Church till our Saviour's time And after that we have yet a more positive Command for the use of them by the Apostle Ephes. v. 19 Speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs And Col. iii. 16 Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly in all Wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs singing and making melody with grace in your hearts to the Lord. I think there is no room to doubt but by the Psalms c. in these places is meant the Book of Psalms which the Holy Ghost has left for this purpose to the Church II. Tho' the Scriptures recommend to us singing of Psalms yet in some cases they allow us to say them I will not insist on those places of Scripture that seem to require us to do so such as Psal. cxviii 2 Let Israel now say that his mercy endureth for ever let the House of Aaron now say and let them that fear the Lord now say c. because these Expressions being Poetical may be so interpreted as to mean singing tho' there is no Necessity of restraining the general Command of Saying or Speaking the Praises of God to Singing only We find in Scripture several Sacred Hymns particularly of Hannah the Blessed Virgin Zacharias and Simeon and the Saints in Heaven Rev. vii 12 xi 17 which are said to have been Said by them respectively and the circumstances in the Story do not make it probable that they were sung From all which we may reasonably infer That where People can sing they are obliged to do it in obedience to God's Command But where through any defect of Nature or Art they cannot Sing Decently they may be dispensed with Saying Only People ought not by this Indulgence to be encouraged to neglect singing altogether or to think that God doth not require it of them when by a little pains or industry they may attain to the Art of decently performing it in his Service III. 'T is certain the Word of God recommendeth to us Psalms and Hymns in Prose for our praising God If we look into the Songs of the Blessed Virgin of Zacharias or Simeon we shall find them all in Prose and such are the Songs of the Blessed which they are represented singing in the Revelations particularly Chap. v. 9 Chap. xv 3 As to the Hebrew Psalms 't is evident that they are Poetical but the Poetry of them consists rather in the Style and manner of Expression than in any certain Measures or Verses which those that have searched most narrowly into them have yet been able to discover so as to satisfy an indifferent Reader But whatever Poetry there may be in them we can not find by any of the antient Translations which were made use of by the Church in our Saviour or his Apostles time or in the Ages immediately following that they or the first Christians did sing any thing in Verse but we are sure that they sung Hymns in Prose So that we have no certain Scriptural Warrant for the Use of Verse or Meetre in the Praises of God Perhaps some may fancy that Verse or Measure was not in use in those Countreys and that therefore they sung their Songs in Prose but this is a Mistake Poetry and Verses were then in those places where the Psalms were translated in great request and at the highest perfection when the New Testament was penned and yet we have no Example therein of their Use in the Praises of God And it is very manifest that this proceeded from Choice not Necessity For if the holy Ghost had thought Verse necessary for Divine Psalms we may presume he would have inspired some of the holy Men in Scripture when Extraordinary Gifts were so common either to Translate the Psalms of the Old Testament into Verse or else to Compose some of the other Hymns that are recorded in the New after that way But neither of these having been done 't is at least a presumption that we may praise God as acceptably in Prose as in Verse And there is one thing further to be considered That the Prophets of the Heathen who pretended to be inspired generally wrote their Prophecies and their Hymns to their Gods in Verse We know not but this may be one Reason why the holy Ghost thought fit that such as were inspired by Him should decline that way of Recording their Prophecies or Praises IV. As the Scriptures prescribe us the Use of Psalms in the praises of God so they encourage us to offer those Praises by way of Responses or Answering For this we have the best Examples that can be desired even the blessed Angels and glorified Saints So Isa. vi 3 And one cried unto another Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts And the Church triumphant through the whole Revelation is I think constantly represented praising God after this manner So Chap. vii 9 where The Multitude that represent the People cried out with a loud voice vers 10. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb. And then The Angels and Elders who represent the Clergy perform their part vers 12. saying Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto our God They are represented the same way answering one another Chap. xix 1 I heard a great voice of much People in Heaven saying Alleluia this they repeat vers 3. then the Twenty four Elders representing as before the Clergy answer vers 4. Amen Alleluia Then vers 5. a Voice came out of the Throne saying Praise our God Upon which vers 6. the People resume their part and answer Alleluia for the Lord Omnipotent Reigns I make no question but this is taken by Allusion from the manner of the Church's Praising God on Earth and there is nothing in it but what is agreeable to St. Paul's Command of Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs which supposes every one to have share in them either by turns or by bearing a part It is observable that the Psalms contain many excellent Instructions and Exhortations as well as Praises and Prayers and therefore St. Paul recommends them to Christians
