as the Grave which is low indeed yet there thou maiest rest in hope for even there the Lord will not leave to helpe thee Or is it that he was brought low was humbled in spirit to seeme vile in his owne eyes and then God helped him For God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble Verse 7 Now therefore O my soule returne to thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now my soule let it be no longer said Why art thou so heavie and why art thou disquieted within me For the Lord hath exceeded the bounds of mercifulnesse with his bountifulnesse Not onely in mercy hee hath forgiven my sinnes but as if my sinnes had been Merits he hath made me also to taste of his bountie Hee hath dealt indeed most bountifully with thee for where thou didst make suite but for one thing hee hath granted thee three Thou didst aske but to have my soule delivered and he hath delivered mine eyes and my feet besides and with a deliverance in each of them the greatest that could be for what greater deliverance to my soule then to bee delivered from Death What greater deliverance to mine eyes then to be delivered from teares What to my feet then to bee delivered from falling that if now O my soule thou returne not to thy rest thou wilt shew thy selfe to bee most insatiable seeing thou hast not onely more then thou didst aske but as much indeed as was possible to be ask'd But can my soule dye and if not what bountie is it then to deliver my soule from that to which it is not subject The soule indeed though immortall hath yet her wayes of dying It is one kind of death to the soule to bee parted from the body but the truest kind is to bee parted from God and from both these kindes of death hee hath delivered my soule From the first by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse that threatned a dissolution of my soule and body from the other by delivering me from the guilt of sinne that threatned a separation from the favour of God and are not these bounties to give my soule just cause of returning to her rest It is true it is the imperfection of life that it is subject to sicknesse and sicknesse drawes mortalitie after it but this imperfection is not here for hee hath delivered my soule from death and what is this but to have perfect health yet it is the imperfection of health that it is subject to crosses and crosses are a cause of teares but neither hath this imperfection any place here for he hath delivered mine eyes from teares and what is this but to have perfect Joy yet it is the imperfection of joy that it useth not to continue as it is said of the prosperitie of the wicked They are set in slipperie places and are apt to fall but neither is this imperfection found here for hee hath delivered my feet from falling and what is this but to be assured of continuance If then thou hast such health such joy such stabilitie Health not subject to sicknesse Joy not capable of sorrow Stabilitie not obnoxious to falling How canst thou O my soule how canst thou choose but pacifie thy unquietnesse and returne to thy rest But alas the rest thou canst returne to now is but a type of that true Rest when thou shalt rest from thy labours and when thy workes that now goe with thee shall then follow thee Thou hast now but one day of Rest for sixe dayes of labour but then thou shalt have an eternall Sabbath without any dayes of labour to disquiet it But though this rest cannot now bee had whilst thou dwellest in a restlesse body and thy body in a restlesse world yet there is a Rest that is worth the having and may onely my soule be called Thy Rest the rest which consists in the peace of conscience and to this rest thou maist well returne seeing not onely thou art at peace with God as being justified by his Grace but thou art in his favour also as having dealt so bountifully with thee And when thou returnest to this rest to the end thou maist have some exercise to thy rest that thy resting make thee not restiffe I will walke Verse 9 before the Lord in the land of the living For now that my feet are delivered from falling how can I better imploy them then in walking were they delivered from falling to the end they should stand still and bee idle No my soule but to encourage me to walke and where is so good walking as in the land of the living Alas what walking is it in the Winter when all things seeme dead when the very grasse lyes buried under ground and scarce any thing that hath life in it to be seene but then is the pleasant walking when Nature spreads her greene Carpet to walke upon and then it is a Land of the living when the Trees shew they live by bringing forth if not fruits at least leaves when the Valleys shew they live by bringing forth if not sweet flowers to delight the smell at least fresh grasse to please the eyes But is this the walking in the Land of the living that David meanes O my soule to walke in the Land of the living is to walke in the pathes of Righteousnesse for there is no such death to the soule as sinne no such cause of teares to the eyes as guiltinesse of Conscience No such falling of the feet as to fall from God and therefore to say the truth the Soule can never returne to its rest if we walke not withall in the paths of righteousnesse and we cannot well say whether this Rest bee a cause of the walke or the walking be a cause of the resting but this wee may say they are certainly companions one to the other which is in effect but this that Justification can never be without Sanctification Peace of conscience and godlinesse of life can never be one without the other Or is it perhaps that David meanes that Land of the living where Enoch and Elias are living with the living God but if he meane so how can he speake so confidently Verse 10 and say I will walke in the Land of the living as though hee could come to walke there by his owne strength or at his owne pleasure Hee therefore gives his reason I beleeved and therefore I spake for the voyce of Faith is strong and speakes with confidence and because in Faith he beleeved that hee shall come to walke in the Land of the living therefore with confidence he speakes it I will walke in the land of the living and perhaps to signifie that hee shall not walke there against his will but that he endeavours and useth the best meanes he can that hee may walke there For indeed if we endeavour not to walke here with Enoch and Elias in the paths of righteousnesse we shall never come to walke with God
