inflamed with charitie so he inflameth that he with an hot cole taken from the Altar may touch my mouth Isa c. 6 and purge my lippes from all filth of sinne See S. Thom. Lyra. Hector Pintus and SaÌ„ctius on the sixt chap. of Isaiâ— that is that he vvith the burning cole of charitie taken from the Altar of the crosse or CHRIST his passion endured on the crosse for that is the source of all grace and charitie may purge my hart and lippes as gold in the fornace from all drosse of sinne that my hart may thinke nothing my mouth and lippes may speake nothing which is not pure chast and holie For then my mouth vvill be apt to shew forth thy praise Or else send ô Lord one of thy Priestes who by office is a Seraphin instituted and ordained to illuminate and inflame the heartes of the people by preaching and administration of the Sacramentes And let him either by the burning cole of thy word for thy word is fired exceedinglie or by that sacred burning cole of CHRISTS holie bodie in the Eucharist burning continuallie vvith the Diuinitie Ps 118. yet not consumed taken from the holie Altar vvhere it is offered daylie in the Church of God may inflame my heart purge first it and then my lippes vvhich are the interpreters of the heart from all filth of sinne Or else ô my svveet God send vnto me one of thy Seraphins one of thy Priests vvho ministeriallie by meanes of the SacrameÌ„ts vvhich he ministreth giueth the Holie Ghost that he by the hot cole of this holie Spirit proceeding as ardent loue from God the father and God the sonne coequall and consubstantiall vnto them vvho in the day of Pentecoste descending fom heauen in the forme of fierie tongues inflamed purged th' Apostles and first Christians may inflame purge my heart lippes from all filth of sinne and so may make me fitt to shew forth thy praise for vntill I be purged from sinne Ps 49. I am a sinner to the sinner thou sayst why doest thou declare my iustices and takst my Testament by thy mouth And Ecclesiasticus telleth me Eccleisastici 15. that praise is not comelie in the mouth of a sinner 3. But open my mouth ô Lord stopped by sinne and purge my lippes polluted by sinne and then not onelie my mouth shall be the trumpet to sound forth thy prayses vvhich thou ô penitent sinner must say after him but my soule shall say to her selfe Ps 102. My soule blesse thou our Lord and all the thinges that are within me my vnderstanding my vvill my memorie my heart and all that is in me shall blesse and prayse God yea my body and all the senses and partes of it as myne eyes myne eares the rest of my senses my heade my haÌ„des my feete in imploying theÌ„selues in thy seruice shall be so many trumpets to sound forth thy praise 4. And not onelie vvith bodie and soule I vvill praise thee but I vvill coniure all people and natioÌ„s to ioyne vvith me in thy praise for I vvill crye vnto them Ps 1â—6 Praise our Lord all the Gentiles praise him all the peoples yea I vvill coniure all thy creatures asvvell reasonable as vnreasonable sensible as vnsensible to praise thee and confesse thee to be their Creatour and to say as they doe say euerie day to those that haue intelligence He made vs Psa 99. and not we our selues I vvil vvith Sidrach Dan. 3. Misach Abdenago call vpon all creatures to praise thee I will sing daylie their Canticle and Benedicite All workes of our Lord blesse our Lord ye Angels of our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer ye Heauens blesse our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer All waters that are aboue the heauens blesse ye our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer Sunne and Moone blesse ye our Lord praise and superexalt him for euer In the like manner I vvill inuite the starres planets the showers and dewes the vvindes and tempests fire heate frost and cold yce and snovv and the rest vvhich are inuited to the praise of God in this Canticle for that all those creatures though many of them be deuoide of reason many also of sense doe praise God in exciting men by consideration and contemplation of these admirable vvorkes of God to the praise of him 5. For as vvhen vve see a picture vvell dravvne or a statue cunninglie carued we by and by commend not onelie the picture statue but also and especiallie the painter and Caruer so vvhen vve looke vpon the Heauens and those euer shining lights vvhich