our Hearts to the last Harvest of our Lives and be able to bless many others as Boaz did in the Name of thee Our Father c. TO thee dear God! be all the Dominion the Power and Glory of my Being for thou hast prepared it from the fury of my Adversaries ever since the first motions of that evil Figment in my Heart which hath broke out often into evil Concupiscences and endeavoured to plough with my Heifer to plot with my naughty Flesh to bind and to deliver me a Prisoner unto Satan but my Lusts have not led me Captive nor plough'd upon my Back as they conspired to do for thou O Lord most just and holy wouldest not suffer them to Tyrannize or Triumph too long over me but hast broke those Bands of Wickedness and cast their Cords from me that I might be thy Servant and you the Lord my Righteousness So that I trust they shall be confounded that contend with thee for my Soul and I shall not be ashamed while I wait on thee though my Flesh be as Grass that withers away Thou art my Strength O Lord and my Portion for ever who wilt I trust give a Blessing to my Seed to my Harvest to my House to my Endeavours and Encrease that my Work and thine may prosper in my hand and bring fulness of Joy and Satisfaction to my Breast while all the vain Thoughts and viler Suggestions of my Heart I desire so to hate as to wish like the Grass upon the House tops withered and faded away that they may never grow up to a Crop lest sowing the Wind I Reap the Whirlwind and have my Recompence in vanity according to my delight or trust and come to nothing before my time But O Lord I wait on thee for a Blessing in this my day and for thine Eternity that I may be like a Field whom God hath enriched if he be not on my side I cannot prosper and I know him whom thou blessest is Blessed Bless me therefore even me O! Our Father c. THE ELEVENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXX PSALM 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De dolore Profundo ex imo corde and not as the Papists would have it De Profundis Purgatorii to be used for the Dead It is an Act and incitement of Hope under the most weighty Pressures from this Proof viz. That neither with the strongest Angels nor Saints departed much less with the greatest or best of Men upon Earth is any Pardon or Propitiation to be found but only with God who alloweth us here space and place for Repentance that he may be feared not so slavishly as to be fled from or hated that he may be sued unto adored and attended on in the holy Duties of Prayer Praise and Trust which are comprized in this Psalm to be used sedulously and constantly night and day according to that which the Repetition of the comparison in the sixth Verse doth infer which is thus gloss'd on by Kimchi My Soul waiteth in the Night for the Lord that it may be in the number of those who rise in the Morning-Watch to pray And this sense being most comprehensive of the Times and Method both of Jewish and the greatest of Devotion I follow it in my Version and desire to do so in my Practice This Psalm was made as some think in the time of the Captivity for Redemption from it as may be judged by the last Verse But others ascribe it to David giving it the same Date with the 51st and is reckon'd the sixth of the Penitentials i. e. of those which were used when public Pentents were brought and reconciled to the Church who might well say Because there is Pardon as saith the Text or Propitiation as the 72d with thee O Lord therefore shalt thou be feared i. e. obeyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because the mildness of his Laws and meekness of his Dealings were strong Motives for Repentance Anthema Hocce à me usitatum est ut primò factum in Secundum Octobris OUT of the Deep wherein like Jo nas I was try'd out of the mire of Sin my Clay to God hath cry'd Lord hear my Voice give what I crave O! let me have thy Love Heav'ns Joys Too oft we chuse false Joys And should'st thou be severe To chasten our ill Choice What Man his Ills can bear But we have prov'd That thou may'st be Pardon 's with thee Both fear'd and lov'd I 'le fear lest thou art lov'd Too little and I 'le flee When Fear my Heart hath mov'd Unto thy Sanctuary Early and late Grace to afford There waits the Lord Therefore I 'le wait My Soul on high shall wait Like those who watch the rise Of Day to Officiate At Morning Sacrifice Nay like the Guard Remove the Night Who long 'till Light And them reward 'Till Jacob's Star reward Your Hopes and on you rise Wait Isr'el on your Lord With wakeful wishing Eyes Look 'till the Sun Doth heal and bless Of Righteousness And brings God's Son O! shield ye with his Sun God's People trust his Word Since full Salvation Attends our gracious Lord There 's Pity seen Who will Redeem And Pow'r in him Us from all Sin Gloria Patri c. Glory be to our King Who shall be was and is Loud Hallelujahs Sing To God the God of Peace The Lord of Hosts The Father Son The Three in One And Holy-Ghost AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eleventh PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXX PSALM ODearest Jesu when I consider thee crying with strong Cries to thy Father for me out of the depths of thine Agony and of thy Sufferings both in Gethsemane and in Golgotha how am I swallowed up in the Abysses both of thy Passion and Compassion for us Ah! what fathomless Depths indeed O! what unmeasurable Dimensions both of Grief and Goodness are there for us to be immersed in and since they who are conversant among great Waters see the Wonders of the Lord O! how may we behold these in the drops of thine Eyes and of thy Wounds in the Rivers of thy Tears and of thy wonderful Sweat in the Ocean of thy Love and Sorrows for Mankind When thy Soul was heavy and sunk down even unto Death and all the Cataracts of Shame and Fury passed over thy Head O King of Righteousness and Glory yet out of the deep and horrible Pit of God's Wrath into which thy condition was plunged for our sakes how didst thou reach up thy very Sighs and Groans thy Pains and Sadness thy Prayers and all thy Passions unto Heaven it self to reach us thence a Medicine and a Remedy more certain Health and a more happy Life than the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderness ever brought to its beholders I will therefore look unto thee and be enlighten'd even while thou seemest Eclipsed I will stay my self on the Tree of thy Cross and secure my self under the Shadows of thy
with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as being sung with loud and frequent Responses by the Levites at the erecting and re-edifying of the Temple and therefore intended by me 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as an Anthem for the Day of a Nativity or Baptism For Shrove-Tuesday or a Wedding TIL God the House doth build and Fa mily maintain Workmen tho' ne're so strong or skill'd La bour a las in vain Fa ther 's get Sons in vain in vain the Watchmen ward our Gates un less the Lord or dain his Host to be our Guard In vain a Life we keep Rise early late take Rest Fare hardly For I take it with the 72 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when others take pains with care to provide for their Families God's Beloved thrive better and yet do not so much as lose their sleep or rest in pursuit of thòse enjoyments which others incessantly toyl for This shews the vanity of our Solicitude as the other sence viz. so he gives speaks God's Blessing of honest Labour whereby he brings Rest and makes both it and what else got by Labour pleasant according to Eccless 5.11 lose our loved Sleep 'Till God our Stock hath blest But they whom God hath blest Like Job regain their Peace Nempe Dilectis Domini viz. Jedidiah's such as Solomon God gives his Jedidiahs Rest And with their Rest Encrease Look All Children are given as an Inheritance passing from the Father of Heaven to