Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A05166
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A sermon preached at VVhite-hall, on the 24. of March, 1621 Beeing the day of the beginning of his Maiesties most gracious reigne. By the Bishop of S. Dauids.
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Laud, William, 1573-1645.
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1622
(1622)
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STC 15300; ESTC S101899
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19,186
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54
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Dauid is happy that in the midst of all these various turnes of Gods Countenance A and Cum and Iuxta and Apud wee finde not nor I hope neuer shall that disasterous Aspect of opposition which is contra against For then all Ioy were gone For if it should bee Rex contra vultum Dei then it were all sinne And if it should bee vultus Dei contra Regem both which God forbid then it were all punishment In neither Ioy in neither Blessing It is farre better in my Text if wee take care to hold it there Cum vultu with or in the fauour of his Countenance Thirdly this ioy begins at the King Laetificasti eum Thou hast made him glad He must haue the greatest care and therefore the Ioy must bee first or chiefest in him and if you will take a view of my Text you will find Him excellently seated for the purpose for I find Eum that is Dauid that is the King standing betweene Laetificasti and Gaudium as if God would haue the Kings place knowne by Ioy on the right hand and Ioy on the left heere God places the King this is his ordinance to season his cares therefore if any attempt to displace him to plunge him into griefe to make him struggle with difficulties it is a kinde of Deposing him The care of Gouernement should be eased not discomfited else doubtlesse God would neuer haue placed Dauid betweene Laetificasti gaudium Ioy and Ioy. And it is fit for the people especially the greater in their families to looke to this that Dauid may keepe Inter Laetificasti gaudium the place where God hath set him for when all is done and the braine weary of thinking this will be found true They cannot holde their places in gaudio in ioy if Dauid sit not sure in his and it is an excellent obseruation made by Cassidore a Senator he was and Secretary of State to Theodoricus and after a most strict and deuoted Christian. He makes all sad that endeauours not the Kings Ioy Et omnes affligit qui Regi aliquid necessarium subtrahit And hee afflicts all men that withholds necessaries from the King And certainely it is the glory of a State to keep Dauid vpright where God sets him and that you see is Inter laetificasti gaudium betweene Ioy and Ioy where God euer keepe Him and His. And now I am come to the second generall of the Text the Reason both of the Thing and the Meanes of the Honour and the Manner of Gods laying it vpon Kings And the Reason is Quia sperat because the King puts his trust in the Lord In which may it please you to obserue three circumstances The first of these is the Vertue it selfe which God first gaue the Prophet and for which hee after gaue him a Blessing to the People and Ioy in himselfe The Vertue is Hope That Hope in the Lord. Now Hope followes the nature of Faith And such as the Faith is such is the Hope Both must bee in Domino in the Lord or neither can bee true And it is in a sort with the deniall of Hope in any Creature That the Hope which is founded vpon God alone I say alone as the prime Author may be firme and not diuided Nulli hominum fidens trusting vpon no man is Theodoret. Not in armies nor in riches nor in any strength of man is Euthymius Not in sword nor speare nor shield but in the Name of the Lord of hostes is Dauid himselfe 1. Reg. 17. And Dauid could not lay better hold any where For since before all lies vpon God Tu dedisti and Tu laetificasti Thou hast giuen and Thou hast made glad where could any man fasten better And indeed the words are a reciprocall proofe either to other For because God giues Dauid hopes And because Dauid hopes God giues more abundantly Honour Blessing and Ioy. It is in the Text Quia sperat euen because hee trusts Secondly Is trust then and relying vpon God a matter of such consequence that it alone stands as a cause of these Yes Hope and Trust rightly layde vpon God haue euer beene in his children Loco meriti in stead of merit And what euer may bee thought of this Hope it is a Kings vertue in this place And Thomas prooues it That Hope is necessary for all men but especially for Princes And the more trust in God Honoratior Princeps the more honour hath the King as Apollinarius obserues it And therefore Hope is not here a naked expectation of somewhat to come But it is Hope and the ground of Hope Faith as some later Diuines thinke not amisse And Faith embraces the Veritie of God as well as the Promises made vpon it And this was right For so God promised and so Dauid beleeu'd he would performe 2 Reg. 7.29 And since wee haue found Faith and Hope in this action of Trusting God as our English well expresses it let vs neuer seeke to shut out Charity And if Faith Hope and Charitie bee together as they loue to goe then you may vnderstand the Text Quia sperat because he Hopes De toto cultu of the entire worship of God For as S. Isidor obserues in all inward worship which is the heart of Religion are these three Faith Hope and Charitie And in the most vsuall phrase of Scripture though not euer scarce one of these is named but all are vnderstood to be present and if so then because he trusts is as much as Quia colit because he worships So at last we are come to the cause indeed why God set Dauid for such a Blessing to his people why he filled him with such ioy of his countenance And all was Quia cultoâ— because he was such a religious worshipper It is in the Text then that a Kings Religion is a great cause of his happinesse The greatest Politicians that are haue confessed thus farre that some Religion is necessary to make a King a Blessing to his People and a common-wealth happy But the matter is not great with them whether it bee a true or a false Religion so it be one But they are heere in a miserable error for since they suppose a Religion necessary as they must my Text will turne all the rest vpon them that true Religion is most apt and most able to Blesse and Honour both King and People For first Trueth is stronger then falsehood and will so prooue it selfe wheresoeuer it is not preuented or abused and therefore it is more able Next true Religion breeds euer true Faith and true Hope in God which no false Religion can therefore it is more apt Then true Hope and Faith haue heere the promise of God for the Kings Ioy the Peoples Blessing euen Quia sperat because he trusts whereas the rest haue onely his permission Therefore it is both both more apt and more able to blesse King and Common-wealth