may be ouershadovved but neuer are put out and the goodlie order and disposition of the Heauens elemeÌ„tes and creatures in theÌ„ vve praise not onelie them but much more the Creatour And in this fence the HeaueÌ„s though they haue neither reason nor sence are sayd to shew forth the glorie of God Ps 18. vvherefore hence forth with thy grace ô Lord all my actions shall be directed to thy honour glorie euerie morning so soone as I rise or awake both they and all I am haue shall be offered designed for thy honour and so by vvord and worke I will euer shew forth thy praise and I vvill neuer cease froÌ„ singing praises vnto thee till I come to sing Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Holie Holie Holie vvith the quire of thy Heauenlie musicians thy Saintes and Angels Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium dedissem vtique Holocaustis non delectaberis Because if thou wouldest haue had sacrifice I had verilie giuen it with holocaustes thou wilt not be pleased 1. I Promised thee ô Lord saith Dauid that my mouth should shew forth thy praise Ps 4â— because I take the sacrifice of praise to be more pleasing vnto thee otherwise if thou wouldst haue had sacrifice to vvit the materiall corporall sacrifice of brute beastes I would verilie haue giuen it And thou knovvest ô Lord that in such sacrifices I haue not beene vvanting but I know they are not pleasing to thee nay vvith Holocaustes vvhich were the best kind of externall sacrifices as being wholie burnt and consumed to thy honour thou art not delighted as they are taken in themselues vvithout the internall sacrifice of the minde Salomon in the dedication of the Temple 3. Reg. 2. offered of oxen tvvo tvventie thousand of sheepe an hundred tvventie thousand and yet all these sacrifices taken nakedlie in theÌ„selues without the inward sacrifices of the minde were not pleasing to God Mich. 6. For as Micheas sayth Nunquid placaripotest Dominus in millibus arietum can our Lord be pacified with thousaÌ„ds of Rammes Or as thou ô Lord thy selfe sayst will I eate the flesh of oxeÌ„ Ps 49. ibid. or will I drinke the blood of buckgoats Immolate to God the sacrifice of praise and pay thy vovve to the highest 2. And vvhat
diuine sight 8. But although this sacred bloud and passion of Christ be the generall cause of all remission of sinnes yet there are many other particular causes which in vertue of that doe also remitte sinnes as Baptisme and other Sacraments in the new Lawe and the water of contrition in all Lawes And this lauer of Christs bloud Dauid by faith forsawe and desired to be washed and bathed in it and to be cleansed frō the filth of sinne by it 9. We are defyled in generall by twoe sinnes to witt originall and Actuall or personall sinne and because originall sinne is contracted not by our owne personall acte or will but by the will of our first parent Adam Rom. 5. in whome as S. Paule saith All haue sinned therefore to wash out the fylth of this sinne no personall acte of ours is required as children are not capable of any such acte but in the Lawe of nature the faith of the parents manifested by some externall signe was sufficient in the Lawe of Moyses circumcision and in the new Lawe Baptisme doth suffice But because our actuall sinnes are committed by our owne proper Willes a lauer and Baptisme of contrition called by the Diuines Baptismus flaminis baptisme of the Spirit was euer in all Lawes necessarie And for this water Dauid cryed when he sayd Wash me more amply from myne iniquitie 10. And almightie God out of compassion of the thirst Dauid suffered in this kind stroke the rocke of his stony hart hardened by sinne and made the waters of contrition to gush forth in that aboundance and with that impetuositie that he saith in an other place Psal 118. myne eyes haue gushed forth issues of waters and he will not weepe once onelie for his sinnes he will weepe day night and this lauer of teares where in he desireth to wash his soule shall not be a torrent which runneth impetuously but for a tyme it shall be an euer running fountaine Psal 6. for saith he I will euery night wash my bed I will water my couche with teares See Genebrard on this Psalme And the Hebrew text by an hyperboly explicateth yet more the aboundance of his teares for whereas our vulgar Latin text hath Lauabo per singulas noctes lectū meū I will