Judges for that Circuit by S. L. M. A. and lately fellow of C. C. C. in Oxen. The Riches of grace displayed in the offer and tender of salvation to poor sinners Wherein is set out The gracious behavior of Christ standing at the door and knocking for entrance by Obadiah Sedgwick B. D. and late Minister of the Gospel in Covent-Garden A short Catechisme by the same Author The Womans pâ—ory a Treatise asserting the due honour of that Sex by manifesting that Women are capable of the highest improvement by Samuel Torshel The discovery of the most dangerous dead faith by J. Eaten M. A. and sometime Student in Trinity Colledge in Oxford The new Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ newly translated out of the Original Greek and with the former Translations diligently compared and revised by his Majesties special command printed at Edenburgh The Dying Fathers Legacy to his living Son Twenty fours GRoans of the Spirit or a Tryal of the truth of prayer A Handkercher for Parents wet eyes upon the death of their Children or Friends FINIS PSALM 73 26. My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever CHAP. I. The Preface Division of the Psalm and coherence of the Text. THe Holy Scriptures are famous above all other Writings for their Verity The Works and Books of men are like their Bodies liable to many Weaknesses After their most correct Edition there may frequently be found more Errata's in the Copy then in the Press But the Word of God is like himself Full without all imperfection and faithful without all Falshood or corruption It s Author is the God of Truth for whom its impossible to lie and therefore its matter must needs be the Word of Truth Thy Law is the Truth 2 Pet. 1.21 Tit. 1.2 Psal 119.142 Among all the Books of Scripture the Psalms of David are famous for Variety Other Books are either Historical Doctrinal or Prophetical the Book of Psalms is all Psalm 22 Psalm 16 It describeth some histories of the Church foretelleth the passion and resurrection of Christ and declareth the duty of a Christian The Psalms Io. Gerrh loc Com. de Script in Exegâ—si saith Gerrhard are a jewel made up of the gold of doctrine of the pearl of comfort and of the gems of Prayer Basil saith It is a common shop of remedies Basil in Psal a compendium of all Divinity a storehouse of excellent Doctrine for all persons and in all conditions In this Seventy third Psalm we may consider 1. the Title to it 2. The Substance of it Le Asaph i.e. Asaphi vel Asapho cum le inservit tum Genitivo tum Dative A Lap. Existimant non nulli Psalmum hunc caeteros qui sequuntur à Davide compositum De ea re quanquam non dispute tamen genus orationis in his Psalmis tale est ut appareat alium esse carminum horum Authorem quam Davidem Moller in Tit. Psal 73. De Psalmi authore non auxie disputo mihi verisimile est quia canendi provincia mandata fuerit ipsi Asaphi nomen ejus poni praeterito Davidis nomine sicuti res per se notae saepe taceri solent Calvin in loc It s Title is A Psalm of Asaph or a Psalm for Asaph saith Ainsworth The original bearing both causeth som difference among Expositors whether Asaph were the Penman of it or only the Musician to whom it was directed to be set and sung with the voyce or instrument That Asaph was a Prophet or Seer is plain 2 Chron. 29.30 As also that he was a Singer 1 Chron. 15.19 Mollerus thinketh Asaph the compiler of it Calvin judgeth David The matter is not much for whosoever of the two were the pen the Spirit of God which is called the finger of God guided it and wrote the Psalm For the substance of the Psalm it containeth the Godly mans Tryal in the former part of it and his Triumph in the latter part of it We have First The grievous conflict between the flesh and the Spirit to the 15 vers Secondly The glorious conquest of the Spirit over the flesh to the end In the beginning of the Psalm he ingeniously pointeth at those rocks against which he was like to have split his soul In the middle he candidly confesseth his ignorance and folly to have been the chiefest foundation of his fault In the conclusion he gratefully kisseth that hand which led him out of the labyrinth Or we may observe First The cause of his distemper Secondly The cure of it Thirdly The Psalmists carriage after it His disease was Envy The Psalmist was much troubled with the Frets I was envious at the foolish vers 3. First The Cause of it When I saw the prosperity of the wicked ver 3. His heart was pained because prophane men prospered That weeds which cumbered the ground should be watered so plentifully and grow so exceedingly when good corn was so thin and lean That the Lion and Raven those unclean creatures should be spared when the innocent Lamb and Dove were sacrificed That the wicked should flourish like the Bay-tree enjoy a constant Spring and Summer be fresh and green all the year though without fruit when Saints like good Apple-trees