lesse then Nothing and Vanity Verse 2. The Kings of the Earth stand vp and the Rulers take counsell together against the Lord and against his Annoynted Before was Fury and Folly and both in the People now the Prophet shewes vnto vs that the Magistrates themselues began to take the matter in hand So that where formerly there was small likelyhood of bringing ought to passe in that kind the People but an head-strong multitude and vnable to performe their Designes now Wit and Cunning and Policy begin to play their parts and a Body would now thinke that all should be as they would haue it Loe here an Vnity such at it was but Vnit as Facinoro sorum as o Bernard de Assumpt Mariae Ser. 5. speakes St Bernard an Vnity not of Saints but of Sinners Peruersa execranda talis Vnitas such an Vnity as that saith he is both praeposterous and execrable Amat Auaritia Vnitatem Quod amat bonum est sed vbi amandum sit nescit Euen Couetousnes it Selfe p Aug. de Verb. Dom. Ser. 20. saith St Austen doth loue an Vniting together Now the thing she loueth is good but she knowes not where to place her Loue. Right so is it a blessed thing that the Magistrate and the People should both agree together but when they shal agree in that which is notoriously bad as here they do in this place it aggrauates eithers fault and bâ—th are lyable to the more exception And that so they do here in this place witnes the words of this Verse for it is First against the Lord Secondly his Annointed First concerning the Lord though commonly in holy Scripture LORD be put for the second Person in Trinity God the Sonne yet here is it set for God the Father who is the Lord as the Prophet Amos q Amos. 5.16 speakes and the God of Hosts It is in the Originall the Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and God is therfore called Lord because as S. Ambrose r Ambros in ep 〈◊〉 Câ—loâ—s c. 4. saith he hath dominion both ovâ—r our Bodies ouer our Soulâ— because as Å¿ â—act â—nâ—it l. 4 c. 3. Laectantius hee hath the greatest power that can be both in correcting and punishing And our Saviour indeed instructing vs how great his Power is Feare not them which kill the Body t Mat 10.28 saith he but are not able to kil the Soule but rather feare him which is able to destroy both Soule and Body in Hell St Gregory speaking of the diverse Appellations that are in holy Scripture giuen to God When he will be feared u Greg in Cant. Cantic Prol. saith he then doth he name himselfe LORD when he will be honoured FATHER when he will be beloued HVSBAND though in the Old Testament the two Appellations Fâ—th r and Huâ—bâ—nd are seldome mentionâ—d Lord most often Many thinâ—s x Aug. de Ser. Dom. in Mont. l. 2. such S. Austen are dâ—liuered in holy Scripture to be spoâ—â—n in Gods praises 〈◊〉 sâ—all â—ou find it to â—aue beene commanded to the Pâ—â—plâ— oâ— Isrâ—el that sâ—eaâ—â—â—g vnto God they sh uld s y OVR â—ATHER or that they should pâ—ay vnto God aâ— a Grâ—tius Nomen est Pietaâ—â— quà m Poteâ—at Tertull. Apolog c. 34. FATH R but he is 〈…〉 LORD to put them in mind 〈…〉 Servants to â—im And yet our Sâ—â—â— ur Câ—â—isâ— God and Mâ—n Heâ—câ—fâ—rth I call you not 〈◊〉 y Ioh. 15.15 sâ—iâ—h he for the Sâ—â—uâ—nt kâ—â—weth not what hiâ— Lâ—rd 〈…〉 I hâ—â—â— câ—lle◠〈◊〉 FRâ—NDS for all things that I â—auâ—â—â—â—rd of my Father I haue made knowne vnto you Secondly concâ—â—ning Anâ—ointâ—d that is here set for the Second Person indeed Chrâ—st Iesus our Saviour who was to be our Prophet our Priest and Prince and therefore is said in holy Scripture to bee Annointed by God Not that at any time hee was Annointed with materiall Oyle z Act. 4.27 but as S. Peter in one place a Act. 10.38 With the Holy Ghost with Power And as our b Ps 45.8 Psalmist in another With the Oyle of Gladnesse aboue his Fellowes The time of this his Annointing was no doubt in the time of his Conception even before he was bâ—rne and therefore he was no sooner borne but an Angell said vnto the Shepheards c Luc. 2.10 Behold I bring you good Tydings of great ioy which shal be to all People for vnto you is borne this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord CHRIST that is Annointed And thus is this Scripture alleaged by the Church in the Acts of the Apostles who vpon the report Peter and Iohn made of their vsage by the Rulers of the Iewes they lift vp their voice to God with one accord said d Act. 4 2â— Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and â—ll that in them is Who by the mouth of thy Seruant David hast said why did the Heathen rage and the People imaginâ— vaine things The Kings of the Earth stood vp and the Rulâ—rs were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ For of a truth against thy holy Child Iesus whome thou hast annoinâ—ed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the