euery night wash my bed The Hebrew hath natare faciam I vvill make my bed swimme with the floudes of my teares S. Marie Magdalen though beautifull in body by sinne vvas become so lothsome a creature in soule and in the sight of God that she durst not looke Christ in the face but Standing behind besides his feete Luc. 7. began to vvater his feete vvith teares yet being bathed in this water she became as white as driuen snowe S. Peter what a sinne did he wash away by this lauer He had denied his master Christ Iesus three tymes and not at the threatning of a Tyrant but at the voice of a wooman and she a wench an hand-maid and he had also abiured him Mat. 26 Mar. 14 Luc. 2. with oathes curses most vnworthely and vngratfully considering his masters loue vnto him and yet goeing forth and weeping bitterly this great sinne vvas vvashed so cleane avvay as if it had neuer been 11. Say then ô sinfull Wighte vnto thy mercifull God If Dauid Manasses Marie Magdalene other great sinners haue been vvashed cleane frō their sinnes why should I dispare to be vvashed from the filth of my sinnes I Confesse that I am a great sinner and cōsequently defiled and polluted from top to toe but I desire thee ô Lord to vvash me in the vvater of contrition vvhich hath vertue from thy bloud for then I make no doubt to be cleansed I cry ô Lord vvith Hieremie the Prophete Who vvill giue vvater to my heade Hier. 9 and to myne eyes a fountaine of this vvater that I may vveepe day and night For lesse vvill not serue to vvash my defiled soule 1. Par. 11. I cry vvith Dauid ô that some man Christ Iesus God and man vvould giue me vvater of this cisterne of Bethleem Gen. 6. This vvater of contrition is an other Noes floud vvhich drowneth sinnes and saueth soules to vvhich vvater if the sinners of the world at that tyme had had recourse they had neuer beene drowned in the deluge It is an other redde sea Exod. 14. redde vvith the bloud of Christ from vvhich it hath its vertue which drowneth the Egyptiās the deuill all his hellish troupes of sinnes but saues soules and the true Israëlites by vvhich out of Egipte that is out of the state of sinne vve passe to the land of promise heauen the home of our soule and the land of the liuing and blessed This vvater is distilled in the limbecke of our hart by the Holy Ghost the fyer of charitie vvhich maketh it to ascende to the eyes and thence to Heauen because it is Ioan. 4. Aqua saliens in vitam aeternam vvater vvhich stringeth to life euerlasting 12. O Lord I demaund not vvith thy blessed virgin-mother for wine for the Bride I cry onelie for this vvater that vvasheth away the fylthe of sinne cooleth the heate of concupiscence mollifieth our stony hartes and like an heauenly raine maketh fertille the soyle of our soule and causeth it to bring forth the florishing plantes and sweete herbes and flowers of all māner of vertues which setteth a new glosse on our soule and maketh the Image of God therein engrauen to appeare most amiable to God and his Angels and Saintes asswageth God his ire indignation and extinguisheth the fyre of hell Giue me this vvater ô Lord and I shall esteeme it aboue the most precious vvines It shall be meate and drinke vnto me and I shall say vvith our Royall Prophet Fuerunt mibi lacrymae mea panes die ac nocte Psal 41. my teares haue been breads vnto me day and night the gratefull refection of my soule 13. And giue me ô sweete God a vvaterie ground aboue and a vvaterie beneath Iudie 1 as Axa asked of Caleb Water I beseech thee vvith this water of contrition not onelie the eyes of my bodie but also the eyes of my foule and not onelie the inferiour parte of my soule but also the superiour If the eyes of my soule superiour part be vvatered vvith this heauenlie vvater it is sufficiēt although the eyes of my body should be drye but I desier thee to vvater both that not onelie my hart and eyes of my soule may weepe but that also the eyes of my bodie may gush forth vvith teares for that one helpeth the other many tymes the sorrovv of the superiour part redounds to the inferiour and vvhen the hart sorroweth the eyes shed forth teares I desier not teares for temporall losses I defier to behold them vvith drye eyes and if I should vveepe neuer so much for such losses vveeping would not helpe me giue me grace to weepe