had their Autumn and Winter this touched the good man to the quick his sore eyes could not behold the glorious sunshine of their prosperity without much pain The Heathen have from the flourishing of such unholy persons flatly denied all providence Diogenes the Cynick seeing Harpalus a vicious fellow increasing in wealth whilst he wallowed in wickedness said That the Gods took no care how things were carried here below The Athenians upon the defeat and death of their honest General Nicias in Sicily concluded That the divine Powers were wholly regardless of humane affairs And not onely these blind Heathen who walked in the night of darkness but even Saints themselves who were able to see afar off and who pondered the paths of their feet have stumbled at this stone Jer. 12.1 2. Hab 1.13 Secondly The Cure of his distemper his disease was bad eyes An envious eye is an evil eye Why is thine eye evil because mine is good Matth. 20.15 His remedy was this His eyes were anointed with some Eye-salve out of the Sanctuary which helped them He saw the end of wicked mens prosperity to be no less then endless misery that they did but like Malefactors go up the ladder above others to be turned off and executed and this satisfied him The Heathen as they ascribe the subject of the disease to many causes some Naturalists to the principles of Generation and corruption the Stoicks to the necessary connexion of second causes the Astrologers to the motion and influence of the stars undertaking to shew us the very Houses of Prosperity and Adversity the wiser sort of those Pagans though also their foolish hearts were darkned to the will
these two particulars which are more worth then the whole World that thou mayst see how willing I am to be instrumental for thy welfare I shall come up a little nearer and closer to thee O that I did but know what savoury spiritual meat thou lovest most if possible I would provide it for thee and set it before thee that thou mightest eat and thy soul might bless God before thou diest In order to thy eternal good I have a special offer to make to thee from the blessed God and that is of a Marriage with his onely Son the Lord Jesus Christ I am this day sent to thee as his Ambassadour with full instructions to wo in his behalf that I might present thee a chast Virgin unto Christ thou needest not doubt of my authority for in the Scriptures thou mayst read my Commission and credential letters which may give thee full security and satisfaction against all jealousies and suspitions which can possibly arise in thy breast Thou needest not question Gods reality in the tender of so great a fortune to thee notwithstanding all thy unworthiness for he sent his Son so great a journey as from Heaven to Earth to marry thy nature on purpose that he might be Married to thy person and hath caused him already to be at infinite cost in providing glorious attire and precious Jewels out of Heavens Wardrobe and Cabinet that thou mightest be adorned as is fit for the Spouse of so great a Lord nay he himself hath sent thee his picture of greater value then Heaven and Earth drawn at length and to the life in the Gospel in all his royalty beauty and glory to try if thou canst like and love his person Friend look wishly on him consider his person He is fairer then the Children of men he is the express Image of his Fathers person Thy beloved O shall I call him so is white and ruddy the fairest of ten thousands he is altogether lovely nothing but amiableness none ever saw him but were enamoured with him Veiw his Portion He is Heir of all things All power is given to him in Heaven and Earth I know thy poverty but there are unsearchable riches in Christ yea durable riches and righteousness Thou art infinitely in debt and thereby liable to the arrest of Divine Justice and eternal Prison of Hell but I must tell thee the revenues of this Emperour are able to discharge the debts of millions of Worlds and to leave enough too for their comfortable and honourable subsistance to all eternity Behold his Parentage He is the onely begotten of the Father full of grace and truth the eternal Son of God As there is incomparable beauty and favour in his Person and inestimable riches and treasure in his Portion so there is unconceivable dignity and honour in his Parentage for he is the onely natural Son and Heir of the most high God For thy further quickening He is thy near Kinsman bone of thy bone and flesh of thy flesh Gen. 24.4 5. and so hath right to thee God hath given his Stewards a command as Abraham his servant not to take a Wife to his Son of the Daughters of the Canaanites from among the evil Angels but to go to his Sons own Country and kindred and to take a Wife for him among the Children of men Friend thou hast heard the errand about which I am sent to thee I hope there is such an Arrow of love darted into thy heart from the gracious eyes and looks