us not purchased by our own Ability but the Wise and Good are more than David's pleasant and goodly Heritage for they are also a Reward as here and a Crown especially such as are born to us in our stronger and youthful Age who may be grown up and able to give advice and assistance and ready at hand to help or adorn as Arrows in the Quiver of an Archer so that we may go in or out of the Gates of our House City or Lie with honour and safety and speak either with Friends or Foes strong or great the Judge or General Whether it be in public in the sight of all as Aben Ezra construes in Portâ or whether it be in the place where the People assemble where the Nobles meet where the Thrones are set the Prophets prophecy the Right is pleaded the Guards are kept the Soldiers stand and the Judges fit as they did formerly in the Gate Vide Ruth 4.1 1 King 22.10 2 King 7.20 Judg. 9.52 c. ev'n our best Encrease Ruth 4.13 Gen. 30.2 Children come from the Lord Those Fruits of th'Womb which some may guess Man's Work are God's Reward Children both give and Ward A blow for though but young To Parents they 're a double Guard Like Weapons to the Strong Those Shafts help against wrong Life against Death provide Like Jonathan's they home are flung To shield our threaten'd fide Happy the Man whose side Bears Quivers of such Arms For wheresoe're his Cause is try'd He 's quit of Shame and Harms Thus we whom God hath Blest Like Job regain our Peace Since God gives his Beloved Rest And with our Rest encrease Gloria Patri c. To God the Father Son And God the Holy-Ghost Be Glory and let every one Strive who shall praise God most HOSANNA CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eighth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The GXXVII PSALM GRacious Father who workest hitherto as thy Son also worketh look upon us thy Workmanship make us thy Building who as lively Stones well wrought and figured would be built up a Spiritual House unto thee And we know except thy Divine Wisdom thus frame and raise us bearing up the Pillars of our Strength hewing out the Stones of our hard Hearts to be polished Corners of thy Temple we shall prove but sorry Tabernacles but foolish Builders and Labourers in vain For who amongst us can say that he hath made his Heart clean Who can come to the Rock to lay a good Foundation except it be given him from above Or who can keep himself so clean as that the foul and wicked Spirit touch him not nor enter in again after he hath been cast out of a Man except thou O Lord who art stronger than the Enemy dost watch and defend the House of the poor Soul Thou must work all our Works in us and for us for without thee we can do nothing O therefore raise strengthen stablish and compleat us thou glorious Solomon thou who must edifie us by thy Apostles and Teachers and instruct us how to be Temples for thy holiest Spirit and the Heritage of the Lord for evermore We must acknowledge that our best Skill and carefullest Actions our Watchings and Fastings our Righteousness and Charities are as Stones which thou O Master Builder mightest refuse being fit for nothing but to debase and throw us down to Hell affording us no prop or safe reliance upon them 'T is thou alone O truest Jedidiah that foundest thy beloved Church upon the Corner-Stone of Faith which edifies with joy and peace with rest and firmness in believing So build us up we beseech thee and watch over our Souls that we may not be found to have watch'd or to have work'd to have instructed our Hearts to have cleansed our Hands in vain but to have done the Work and compleated the Task which thou hast appointed us to do by edifying both our selves and others in our most holy Faith We throw our selves Lord Jesus on thy gentlest Bosom of Compassions to be regarded and instructed by thee and trust that we are not Judas's whilst we eat of thy Bread and drink of thy Cup but shall be unto thee Sons and Daughters such an Inheritance as may be the Crown of thy Rejoycing the purchase of thy Labours the proof of thy Power the Arrows in thy Quiver with which thou mayest triumphantly come to the Almighty and say Behold me and the Children which thou hast given me Let not thine Arms be full or weary dear Lord 'till thou hast enclosed our Souls within them and made us so the Children of thy strength as that we may be able to come with boldness to the Throne of Grace and neither be affrighted when we meet with our Enemies in the Gate of Death nor when we shall speak with our Accuser and our Judge at the great Tribunal of the last day From the various Proofs of thy tenderness over thy Flock in giving them repose and comfort and blest content in the midst of their hard fare hard work and harder want O skilful Shepherd of our Souls let us learn to cast our Care upon thee for our protection and provision for thy presérvation of our Persons and propagation of our Families and if thou carest for us we need take no more care than Abraham did for God will provide for us for our Off-spring for our chief Good and for his Glory The Lord shall build his David a House and he will be an exceeding great Reward even above that of the
as the Admiration of it is my chiefest pleasure and hath been the cause of publishing these the Essays of my younger time began about twenty years ago at my entrance into Your Service when I aim'd at nothing but God's Grace and Yours Madam The intent of my first Affections would palliate their weaker Actings since as the strength of Zeal may still excuse some Errors the Daughter of Time is here with a Gift though the Daughter of Tyre be not in her Robes Here is no gentile Vanity or curious Texture of Wit no Colours of Rhetorick nor modish Points of Courtship to inveigle Your Opinion of the present Yet Madam here is that may well become Your Grace The most Angelike Dress in fashion upon Earth The way to pierce the Skies with Orisons and Praise The way to pass our Lives in truest Ease and Mirth I wish You like the making up of this Suit as it is with the truth of his Devotion and Service who is ready to wait upon You in his Holy-day habit both to Your Closet and to Our Church as MADAM The humblest and faithfullest of your Ministers THE PREFACE TO THE READER HAVING with much admiration and delight been long conversant with the Psalter I find as it is wisely appointed for the first Book that we read or study so it may fitly be used to the last minute of our Life and Breathing Luke 23.46 Psal 30.6 since our blessed Lord himself handed his Soul unto his Father in these words of the Psalmist And I never knew any condition how sad soever that might not receive some Entertainment Mat. 21 16.21.42.2â—.46.22.44.13.35 some Company and Discourse as well as Music and so some ease and relief from that glorious Book of the Psalms which is not only beautified by our Saviour his frequent use of it both living and dying but by the continual Services John 2.17.6.32.10.34.13.18.15.25.19.24 and best Devotion of all the Saints and Children of God For to say nothing of the Esteem it hath even in the Mahometan Religion there hath been no Church either of Jews or Christians nay scarce one eminent Person in either of those Churches Sixty Proofs cited out of the Psalms in the N. T. who hath not only allowed much time and attention but likewise shewn the greatest remarks of Piety and Zeal in the studious perusal thereof Psal 1.2 For these Spiritual Songs as all sacred Worship was of old wrapt up in Metre do with their most charming Melody and sweetness of Expression both set forth the Law of the Lord and the love of his Servants as on Mount Sion not on Sinai viz. in so lofty and taking a way as that surely they contain not only the Body and Substance but the Spirit and Quintescence the pleasant Tasts and best Relishes of our holiest Religion Besides the variety of Subjects and richness of each Theme serving as