for their mutual Instruction and Admonition It was common therefore for one to sing and the rest to hearken for their Instruction and Edification as appears 1 Cor. xiv 31 For ye may all prophesie one by one that all may learn and be comforted Prophesying here as we may find from the 26th verse of this Chapter includes Psalms as well as Doctrines Tongues Revelations and Interpretations and the praising God one by one or by turns amounts to praising Him by way of Responses or Answering and tho' these Prophets were inspired yet it is plain they acted in this according to the settled Order of the Church Vers. 33. As in all the Churches of the Saints and these inspired Prophets thus praising God one by one is an unquestionable Precedent that God approves this way in his Praises This Way of praising God by Answering one another is the most Antient we find in Scripture For thus Miriam praised God Exod. xv 21 And Miriam answered them Sing ye to the Lord for He hath Triumphed gloriously c. And the last Song recorded in Scripture is of the same sort Rev. xix as is before mentioned I reckon the songs with which the Women of Israel received Saul 1 Sam. xviii 7 to be Religious and there it is expresly said That they answered one another And Chap. xxi 11 Did they not sing one to another c. But whether these songs were Religious or no it is certain that the Frame and Composition of some Psalms are such as plainly discover that they were designed to be sung in parts and as much is owned by the best Commentators Such are the xxiv and cxviii Psalms It is to be observed that the Law of Moses neither prescribes Psalms in the praises of God nor Singers nor the way of Singing These all therefore are parts of Natural Religion and indeed antienter than the Law as appears by Exod. xv What therefore we find in the Old Testament concerning these is either from the immediate Prescriptions and Revelations of God by his Prophets or from the Dictates of Nature and not any part of the Ceremonial Law And 't is obvious that Natural Necessity will teach any considering Man this way of alternate singing or Answering in parts for if the Songs be long as some of the Psalms are no one Mans Voice can hold out to the end V. The Holy Scriptures recommend to us the use of Instruments in the praises of God the Psalmist frequently uses and recommends them and the whole Book of Psalms is concluded with this advice Psal. cl 3 Praise him with Timbrel praise him with stringed Instruments and Organs c. Thus Religious persons were taught to praise God before the Law Ex. xv 20 And Miriam the Prophetess the sister of Aaron took a Timbrel in her hand and all the Women went after with Timbrels c. And thus the Blessed in Heaven are represented praising God Rev. v. 8 and xiv 2 The Writers of the new Testament recommend to us the Psalms which were the Hymns of the Jewish Church and command us to sing them and 't is observable that the word we render Sing Jam. v. 13 originally implies singing with an Instrument Now if they had not approved the Jewish way of singing them which was with Instruments they would not have used a word that imported it nay it is not to be doubted but they would have cautioned us against it but the use of Instruments as I have shewed before in the case of Miriam being no part of the Ceremonial Law but antecedent to it ought not to cease without some Command or Precept condemning it VI. Lastly The Scripture requires that we understand the praises we sing to God and this warrants our Translating them into the Vulgar Tongue It is a Duty therefore incumbent on the Governours of the Church to procure the Psalms to be Translated for the Use of the people under their Charge and they may expect the Assistance of God's Spirit when they attempt it in Obedience to his Command But if through Human Frailty any mistake not contray to Faith should creep in this ought to be no Exception against the Use of the Translation since there are such Mistakes both in the Syriac Greek and Latin Translations some of which are of great Antiquity and were used by our Saviour himself and his Apostles These are the Directions the Scriptures give us for the performance of this first part of the Worship of God which consists in praises and the manner we find them offer'd to Him by his Saints Sect. 2. The manner of Praising God Publickly which is prescribed and practised by our Church NOw as to the manner of offering Praises in our Church it is to be considered 1. That we are directed to praise glorify and confess to God every day in a certain number of Psalms of his own Appointment out of the Old Testament and then in such Hymns as are recorded in the New And to these there are added such other Hymns Confessions of Faith and Thanksgivings as will appear by and by to be agreeable to the general Directions of Scripture But inasmuch as the Mystery of the holy Trinity is more explicitly revealed to us under the Gospel than it was to those under the Law Therefore our Church has thought fit to require us with every Psalm and Hymn to intermix Glory be to the Father to the Son and to the holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be To signify that we believe that the same God was worshiped by them as by us the same God that is glorified in the Psalms having been from the beginning Father Son and holy Ghost as well as now So that our ascribing this glory expresly to the Three Persons in whose Name we are Baptised ought not to be taxed as any real Addition to the Psalms it being only used as a necessary Expedient to turn the Jewish Psalms into Christian Hymns and to fit them for the Use of the Church now as they were before for the Use of the Synagogue which practice I presume can give cause of Exception to none but Socinians 2. Our Church Orders these Psalms to be either Sung or Said as the people are able to offer them not being willing to lay a greater restraint on them than the Scripture has done In which as I have already shewed we have Examples for both these ways of praising God 3. They are proposed to us in Prose without any other alteration from the Original than what was necessary to make them intelligible in our Language 4. The people are allowed to bear their part in them and either to sing or say them by way of Answering This is according to the Scripture Examples but it is not imposed except in very few Cases 5. Our Church permitteth the Use of some grave Musical Instruments to regulate the Voices of those that sing and to stir up their Affections which are the