People of Israel were gathered together for to doe whatsoeuer thy Hand and thy Counsell determined before to be done Thus was it e Exod. 14.26 Ioh. 19.36 said of the Paschal Lambe that not a Bone thereof should be broken and it was applyed to our Saviour by the Evangelist S. Iohn It was said of the Israelites Hos 11.2 Mat. 2.5 Out of Egypt haue I called mâ— Sonne and it was aâ—plied to our Saviour by the Evangelist S. Mâ—thew It was said of King Solomon 2 Sam. 2 14. Hâ—b 1.5 I will be his Father and he shall be my Sonne and it was applyed to our Saviour by the Apostle S. Paul These two Senses of the Scriptures there are that call them the one a Literall the other a Mysticall Sence but h Dion Carth. in Mat. 2. Art 5 Dionysius Carthusianus i Tost in Deut. 18. qu. 6 Tostatus and the l Rhem. in 2. King 7.14 in marg Rhemists in the Doway Bible doe make them both Literall Tostatus giues the Reason Nam vna Litera benè potest importare duos sensus quando vnus subordinatur alteri Hauing spoken of a place of Scripture that might be vnderstood either of our Saviour or of his Prophets Sensus literalis est vterque Either saith he is the Literall sense For one and the self same Letter in Scripture doth wel import two Senses when one is subordinate to the other And of this mind with them was that worthy Professor of ours most worthily afterwards Bishop of Salisbury m D. Abbots Sermon vpon 1. Cor. 10.32 not printed D. Abbots who in a Sermon of his to the Vniversitie not only hath the Premisses but hee
notice of the Kingdome of our Saviour and submit themselues wholly thereunto now that the Kingdome is thus spread and the whole World as it were in Beliefe what better befitteth vs Christians then when wee solemnize such Feasts to say this Psalme amongst the rest which sorteth so exceeding well both with the Mystery and the Season PSAL. III. Domine quid 1 LORD how are they increased that trouble me many are they that rise against me 2 Many one there be that say of my soule there is no helpe for him in his God 3 But thou O Lord art my Redeemer thou art my Worship and the lifter vp of my Head 4 I did call vpon the Lord with my Voyce and he heard me out of his holy Hill 5 I laid me downe and slept and rose vp againe for the Lord sustained me 6 I will not be afraid for tenne thousands of People that haue set themselues against me round about 7 Vp Lord and helpe me O my God for thou smitest all mine Enemies vpon the Cheeke bone thou hast broken the Teeth of the Vnâ—odly 8 Saluation belongeth vnto the Lord and thy blessing is vpon thy People THE ANALYSIS VVHat occasion the Prophet David had of writing this Psalme is evident by the Title as the Title is specified in the Hebrew and in some Translations thereof Quomodo Ianna introducit in Domum sic Titulus Psalmi introducit in Intellectum As the Gate a Aug. de Verb. Apost Ser. 20. saith St Austen le ts in to the House so doth the Title of a Psalme to the Vnderstanding thereof In the Vulgar it is thus A Psalme of David when he did flye from the Face of Absolon his Sonne The Story is in the Second of Samuel and is in effect to this purpose Absolon wicked Absolon had made against his Father David a maine Conspiracy Absolon b 2. Sam. 15.10 saith the Scripture sent Spies throughout all the Tribes of Israel saying As soone as yee heare the sound of the Trumpet then yee shall say Absolon reigneth in Hebron David vpon the newes hereof fled from Ierusalem and betooke himselfe vnto the Wildernes at which time as it is not vnlikely he composed this Psalme The Psalme is framed vnto God by way of Petition that in regard his Enemies were so many as it is in the First Verse and so maliciously bent against him as it is in the Second and yet his Faith in God was very firme as it is in the Third Verse Againe in regard the Goodnes of the Lord had bene formerly such vnto him that he never made his Prayer vnto him but he was heard effectually as it is in the Fourth Verse and therefore still relyed on him with much Security as it is in the Fift and Confidence as in the Sixt Verse his Petition I say is to God that he would now also deliuer him as it is in the Seuenth Verse especially for he alone was able to effect it as it is in the Eight Verse And thus much of the Analysis VErse I. Lord how are they increased that trouble mee many are they that rise against mee It was a memorable saying of King Solomon c Prov. 16.7 When a mans Wayes please the Lord hee maketh euen his Enemies to bee at peace with him and it is as true againe on the contrary that when the Wayes of a man please not the Lord he maketh euen his Friends to be at Enmity with him What wayes they were that David took before these Troubles did befall him is recorded in holy Writ namely first the Way