the Treasures of several Mines for the furnishing and rewarding both our fancies and labours with Materials sufficient to please to profit to enrich our Meditations So that truly 't is a ravishing and no less than Heavenly delight to hear the holy Persons of all Times and Ages like Birds in the Spring descanting on the self-same Subject but with such different Notes Melody and Accent as it is wonderful to observe while every one doth well in doing his best what rare Divisions are run by the joyning of so full a Consort Whilst the Music becomes more excellent by the admirable variety thereof This hath often set on work and satisfied my Thoughts with the Contemplation of our Eternal employ the praising of God in Heaven perhaps too in the Songs of David as well as of Moses since these were the Songs of the Lamb while he was here on Sion according to our best Capacities and Visions So that as the Angels envy not the Cherub for sitting higher or seeing more than they nor the Seraphim despise the Angels because these cannot reach the others Pitch in their mighty Raptures and heavenly Addresses for they are all in the same way though concerned in several degrees of Duty It is my opinion that no true Christian should be discouraged either by his own weakness or others greater Abilities from turning Psalmodist and helping the Quire with his Notes though they be of a harsher kind and flatter Key than many others which are used there because both in the Church here and that above he must sing the same which others do though it may be not with the same Elegance yet if his Heart be right and his Desires sincere though his Place and Parts may be inferiour to many his good Will and Intent shall afford joy satisfaction and bliss and secure him from the Censure of all others Nay he may suppose the Music and the Mirth of Saints to arise like the Flame from those lowest Coals of the Altar which lie obscurely in their Ashes and thence to ascend by the Degrees of the Sons of Fire to the top of their lofty Pyramid the Deity and from that Central Point again stream forth such Harmony and Delight as may reach and fill enflame and enlighten array and gild the whole Circumference of the Blest Eternity Therefore since he which hath the lowest Voice may bear a Part in Music we should neither contemn nor hinder their singing who cannot reach so high a strain as our selves but bear with or encourage rather than silence and disturb the Devotions of the weakest who may be more acceptable to God in their well-meaning than we are to Men in our finer expressions Upon this account I have often judged it expedient that Censure should be shut out of the Church Doors when any ones Verse or Music is brought within them and though we might be able to mend that which is there allowed yet we are rather to use than blame it because it is prescribed by such whom we must yield best able to discern what is fit for the public Worship which certainly differs from each Man 's private Devotions more than doth his Night-dress from the Habit he must wear at Noon-day So that though I might plead for Hopkin's and Sternhold's for the meanest Translation of the Psalms in our Parish Churches as Men do for some Customs and Fashions because countenanced by Authority and long Usage yet I would not from thence conclude that they are the best or that I must keep them in my own Closet or particular Devotions But as I will not refuse them publicly whilst commanded so I will not reproach them privately much less censure or deter others in their singular Industry who have not only design'd but attempted both to do better than the weakest Age of English Poetry and withall equal the strongest Reach of Sence and Expression that is found in the best Translators of the Psalms Amongst whom I would count two very late Authors Mr. S. W. Mr. M. S. who might be fancied the two
Majesty and Excellency of the first Pen-man it is more reasonable that we should submit our Endeavours as Publicola did his Fasces to the use and benefit of the most and meanest rather than make them Trophies of our own Arrogance and our Brethren's weakness Our continual work is Mark 9.49 50. to have about us that Salt of Charity which may season our Offerings both to God and Man while we thank the one or assist the other It it not double Superstition and worse than Folly to court the Prayers of Men in Heaven and the Praises of Men on Earth 'T is enough to have an Interest quite otherwise in Religion and to forward Man's Good with God's Glory more than with our own or God's Blessing with our own good Deeds rather than with others good Words So that I would not be thought Censorious nor Singular nor any other ways Pharisaical in my Entertainments here Though I bring several Courses of Devotion they are not worthy to be compared to the good piece of Flesh and Flagon of Wine wherewith our great Exemplar once treated the People yet let these be never such course Fare they are really designed for a Blessing to all as David's Banquet was in 1 Chron. 16.34 and I can conclude with his Royal word As for me 1 Chron. 29.17 18. in the uprightness of my Heart I have willingly offered all these things Noli altum sapere sed time More ERRATA's in the First Part. PAg. 11. l. 34. read off l. 42. r. holiest p. 14. l. 3. insert thou p. 15. l. 30. insert is the wickedness of Folly Eccles 7.25 l. 41. dele from p. 16. l. 2. for from them read for Women In Margin Psal 92.13 l. 32. r. my p. 21. l. 14. dele the. l. 20. r. were p. 25. l. 43. r. they will p. 27. l. 19. r. weep thus dele this l. 34. insert and thine dele and. p. 28. l. 28. r. thee p. 32. in Margin insert Dan. 4.31.32 Jer. 51.9 p. 38. l. 30. dele a. p. 40. l. 42. in Margin Deut. 32.4 l. 45. dele the. p. 43. l. 32. insert for p. 48. l. 12. in Margin 2 King 6.16 23. to l. 46. in Margin Dan. 4. 12 13. p. 50. l. 25. for secured read soured p. 53. l. 38. read we may be ERRATA in the Second Part. PAg. 10. in Gloria Patri read To God to Father Son p. 21. l. 22. insert are given us p. 24. l. 20. dele as thou didst the Prophet which is twice repeated p. 26. l. 14. for O Lord read O God remove the * from l. 24. to l. 20. p. 35. l. 16. read establish his Kingdom p. 41. l. 32. read and a fruitful p. 45. l. 16. in Margin Isa 36.10 p. 48. l. 2. in Margin Ruth 2.4 p. 49. l. 17. read the Rods. l. 33. read preserved it p. 50. l. 4. read thou p. 55. l. 32. read Jewish l. 33. in Margin Jer. 38.12 13. p. 56. l. 2. in Margin Jonas 2.5 6. l. 17. read this present state p. 60. l. 6. for Loving read Leaving the Breast p. 61. l. 6. read Root p. 62. l. 3. read Uzzah l. 23. read Rereward p. 64. in Margin read Clarius in l. 23. read sedem innuit Aris. p. 68. in Marg. †read nictaturus sim p. 79. l. 13. read but to the people who watched there p. 84. l. 17. read Songs of Elevation And note This whole 84th Page should have been the first IN Psalmorum Laudem CHORUS 1. Angelorum 2. Hominum CHORUS THE PSALMS are Paradises Spring Streaming Refreshments every way They 1. Wine 2. Oyl 1. Milk 2. And Honey bring 1. To Cheer 2. To Cure 1. To Feed 2. T' Allay 1. When we are merry Psalms we sing 2. When we 're afflicted Psalms we say 1. They Heav'n's 2. And Earth's Devotions wing 1. While Angels Praise 2. Or Men do Pray CHORUS The PSALMS are Paradises Spring Streaming Refreshments every way c. THE FIRST Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXX PSALM It is a Complaint and Prayer against the falsness fraud and impious Designs rather than the force of inhumane Adversaries Because their Strength and Power may at least for a Time be from God's Will and Permission but Deceit and Perfidiousness owe their Birth to Men's Prevarications and the subtil Temptations of the Evil One And therefore ought the rather to be deprecated The Author of this Psalm is not known but supposed to be David and made by him upon the like occasion that the 7th the 34th and the 52d were Composed when he fled to Gath ob Aethiopem Jeminiensem as * In Psal 7. Castalio phraseth it or upon the implacable Fury of Saul truly and civilly as well as elegantly stiled A melancholy terrible Man Or else upon the malicious Information of a Cushite or Edomite against an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile which seems very probable from his Description of the Parties who were after the way of Mesech as the Aethiopians Cushites were and allied to the sordid Tents of Kedar or Arabia of which Country Doeg was a Native This Psalm likewise looks Prophetically at the sworn Enemies of Jerusalem 's Peace such as were the confederate Arabians and Asiaticks at the building the Temple and afterwards with Antiochus at the defacing of the same All which cruel and cunning Foes are expressed by * Ezek. 38.2 God and Magog For S. Steven's day or some time of Trial. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. IN my di stress and fear I cry'd unto the Lord who soon did help as hear when I this wish did word From Lips made foul by guile and wrongs and from false Tongues Lord save my Soul What Praise Quid tibi dabit aut quid addet tibi Spoken as to Saul perhaps by the Psalmist upon the account of Doeg what Profit shall The treachérous Tongue bring thee Poor Soul 't will scorch and Gall Thy self as well as me Having been streightned in my Verse I desire to observe in Prose the rare Elegancy of the Psalmist here who speaking of a desert state and place among the Sons of Ismael the great Archer he tells his savage Foes though Companions that they shall be struck with their own Weapons as Saul was and burnt with the Coals of the Wilderness where Juniper most abounds which was the most desolate and grievous Fire from the nature of the Wood and so proper fuel for the black Tents of Kedar and for Mesech the Asiaticks if taken for a People wild and wandering about in Wagons or living in Tents covered with Skins But if it referrs to a place it is well rendered by the LXXII whom I follow with Symachus and Aquila c 'T will doubly harm By Fire and Shot Like Darts made hot From some strong Arm. Why then O why so long Do I protract my Woes By wand'ring still among War's Friends and Peace's Foes I 'm in a Tent Who are on Theft Of Arabs left And
Murder bent At me their Bows are bent Their Malice doth encrease They say no good I meant When I did seek their Peace When I speak fair And straight the Swarm I them all-arm Their Stings prepare Corollarium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which may be used or omitted It being another Repetition Return Recollection of the Sence Musick Psalm Ver. 3 4. BUT though the Sland'rers sting Like Lightning pierc'd and burn'd The Stones which he did sling Heav'n in his Face return'd Live Coals from Hell By his bad Tongue And Javelings flung On his Head fell Ver. 2 7. Therefore no more will I Be of such Bruits afraid No more I 'll sigh Ver. 5 6. or cry Though I 'm in Deserts stay'd In all my Ways Who dost afford I 'll Bless Thee Ver. 1 2. Lord Such cause of Praise Though I 'm in Deserts stay'd No more I 'll sigh or cry Or be of Bruits afraid No longer now will I. Such cause of Praise We 'll Bless Thee Lord Thou dost afford In all our Ways Gloria Patri c. Glory be to our King Who shall be was and is Loud Hallelujahs sing To God the God of Peace The Lord of Hosts The Father Son The Three in One And Holy Ghost AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE First PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXX PSALM O Lord our Redeemer a very present help in trouble as I have found thee heretofore blessed be thy powerful Compassion so I desire to approve thee whensoever as at this time I cry unto thee to deliver my Soul O God! I see that I am fallen into a dangerous Condition by the Lies of the Serpent the Treacheries of my own Flesh and the Falshoods of the World which I have sought and served listened and trusted to and so am justly appay'd with Cousenage and Disgrace with Calumnies and Accusation For what can be had from the Accuser of the Brethren from the deceitfulness of Riches and from the Cheats of all things here below but disappointments and vexation for such as follow lying Vanities forsaking thy Mercies and their own Alas then woe is me that I have heaped up such Coals of Vengeance on my own Head and pierced my Heart through with so many Darts of Sorrow by not delighting in the Tents of the Righteous nor in the Tabernacles of thy Holiness but in the Dwellings of Ungodliness and in the House of the Accursed so that I have deserved indeed to be made a Vagabond like Cain and a Slave like Cham in a perpetual Banishment from Comfort and in a Captivity unto Sin by having my Conversation according to the evil fashion of this Age. But Lord how long how long shall I sojourn either amongst the Enemies of thy Grace or of my Peace Amongst the Superstitious or Idolatrous Amongst those who are after the way of Mesech Or those who dwell in the black aboads of Kedar O! prolong not my Danger and Unhappiness any more among them nor protract my Wandrings with a backsliding People for I seek Peace Peace with Thee with my own Conscience and with all the World But can the Egyptian change his Skin Had Zimri Peace who slew his Master No Lord. There is no Peace thou hast said it to the Wicked who are at defiance with thee and with themselves and make War in the face of Heaven Therefore that I may find Peace I seek thy Pardon and my Soul's Purity and desire thee to preserve me from the Pollutions and Snares of a perverse Generation that dissemble as strange Children that so having no fellowship with the workers of Iniquity I might live in the sweet Communion of thy Saints and to be furthered by their Examples and Conversation in the way of Peace and Holiness For Lord I would be a pacifick Jacob and dwell under the shadow of thy Wings there accounting my self secure though I have no other Covering Thou art the best place to hide me in and 't is not my Sword or Bow shall settle or secure me but thy Mercy thy Grace and thy Spirit No strange Arms here can give me a certain or safe Abode unless thou be on my side Therefore dear God! whilst many rise up against me to trouble me in saying Where is thy God seeking to destroy me with their own quiet be thou a God nigh at hand to deliver me from Treachery Malice Turbulence and Hypocrisie And while my Foes heap Coals of Fire on their own Heads by unjust Actions and hard Speeches let my Mouth be touched with a Coal from thine Altar that I may know how to keep the Door of my Lips from all Cursing and Bitterness Lying and Blasphemies fraudulent and filthy Communication and how to open it in Praying to thee that I may find the Blessings of Peace within above abroad about me by Repentance of my Sins Reformation of my Life Regeneration of my Nature and Reconciliation to thy Love O! let it suffice that I have stayed so long in their Habitations where the Instruments of Cruelty remain where I might have been drawn either unto base Earthly Sorrow and Distraction or to foul Hellish Guilt and Desperation and so to inevitable Destruction both of Soul and Body Let it pity thee to see my poor Soul in such a Sink such a Gaol and Mill in such a nasty vile and slavish State as it hath endured And do thou cover my Head while my Foes make them ready to Battel Then shall I be guarded from the strife of Tongues from the contradiction of Sinners from the reproach that I fear and from Satan that is come forth against me with great wrath because I have called on thy Name while thou art not angry that I cry unto thee Our Father c. THE SECOND Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXI PSALM Is an Act of Acquiescence and Trust in God's Power and Presence made by David as it is thought when hunted like a Partridg on the Mountains and pursued by Saul when he made the 54th 55th and 57th Psalm And this being much used by the Jews in Babylon as most suitable for times of Persecution or Sickness was at their going up from thence appointed to be one of their Psalms of Ascents and therefore to be sung frequently loudly and by Responses which occasioned this Composing it like an Anthem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Stanza's being so pointed and divided as to answer alternately by Disticks if it may better suit the Musick The Title of it hath a difference from the rest as the Rabbins observe being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not as in others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It may be stiled David ' s March made by him or some other considerable Person while he kept the Field either for the safety of his Flocks as Jacob did or of his Friends as Abram Thus did the Royal Shepherd and sweet Singer of Israel exercise and employ his Mind in the grateful Memory of the Divine Goodness Well might he then here