Natural Effects of Musick and seem more requisite in Northern Countreys where generally peoples Voices are more harsh and untuneable than in other places but this is not imposed in any Congregation nor doth any Rule of our Church require it and therefore it is at the peoples Choice whether they will use the help of these Instruments or no. 6. This then is the care our Church has taken for the publick performance of the praises of God and if we bring grace in our hearts and an inward sense of the Majesty of God and of his Mercies towards us when we come to joyn in them which is our part and duty to do who can say that God's praises thus celebrated are not according to his Commands and acceptable to Him I think it sufficiently plain that they are agreeable to the holy Scriptures which ought to be our Rule for this and all other parts of God's Worship I think no more necessary therefore on this Head but with all earnestness to beseech you who are of our Communion to consider how great and important a part these praises are of the Worship of God and to apply your selves with all diligence and holy zeal to the performance of it for we never come nearer the Imployment of the Blessed then when our Hearts and Mouths are filled with the praises of our God Sect. 3. The Dissenters manner of Praising God in Publick ANd now as to you my Friends and Brethren who dissent from this Worship of ours give me leave with all calmness to examine how you perform this great work of Praising God and I desire you to compare your own practice in your publick Assemblies with what you find in your Bibles concerning this Duty I. Your Directory determines it to be the duty of Christians to praise God publickly by singing of Psalms together in the Congregation and that in singing Psalms the voice is to be tuneable and gravely ordered and lastly that it is convenient that the Minister or some other fit person appointed by him and the other ruling Officers do read the Psalm line by line before the singing thereof and your common practice is to sing two or three verses of a Psalm in Meetre the Minister or Clerk first reading each line and the people singing it after II. Before I proceed to make any observations on these Rules and Practice to prevent mistakes I desire you to observe 1. That I do not condemn the singing of Psalms in Meetre as unlawful 2. That I take it for granted that the Apostles and Primitive Christians did praise God in Prose and that Meetre and Rhyme are for ought appears purely of Human Invention 3. We must consider that if we take the Psalms as We use them in Prose there is not a more Exalted piece of Poetry in the World nor any thing better fitted to raise in serious and well disposed people the most devout Affections Whereas if we take them as they are commonly used in Rhime the Force the Vigour the Loftiness which are so Extraordinary in the Prose Translation are almost intirely lost in the Verse and tho' several have attempted to Translate them into English Verse yet I cannot find that any one has done Justice to the Majesty of the Expressions and hardly to the Sense of them III. Having premised these things I intreat you to consider impartially with me how far this your practice agrees with the Scripture Rule 1. Then the Scriptures command us to praise God in Psalms and undoubtedly the first Christians used whole Psalms at a time Sometimes they joyned together in singing them as our Saviour and his Disciples did Matt. xxvi 30 Sometimes one only sung and the rest attended for their Edification as appears from 1 Cor. xiv 26 But the aforesaid method of singing the Meetre Psalms takes up so much time that it is impossible to praise God in whole Psalms after that manner But if we use the Psalms in Prose according to the Order of our Church the Experience of Good Men doth testify that we may easily pass through them in a month with seriousness and attention whether we sing or read them And to well disposed minds no part of God's Service is more agreeable or edifying whereas some years would not serve to that purpose if we should use the new invented way of singing a few verses And I question whether all of them were ever yet sung through in one Meeting place perhaps not in all the Meetings of the Kingdom and yet it must be confessed that every one of them was left to the Church by the Holy Ghost for that use and is profitable when thus used for Doctrine Reproof Correction Instruction and Comfort Which plainly proves that the singing the Psalms in Meetre is not the Scripture Way of Using them 2. Let me mind you that in the time of the late Usurpation Dr. Manton a Man of considerable Reputation among the Dissenters observes in his Comment on the Epistle of St. James Chap. v. vers 13 That several scrupled singing Psalms at all others objected against singing them in verse this he calleth a vaâ—n cavil yet proposeth if the scruple continueth that such may Sing the Reading Psalms as hath been used in Cathedrals and vouches St. Austin and Athanasius for it which is a plain confession from this considerable Person that this way of singing is less lyable to exception then yours 3. I know it is alledged that we ought to have the Psalms in Verse for singing as well as we ought to have them in Prose for Reading But I have shewed already that Christ and his Disciples sung their Hymns in prose and I desire you to consider whether it be necessary to vary from these Precedents We have a Command to Translate them which supposes into prose because the Original is so but none to turn them into Meetre which necessarily requires Paraphrasing Changing the order of the Sentences sometimes adding and leaving out words And on that account seems to give Human Wit too great a Liberty of treating the Word of God as Men please At least we must acknowledge that the Psalms so ordered partake of Human Frailty and are hardly equal to the best meer Human Composures When therefore we use such Psalms we ought to use them as Human Composures only and not as God's Word And thus they are used by our people in our Assemblies not as any main substantial part of the Worship of God but rather as a voluntary entertainment of Devotion and a refreshment to the people between the parts of the Service much less are they allowed by us to justle out the Psalms and Hymns appointed by God 4. As to the manner of singing the Psalms in Meetre at present in use both with you and us in some places that is the Minister or Clerks reading a line and the people singing it after it is a great interruption to the Musick and to the understanding of the Psalm by breaking