of Concupiscence then the Way of Adultery next the Way of Dissimulation afterward the Way of Murther and how displeasing these Wayes were vnto the Lord witnesse the Words of Nathan to David Thou d 2 Sam. 12.9 saith he hast killed Vriah the Hittite with the Sword and hast taken his Wife to be thy Wife and hast slaine him with the Sword of the Children of Ammon Now therefore the Sword shall neuer depart from thy House because thou hast despised me and hast taken the Wife of Vriah the Hittite to be thy Wife Thus saith the Lord Behold I will raise vp Euill against thee out of thine owne House and I will take thy Wiues before thine Eyes and giue them vnto thy Neighbour and he shall lye with thy Wiues in the sight of this Sun For thou didst it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel and before the Sun Hence then that Encrease of those that troubled him hence those Many that rose against him His complaint here in this place was not of the Philistians the Idumaeans the Moabites and such like vtter Enemies to the Church of God and consequently to himselfe but of his Subiects his Servants his Counsellers of Estate all in a manner falling from him and adoring now the Sun rising for so they tooke Absolon his Sonne to bee In this his speech then and in these words is both Admiration and Astonishment Admiration for that it was strange that such great Frends a little before should prooue such Enemies vnto him and grow in a tryce from one Extreame vnto another Astonishment for that they were such as himselfe not long before had promoted to the Honours and Dignities they did enjoy But this is no new thing now-a-dayes such vngratefull Wretches as these the World hath such stoare of as there be Moats in the Sun Nay euen at that time it seemes they were so many that David himselfe could not number them onely the Scripture will enforme vs and by that we may guesse the Multitude was exceeding great in that no lesse then e 2 Sam. 18.7 Twenty Thousand of them were slaine in one Day Besides the Captaine and Ringleader of them Absolon him selfe who how he was taken vp betweene the Heauen and the Earth Some say by the Haire the Scripture saith by the Head remaines a Spectacle for all vndutifull and vngracious Children to their PARENTS for euer to behold It shall not bee amisse here to remember that Epitaph or Epigram which f Strigelii Loc. Theolog. a Christoph Pezel edit Part. 3. p. 385. Pezelius hath made vpon him Degener immerito rapâ— Sceptra Parenti O Iuvenis Patriae Pestis acerba tuae Dignatuis coeptis sed Poena secuta vagantem Frondibus arboreis implicuere Comae Hasta Ioab maduit forti vibrata Lacerto Sanguine transfixo Pectore tincta tuo Has Scelerum Poenas pulso dedit ille Parente I nunc Patrijs insidiare Bonis THE ENGLISH Disloyall Princox Plague of natiue Soyle Thou vndeseruedly didst Scepter wring From Fathers hand and made the same thy Spoyle When afterwards it did due Vengeance bring The Trees themselues thee punisht for thy Haire Tangled therewith they hoyst thee in the Aire Nor only so but Ioabs Dart beside Eftsoones bereft thee of thy Life 's strong Fort Into thy Bowels it did swiftly glide And made thy Bloud gush forth in ample sort
Praising Magâ—ifying and Lauding God in the Memory of hiâ— manifâ—ld Bl ssings â—â—â—ria or the Worship of God is a Vertue Morall not Intellectuâ—ll â—hâ—rfâ—re to despise saith he as many doe or neglect as most doe Cultum Latriae this Praising and Mâ—gnifying of God and to gad vp and downe to heare the Word preached as they call it is not only against the Lawes of this Land the Statutes of our Colledges but against the chief Institution of the Lords Day This by all likelyhood seemes harsh to Many that consider not Things aright but as if the Gospell of Christ were Faction and all to be as they would haue it h Horat. Serm. Sat. 4. Nam multo plures sumus ac veluti te Iudaei cogemus in hanc concedere Turbam it is strange how CHVRCH-SERVICE is generally now neglected of all Sorts nay and so much vilyfied of some that would seeme to be Protestants to and of the forwarder Sort that the very Scriptures there read are despised and with Choroebus in the Poet as if they resolved with Papists to fight with their Weapons against the said Scriptures i Virg. Aeneid l. 2. Mutemus Clypeos Danaumque insignia nobis Aptemus they stick not to giue out that they are read there to little purpose because forsooth not interpreted And indeed I must needs say they are so heard by Many that they profit by them never a whit who did they heare also Lectures and Sermons no better would profit as little by them And by them how litle they profit CREDITE OPERIBVS They are our Saviours owne Words l Ioh. 10.37 If I doe not the Workes of my Father beleeue me not But if I doe though ye beleeue not me beleeue the Workes But concerning the Profit that may be taken by Scriptures read in the Church let vs heare what Strangers say seeing our owne Men at Hoame haue thought so hardly of it Concerning the Scriptures to be read m Zanch. Tom. 8. De Rel. Christ Observat in c. 25. Aphoris 10. 