need ô Lord hast thou of these externall sacrifices of brute beastes All the vvilde beastes of the vvorld be thyne the cattell in the mountaines oxen Ps 49. the fovvles of the ayre and the beautie of the field is vvith thee And therefore thou ô Lord exprobatest vnto mē saying that if thou beest hūgrie that is if thou couldest be hungrie I vvill not tell thee I vvill not aske an almes or a peace of bread of thee ibid. for the round earth is myne and the fulnes thereof So that thou ô Lord standest not in neede of any thing vve can offer vnto thee if we offer an Hecatōbe of oxen vnto thee thou art neuer the richer if vve offer thee nothing thou art not a iott the poorer Before thou createdst the vvorld there vvas nothing but thy selfe and yet thou wast then as rich as now for euen then thou containedst in thee most compendiouslie all thinges which novv are in heauen and earth or vvhich hereafter shall be or which are possible to be for thou ô Lord art the first and generall cause of all thinges and so containest in thy selfe all thinges euen as the cause containeth its effectes before it causeth thē And so all things are in thee in a more eminent manner in thee then in themselues for in themselues some be liuing some not liuing but in thee all thinges are liuing yea as S. Iohn saith Ioan. 1. Vide Augu. Tract 1. in Ioā l. 11. de ciui Dei c. 29. S. Tho. 1. parte q. 4. a. 1. life it selfe In thēselues some be corruptible some incorruptible in thee they are all incorruptible In themselues some be great some litle in thee all great yea infinit as thou art because in thee they are thy selfe In thēselues some be perfect some imperfect in thee they are all perfect In themselues they are all created in thee they are increated in thēselues they are all diuerse distinct one frō an other in thee they are all one because they are all one vvith thee In thēselues they are creatures in thee they are the Creatour yea in thee they are God because vvhatsoeuer is in God is God For as the sunne vvith other second causes is cause of all thinges in this sublunarie vvorld and so all thinges are in the sunne as in their cause vvithout diuision and as the peece of worke be it a statue or Image is cast or dravvne in the Artificers mentall platforme before it be fashioned in it selfe and in the Artificers minde idea or cōceite hath a more noble beeing then in it selfe for in it selfe it is corporall massie materiall in his idea it is intellectuall spirituall So all creatures which are Gods vvorkes are contained in God and in his diuine essence as in their first cause and Idea or mentall platforme and in him they haue a more eminēt beeing that is Diuine vvithout all diuision and imperfection as is alreadie sayd 3. What then ô Lord can we contribute to thee by sacrifices of oxen sheepe and the like If vve should offer vnto thee all the Angels of Heauen all the Heauēs starres planets all the fowre elements to vvit fire ayre vvater and earth and all the mettals of gold siluer c. vvithin the earth all the trees plantes and beasts vpon it and all creatures liuing and not liuing in one sacrifice thou shouldest be neuer the better or richer because all these thinges are thine alreadie by Title right of creatiō thou didst possesse thē all in thy Diuine essence and in a more noble māner then they are in themselues from all eternitie So that as vve can take nothing from thee so vve can giue thee nothing Thou mast saye Quis dedit mihi ve reddam ei Iob. 41. omnia quae sub Coelo sunt mea sunt Who hath giuen me before that I may render vnto him all thinges that are vnder the Heauē yea in Heauen are myne And therefore saith Dauid if thou ô Lord wouldst haue had sacrifice of bruit beastes I vvould verilie haue giuen it but euen vvith holocaustes the principall sacrifices thou wilt not be delighted because by them thou art not the richer they being already thyne by title of creation and possessed by thee in that thou art their prime generall cause Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus cor contritum humiliatum Deus non despicies A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit a contrit and humbled heart ô Lord thou wilt not despise 1. ALthough it be true that the externall sacrifice of oxen sheepe and the like are not profitable to God as in the explication of the former verse is shewed yet before the comming of CHRIST and before they vvith the old lawe by CHRIST