the sense of it and in that respect very inconvenient and is likewise a late invention of our own never used by any Foreign Church either Popish or Reformed for ought I can find to this day and has been taken up to supply the negligence and laziness of people who will not now as formerly be at pains to get Psalms by heart or so much as procure Books or learn to read them 5. Notwithstanding your Directory requires the voice in singing Psalms to be tuneable and gravely ordered yet you have not only refused the Use of Instruments which are a natural means to help the Voice and make it tuneable and are used by most of the Reformed Churches in Europe but have also determined it to be Unlawful I would intreat you to consider that though perhaps it may not be so proper to press the Use of Instruments in the service of God in these parts where so many for want of being used to them have entertained prejudices against them and some are uncapable of being affected by them yet the making them Unlawful is against Nature and Scripture and is on that account a dangerous Superstition and Encroachment on Christian Liberty 6. The same Superstition and Encroachment it is not only to forbear to praise God in singing or saying Psalms and Hymns by way of Responses or Answering of which I have given such Noble Precedents out of Scripture but even to determine it to be Unlawful Lastly I would entreat you to consider That forasmuch as appears you have altogether laid aside the Psalms in Prose and the other Scripture Hymns that are of God's immediate Appointment and for the Use of which we have the Example of our Saviour and his Saints insomuch that they are no where used by you in the Praises of God but in their stead you have substituted as is before observed a few Verses of a Psalm of Human Composure without Scripture-Example or Precedent and sing them in a way that has nothing of Antient Practise much less Scripture for it but is purely and immediately an Invention of Men. IV. The Case then between our Church and you in this point I think impartially stands thus Our Church praises God every day with five or six Psalms besides other Hymns of His Own Appointment and in His own Words and Method and yet is deserted and condemned by you in this very point as Teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men whereas you who only praise Him in a piece of a Psalm of a few Verses and in a Method of your own finding out perswade your selves that you keep the Ordinances of God pure and unmixed from Human Invention This is a thing seriously to be considered by you for as it is easie to think what all unprejudiced Men will judge of it now so we may conclude what God will judge it at the last day If you in earnest lay these things to heart and reflect on them I perswade my self that they will at least prevail with you to be modest in your Censures of us your Brethren and prevent your Judging much less Condemning us or our manner of praising God as Unacceptable to Him CHAP. II. Of Prayer Sect. 1. What the Holy Scriptures prescribe concerning it I. LEt us now proceed to the Second main part of the Worship of God in the Publick Meetings of Christians which I observed was Prayer or Supplication And if we consider what Rules Directions and Examples the Scriptures afford us for the performance of this Duty we shall find That they direct us to offer up our Prayers in a set and prepared Form of Words That we may more clearly judge of this matter it will be fit to consider the several parts of Prayer distinctly by themselves such as Confession Supplication Intercession c. 1. Confession of our own Unworthiness and of God's Mercy to aggravate it is commonly looked on as the first part of Prayer and proper to introduce our Supplications Now in searching the Scriptures we shall find express Command to use a set Form of Words in both these sorts of Confession So Deuteron xxvi 3 Thou shalt go unto the Priest that shall be in those days and say unto him I profess this day unto the Lord thy God that I am come unto the Countrey which the Lord sware unto our fore-Fathers to give us And then the Offerer was to make his Confession vers 5 And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God A Syrian ready to perish was my Father c. Here we have a Form of Confession of the person's Vnworthiness and of God's Goodness and Mercy together with a profession of Obedience and dependance on Him prescribed by God Himself in set prepared words The same appears from Solomon's prescribing a Form of Confession for the penitent Israelites 1 Kings viii 47 which words we find accordingly applied in Psal. cvi 6 and made part of a larger Form of Confession to be used in their Captivity as Solomon designed them which appears from the 47th Verse of the same Psalm taken from the Form prescribed by David 1 Chro. xvi 35 And Daniel in his Form of Confession in Captivity Chap. ix vers 5. uses the same Form of Words From whence it appears that they were not left Arbitrarily to Choice or Discretion tho' other Words might be joyned with them when there was occasion to enlarge or vary the Form Many of the Psalms are Forms of Confession and were used and daily Repeated by the Jewish Church Psal. li. was the Form of Confession David prepared and us'd for his Murther and Adultery and he not only used it himself but directed it to the Master of his Choire to be used in the Publick Service as appears from the Title of it Psal. lxxviii is a general Confession for the whole people setting forth at large the Mercies of God to them and their Ingratitude Disobedience and Rebellion and this not as a Pattern but as a set and prepared Form to be used in their publick Service All which shew us that Addresses to God in such Forms are of Divine Institution and are a warrant to us that he approves that our Confession should be made to him in that manner 2. The second part of Prayer is Supplication for good things and in this Case we have likewise the Commandment of God for a Form of Words Deut. xxvi 13 15. Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God Look down from thy holy Habitation from Heaven and bless thy people Israel and the Land which thou hast given us as thou swarest unto our Fathers c. So Hos. xiv 2 Take with you words and turn to the Lord your God and say unto Him Take away all Iniquity c. Moses in the Wilderness used a set Form of Words to this purpose and recommended it to be used by the Church of God for ever as is manifest from Psal. xc which has this Title A Prayer of Moses