of this Lord of glory that thou art wounded thereby and beginnest of a sudden to be taken with him and to wish O that I might have the honour and happiness to become the Bride of so lovely a Bridegroom that this King of Saints would take me a poor sinner into his bed and bosome Thou sayst as Abigal when David sent to take her to Wife Behold let thine hand-maid be a servant to wash the feet of the Servants of my Lord I am unworthy to be his Spouse If it be thus with thee I see that thy affections are already entangled and for thy comfort know that he is not of the number of them who when they have gained others good will then cast them off Onely it will be needful that thou understand what he requires of thee to avoid all future jars and differences plain dealing is never more necessary then in Marriage those that by dawbing have hudled up Matches in hast have found cause enough to repent at leisure I shall propound two Arguments for thy encouragement Motives to the best match and then demand thy agreement to two Articles upon which and no other this Match can be concluded First The necessity of it Consider the necessity of thy Acceptance of Christ for thy Husband It is impossible to obtain Heaven for thy Joynture but by Marrying with him who is the Heir It may be like him in Ruth Chap. 4. Vers 2 3 4. whom the Spirit of God thought unworthy to be named thou art ready for the band the portion but unwilling to marry the person thou art forward to be pardoned adopted and saved but backward to take Jesus Christ for thy Husband least thou shouldst lose thy sinful pleasures and thereby mar in thy Opinion a better inheritance But know of a certain as Boaz told him What day thou buyest the field thou must Marry the owner of it What day thou gainest the invaluable priviledges of the Gospel thou must Match with Christ the Purchaser and owner of them There is no gaining the precious fruit but by getting the Tree that bears it Indeed thy Marriage with him is so fruitful a blessing that thou needest no more Forgiveness of sins the love of God peace of conscience joy in the Holy Ghost eternal life every good thing all good things are in the Womb of it thou canst not imagine what a numerous posterity of Barnabasses of sons of consolation would be the effect and issue of such a Wedding but it is so needful a blessing that without it thou art compleatly and eternally woful beware O beware how thou refusest so good an offer for thou art in the same condition with the Woman taken captive by the Jews Deut. 21. either to marry or dye either to match with Christ or be damned for ever Gods clemency in its offer Secondly Consider Gods clemency and condescention in tendering thee so great a fortune Kings on Earth will not stoop so low unless necessity force it as to match their onely Sons with their Subjects though he and they are of the same make and mould if they do it is with the highest Families with such among them as sparkle most with the Diamonds of birth breeding beauty riches and glory but hear O Heavens and be astonished O Earth wonder O Reader at this low stoop of the infinite God He is willing nay earnest that his onely Son and Heir the King of Kings should marry with
what is the reason of all this but because nature must have its rest and delight from that only which is sutable to its own appetite and desire Hence it is that though God be so perfect a good yet he is not the happiness of evil Men or evil Angels for he is not sutable to their vitiated depraved natures The carnal mind which beareth sway in unregenerate men is enmity against God and Devils are as contrary to Gods nature as fire is to water Hence it is that spiritual men place and enjoy happiness in the Father of Spirits because he is the savoury meat which their souls love Though the sinner can live upon dregs as the swine on dung yet the Saint must have refined Spirits and nothing lesse then Angels food and delights It is an unquestionable truth that nothing can give true comfort to man but that which hath a relation and beareth a proportion to his highest and noblest part his immortal soul for his sensitive faculties were created in him to be subordinate and serviceable to their Master Reason therefore he is excelled in them by his inferiours as the Eagle in seeing and the Hound in scenting nature aiming at some more sublime and excellent design the perfection of the rational part in those lower particulars was lesse exact therefore the blessed God alone being a sutable Good to the heavenly spiritual soul of man can only satisfie it Philosophers tell us the reason of the irons cleaving to and resting in the load-stone is because the pores of both bodies are alike so there are effluxes and emanations that slide through them and unite them together One cause of the Saints love to and delight in God is his likeness to God Creatures are earthly the soul is heavenly they are corporeal the soul is spiritual therefore as when friends are contrary in disposition the soul cannot take up its rest and happiness in their fruition but God is sutable and therefore satisfying I am God All sufficient Gen. 17.1 Some derive the word Shaddai from Almighty Alsufficient from shad a dug for as the breast is sutable to the Babe nothing else will quiet it so is God to his Children A man that is hungry finds his stomack still craving something he wants without which he cannot be well Give him musick company pictures houses honours yet there follows no satisfaction these are not sutable to his appetite still his stomack craves but set before this man some wholesome food and let him eat his craving is over They did eat and were filled O miserabilis hâ—mâ—a cordâ—â— sine Châ—isto Oâ—nâ—um omne â—uod viviâ— â—lâ—â—e om Epit. Nep. Tim 1. p. â—5 Neh. 9.25 So it is with mans soul as with his body the soul is full of cravings and longings spending it self in sallies out after its proper food give it the credit and profits and pleasures of the world and they cannot abate its desire it craves still for these do not answer the souls nature and therefore cannot answer its necessity but once set God before it and it feeding on him it is satisfied it s very inordinate dogged appetite after the world is now cured He tasting this Manna tramples on the Onions of Egypt He that drinketh of this water shall thirst again but he that drinketh of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst John 4. CHAP. XII God the Saints happiness because of his Eternity and the Saints propriety in him GOD is a permanent good That which makes a man happy must be immortal like himself as man is rational so he is a provident creature desirous to lay up for hereafter and this forecast reacheth beyond the fools in the Gospel for many years even for millions of ages for ever by laying hold on eternal life He naturally desires an immortality of being whence that inclination in creatures say Philosophers of propagating their kind and therefore an eternity of blessedness The soul can enjoy no perfection of happiness if it be not commensurate to its own duration For the greater our joy is in the fruition of any good the greater our grief in its amission Eternity is one of the fairest flowers in the glorified Saints garland of honour It s an eternal weight of glory 2. Cor. 4.17 Were the triumphant spirits ever to put off their Crown of life the very thought thereof would be death and like leaven would sower the whole lump of their comforts The perpetuity of their state adds infinitely to their pleasure We shall ever be with the Lord. 2. Thes 4.16 Here they have many a sweet bait but there God will be their standing-dish never off the Heavenly Table The creature cannot make man happy Laâ—itia saeculi cum ma na expect â—oâ—e speratâ—r ut veniniâ—t â—oâ—â—â—test tenâ—râ— câ—nvenit Aug. tract 7 in Job because as it is not able to fill him so it is not fast to him like the Moon in the increase it may shine a little the former part of the night but is down before morning Man is not sure to hold them whilst he liveth How often is the candle of outward comforts blown out by a suddain blast of providence Many as Naomi go out full but come home empty some disaster or other as a Theif meets them by the way and robs them of their deified treasure The Vessel in which all of some mens wealth is embarqued while it spreadeth fair with its proud Sails and danceth along upon the surging waters when the Factor in it is pleasing himself with the kind salutes he shall receive from his Merchant for making so profitable a Voyage is in an instant swallowed up of unseen quick-sands and delivereth its Fraught at another Port and to an unknown Master Those whose morning hath been sunshiny and clear have met with such showres before night as have washed away their wealth However if these comforts continue all day at the night of death as false lovers serve men in extremity they leave us the knife of death which stobs the sinner to the heart Le ts out the blood and spirits of all his joyes and happiness But God is the true happiness of the soul because he is an eternal good As this Sun hath no mists so it nevey sets so that the rest of the Soul in God is an eternal Sabbath like the new Jerusalem it knoweth no night Outward mercies in which most place their felicity are like land floods which swell high and make a great noise but are quickly in again when the blessed God like the Spring-head runeth over and runneth ever Fourthly Because of the Saints propriety in this God though God be never so perfect suitable sure a good Yet it s litle Comfort to them that have no interest in him Another mans health will not make me happy when sick What Happinesse hath a begger in the shady walkes pleasant garden stately buildings curious roomes costly furniture and precious jewels of