then any false Religion or superstition is or can be It was but a scoffe of Lucian to describe Christians simple and easie to be abused or if any in his time were such the weakenesse of the men must not be charged vpon their Religion for Christ himselfe the founder of Religion though he did vnsting the Serpent in all his charge to his Apostles yet he left his vertue vncheck'd nay he commanded that Be innocent but yet as wise as Serpents Mat. 10.16 And this Wisedome and Prudence is the most absolute vertue for a Common-wealth So that till Christians forsake Christs rule Lucians scoffe takes no hold of them Thirdly Since Quia sperat the Faith and Religion of a King is that which brings God to giue him as a Blessing It must not be forgotten that Trust in God is inter fundamenta Regum amidst the very foundations of Kings And spes is quasi pes Hope sayth Isidore is the foot and the resting place Now no building can stand if the foundation be diggd from vnder it The Buildings are the Blessings of a State A prime foundation of them is the Kings trust in God Take away the trueth of this Hope Faith and Religion and I cannot promise the Blessings to stand For then there is neuer another Quia or cause in the Text to mooue God to giue But if the cause stand as Theodor. and Euthym. here make it all is well And here it were sacriledge for me and no lesse to passe by his Maiestie without thankes both to God and Him To Him for Quia sperat because hee trusteth For no Prince hath euer kept more firme to Religion And it is sperans in the present in my Text hee continueth it and will continue it And to God for Quia dedit because in mercy hee hath giuen Him this Blessing so to Trust and by this trust in him to be this and many other Blessings to vs. And so I come to the last part of my Text which is the happy Successe which Dauid shall haue for trusting in the Lord. It is a Reward and Rewards come last And it is That in this trust he shall not sliâ—â—e he shall not miscarry And here to make all parts euen are three circumstances too The first of these is the Successe or Reward it selfe And it is a great one Non commouebitur He shall not be mooued or at least not remooued not miscarry And this is a great Successe To haue to doe with the greatest mooueables in the world the people and not miscarry So that trust in the Lord makes a King in the midst of a mightie people Petram in mari turbido A Rocke in a working Sea Ebbe and flow and swell yet insolent waues dash themselues in pieces of all sides the Rocke and the King is at Non commouebitur Hee shall not be mooued Secondly This great Successe doeth not attend on Kings for either their wisdome or their power or any thing else that is simply theirs No wee must fall backe to spes in Domino their trust in the Lord yea and this trust too is not simply vpon the Lord but vpon his Mercy And indeed to speake properly Man hath no ground of his Hope but Mercy no stay vpon the slippery but Mercy For if he looke vpon God and consider him in Iustice If hee looke vpon himselfe and weigh his soule by merit it is impossible for a man to Hope or in Hope not to miscarry And therefore the Prophet heere though hee promise Non commouebitur that the King shall not miscary yet he dares promise it no where els then In misericordia in Mercy Thirdly I wil not omit the Expression whose Mercy it is that giues successe to Princes and that is Altissimi the mercie of the most high which is one of Gods vsuall Names in Scripture Now Sperat non commouebitur The Kings Hope and his Successe doe both meete in the Highest mercie It is true Hope stands below and out of sight For Hope that is seene is no hope Rom. 8. yet as lowe as it stands it contemplates God qua Altissimus as hee is at highest And this shewes the strength of this vertue of Hope For as Hope considered in nature is in men that are warme and spirited so is it also considered as a vertue And therefore giue it but due footing which is vpon Mercy and in the strength of that it will clime to God were it possible hee should bee Higher then hee is The footing of Hope is lowe therefore it seekes mercie And the Kings hope keepes the foote of the hill Rex humili corde sperat so S. August And the best hope beginnes lowest not at merit but at mercie But then marke how it soares For the same hope that beares the soule of man company vpon earth mounts till it comes ad Altissimum to the most High in heauen Now in this Mercie-seate it is obseruable three Grandies are met together Blessing Ioy and Hope and yet there is no strife for precedencie For Blessing goes first Ioy comes after for no man so ioyfull as hee that is blessed and then Hope to supplie the defects of both because nor Blessings nor Ioy can be perfect in this life And they haue chosen to themselues an excellent and a safe place in the Mercie of the most High An excellent place and all receiue vertue from it For that Dauid is able to be a Blessing to the people that he can Ioy in the Blessing that his Hope can support him through the cares in ordering the Blessing ere hee can come to the Ioy All is from Mercie And a safe place it is For there are in all times and in all States Conatus impioâ—â—â—n endeuours of wicked men And the labour of these is to turne Blessing it selfe into a curse To ouercloude Ioy with sorrow at least if not Desolation To crush Hope or rather Decollare to behead it No place safe from these attempts but that which is high and out of reach And no place so high as Sinus Altissani the bosome of the Highest which is his Mercy The reason then why Dauid shall not miscarry nay not so much as Nutare 〈◊〉 as Ar. Mont. renders 〈◊〉 why the scepter in his hand shall not bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A shaken reed S. Matt. 11. And that is the word heere in the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Mercy of the Highest And when his feet are got vpon this hee shall not slide And Apollinaris calls the feete of the King while they rest vpon Gods Mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bold and confident feete that dare venture and can stand firme any where And so no question they can that are vpheld by Mercy And now to reach downe some of the Mercies of the Highest vpon our selues For when I reade Dauid at Rex sperat The King trust's in the Lord and heare him speaking in