'T is certain our Saviour did not sit but lie at Table when he did eat his usual Meals Suppose then he had obliged us to his posture of Eating we ought to lie as he did but none assert the necessity of our doing so or practise this way Since then all Parties change it sure we do better that change it into the Religious way of Eating recommended to us in the Scriptures with Adoration then others that change our Saviour's way into sitting the common way of our Eating 3. We have this further to say for our practise That our Saviour was not at a common supper when he Instituted this Sacrament but at the Passover which was a Sacramental Eating and had a peculiar posture prescribed for it Ex. xii 11 and tho' some think but without warrant from Scripture that the Jews did not observe this yet it is owned they observed another which differed from the common posture of Eating and was reckoned Religious However 't is spoken that our Saviour performed this Eating with several Religious Ceremonies that were not in the first Institution Such is that we find Luke xxii 17 And He took the Cup and gave thanks and said Take this and divide it among your selves This Cup is different from the Sacramental Cup which is Instituted vers 20. and therefore if we would imitate Christ we ought to Eat the Lord's Supper in a way peculiar to it self and different from our common Meals 4 But fourthly The full Answer to the Argument is That it goes on a false Supposition that our Saviour instituted this Sacrament in the common posture of Eating which no wise appears in Scripture neither can it be inferred from any thing said or intimated by the Evangelists or St. Paul but rather the contrary It is true whilst the Disciples were Eating he took Bread but after that he gave thanks and blessed it and then he brake it and gave it to them and it is not to be supposed that the Disciples continued Eating whilst our Saviour was giving thanks and blessing that is praying Our Saviour therefore or his Disciples were not Eating but giving thanks and praying whilst this Sacrament was instituted and therefore it was proper to be done and in probability was done by our Saviour in a thanksgiving and praying posture neither was there any necessity to take notice of this change of posture since the change of the Action from Eating to Thanksgiving and Blessing sufficiently signifies and infers it There is no Notice taken of our Saviour's rising at all from the Table by any of the three Evangelists that deliver to us the Institution of the Sacrament and yet it is plain from John xiii 4 that he did rise from that Supper and washed his Disciples Feet and sat down again Vers. 12. and so he might rise to bless and distribute the holy Sacrament And therefore we have no assurance from Scripture that our Saviour instituted this Sacrament in a common Table-posture rather the contrary seems probable So that He has left us at liberty to follow the general Rules of Decency and Reason and what the Scriptures represent to us as fit and practised in the like cases Lastly We find the Apostle severely reproving the Corinthians for their Irreverence in Receiving this Sacrament and threatning them with Damnation for not discerning the Lords Body that is for receiving it as their common Food without distinguishing between them by a Reverend and Religious Receiving it And sure it is but a due distinction between It and our common Food to Approach the Lord's Table with as much Reverence as the Jews did their Altar at which they never sat down Upon the whole I think we do nothing in this or any other sacred Action as to Bodily Worship but what is warranted and grounded on the Holy Scriptures and particularly as to what we do at the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper It is as unjust to suspect or accuse us of worshiping the Lord's Table or the Elements of Bread and Wine because we receive them kneeling as it were to accuse the Jews of worshiping their Altar or Sacrifices because they worshiped before them as God commanded them to do 2 Kings xviii 22 I beseech God to give us true Submission and Humility of Heart for the Outward Expressions of these Inward Dispositions of Mind which our Church has appointed by Bodily Worship are certainly such as God has approved and holy Men have practised in Scripture Sect. 3. The Practice of the Dissenters in Bodily Worship I. AND now I come to you my Friends who Dissent from Us to consider how You perform This Part of God's Worship and to compare Your Principles and Practice with what I have represented from the Holy Scriptures And first as to Your Principles I need not tell you That you do not allow Bodily Adoration to be any part of God's Worship which you cannot but discern to be Plainly contrary to the Holy Scriptures that make it the most proper peculiar Act thereof as I have shewed before Chap. IV. Sect. 1. N o. 1.2.3 In your Confession of Faith Chap. 21. Prayer Reading Scriptures c. singing Psalms Administration of the Sacraments are reckon'd up as parts of Religious Worship but not a word concerning the worship of the Body Your Directory doth not only leave it out but excludes it by requiring all to enter the Assembly and to take their Seats and Places without Adoration or bowing themselves towards one Place or other that is without bowing themselves at all A Rule directly opposite to Natural Reason as well as to the Commands of God and to the Examples of his Saints And 't is unconceivable how it should be laid down by a Society of Men that professed to believe Christ peculiarly present in their Assemblies which yet the Authors of your Directory profess to do in that very place where they forbid all Adoration Let us then I pray you compare their Rule with Gods Word You have the Bible in your hands and you look upon it to be your Priviledge to use it The Scriptures say O come let us worship let us bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker Your Directory says Let us enter the Assembly without Adoration or bowing Where notwithstanding it allows that we in a special manner appear in God's presence Surely you cannot but see this is not only to lay aside but to contradict the Rules of Scripture II. Your Practice is conformable to your Principles For 1. At your Thanksgivings or Praises you neither bow nor stand up 2. Whereas We and the Churches of God in all Ages have used to stand up at the solemn Confessions of Faith you have cast out of your Religious Assemblies not only this Act of Worship but the Confessions of Faith themselves so material a part of the service of God as appears from Rom. x. 9 10. If thou shalt confess with thy Mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe
as we would be accounted His Disciples Neither will saying the Substance of it in other Words of our own Invention answer the intent of this Command Since 1. We are sure the Substance of the Prayer is put by Christ in the most apposite and comprehensive Words that are possible and therefore wholly to lay them aside for others is plainly to decline the choice of Words that Christ has made for us and substitute less apposite of our own to express those Petitions in 2. The more particularly any thing is Commanded in the Worship of God we ought to be the more carefull to observe it and may be the more confident that God is pleased with our performance of it since therefore we are particularly Commanded when we pray to say Our Father c. whatever other prayers we offer to God this ought not to be omitted 3. In general we are Commanded to offer up our desires to God and in particular to offer this Prayer These Commands agree very well together and therefore the one ought not to justle out the other To lay aside the Prayer particularly commanded by Christ for others of our own composing in pusuance of the general Command is too apparently to prefer our own Invention to God's Command 4. When we take the liberty to word our own Prayers we may forget some things we may mix our own frailties and weakness in our Petitions and this too often appears both in the matter and wording of them The way therefore to supply these defects and to obtain pardon for our Infirmities is to use our Lords perfect Prayer not only as a Pattern for prayer as some would have it but likewise as a Form necessary to be used to correct what may be amiss or defective in our own prayers 5. They who lay aside the words of the Lord's Prayer are in danger to lay aside some of the substance of it also particularly the substance of that Petition Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us For many who lay aside the Lord's Prayer do neither in terms nor substance offer this Petition to God nay are so far from making this the Condition of their pardon as Christ has taught us that they publickly dispute against the Form for this very reason Tho' Christ who fore-saw the Objection which our Corruptions would be apt to make has Answered it and bound it upon us indispensibly as our Duty to ask Forgiveness on these and no other terms Matth. vi 15 And indeed if such a Sentence had been prescribed by our Lord to be only repeated by Christians once or oftner every day it would have seemed but what was necessary to mind them of that peculiar and indispensible Duty of their profession We see the Wisdom of the Ancients thought fit to reduce their Doctrine or Instructions into Proverbs or short Sentences to be got by heart and kept continually in memory as of great influence for guiding Mens Lives and Actions and such Sentences must be of much greater influence when repeated in the presence of God as these in our Lord's Prayer are required to be Lastly This Prayer being given us as a Badge of our Profession a Summary of our Duty as Christians and a Form of Sound Words it is no more lawful to alter it than to lay it aside and it would be the same presumption and hazard to substitute other words instead of Christs in this Prayer which we are oblig'd always to use when we pray as to change the words of our Creed or as it would be in a Battel to change the Word given by a General or any part of it and to retain onely the signification of it From all which 't is manifest that God has required Forms of Prayer to be used by us both in the Old and New Testament As to the difference we find in the Lord's Prayer as delivered by St. Matthew and St. Luke 't is to be observed that our Saviour spake in the Syriac or vulgar Hebrew and the Evangelists writ their Gospels in Greek Now in the Syriack one and the same word expresses both those different words which the Evangelists use in the same Petition as Debts and Trespasses c. So that it is no real but a seeming difference between them all the different Words being the same in the Original Language in which our Saviour spake IV. As we have the Command of God and the Example of his Saints for offering up our Prayers to Him in a set and prepared Form of Words so we have the like Example for joyning Voices upon occasion in offering these Words Generally it is sufficient that the People joyn in their hearts with the words of publick Prayers yet the Scriptures warrant also on some Occasions their joyning their Voices 1. Thus we find the people of Israel addressing themselves to God Judges xxi 2 And the people came to the House of God and abode there till even before God and lift up their Voices and wept sore and said O Lord God of Israel why is this come to pass in Israel c. 2. In Hymns and Psalms which are also Prayers in great part as I noted before the people are generally allowed by all as being fully warranted by Scripture to joyn their Voices So Moses and the Children of Israel sung unto the Lord Exod. xv 1 3. In the New Testament we have an Eminent Example of this practise Acts iv 24 where the Apostles and their Disciples lift up their Voice to God with one accord and said Lord thou art God c. If this prayer was immediately inspired as it seems it was then the whole Assembly was inspired together not only to think the same Thing but likewise to utter the same Words and the Spirit of God by it has attested the fitness and decency of a whole Congregation's pronouncing the same prayer together If it had not been convenient that this should be some times practised in our Christian Assemblies God would not have given us this Example If the people were always to joyn in their hearts only with our publick prayers it would have been so here for the Spirit of God wou'd not have led them to do an indecent thing or a thing unfit for God's Worship 4. St. Paul and Silas joyned also their Voices in their prayers as we may see from Acts xvi 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sung praises unto God and the prisoners heard them I know it may be alledged That they sung their prayers which they offered up to God on this Occasion and on that account joyned their Voices I confess the Original favours this Inference but if it be allowed that the Apostles sung their prayers together it must be allowed that they might likewise say them together For we find the Blessed in Heaven offering not only their praises together but their prayers also so Rev. vi 10 They cried with a loud voice saying How long