any other I had rather be a Door-keeper in thy Tabernacle than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedness Help us then to joyn with the blessed Choir both of the Church Militant and Triumphant in a Lesson of the best Service even Love and Charity which is the compleatest Religion the fulfiller of the Law the filler full of Heaven For see the Jerusalem that comes down thence as well as that which is above agrees in all its Parts and Graces and by its lovely Symmetry makes up the sweetest Harmony of Heaven and Earth declaring Charity the bond of Peace as Peace the breeder of Felicity Therefore while we see the present Concord and Conformity thou hast afforded our Nation we look with joy upon an Emblem of that glorious Day when thou shalt gather thy Children from the four Winds and bring then together in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and to live with him for ever Lord 'till that time come preserve thy Church among us from Rent and Spot from Breach and Blemish and meet with us graciously as thou didst with Elijah in the soft mild Voice of thy Gospel in the savoury Breath of thy Spirit in the sweet Airs of our pious and public Services wherein make us to consent to Pray for the Peace of our Souls and of thy People as also for the Plenty of our Land for the Piety of our Governours for the Prosperity of their Government and Persons for the Purity of Religion for the Perpetuity of thy Church among us as also for Unanimity and Uniformity in the way of thy Worship that we may endeavour as well as desire the most durable Good here and an eternal Good hereafter to our selves and ours and all thine Which we beseech thee grant for Jesus Christ 's sake who is of the Stock and Lineage of David to whom belongs the Seat of Judgment for ever and ever Amen THE FOURTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIII PSALM Is agreeable to the condition of David in the third Psalm as also to the sad State of the Israelites Composed perhaps by Ezra at Babylon and from that time frequent in use being Calculated for the Times of Trouble and Tyranny Wherein the Church as under Antiochus or some such insulting Oppressor prayeth complaineth and trusts to God The Priest beginning as it were with an Oremus to the People in the first Verse and then the whole Congregation joyning and going on with him to the end of the Psalm TO thee who dost a bide a bove the Starry Spheres yet hast our Griefs with Pi ty ey'd to thee we send our Tears To Heav'n this Spring of Tears From hence doth bubling rise Psal 121.1 Which from low Grounds our Passion rears To thee that hast our Eyes By Hand in the Text is understood help strength or protection by those who take the words of this Verse to imply the Servant's repairing to his Lord for succour and defence from Foreign injuries It also signifies bounty direction and correction to those who take the meaning as I apprehend it Nor do we need an Eye But to observe thy Hands Which way for Blessing us they lye By Chast'nings or Commands Since oft Gen. 48.14 19. like Israel's Hands Thine as a-cross are spread For God not Man best understands How to Crown Ephraim's Head Therefore we raise our Heads Not to repine but pray To mark how our chief Joshua leads And how we him obey As Soldiers still obey Their Leader's Staff and Rod And at their Becks do go or stay So wait we on our God Thy Smile or Frowns O God Like humblest Handmaids we Do bear and from our Lord's aboad Gen. 21.14 Do not like Hagar flee Jon. 1.3 No Jonas here will fly From thee Jon. 4.8 though Chasten'd thus We 2 King 5.2 as meek Servants carefully Stay 'till thou pity us Thy Mercy we implore Multum saturata est Anima subsannatione As if play'd upon and scossed at by the Soldiery while led in Triumph according to the expression in Psal 137.3 Thy speedy Mercy Lord For now our Lives are scorn'd nay more Our very Souls abhorr'd By those we are abhorr'd As we do loath their Pride Who can with Insolence afford To wrong us and deride But God shall them deride Whose Scorns o're-charge our Hearts When these are full and can abide No more God takes our parts And since God takes our parts To him our Tears shall glide To him we 'll lift our Looks and Hearts Who doth in Heav'n abide Now since God takes our part To him our Tears shall glide To him we 'll lift our Looks and Hearts Who doth in Heav'n abide Gloria Patri c. All Glory Praise and Bliss To th' Three in Unity Who as at first was God now is And evermore shall be CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIII PSALM O Thou great Lord and King that dwellest in the Heavens David hath taught me to lift up mine Eyes to thee and the Son of David hath better instructed me to call thee by thy Spirit Abba Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. That gracious Name of Our Father invites us Lord to call upon thee in the needful time of Trouble For though thou dwellest in the highest Heavens thou art not contained by them but from that thy Throne vouchsafest to look down upon what is done and suffered upon Earth So that in the deepest evils of our Sufferance as in all the good of our Enjoyment here we may still look up and see thy doing and be satisfied in the Wonder that thou dost so much for our advantage Ah! how marvellous is it in our Eyes that when Hope and Help both fail on Earth we can seek much higher for them and even then too when we are justly corrected because thou art a merciful King and behold we are thy Servants for all that thou hast afforded us We submit to thee with humble Fear and wait on thee with Thanksgiving and Praise thee for smiting and subduing us thy People under thee For thou dost as the King of Israel did to Benhadad thou beatest that thou mayest bring us to thy self thou conquerest that thou mayest be kind taking away a little that thou mightest give a better Kingdom Wherefore we beg and trust that when thou hast convinced us how worthy we all are of Hate Death and Disgrace that then thou wilt restore us to Life Favour and Prosperity Well may we be watchful Suppliants and Expectants for some Token of thy Pity when thy left Hand some sinister Providence is laid upon us because thou hast still thy right Hand the Man of thy right Hand to embrace thy Spouse when thy afflicting Hand is never so heavy upon her either by the Tyranny of Oppressors or by the Rod of Tribulation Let us rightly hearken to this Rod and see the Hand which hath appointed it and not look