we talk of all this while worldly minds have no feare but of worldly enemies and from such perhaps worldly friends may free them but the spirituall man feares rather spiritual enemies and who can free them from such but onely thou O God that art the God of spirits O mercifull God let not spirituall enemies have the victory over mee and I make no great reckoning of other enemies triumphing Alas I know that worldly enemies can never triumph over me if spirituall enemies get not first the victory And now O my soule if God have done this for me have lifted me up above these enemies above these enemies of both kindes have I not a double cause to extoll him for it and to praise his Name And yet I may say I extoll him not more for doing it then for his readinesse of doing it For I cryed unto him and hee healed mee I no sooner cryed but hee heard me he no sooner heard me but he healed me My suite was no sooner made then granted My disease as soone cured as discovered hee kept me not languishing by drawing out his cure in length but he applyed a present remedy and prevented Hope with hast As therefore I extolled him before for his love in lifting me up above my enemies so I must extoll him now for his compassion in being moved to doe it for my onely crying to him I used no intercessour but my owne voyce and hee healed me and for God to be moved with the cry of a wretched sinner and so to be moved as presently to heale him Is it not a just cause to extoll him and say O the wonderfull bowels of compassion that are in God Verse 3 To be lifted up from any place is an act of Power but the lower the place is it is the greater act of Mercie and can there be a lower place then the Grave at least then the grave of the Soule and from this low place was David lifted up as yee may heare himselfe say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave Thou hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the pit But is not this a strange speech in David as though there were a grave of the Soule as there is of the Body for if there be not how then is it true that God hath brought up his soule from the Grave Is it perhaps that he calls it the Soule which is but the cementing of the Body and life together or that he calls it the Grave of the Soule when it is in the lowest estate of vivifying the Body What ever it be it shewes a great mercy in God and a great power of that mercy to raise him up that was brought so low and to keepe him from falling into the Pit that was fallen already to the pits brinke The truth is that as sinne is the death of the Soule so continuance in sinne is the grave of the Soule and in this Grave of continuance did Davids soule lye a long time Alas the shortest time in this case is long till God by his quickning Spirit restored him againe to the life of Grace that hee had just cause to say Thou O Lord hast brought up my soule from the grave and hast kept mee alive that I should not goe downe into the Pit Oh how many there are that have bodyes walking above ground when their soules are lying in the Grave that are lustie and strong in the naturall life when in the spirituall life they are dead and buryed yet so long as they lye not buried above foure dayes so long as they continue not in sin so long till it have brought the Soule into an absolute corruption there is example in Lazarus and where there is Example there is hope they may be raised againe to life and be kept from falling into the Pit of perdition And now O my soule though God have not lifted thee up to as high a place yet seeing he hath lifted thee up from as low a place as he did David hast thou not as just cause as he to say I will extoll thee O God for thou hast lifted mee up and hast not suffered my enemies sinne and death to triumph over mee And here I find my selfe so oppressed with joy that I am not able to expresse it without assistance and what assistance can I looke for but from the Saints of God O therefore sing unto the Lord all yee saints of his give thankes unto him at the remembrance of his Holinesse It is not enough to praise him if yee doe not sing his praises for it must be done with chearefulnesse and exultation and it is not enough to sing if yee doe not praise him for your joy must be in him and for him in his goodnesse and for his glory If it were to sing of another thing I should require the whole Quire of Gods creatures to joyne in the singing but now that it is to sing of Gods holinesse what should prophane voyces doe in the Consort None but Saints are fit to sing of holinesse and specially of Gods holinesse but most specially with songs of holinesse O therefore sing to the Lord all yee saints of his and let your songs be more of his praises then of your owne thankfulnesse and let your thankfulnesse not be so much for the benefits which you have received as for the holinesse with which they are bestowed for God gives not his benefits as the world useth to doe out of any corrupt affection or with any corrupt intention but there is a holinesse in his giving as well as in his gifts and seeing the Cherubins and Seraphins doe continually cry to God Holy Holy Holy You that are his Saints may well afford to sing to God at the remembrance of his holinesse But what holinesse can there be in Anger Verse 5 and is there not anger in God sometimes and will not this then bee a cause rather of weeping to thinke of his anger then of singing at the remembrance of his holinesse O my soule this need be no cause to breake off the singing for his anger endureth but a moment and even anger it selfe is in God a holinesse It is none of the things that are naturall and permanent in God It is but forced upon him by the violence of sinne and as forced as it is it stayes not with him it is but as a wind that passeth Dum oritur moritur It dyes in the birth Nothing lives and is permanent in God but onely his favour and his love and therefore Though weeping may endure for a night yet joy commeth in the morning And seeing our life is of this condition that heavinesse sometimes must as well be had as joy it is happy for us they are so disposed that heavinesse comes but in the Evening when wee may sleepe it out and when our senses are apt to be tyed up from feeling it but joy commeth in the Morning when all our