to express our Desires in or enables us to make one 't is sufficient and we ought to be thankful 7. In confirmation of this Account of the Spirit of Prayer we may further observe 1. That no Worship is Acceptable to God that is not offer'd to Him in Spirit and Truth John iv 24 and therefore the Scripture recommends to us prayers in and by the Spirit but that praying with the Spirit doth not signifie extemporary unpremeditated prayers or exclude Forms will appear from 1 Cor. xiv 15 I will pray with the Spirit I will pray with the Vnderstanding I will sing with the Spirit I will sing with the Vnderstanding also Here we find singing with the Spirit as well as praying with it and whoever sings otherwise doth not worship God as he ought but tho' we are obliged to sing with the Spirit yet we must and ought to sing in the Congregation with a set Form of Words and therefore for the same reason tho' we pray with the Spirit we may pray by a set and prepared Form of Words The most spiritual Songs consist of a set Form of imposed Words and so may the most spiritual Prayers Praying therefore with the Spirit in this place is so far from meaning or being an Argument for the Use of extemporary unpremeditated prayers that it is rather an Argument against them For either we are obliged by it to sing to God in extemporary Hymns or we are not obliged to pray to Him in extemporary Prayers since it is Unreasonable to interpret singing with the Spirit in one sense and praying with the Spirit in a contrary 2. And to confirm this further we find the most spiritual Persons addressing themselves to God in Forms so did Moses so did David as I observed before and so did our Saviour himself on the Cross when in his Agony he repeated the first Verse of Psal. xxii in Syriack and as some believe the whole Psalm by which Act He recommendeth to us Forms of Prayer in his Dying Breath as the most proper means of expressing our condition to God and as most suitable to the Divine Majesty and therefore praying in the Spirit Ephes. vi 18 Praying in the holy Ghost Jude 20. and with the Spirit 1 Cor. xiv 15 signifie praying with Grace in our Hearts by the Assistance and Motion of the Holy Spirit And a man may as well pray with Grace in his Heart when he prays by a Form as sing with Grace in his Heart when he sings by a Form 3. We have a Promise that God's Spirit will assist us with this Grace in our Hearts but we have no Promise that He will help us to Words without the Use of Forms as will appear from Rom. viii 26 The Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh Intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered those inward motions in the Heart called here groanings are that Grace in the Heart with which we ought to pray and to which the Spirit of God doth and indeed only can help us and to pray with this Grace is to pray in and with the Spirit whether we use words or no and if we do use them whether we reduce them into a Form first or pour them forth as they present themselves to our Minds but we have no Promise that the Holy Ghost will always furnish us with fit words on all occasions and therefore ought not to presume that He will 4. T is certain that he did furnish some with such words for we find both Prayers and Hymns dictated immediately by him of which we have Examples in the Hymns of the Blessed Virgin and Zacharias and in the Song or Prayer of Simeon and in Acts iv 24 But then it is manifest that this was an extraordinary Gift of God and a part of Prophecy and we may not depend on the holy Ghost for this Gift more then for any other Extraordinary Gift till it be made appear that it was to continue alwaies in the Church and to be communicated to All the Children of God Praying and singing the Praises of God are Duties incumbent on all Christians but we are no more obliged to pray Extemporary Prayers from any Example of inspired Men in Scripture than to sing Extemporary Hymns from the like Examples to which yet none I think pretend 5. 'T is very observable that even those who composed their Prayers and Hymns by immediate inspiration did not generally offer them to God in the Congregation till they had first reduced them into a Form Thus David first penned his Psalms and then delivered them to be sung 1. Chron. xvi 7 and 't is probable the Prophets 1. Cor. xiv 26 did the same for they are supposed every one to have a Psalm a Doctrine a Tongue a Revelation c. that is to have them ready and reduced into Form for the use of the Church when they came together That this is the meaning of having a Psalm c. in this place will appear very probable not only from the words which naturally import this and can hardly be otherwise interpreted but likewise from the Apostles making a difference between what these Prophets had prepared and what was revealed immediately at the time of their being together vers 30. If any thing be revealed to another that siteth by let the first hold his peace Which shews that these Psalms c. were to give place to such as were immediately inspired So far were these inspired Men from countenancing an extemporary unpremeditated way of serving God except where there was an immediate Revelation for it and so utterly void of Scripture-proof is this great principle of the Dissenters Worship that the Spirit of prayer is given to every one of the Faithfull to enable them to conceive with the Heart and express with their Tongues their necessities to God without a Form of Prayer 8. It lies therefore my Friends on your Teachers who are of this persuasion to produce plain Scripture for your principles or else to confess that you have laid aside Prayers by Forms commanded by God and practised by holy Men in Scriptures to make room for this way of Praying of Men's own invention But further that place Eccl. v. 1.2 seems to me to afford a strong Argument against such Prayers When thou goest to the House of God Be not rash with thy Mouth and let not thy Heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in Heaven and thou upon Earth Therefore let thy words be few It is hard to say what it is to be rash with our Mouths or hasty to utter any thing before God if it be not rashnesh to trust the expressing all our desires to such uncertain and unpremeditated words as our invention suggests unto us when we come before him which as I have shewed the Scriptures give us no promise of being supplied to us