11. ex Bucer in Ep. ad Eph. c. 4. saith Zanchius and he confirmes it by MARTIN BVCâ—R whose Words they are Concerning the Scriptures to be read saith he God be thanked it is well ordered in the English Churches Let it therefore be pondered diligently whose Mouth they represent themselues to be which in the sacred Assemblies read the Divine Bookes vnto the People that is to wit they represent the Mouth of God Almighty Next of what Moment of what Dignity the Matters are that are recited they are the Words and Precepts of Life Eternall Lastly to whom they read namely to the Sonnes of God These things if a man with true Faith consider with himselfe what Gravity Decency Religion can be yeelded in any Action which should be omitted by such a Reader Thus farre Zanchius and with him Martin Bucer hand in hand Had our owne Mothers Children at Hoame had the like Opinion of Reading Scriptures in the publike Congregation which Strangers you see haue had our Church by this time had bene too happy nor had our Adversaries the Papists gotten so much Ground of vs as they seeme to haue But it befalls GODS SERVICE what oftentimes befalls his Prophets n Mat. 13.57 It is not without Honour saue in our owne Country God grant it followeth not with vs what doth in that place concerning our Saviour o V. 58. that it doth not many mighty Workes here because of our Vnbeliefe But to returne to my purpose The Reason here giuen of Giuing Thanks is because the Lord defends them but of Defending them in the next Verse in the meane time let vs consider what it is to Loue his Name and this is the Effect of all Thy Name p Mollerus in hunc Ps saith Mollerus that is thy Word whereby we are made acquainted how and in what sort the Lord will shew himselfe vnto those that are his For that is called a Name saith he whereby any one is knowen or the Remembrance of him is kept in mind Such are the HOLY SCRIPTVRES by them the Lord is knowen by them his Remembrance is kept in mind The Ignorance of the Scriptures q Hieron Comment in Esay Prooem ad Eustoch Virg. saith S. Ierom is the Ignorance of Christ and Haec est Mors Animae vt Deum nesciat Not to know God r Aug. Annot. in Iob. c. 9. saith S. Austen is the Death of the Soule Vers 13. For thou Lord wilt giue thy Blessing vnto the Righteous and with thy favourable Kindnes wilt thou defend him as with a Shield Who they are that are the Righteous and whence it is they are so tearmed I haue declared Å¿ Exposit on Ps 1.7 p. 29. before Here the Prophet shewes vnto vs that they which indeed are Righteous what Benefits they shall reape thereby And first here is Blessing in the Singular Number which is not so to be taken as if it were but only One No it cannot be said to God as was said to Isaac by Esau his Sonne t Gen. 27.38 Hast thou but one Blessing my Father For God hath many So that the Blessing here though it be but One yet is it indeed a Swarme a Cluster of Blessings One Swarme many Bees one Cluster many Grapes And as S. Austen in an other case u Aug. in Ps 141. Quae Via ipsae Viae quae Ecclesia ipsae Ecclesia quod Coelum ipsi Coeli Way and Wayes Church and Churches Heauen and Heauens are spoken Singularly and Plurally and therefore by the Singular Number the Plurall is meant euen so in this Case by Blessing in the Singular the Plural is vnderstood And would you now see the Plurality of these Blessings I specified them x Exposit on Ps 1.1 p. 4. before it is but to haue recourse to the First Word of the First Psalme That the Prophet here addeth that the Righteous shall be defended with the favourable Kindnes of the Lord as with a Shield we are first of all to consider what this Favourable Kindnes is then the manner of the Defence thereof namely as with a Shield It is in the Originall RATSON Benevolentia Beneplacitum and rendred by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which wee say in English Favour or Goodnes the Benignity of God readily doing good to any of his Creatures It is that which the Apostle calls y Rom. 2.4 The Riches of his Goodnes whereby we may vnderstand that saying of his in the same Epistle where it is said that he is z Rom. 10.12 Rich vnto all that call vpon him Indeed his gracious accepting of vs and mercifull Readines to doe vs good is the everlasting true RICHES Of worldly Riches it may be said that wich Solomon saith of them and many a man findes too true a Prov. 23.5 they certainely make themselues Wings they flye away as an Eagle toward Heauen but Riches