were abrogated they vvere not absolutlie displeasing to God they beeing commaunded by God and the manner of offering them beeing by God prescribed in the booke of Leuiticus Yea if they proceeded from the internall sacrifice of faith submission of the minde to God and deuotion they vvere holie actes of Religion by which God was highlie honoured pleased yea and pacified towards sinners Why then did Dauid say in the former verse that God vvould not haue sacrifice and would not be delighted in holocaustes the best kind of sacrifice Why did Micheas question the matter saying Mich. 6 Why can our Lord be pacified with thousands of rammes Why did God himselfe say To what purpose doe you offer me the multitude of your victimes Isa 1. I am full c. And againe saith he Offer sacrifice no more in vaine Incence is abomination to me 2. To this answer may be made first that some Iewes thought that the onelie externall sacrifice without the internall of the minde did please and pacifie God And such sacrifice God reiecteth as not pleasing Isa 29. So God sayd this people approcheth with their mouth and with their lippes glorifieth me but their heart is farre frō me Secondlie these sacrifices as they proceeded frō wicked persōs or were procured by wicked mē whose heartes were full of malice and whose handes were full of blood and iniustice were not pleasing but displeasing to God not for the sacrifices themselues but for the sinnes of them that offered them Isa 1. And so God sayd that incense though by him commaunded was abomination to him Thirdlie Scripture diuers times when it seemeth to reiect externall sacrifice reiecteth them not absolutlie because God did institute them but comparatiuelie that is in comparison of the in world sacrifice of the minde which it preferreth In this sense God saith by the Prophet Osee Oseae 6. I would mercie and not sacrifice That is I preferre mercie and charitie towards your neighbour before sacrifice to me Aug. lib. 10. de Ciuit Dei cap. 5. 1. Reg. 15. so Augustin saith Sacrificium sacrificio praefertur one sacrifice is preferred before an other In the same sense Samuel saith to
it running it selfe may suffer shipvvrack nor Pirates to bord it and spoile it And to this port hauen of Heauen eternall blisse felicitie bring me ô Lord through the vvaters of contrition and if it shall so please thee through the vvaters also of tribulation and aduersitie vvhatsouer Benignè fac Domine in bona voluntate tua Sion vt aedificentur muri Hierusalem Deale fauourablie ô Lord in thy good will with Sion that the walles of Hierusalem may be built vp Tunc acceptabis sacrificium iustitiae oblationes holocausta tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos Then shalt thou accept sacrifice of iustice oblations and holocaustes then shall they lay calues vpon thyne Altars These tvvo verses are explicated to gether by reason of their connexion the second yeelding a reason of the first 1. THe first thing that a sinner must aske of God Almightie is pardon for his sinnes committed and by it God his grace fauour for till that be obtained the sinner is an enemie to God and odious to his sight so not like to be heard but pardon for his sinnes and consequentlie grace and fauour beeing once purchased then he may be bold to be a suter and a begger for other benefites Dauid as we haue seene in the former verses of this Psalme hath oftē prayed for mercie forgiuenes for his sinnes now hoping yea knowing by reuelatiō from the Prophet Nathan that by his pennance remissiō of his sinnes is obtayned and he now in grace and fauour he taketh the heart to pray to God for other benefits and because the common good is to be preferred before ones priuate commoditie he asketh God neither health nor wealth nor lōg life nor any such priuat benefite but being zealous of the common good and especially of the publique worship and honour of God which bringeth with it many blessings to a countrie he desireth God to deale fauorablie with Sion that the walles of Hierusalem may be built vp 2. He alwayes shewed a great zeale for Hierusalem because it vvas the Metropolitan and head Citie as also because there God was religiouslie serued and vvas afterwards whē the Temple should be built much more to be honoured by the many sacrifices which there were to be offered and especiallie because the Messias CHRIST IESVS was to teach preach and worke miracles in that Citie and Temple and was to sanctifie and honour both by his sacred presence all vvhich he forsaw in spirit by faith and the guift of Prophecie Psalm 136. 3. And therefore saith he If I shall forgeth thee ô Hierusalem let my right hand be forgotten let my tōgue cleaue to my iawes if I doe not remember thee if I shall not set Hierusalsm in the beginning of my ioye The like or greater zeale shevved tovvards the Arke and temple though this as then vvas not bult Behold 1. Par. 17. saith he I dwell in an house of Cedar and the arke of the couenant of our Lord is vnder skinnes that is vnder a tabernacle or pauillon And againe If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house If I shall ascend into the bed of my couch Psal 131. If I shall giue sleepe to myne eyes and slumbring to myne eye liddes rest to my tēples vntill I find a place for our Lord a tabernacle for the God of Iacob O the zeale of Dauid He would not he could not sleepe nor rest till an house and temple for God vvas built he had rather to haue lyen out of the doores then that God should want his temple and house of prayer and sacrifice wherein to dwell therefore he would haue built the temple in his owne dayes if that God had not tould him by Nathan the Prophet that not he 2. Reg. 7. but his sonne Salomon should build it 4. But although he built not the Temple yet such vvas his zeale that he prouided the materialles and almost all that vvas necessarie for the building of it and besides stones tymber brasse iron such like 2. Paral 29. he gaue three thousand talentes of Gold of Ophir and seuen thousand talentes of Siluer tovvards the building of it and besides all this he gaue vnto Salomon a description of the temple and tould him the order of the Musicians and Leuites vvhich were to sing and serue in the tēple and he composed the psalmes and sonnettes and prouided the musicall instrumentēs which were to be vsed in it as aboue vve haue seene and so it maybe called in a manner asvvell Dauids as Salomons temple 5. He desireth then that Hierusalem may be builded that is accōplished for although he speaketh onelie of the walles of Hierusalem yet he taketh the parte for the whole and by the vvalles of Hierusalem he vnderstandeth Hierusalem And although the citie of Hierusalem for the greatest part vvas then built yet he desireth that it may be augmented and perfected especiallie vvith the addition of the Temple the greatest strength and ornament of the Citie beeing the house of God in vvhich he dwelling the Citie could not be vvithout defence or guard 6. And although he knevv by reuelation frō God that this temple would infalliblie be builded by Salomon yet partlie to shevv his zeale and desire partlie because he foresavve that this temple vvas to be one of the cheefe wonders and miracles of the vvorld and therefore could not be brought to passe without God his cooperation nor succeede prosperouslie vnlesse God as it vvere did lay the first stone second this statelie building and Master-peece of masonrie he prayeth to God for the building hastening of it 7. And why ô Royall Prophet doest thou so earnestlie desire that Hierusalem should be built That it may be an honour to thee and thy sonne Salomon the principall Authours of it or that it may be a perpetuall monument of thy riches or magnificence or that it may be an ornament to the Citie and a vvonder to the vvorld No no thy thoughts vvere leuelled to an higher marke Thou desiredst that God thereby might be glorified that his name might thereby be honoured praysed for thou foresavvest by the guift of Prophecie the light of faith that the holie Arke vvith great pompe and solēnitie to the great glorie of God should be transported and translated in to the temple Thou knewest that in that temple God should be highlie praysed by Hymnes Psalmes Canticles and all manner of musicall instrumētes Thou didst foresee the great goodlie sacrifices vvhich by liuelie faith deuotiō of the Priestes should be offered to God his honour thou didst foresee that after this temple should be sacked by Nabuchodonosor raised and reared vp again Nehē 3. Agg. 2. as it vvas in the time of Nehemias and after by Herode the Messias should honour it by his sacred presence preaching teaching and miracles Whereby as Aggeus prophecied Agg. 2. Great should be the glorie