awry by Pride Uncharitableness Impenitence or Impatience on what thou dost because as thy provoked Justice is the Author so our Provocations are the just Original of our Sorrows and the Springs of our Sufferings And it is well for us in our Calamities when we are not thrown out but fall into the Hands of God who is no less pitiful than powerful to deliver us with David out of the Hands of all our Enemies and out of the Hands of Saul too From all our wicked Foes I mean and from our most wicked selves also from our own Unrighteousness as well as others which fills our Souls with Shame our State with Contempt and our Lives with Sorrow For is not proud Lucifer as it were at ease when we tumble our selves down by diffidence in God or self-deceit And vile Oppressors like the Devils themselves are in their proper and pleasant work when they are Lording it over thine Heritage Wherefore preserve us we beseech thee from our own Baseness and Falshood as well as from the Tyranny and Treachery of thine other Enemies And plead thou our Cause for us with others and with our selves for thy Son 's and for our Soul's sake And when we are driven by the Insolence of others or by the Demerits of our own Actings to implore thy Mercy and thy Pity with all the prostitute Submission humble Confidence and absolute Resignation of Obedient Servants O! let us not be slothful in our Duties or doubtful of thy Providence but diligent in all the Labour that thou callest us to thanking our selves for deserving Correction as thee our Lord for correcting us so Father-like and trusting by thy Chastisements to prove in us more of thy Love and of our Adoption THE FIFTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXIV PSALM Is entituled David's according to the Tenor of that in Samuel Cap. 2. v. 22. being a Commemoration of his wonderful deliverance from great and many Dangers together with a thankful acknowledgment to God the sole Author of Safety and Success properly used at any time of eminent Preservation as on the Fifth of November or Third of June It may be called David's Triumphs for more than one Victory by God's special assistance as may be gathered from the repetition of the first words nisi quod Dominus which imply the iteration of God's Goodness and Man's gratitude for when he is pleased to manifest the largeness of Loving-kindness to us then especially ought we to make our return of Gratitude with a Non nobis This Divine Io Paean was composed probably after the Conquest of the Ammonites who had beset David on every side according to that expression of their force and inhumane Rage Tunc homines Adham per contemptum vivos deglutiissent nos or as the word Adham seems to hint to me upon his subduing of the Edomites when he made the 60th Psalm or as others think after most of his Victories over the Philistines c. in Chron. when the Snare was broke by the Death of his Enemies as in the Prophecy the Jews Bondage was by the Persians breaking the Chaldean Monarchy And so the late and former the many and wonderful Deliverances of our Nation are to own the immediate effect of God's gracious interposition and as a signall Evidence of His all-swaying Power as the first Creation of the World was that we might not Sacrifice to our Nets and Bulwarks nor value our selves upon the store of deeper Waters like once Proud but now Desolate Tyre but that our Trust Succour and Defence may be founded on him the Supreme of all Beings on whom depends the whole Creation HAd not the Lord been on our side now may the wrastling Is rael say when E-sau did his Troops provide our Flocks had been the Ly ons prey Had not the Lord been on our side When Men against us rose like Waves The Surges of their Rage and Pride Had snatcht us quick into our Graves Jonas Like Whales upon Amittay's Son Death's Jaws on us they open'd wide Dathan's strange End Numb 16.29 how could we shun Had not the Lord been on our side When Seas of Rage swell'd to that height As on our Souls to whelm their Tyde Those Torrents had destroy'd us quite Had not the Lord been on our side Then had the Streams our strength o're-pow'r'd But we through Floods through Foes did wade And were not as a Prey devour'd Nor of their cursed Teeth afraid Blessed be God! our Life 's got free From all the Toyls their Mischief set As Birds out of a Snare so we 'Scape strangely through the Fowler 's Net Hell Snares are broke our Souls are freed For on God's help our Hearts are stay'd God's Word speaks Heav'n and Earth his Deed His Hands preserve the Works they made God keep us all as all he made From him the Heavens and Earth proceed Upon his Truth our Trust is stay'd Hell's Snares are broke and we are freed Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost whom we adore In Persons three in Essence one Who was is shall be evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXIV PSALM O Thou Lyon of the Tribe of Judah thou Shepherd of Israel that leadest thy People like a Flock while we with thankfulness look up to thy strength for us to thy stay of us and thy staff over us let us look down with Humility on our own unworthiness We deserve not the least part of that care and watchfulness of thine which defends us daily from the ravenous Bear of this World's Temptations from the Uncircumcised Philistine our own Flesh and from the roaring Lyon of the Abyss that goes about seeking to devour to swallow us up quick as it were at a Morsel And yet blessed be the Lord he hath not given us up for a Prey to these Destroyers and if we give not up our selves by our sinful fears and easie submissions though Satan's rage be like his Hell enflamed he cannot have his will of us That Lyon may come out against us with great wrath and fright us by his vain Noises but cannot fall upon us at once as he desires He hath no part no power of us 'till we give it to him If therefore O Lord we are on thy side or thou on ours we need not fear what Devils or what Man can do unto us even when they rise never so proudly never so powerfully against us Let us but set the Lord our Righteousness at our right hands let us but have righteous Hands and innocent Hearts and we shall not be so greatly moved or terrified as to let the Enemy triumph over our Souls though yet we must confess with Grief that many Waters have gone over them The swelling Torrents of sinful Passions and Prosperity the mighty Floods of worldly Cares and Vanities the superfluities of naughty sensual Pleasures have not only tossed and endangered but even overwhelmed and swallowed up
Fruit of the Womb unto his Friend Abraham whose Children we are if we believe as he Lord we believe help our unbelief that we might not throw away our loved sleep much less our best beloved Souls in carking after the things of this Life whether they be Pleasures Profits Power Posterity Preferments or vain Past-times for what are these in respect of a Soul But giving up our Souls Estates and Concernments into the hands of a faithful Creator who is able to keep them and us to the very uttermost let us be preserved not only in perfect Peace and Prosperity in this Life but also in a happy and safe Repose even in Death it self when we expect to rest from our Labours and to sleep in Jesus Amen THE NINTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXVIII PSALM Is a Description of the Felicities of such Good Men as fear the Lord that is say the Rabbins who cease to do evil and learn to do well who walk in the ways of God and are not only negatively good but positively making their own hands minister to their Necessities as the Apostle did knowing that he who will not labour shall not eat But such as labour honestly either to obtain a lively-hood and subsistance here or a better Life hereafter shall find the fruit of their Pains to be Peace and Plenty Not the Apples of Sodom or Clusters of Gomorrah but those of Mercies Temporal Spiritual Eternal Such as are here enumerated from the 2d Verse to the end far better than by any other Poet. Amongst which Blessings as to this World the greatest are esteemed Vitam quae faciunt Beatiorem c. Martial lib. 10. Epig. 47. 