but forget some of his Benefits yet forget not all his Benefits if thou canst not remember all at least remember some Forget not It is hee that forgiveth Verse 3 all thy sinnes it is hee that healeth all thy infirmities Remember but these and they will alwayes minister matter enough to keepe thee in worke for blessing his Name For to forgive all my sinnes O my grievous my manifold sinnes that I know not whether they bee more or more grievous whether their Number or their Greatnesse be the greater is it not a benefit that may justly claime a prime place in my memorie If it were but onely to be favourable in punishing my sinnes it were a benefit worth remembring but to blot my sins cleane out and absolutely to forgive them and that freely without any desert of mine Alas without any possibilitie of deserving This is a Benefit that no Lethargie can forget indeed a benefit that deserves remembring in the highest degree And yet perhaps to forgive all my sinnes not a greater benefit then to heale all my infirmities This being the chiefe worke of his Grace as that of his Mercy for seeing my sinnes many of them and upon the matter all of them bee sinnes of infirmitie for even wilfulnesse and presumption are of infirmitie by healing my infirmities hee prevents me of sinning and is it not as great a benefit to keepe me from committing sinnes as to forgiue my sinnes when I have committed them But O my soule meddle not with this high point of Heraldrie to discusse which is the greater of Gods Mercy or his Grace They are both an Abyssus it is worke enough for thee and for all that is within me to Blesse him for both and for both indeed thou hast just cause to Blesse him seeing it is by the vertue of both that thou art able to Blesse him If it were not for his Mercy thou wouldst want the materiall cause of blessing him if it were not for his Grace the efficient but now that there is a concurrence of both together Now that both he forgiveth all thy sinnes in his Mercy and healeth all thy infirmities by his Grace Now O my soule what would it argue but extream ungratefulnesse farre exceeding a forgetfulnesse both in thee and all that is within me if thou shouldst not Blesse his Name For O my soule consider the multitude of infirmities to which thou art subject thou hast many suggestions of the flesh and thou art apt to consent and yeeld unto them and strivest not against them by earnest Prayer and holy Meditations This is an infirmitie In thy prayers to God thy thoughts are often wandring and thou thinkest of other matters farre unworthy of that great Majestie to whom thou prayest or if not so yet thou art quickly weary thy spirits are drowsie in it and thou hadst rather be doing of something else This is an infirmitie And indeed thou hast infirmities in all thy senses In thy seeing thou canst see a moate in thy brothers eye and canst not see a beame in thine owne eye In thy smelling thou thinkest Suavis odor lucri ex re qualibet that the savour of gaine is sweet from whence so ere it rise In thy Hearing Thou art gladder to heare prophane and idle discourses then such as be serious and holy These are infirmities and O my soule if I should cut thee up into as many parts as an Anatomist and examine the infirmities of every part should I not have cause just cause to cry out with Saint Paul O wretch that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sinne Who shall heale me of all these infirmities for whether we call them sinnes and then God forgives them or call them Infirmities and then he heales them they are to us all one benefit in God all one kindnesse that as either of them is well worth remembring so for both of them we have just cause to blesse him and to praise his Name But O my soule as thou remembrest these things that both he forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thy infirmities so remember also their consequences too for upon these there are great matters depending as worthy to bee remembred as the things themselves For alas my soule thou wert by sinne come to be Mortall and the sentence of Morte morieris was past upon thee but now by forgiving thy sinnes this sentence is reversed by healing thy infirmities thy life is Redeemed it is taken out of the hands of the Destroyer and put into the hands of a Redeemer and a Redeemer not onely from Captivitie but from destruction for Captivitie takes away but onely thy libertie but destruction would take away thy very Being and can it be thou shouldst not keepe that in memorie which is it selfe the cause that thou hast a Memorie for what memorie couldst thou have if thou hadst not a Being and what Being couldst thou have if thou wert destroyed and destroyed thou shouldst be if thou wert not Redeemed and Redeemed thou canst not be unlesse thy sinnes bee forgiven This no doubt is a consequence never to be forgotten and yet perhaps there is a consequence behind of greater consequence then this For this my soule gives thy life but onely a duration but there is a consequence a comming that will give it an exaltation For he crownes thee with loving kindnesse and with tender mercies To be madk a King is an eminent favour but to be made a King from being a Captive where not onely the Quo is so considerable but the Unde more this is indeed a supereminent favour and hardly capable of expressing And this is thy case for where before thou hadst fetters upon thy feet thou hast now a Crowne upon thy head and not a Crowne gotten by violence and worne with feare but He crownes thee with loving kindnesse and tender mercies His kindnesse would have made a Crowne good enough for thy wearing but his loving kindnesse makes it a Crowne worthy of his giving And if there be doubt that his mercies alone may not bee ready enough to bestow this Crowne upon thee yet of the readinesse of his tender mercies there can be no doubt there can indeed be no doubt seeing his loving kindnesse and his tender mercies are the Crowne it selfe which he bestowes For O my soule when I speake of a Crowne thou must not fancie to thy selfe such a Crowne as Kings of the earth weare For Christ professed plainly that his Kingdome is not of this world and therefore neither must thine be but consider the extent of Gods loving kindnesse and of his tender mercies and thou wilt find a better Crowne laid up for thee then all the Kingdomes of the Earth put together can afford O gracious God grant me the Crowne of thy loving kindnesse and tender mercies and all other Crownes I willingly lay downe at the foot of thy Throne with the foure and twentie Elders This onely is the Crowne to which