it is that some people cannot endure our Service but heap up to themselves Teachers that instead of the Praises Prayers and Sermons of God's immediate Appointment will gratifie them every Meeting with a New Prayer without troubling them with such Prayers or Sermons as they think old which are incomparably better only the itching Ears of the People as the Apostle fore-told are pleased with the Novelty and Variety of the one and disgust the Repetition of the other as the Israelites did that of Angels Food Psa. lxxviii 25 Num. xxi 5 xi 6 It is the Duty of all Ministers and the business of the truly Conscientious to check and curb this Humour in the People and notwithstanding all Discouragements the Ministers of Our Church instead of complying with them have constantly reproved them for their Negligence and Levity where they found them guilty But as Aaron to please the Israelites made the Golden Calf so some Ministers tho' contrary to their own Principles have changed God's Institution to please their people and lest out the constant and regular Reading of God's Word because their people grew weary of it But let all Men judge who behave themselves most like the Ministers of Christ We who keep to the Reading God's Word according to His own Institution whether the people will hear or forbear or They that comply with them and lay aside God's Command to oblige and gain them CHAP. IV. Of Bodily Worship Sect. 1. What the Holy Scriptures prescribe concerning it I. THe Fourth part of the Publick Worship of God or Design of Religious Assemblies is Visible or Bodily Adoration such amongst us are Vncovering the Head Bowing Kneeling and other Outward Signs of Reverence and Submission by which we openly acknowledge the Mercy the Justice and Power of God and express the inward sense we have of these Attributes In treating of this Head I will keep my self to the same Method as in the former and consider First The Rules and Examples that the Scriptures afford us for the performance of this Duty Secondly Compare the Practise of Our Church with them Thirdly Examine the Dissenters Practise and the Reasons they alledge for it 1. As to the first of these we find a Positive Command of God for Bodily Worship in Publick Psal. xcv 6 O come let us Worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our Maker The second Verse of this Psalm plainly shews us that this is meant of Publick Worship Let us come before his presence with Thanksgiving And that this bowing or kneeling is to be interpreted literally not figuratively appears from the same Verses where Singing Thanksgiving and Psalms are all litterally to be understood and there is no more reason for understanding bowing and kneeling in a figurative sence than the other II. The same Bodily Worship is required by the Second Commandment which forbids us to bow down to a graven Image by which words we are commanded to bow down to God for it is confessed by all and laid down as a Rule by the Assembly's larger Catechism That the Negative Commandments include in them the contrary Positive that is to say When a Commandment forbids us any thing it requires us to perform the Duty contrary to what is forbidden As for Example When the first Commandment forbids us to have any other Gods before the Lord it requires us to own and worship Him for our only God and after the same manner all other Commands are to be interpreted By which Rule when the Second Commandment Exod. xx 5 forbids us in these words Thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them it requires us to practice the contrary Duties in our Addresses to God To bow down to Him and serve Him that is to worship Him both with the worship of our Bodies and Minds Therefore as he that either bows or kneels or uses any posture of Reverence to a graven Image breaks the second Commandment so doth he who on occasion of Publick Worship either refuses or neglects to use some such posture to God It being a Contempt of God and contrary to His Commands to pray to Him for instance without some posture of Adoration to Him when we can do it as well as it is a sin to kneel to an Image without praying to it which the Papists pretend to do the one is Idolatry and the other Sacriledge For the Reason why we are not to bow down to an Idol is Because 't is an Act of Worship due to God And whether we give what is due to Him to an Image or refuse to pay it to Himself we are equally Robbers of God we deny him his Honour and are guilty of Sacriledge I wish all concerned may seriously consider and amend their practise in this particular III. But the practise of Holy Men and of the Church of God in Scripture are the best Interpreters of God's Commands and from them we may learn what he requires or approves in his Worship Now through the whole Old Testament we shall never find any one sitting at his Devotions But on all occasions of Worship especially in Publick Assemblies the people of God stood kneeled bowed or prostrated themselves 'T is said indeed 2 Sam. vii 8 That King David then went and sat before the Lord But here the Original Word is capable of another signification and may as well be translated that he remained stayed or abode before the Lord and accordingly it is thus translated in other places of Scripture particularly Gen. xxii 5 xxiv 55 xxix 19 1 Kings xii 2 This place therefore is no Exception against that practise which is so evident through the whole Old Testament that Holy Men worshiped God with their Bodies as well as with their Minds IV. We shall find the same practised by our Saviour and his Apostles in the New T. Our Saviour undoubtedly is the Best Example we can propose to our selves for the worship of God and we ought to imitate what he did and approved Now if we consider the worship he offered to his Father we shall find him addressing himself to him with bowing the Body with Kneeling and Prostration as well as with strong Cries and Tears so Mat. xxvi 39 And he went a little further and fell on his Face and prayed O my Father c. and Luk. xxii 41 He kneeled down and prayed And as he paid this Bodily Worship to God so he accepted the same from Men when he was on Earth Thus the Wise Men worshiped him in his Cradle Mat. ii 11 When they saw the young Child and his Mother Mary they fell down c. Thus they that desired to be Cured by him addressed themselves to him Mark v. 22 VVhen he saw him he fell at his Feet and besought c. And after the same manner those who were Cured by him returned him Thanks Luke xvii 16 Thus his beloved Mary came into his presence John xi 32 And Matth. xxviii 9 They