1. A Fruitful Meet Companion neither barren in good Works nor Off-spring And therefore compared to a Vine or because saith Kimchi she can live well and plentifully within Doors and only desires that her Branches may go abroad As a Vine saith he will grow and flourish though rooted within a House so the spreading Limbes be carried into the Air. 2. Then a chearful Table decently replenisht with Legitimate Pious and Healthful Children Likened to Olive Plants either because they are hopeful and flourishing as the Olive Tree is always green or useful and Ornamental as those Trees are to Entertainments in the East or Emblems of unfading Happiness as Olive Branches were to Victors or not a shameful and spurious Off-spring For it is reported of the Olive Stock that it will nourish no Grafts but of its own Kind These Blessings being described by two such admirable sweet Comparisons that strive to chear and refresh the Laborious and Prosperous Man the Author breaks off his Apostrophe by a short Epiphonema in the 5th Ver. but who the Author of this Psalm was appears not and then in the 6th and 7th Ver. goes on to pray for other Joys for the good Man towards the compleating those promis'd in the 2.3.4 Verses Which indced so fed nay feasted my eager Thoughts with that most excellent Scripture Abundance exprest by Corn and Oyl Judg. 9.9 13. that which Chears and Honours God and Man that I could not withhold from enlarging my delight in ruminating thus far upon it Like the fat Olive and the fruitful Vine Chearful to make Man's Heart his Face to shine Are well bred Children and fruitful Wife In this World's Paradise those Trees of Life They wander not afar but still abide By their own lucky Boards or House's fide At Home they Live and Thrive fix and Encrease The Prosperous Signs of Plenty Mirth and Peace Pax feu Pacem super Israel concludes the Psalm as the 125. This seems proper for a Wedding day or any such time of Festivity and therefore used thus Solemnly to be Sung after the Captivity by the Levites among the other Psalm of Degrees And it is intended by me for St. Lucy's day and New-year's Tide BLest is the Man that fears the Lord and walks in ways taught by God's word while such a Joseph Vice refrains to Prison Walls tho bound he be he spreads like Egypt's patient Tree and bears more Fruit by wearing Chains Who e're thou art that fear'st the Lord Fearing to sin in work or word Plenty with Ease shall crown thy Pain Thy Hands shall get Wealth that will last The Sweets of which thy Lips shall tast Doubling by relishing thy Gain Ruth â— 11 1â— Thy Wife shall like a fruitful Vine Deck thy House-side as well as thine And see thine Off-spring shade thy Board As pleasant Olive-Plants are set To grace and guard thee at thy Meat Thus art thou Blest that fear'st the Lord In heav'n thrice happy shalt thou be As here below 't is well with thee Thy Joys from Sion still encrease Thine Age to three Descents shall see Thine Issue fair thy Nation free And what is best on Israel Peace As here below 't is well with thee In Heav'n thrice happy shalt thou be From Sion's shall thy Joys encrease Thou shalt out-live one Age to see Good on thy Land and Family And which is best on IsraelPeace Gloria Patri c. Glory be to the Father Son And Holy-Ghost the Three in One Whose Deity we shall adore Since ev'ry Person of the Three For ever was shall ever be And is God Blessed evermore CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Ninth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXVIII PSALM O Most glorious and gracious Lord God who art fit to be feared and worthy to be loved grant that I may not only serve thee out of filial Reverence and sense of Duty but also and chiefly out of most passionate Affection and Delight walking in thy ways as well as learning them and doing thy Will as well as knowing it from a principle of entire and true Love and of full and absolute Choice Grant that whether I am born unto Trouble and Care or to eat and reap the Fruit of others Pains both by my own and others Labours my Repose may be afterwards more sweet and nourishing and my Enjoyments more solid as my Endeavours successful while I have Religion though not Riches and that which with Content is great Gain notwithstanding the shortness and loss of worldly Treasures If I partake of the true Vine and of the travel of his Soul who was full as God and made full as Man that of his fulness we might receive and feast for evermore then how well shall it be with me here How much better hereafter Come what can come I shall have comfort enough in this World and a Crown in the next Nay I shall be a Crown to my dear Bridegroom a Glory to my Redeemer as the wise Spouse is to her Husband for in this good and true is the Word of the Lord which he hath spoken not only in the Literal but also in the Spiritual sense and so shall his Work be as to the Head so to the Members He will make the Church Christ's Wife and she shall be a Vine as well as
wonderfully wisely and kindly seen to reconcile the World what is that but Vileness Vanity and Vexation Frailty and a Curse unto himself that Man might be far more able than he was by the Glasses and Laver of the Tabernacle both to see his Spots and Pollutions to get clean from them and that God might be consider'd and admired not so much in the broken Glass of Nature nor in the blotted Book of the Creature which shew us his power and greatness as in the Face of a Redeemer in the Testament of the holy Jesus which most plainly and yet most gloriously speaks thy Love and Goodness and calls for ours since if thou hast so loved this naughty World and us that help to make it worse how ought we to love thee and also to love one another O how good as well as how pleasant a thing it is to know Christ as our Head and we our selves his Members This is as sweet and useful as Life it self to make our short Lives here not tedious to our selves or others nay this is Life Eternal because Charity never fails We shall have that Grace for all if we are Christians we shall keep it always if we are Saints for it is Holiness and will be Happiness it is the Oyl that from our Head from our everlasting Aaron falls down to the very Skirts of his Clothing to revive and refresh the lowest and most humbled Sinner if believing and it is that Anointing from above which we must not want especially at the last Article of Life in the greatest extremities of Temptation but we must carry it along with us into our Father's presence then shall we be in his sight as a Field which the Lord hath blest then will he smell the Odour of our elder Brother's Vest upon us and we shall inherit the Promises and abide in his Love in the participation and in the propagation thereof Divine Love being the Dew of Heaven that causes the fruitfulness of the Earth it makes us high and white like Hermon pleasant and safe as Mount Sion it makes our Superiours and the great ones of the Earth not to be Rocks of Offence to us but to be rather as the shadows of a Rock in a dry Land needful Supports convenient Sanctuaries and Refreshments and it causes God to command a Blessing on us from all degrees of People above us and of conditions round about us Therefore Dear Lord help us to live in such Concord and brotherly Kindness as that we may be Blessed from all our Relations from our Superiours by having the Oyl of Spiritual Blessings and the Dew of Temporal Favours bestowed on us Love and good Will from Equals Prayers and good Wishes from Inferiours being so careful and affectionate both for thy Priests and for our Princes as that neither Moses nor Aaron may be murmured at but obeyed by us and we may be protected and guided by their Hands in the Spirit and Practice of all true Love and Charity for the honour of our Christian Profession and for the glory of thy holiest Name O Christ Jesus our Lord who livest and reignest c. THE FIFTEENTH Psalm of Degrees BEING The CXXXIV PSALM Was composed by David De Muys thinks as well as the former and appointed to put the People in mind of their more solemn Times of Meeting with that pious charitable and unspotted Souls with which they ought to approach God this being an Euge an incitement to all who are the Lord's Servants to be constant and pure in his Service as a particular hoc age to the Priests at the Canonical Hours of Prayer and stated Times of public Worship to lift up clean Hands and holy Hearts It is a proper Close to the preceding Hymns being often sung at Midnight at the end of the Nocturnal Offices by the Jews and design'd by me for the Eves of our greater Festivals It is an Exhortation generally directed not only to the Priests who kept the Watch in the Temple so to the People who watched their Days and Nights for many departed not as you may gather from Psal 92.2 and Luke 2.37 It seems to me most probable that this Psalm was composed by Ezra the Priest or some of his Time not only because it is the last of the Graduals which were accommodated for the Return from Captivity but because it is Dramatic chiefly concerning the Priests who stand by night in the House of the Lord or as the 72d in the Courts of the House which was not built in David's time and therefore it is not so likely a composition of David's but of Ezra when the holy manner of worshipping God was restored Ezra 8.6 and the Priests set in their Courses Vers 7. In the first Verse of this Psalm I should suppose the Choir joyning to the Music and then the Chief Priest for that Watch giving the rest Directions as in the second Verse and they again in the third Verse blessing him for it is Bless thee and not yee though in my version I use the Plural throughout A Nocturnis for Christmas Eve ALL ye whô God's Do me stics are see you with An gels wait and in your Courses like each Star by Night shine at Heav'ns Gate Look while ye stand Among the Jews the Choir stood the People kneeled the High-Priest sate and the washings of their Hands and Feet so frequent during the time of their officiating were call'd Sanctifications or kneel or sit Ye serve and bless the Lord Look that your Hands God's Altar fit And to his Praise accord Look ye be clean for Holiness Becomes God's holy Place Watch well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the 72. is short of the Original though it means in holy Things as well as Places for it signifies Holiness in the Abstract Christ typified by the Ark of the Covenant and such Holiness in Men as could adapt them for the discharge of their Duty which is hinted by the Apostle 1 Tim. 2.8 And this was signified by the Jews often washing their Hands and Feet before their Praying which was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sanctification Vt alibi indigitavi and Pray that Filthiness None of God's Works deface Then God who made the World and stays On Sion Grace shall send 'Till he shall Bless and we shall Praise From hence World without end Gloria Patri c. To God the Father God the Son And God the Holy-Ghost Be Glory giv'n by ev'ry one Who make the Lord their Boast AMEN CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifteenth PSALM of DEGREES BEING The CXXXIV PSALM O Thou that acceptest not the Persons of Princes nor regardest the Rich more than the Poor since they are all alike the Works of thy Hands grant that we may not be such Fools as to forget thee in any time of our quiet fulness or repose lest thou come at an Hour when thou art not look'd for by us and find us unfit for thy Appearance who canst
trouble whole Nations even at Midnight at a time when we least think of Disturbance or Remove as we have great Examples in the People of Israel Egypt and Assyria for there is not any Darkness no not the shadows of Death where the workers of Iniquity can hide themselves from thine Eyes though all the Mountains of the World should cover them thou beholdest all our Goings though thy Foot-steps are too little regarded by us Therefore let us not think to do mischief or wrong like the Evil one who sowed Tares while other Men slept nor to commit Violence or Robbery 1 King 3.20 nor to Defraud or Deceive like the Harlot at Midnight but even at that Season be Chast and Pious and Charitable like Boaz denying our selves and mastering our Concupiscences and like Sampson in Gaza disappoint the malice of that implacable Adversary who hunts after our Souls and ceases not like a Dog to go about seeking whom he may devour Lord deliver thou my Darling from his Power as thou didst St. Paul even at such a dismal time when I may seem in his very Jaws then let my Soul escape and get away and find a way to serve thee as that chosen Vessel did who could Pray and sing Praises unto thee even at Midnight so let us endeavour to worship the Lord with holy Worship with clean Hands and a pure Heart that we may stand on his holy Hill and remember in all the Formalities of outward Cleanness to keep our Spirits pure and in all our Approaches to thee to keep our selves unspotted of the World to this end give us inward Holiness and the Sanctifications both of Heart and Life that in the darkest hour of Temptation in the deadest time of Distress in the cloudiest night of Trouble or of Agonies we may lift up our Praises and Adorations unto thee who canst send thine Angel as thou didst once thy Son at such a time to comfort and recover our vile Natures and to command Deliverances unto thy People even from thy most holy Place O! that we may be of the number of those who qualifie themselves by thy Service for the better discharge of their Duty and thy Will that having the filthy Garments of our own evil Thoughts Words and Actions like Joshua's the High-Priest's taken off from us we may not have Satan left at our right Hands to accuse or command us but may see Jesus at thy right Hand interceding for us and being cloathed in the long Robes of his Righteousness we may lift up our Hands in thy Sanctuary and bless thee for evermore who hast made the Heavens as well as the Sea for thy Children to adore thee in O! Our Father c. THE FIFTEEN Psalms of Degrees OR ASCENTS Are so called because they were sung Anthem-wise by several Parts of the Choir with Elevation of Voice on some higher Ground or place of advantage perhaps on the Steps of the Temple which in Ezekiel's Vision are mentioned to be Fifteen in number Ca. 40. v. 22. 34. And just so many Stairs say the Talmudists were there mounting from the Women's Court to the Men's on which they fancy these PSALMS were sung and therefore thus termed Ὠδαί τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν καὶ ἀναβάσεων εἰς τὰς ἀναβάσεις as Aquila and Symachus But I think rather because they were much used by the Hebrews upon their coming up from Babylon and at the building of the second Temple as may be guessed from Nehemiah Cap. 8. at which time they might indeed begin very properly with the 120th Psalm by reason of the contempt and calumniation of their ill-willers at that time who were such as are there described Arabians crafty and cruel Adversaries who maliciously opposed both their unloosing the Chains of Captivity and the erection of their Buildings Need was there then of Songs of Education and Ascents to advance God's high Deliverances of them and exalt his Praise and Glory in the most excellent way of rejoycing which was in their eminent Music as the Title 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rendered Cantica Dignitatum may likewise bear As also to revive their drooping Spirits by some pleasant kind of Melody or lofty Note well known to the Jews by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some suppose may here import no more than this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the front of other Psalms viz. to notifie that the Tune or Key these were to be sang in was the same with such other Psalms as were known to begin with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS