as the Grave which is low indeed yet there thou maiest rest in hope for even there the Lord will not leave to helpe thee Or is it that he was brought low was humbled in spirit to seeme vile in his owne eyes and then God helped him For God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble Verse 7 Now therefore O my soule returne to thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now my soule let it be no longer said Why art thou so heavie and why art thou disquieted within me For the Lord hath exceeded the bounds of mercifulnesse with his bountifulnesse Not onely in mercy hee hath forgiven my sinnes but as if my sinnes had been Merits he hath made me also to taste of his bountie Hee hath dealt indeed most bountifully with thee for where thou didst make suite but for one thing hee hath granted thee three Thou didst aske but to have my soule delivered and he hath delivered mine eyes and my feet besides and with a deliverance in each of them the greatest that could be for what greater deliverance to my soule then to bee delivered from Death What greater deliverance to mine eyes then to be delivered from teares What to my feet then to bee delivered from falling that if now O my soule thou returne not to thy rest thou wilt shew thy selfe to bee most insatiable seeing thou hast not onely more then thou didst aske but as much indeed as was possible to be ask'd But can my soule dye and if not what bountie is it then to deliver my soule from that to which it is not subject The soule indeed though immortall hath yet her wayes of dying It is one kind of death to the soule to bee parted from the body but the truest kind is to bee parted from God and from both these kindes of death hee hath delivered my soule From the first by delivering me from a dangerous sicknesse that threatned a dissolution of my soule and body from the other by delivering me from the guilt of sinne that threatned a separation from the favour of God and are not these bounties to give my soule just cause of returning to her rest It is true it is the imperfection of life that it is subject to sicknesse and sicknesse drawes mortalitie after it but this imperfection is not here for hee hath delivered my soule from death and what is this but to have perfect health yet it is the imperfection of health that it is subject to crosses and crosses are a cause of teares but neither hath this imperfection any place here for he hath delivered mine eyes from teares and what is this but to have perfect Joy yet it is the imperfection of joy that it useth not to continue as it is said of the prosperitie of the wicked They are set in slipperie places and are apt to fall but neither is this imperfection found here for hee hath delivered my feet from falling and what is this but to be assured of continuance If then thou hast such health such joy such stabilitie Health not subject to sicknesse Joy not capable of sorrow Stabilitie not obnoxious to falling How canst thou O my soule how canst thou choose but pacifie thy unquietnesse and returne to thy rest But alas the rest thou canst returne to now is but a type of that true Rest when thou shalt rest from thy labours and when thy workes that now goe with thee shall then follow thee Thou hast now but one day of Rest for sixe dayes of labour but then thou shalt have an eternall Sabbath without any dayes of labour to disquiet it But though this rest cannot now bee had whilst thou dwellest in a restlesse body and thy body in a restlesse world yet there is a Rest that is worth the having and may onely my soule be called Thy Rest the rest which consists in the peace of conscience and to this rest thou maist well returne seeing not onely thou art at peace with God as being justified by his Grace but thou art in his favour also as having dealt so bountifully with thee And when thou returnest to this rest to the end thou maist have some exercise to thy rest that thy resting make thee not restiffe I will walke Verse 9 before the Lord in the land of the living For now that my feet are delivered from falling how can I better imploy them then in walking were they delivered from falling to the end they should stand still and bee idle No my soule but to encourage me to walke and where is so good walking as in the land of the living Alas what walking is it in the Winter when all things seeme dead when the very grasse lyes buried under ground and scarce any thing that hath life in it to be seene but then is the pleasant walking when Nature spreads her greene Carpet to walke upon and then it is a Land of the living when the Trees shew they live by bringing forth if not fruits at least leaves when the Valleys shew they live by bringing forth if not sweet flowers to delight the smell at least fresh grasse to please the eyes But is this the walking in the Land of the living that David meanes O my soule to walke in the Land of the living is to walke in the pathes of Righteousnesse for there is no such death to the soule as sinne no such cause of teares to the eyes as guiltinesse of Conscience No such falling of the feet as to fall from God and therefore to say the truth the Soule can never returne to its rest if we walke not withall in the paths of righteousnesse and we cannot well say whether this Rest bee a cause of the walke or the walking be a cause of the resting but this wee may say they are certainly companions one to the other which is in effect but this that Justification can never be without Sanctification Peace of conscience and godlinesse of life can never be one without the other Or is it perhaps that David meanes that Land of the living where Enoch and Elias are living with the living God but if he meane so how can he speake so confidently Verse 10 and say I will walke in the Land of the living as though hee could come to walke there by his owne strength or at his owne pleasure Hee therefore gives his reason I beleeved and therefore I spake for the voyce of Faith is strong and speakes with confidence and because in Faith he beleeved that hee shall come to walke in the Land of the living therefore with confidence he speakes it I will walke in the land of the living and perhaps to signifie that hee shall not walke there against his will but that he endeavours and useth the best meanes he can that hee may walke there For indeed if we endeavour not to walke here with Enoch and Elias in the paths of righteousnesse we shall never come to walke with God
leaves or they might bee greene flags or rushes and what good were to mee in such a greennesse No my soule the goodnesse is in being greene Pastures for now they performe as much as they promise and as in being greene they were a comfort to mee as soone as I saw them so in being greene pastures they are a refreshing to me now as soone as I tast them As they are pleasant to looke on so they are wholsome to feed on As they are sweet to be tasted so they are easie to bee digested that I am now me thinkes in a kind of Paradise and seeme not to want any thing unlesse perhaps a little water with which now and then to wash my mouth at most to take sometimes a sippe for though sheepe bee no great drinkers and though their pastures being greene and full of sappe make drinke the lesse needfull yet some drinke they must have besides and now see the great goodnesse of this Shepheard and what just cause there is to depend upon his Providence for hee lets not his sheepe want this neither but hee leades them besides still waters Not waters that roare and make a noyse enough to fright a fearefull sheepe but waters still and quiet that though they drinke but little yet they may drinke that little without feare And may I not justly say now The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want And yet perhaps there will be want for all this for is it enough that he leade them into greene pastures and besides still waters May he not leade them in and presently take them out againe before their bellyes be halfe full and so in stead of making them happy make them more miserable set them in a longing with the sight and then frustrate them of their expectation No my soule The measure of this Shepheards goodnesse is more then so Hee not onely leadeth them into greene pastures but hee makes them to lye downe in them Hee leades them not in to post over their meat as if they were to eate a Passeover and to take it in Transitu as dogges drinke Nylus but hee makes them to lye downe in greene pastures that they may eat their fill and feed at leisure and when they have done lye downe and take their ease that their After-reckoning may be as pleasing as their Repast and that they may be free from being solliciti de crastino for taking care to provide for tomorrow seeing they have a Market of provision round about them or rather their meat ready drest to their hands for many dayes to come O my soule thus are the godly provided for by the Lord their Shepheard and though their pastures may seeme withered and dry in the eyes of the world yet to them they are greene and pleasing and give more gladnesse to their hearts then theirs whose Corne and Wine most abundantly increaseth And now O my soule is it not time now to say Grace and to acknowledge a thankfulnesse for this plenty of my meat and drinke and can I say a shortet Grace then this The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want And yet perhaps there will be want for all this for if God be a Shepheard will hee not sheare his sheepe and if hee sheare me will he not leave me bare and naked and how then can I say I shall not want God indeed is a Shepheard that will sheare his sheepe but hee will Tondere not Deglubere Hee will take off our old cloathes but it is to make way for new and he takes them off in a time when we may well spare them indeed in a time when it is better for us to be without them and therefore neither is his shearing any cause but I may say still The Lord is my shepheard I shall not want And yet I say still there will perhaps bee want for all this For is it enough to have food and rayment Is it enough to have ease and plenty Alas all these doe but serve for the body there is no provision here for the soule and if the soule be not provided for all the rest is but the care of Martha troubled about many things and none of them needfull But he that told Martha of her errour is it like he will commit the like errour himselfe No my soule his principall care is of the soule for hee restoreth my soule but as he made mee Verse 3 not a living soule at first till hee had made the earth and the fruits of the earth to serve for my living so he Restores not my soule now till he hath first ledde me into Greene pastures to serve for my sustenance for to what purpose were it to give a life and not a living to give a Being and not give meanes to maintaine that Being and was it not perhaps from hence that Christ tooke his patterne when he taught us to Pray for daily bread before wee Pray for forgivenesse of sinnes But though he provide first for the body which was made first yet he provides most for the soule which was given last Hee but feedes my body but he restores my soule Hee ministers to my body but accidentall and outward things but inward and substantiall to my soule And why is it that God provides more for the soule then for the body but because the soule is of farre more worth then the body for God is not as man to take care of things out of fancie or upon mistaking but hee takes care of things according as hee values them and values them according as they are worth Numquid cura Deo de Bobis Doth God take care of Oxen Indeed the Soule in comparison of the Body is of farre more value then the worth of an Oxe in comparison of a man O that wee could be so wise as to know the true value and worth of the soule and to take care of things according to their values we should then certainly be more carefull of the soule lesse carefull of the body then we are and be more sensible of that saying of Christ What availes it a man to gaine the whole world and to lose his soule It may bee allowed perhaps to men to provide first for the body so they would provide most for the soule as God doth here but to provide first and most for the body and last and least for the soule as most men doe that I say not all for the body and nothing for the soule as some men doe This must needs be extremely against all good order seeing it is so directly against Gods order But to what is it that God restores my soule It must be to something that my soule had before and hath not now and so it is Hee restores it to its originall puritie that was now growne foule and black with sinne for alas what good were it to have greene pastures and a black soule Hee restores it to its naturall temper in affections that was growne
pleased not to be so hastie to turne me away By thy helping me then thou didst expresse thy loving me then and why then should I feare thou wilt now forsake mee for whom thou lovest thou lovest to the end Not to the end and then ends but to the end that shall never end Shall the Heathen have cause have colour of cause to upbraid thee with inconstancie that whom thou helpest at one time thou forsakest at another Or canst thou turne mee away in anger and then helpe mee in mercy when thou hast done Canst thou so soone change from Mercy to Anger and from Anger againe to Mercie that we should never know in what temper to find thee No my soule farre be it from thee to have such thoughts but the truth is Gods wayes are not discerned not discernable by us they are past our finding out We know nothing at any time what it is he doth lesse why and least of all how hee doth it Both the substance and the circumstance of all his actions is to us an Abyssus we know nothing of all his wayes but this that all his wayes are Mercy and Truth nothing of his condition but this that in him there is no change nor shadow of change Verse 10 It is indeed the nature of all living creatures though never so tender of their young ones yet when they are growne to a ripenesse of age and strength to turne them off to shift for themselves and even a Father and a Mother as tender as they are have yet somewhat of this common nature in them for while their children are young they leade them by the hand but when they are growne up they leave them to their owne legges and if they chance to fall let them rise as they can but God even then takes his children up for hee knowes of what they are made hee knowes their strength must as well be supported as their weaknesse be assisted hee knowes they must as well be taken up when they fall as be held up when they stand and therefore though the tendernesse of a Father be great of a Mother perhaps greater yet no comparison to be made with the tendernesse of God And seeing God is never without tendernesse why should I be ever without hope and not hope as well to be delivered from trouble as others to be preserved in safety O my soule much rather for seeing all things in this world are subject to change is not that hope more like to succeed which hopes for a change then that which hopes for a continuance But seeing the way of thy tendernesse is Verse 11 past our finding out O therefore Doe thou O God teach mee thy way and leade mee in a plaine path because of mine enemies Teach mee thy way how it can stand with tendernesse to thy children to suffer them to be afflicted when thou sufferest the wicked to live in prosperitie To make Martyrs of thy servants when the wicked flourish and live at ease How it can stand with thy tendernesse to take away thy servants in the midst of their dayes often-times in the beginning when thou sufferest the wicked of the world to runne out the full races of long lives Why thou leadest the godly in paths of temptations when thou leadest the wicked in paths of securitie But if these wayes of thine be too hard for me to learne or if thy pleasure bee not to reveale them as yet at least O God Leade me in a plaine path because of mine enemies If it were not for mine enemies I would never make this suite unto thee but would leave it to thee to leade me in what paths thou pleasest but having the eyes of so many enemies upon me if thou shouldst leade me now in a rugged path where I might chance to stumble or fall would not my enemies triumph at it as at a victory for they marke ever step I take to watch what advantage they can find against me and if they should find me tripping never so little I were sure to be made the Anvile of their malice to be beaten upon without either pitty or compassion But how great soever their malice be I know they can doe nothing without leave Thou onely O God hast an absolute power over me My enemies none but by thy permission and I hope thou wilt retaine thy power in thine owne hands at least not make my enemies thy deligates To thy will I willingly Verse 12 submit my selfe but Deliver mee not over to the will of my enemies for thy will when most severe is yet with compassion but their will when most gentle is alwayes with cruelty And I speake not this upon a bare suspition but I have evident proofes for what I say For falfe witnesses are risen up against mee and such as breath out crueltie I desired indeed to bee led in a plaine path to the end I might walke upright both before God and men that so I might give my enemies no cause of offence doe nothing whereof I might bee justly accused but alas what good hath my integritie done me for so great is my enemies malice against me that when they cannot charge mee truly they accuse me falsely and because they would not be seene in it themselves they suborne witnesses and because one witnesse would not be sufficient Many and lest their witnesses should be apt to relent they have gotten such as breath out crueltie such as make crueltie their living and trade I may say in no wares but cruell Though I have a thousand witnesses of my innocencie my owne conscience yet these witnesses will not bee heard in the Courts of the world Alas no I know one an innocent indeed who had greater witnesses then these the witnesses of his pious and wonderfull and wonderfull pious workes yet neither would these be taken for witnesses of his innocencie but in the Courts of the world hee was condemned as guiltie O my soule I had utterly fainted under this burden if it had not beene for one thing If I Verse 13 had not beleeved to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the living The onely hope of this hath kept me from fainting and how could it choose being a Cordiall made up of three soveraigne Ingredients a hope to see and to see the goodness of God and the goodness of God in the land of the living three such Ingredients that he must be one of a very faint heart whom such a Cordiall will not keepe from fainting But what ingredient of comfort is a hope to see for doe I not see now as well as I am like to doe hereafter were not our first Parents eyes opened in Paradise and can wee hope to see better then they saw there and doe not our eyes stand as open as theirs still O my soule the opening of their eyes then hath made us see the worse ever since wee see now but as in a Glasse rather appearances of things
for one of Verse 20 their bones is Faith which though it may bee shaken yet it cannot bee broken Another of their bones is Hope which though it may bee battered yet it cannot be broken and Patience is a bone which may be vexed but can never be broken for in all of them the Lord hath a hand Hee upholds the righteous that they cannot fall Hee strengthens them that they cannot faint and as long as their bones bee whole they are able to stand upright and shrinke not for any burthen that either the Flesh or the World can lay upon them And though David in this have an eye perhaps upon Christ of whom indeed there was not a Bone broken yet what is spoken of the Head may not incongruously bee applyed to the Members and in the soundnesse of Christs bones the bones of the godly are kept from breaking But the troubles of the wicked are of another nature for Evill shall slay the wicked Verse 21 and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate Their hearts perhaps are broken too but because they are not broken with sense of their sinne but with spight and malice to the Righteous there shall be none to make them whole but their owne evill shall be their owne destruction and having none to deliver them they shall be left desolate and without all hope of helpe But shall not the wicked then have this good by being desolate that as they have none to helpe them so they have none to hurt them Alas it needes not they doe it fast enough themselves for Sinne is a recoyling Poyson it turnes violently backe upon them that commit it and it may be truly said of every wicked man that he is Felo de se a Murtherer of himselfe Though Righteousnesse of it selfe doth not save the Righteous but they need a Saviour besides yet wickednesse of it selfe destroyes the wicked they need no other Destroyer Perditio tua ex te O Israel Thy destrustion is from thy selfe O Israel And O my soule what great Examples there are to verefie this saying They that hate the righteous shall be desolate When Cain hated the righteous Abel was he not thereupon made desolate and became a Vagabond forsaken both of God and man but in a higher degree when the wicked Jewes hated Christ the righteous was there not a Voyce heard as of Angels saying Migremus hinc Let us depart from this place and thereupon left them desolate without Prince or Prophet without Temple or Altar to this day You may say perhaps that Cain might easily be made desolate having killed his brother in a time when there was no more in the whole world but that one Familie but how can the wicked bee made desolate now when Totus mundus in maligno est positus When all the world is full of them and no Beasts so herd together as they doe But is it not that Desolatenesse consists not so much in want of company as in want of comfort was Job the lesse desolate for having company of whom to say Miserable comforters are ye all much lesse shal the wicked be the lesse desolate for having company of whom to say Miserable Tormentours are yee all for alas all their companie shall bee either Companions in their torments or Companions their tormentours which can never bee the case of the godly for though they be not so perfect not to have their faults yet they are so happy not to have them imputed for being Gods servants Hee will redeeme them though they be taken captive yet hee will not suffer them to continue Captives but rather then not redeeme them he will give his onely Sonne to be their ransome But yet how can the godly choose but bee Desolate when the whole world scarce affords enow to make a company and where then can company be had to keepe them from being desolate O my soule they have Angels to pitch their Tents about them while they live here and hereafter they shall come to bee Citizens in the New Hierusalem where they shall have company enough Priests and Patriarks Prophets and Apostles Martyrs and Confessours blessed Virgins and chiefly the Blessed Virgin but above all where they shall see the Blessed face of God whose onely sight is able whose sight is onely able to keepe from being desolate and then at least I shall bee as able to performe my Vow as now I am ready to make it I will blesse the Lord at all times his Praise shall continually be in my mouth THE EIGHTIE FOVRTH PSALME OF DAVID 1HOw amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of hosts 2 My soule longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord My heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God 3 Yea the Sparrow hath found an house and the Swallow a nest for her selfe where shee may lay her young even thine Altars O Lord of Hosts my King and my God 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be still praysing thee 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee and in whose heart are thy wayes 6 Who passing thorow the valley of Baca make it a Well the raine also filleth the pooles 7 They goe from strength to strength every one of them in Syon appeareth before God 8 O Lord God of hosts heare my prayer Give eare O God of Iacob 9 Behold O God our shield and looke upon the face of thine Anoynted 10 For a day in thy Courts is better then a thousand I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse 11 For the Lord God is a Sunne and a shield The Lord will give grace and glory No good thing will hee with-hold from them that walke uprightly 12 O Lord of Hosts Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee MEDITATIONS VPON THE LXXXIV PSALME OF DAVID WHen wee cannot expresse the Verse 1 greatnesse of a thing in direct tearmes wee are faine to flye to wonder and so doth David here because he cannot expresse sufficiently how amiable the Tabernacles of the Lord are hee therefore falls to wondering and helpes himselfe with a question How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts But is not Davids wondering it selfe wonderfull that the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts should be so wonderfully amiable Is it not a wonder they should bee amiable at all For are not his Tabernacles Tents of Warre and is there any thing in Warre that can be amiable If he had said How terrible are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts his wonder had beene with some congruitie for the Lord of Hosts is terrible in all his workes but to say How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts seeme to imply a contradiction for though they may be amiable as they are Tabernacles yet they must needs bee terrible as they are Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts and when this Terriblenesse hath made an abatement in their Amiablenesse
Fruition but when thou vouchsafest to looke upon my face that looke of thine hath an influence of all true blessednesse and makes me find what a happinesse it is to have the God of Jacob for my shield But it should seeme that this Prayer belongs onely to David or at least to Kings who like David are the Lords anoynted and what is it then to us that are private persons It is true indeed that Kings are the Lords anoynted in a speciall manner but yet every child of God is his anoynted too for why else is it said of Christ that he was anoynted with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes if it bee not that his fellowes meaning the children of God be anoynted too Anoynted no doubt with the oyle of Grace but to bee anoynted with the oyle of gladnesse is the very thing I pray for here the very thing that makes mee long so much for the Courts of the Lord For one day Verse 10 in his courts is better then a thousand It is not so much the length of time as the measure of joy that makes the blessednesse Or is it that one day which shall never end as the day is in Gods Courts is better than a thousand which have an end as all the dayes of this world are If he had said one day in his Courts is as good as a thousand though this had beene a mighty odds yet it had bin but a thousand to one there had at least beene some proportion but when he saith One day in his Courts is beter than a thousand this seemes to exceed all possibilitie of comparison and leaves no place for any proportion Indeed one day in his Courts gives seisin of Eternitie where a Thousand that are spent any where else are but steps of Mortalitie If I be but one day in his Courts I shall see that which will bee a joy unto mee all the dayes of my life where if I be a thousand in any other Courts I shall see nothing but vanitie and vexation of spirit that which will grieve me to thinke of as often as I remember it And as it is true in respect of Time so it is no lesse true in respect of Place For I had rather be a doore-keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickednesse But is it such a disparagement to be a Doore-keeper What was the Angell with the flaming Sword but the Doore-keeper of Paradise and is there not a conceit that Saint Peter is the Doore-keeper of Heaven Which though it be a vaine conceit yet it may leade us to this congruous interpretation of Davids speech to conceive as if he said that hee had rather be Saint Peter in the house of God then be Annas or Caiphas in the Court of Herod Indeed in the sence that Christ is a Doore David may well bee content to be a Doore-keeper and though in Gods House there bee many Mansions yet seeing all of them are glorious even the Doore-keepers place is not without its glory But if you thinke the Office to be meane consider then whose Officer hee is for even a Doore-keeper is an officer in Gods house and God never displaceth his Officers unlesse it be to advance them to a higher Where in the Courts of Princes the greatest Officers are often-times displaced turn'd off often with disgrace However it be it shewes not onely the great glory of Gods House but the great humilitie of Davids heart and that he is not of the ambitious humour of the Mother of Zebedees sonnes whom no place would serve for her sonnes but to have one of them sit at his Right hand the other at his left O gracious God grant me but a Doore-keepers place in thy house and I will never aspire after any higher roome Not that I desire to let in and keepe out whom I please but that I may thereby have liberty to walke in thy house and to enjoy thy Presence in whose presence is the fulnesse of Joy for evermore What are the Tents of wickednesse but like Caves that have no light and like Vineyards that have no Fences and is there any comparison to bee made betweene such Tents and the meanest place in the House of God where God not onely affordeth Light but is Himselfe the Light Not onely is a Defendour but the Defence it selfe For the Lord is a Sunne and shield the Lord will give grace and glory I had heard Verse 11 before that In sole posuit Tabernaculum suum God hath placed his Tabernacle in the Sunne But I never knew he was himselfe a Sunne till now but what Sunne Not the Sunne that is but the child of light but the Sunne who is the Father of Lights Not the Sunne that was not till three dayes after it was light but the Sunne that was before ever any light was made Not the Sunne which the Heathen commit Idolatrie in worshipping but the Sunne whom it is Idolatrie not to worship Oh that the Heathen would all worship this Sunne it should not then be said Plures adorant Solem orientem quam occidentem That more worship the Sunne rising then setting for this Sunne once Risen never sets againe once shining is never any more Ecclipsed Oh then vouchsafe O God if thou be a Sunne to lighten my darknesse if a shield to protect my weaknesse if thou bee a Sunne warme my soule with the beames of Devotion if a shield defend my soule from the blowes of Temptation if thou be a Sunne O shine upon me with the light of thy Countenance if a Shield O stand betweene me and the assaults of Sathan for alas O Lord I am darknesse and weaknesse the Anvile of temptations the very Butt of Sathan if thou bee not a Sunne and a Shield unto mee O my soule God will doe more then this Hee will give grace and glory Grace to be a Shield unto us and Glory to be a Sunne unto us Hee will give Grace to prevent us and Glory to follow us Grace to walke uprightly and Glory if walking uprightly Grace for a foundation to Glory and Glory for a Crowne to Grace and if these things bee not enough hee will doe more yet Doe thou but walke uprightly and what good things soever there are in Gods gift they shall all be given thee for No good thing will God with-hold from them that live uprightly But how is this true when God often-times with-holds Riches and Honours and health of body from men though they walke never so uprightly We may therefore know that honours and riches and bodily strength are none of Gods good things they are of the number of things indifferent which God bestowes promiscuously upon the just and unjust as the raine to fall and the Sunne to shine The good things of God are chiefly Peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost in this life Fruition of Gods Presence and Vision of his blessed Face in the next and these
in the Land of the living But though I had spoken thus and thus confidently yet I found my selfe in trouble and affliction still which made me say in my hast All men are lyars In my hast indeed for I Verse 11 thought not of one man who was farre from being a lyar and in whose mouth was found no guile It seemes that to give the lye was not so heynous an offence in Davids time as it is in these dayes for else how durst he have spoken such words that all men are lyars which is no lesse then to give the lye to the whole world And yet no man I thinke will challenge him for saying so no more then challenge S. John for saying that All men are sinners And indeed how should any man avoid being a lyar seeing the very being Man is it selfe a lye Not onely a Vanity and put in the ballance is lesse then vanity but a very lye promising great matters and is able to doe just nothing as Christ saith Without me yee can doe nothing and so Christ seemes to come in as it were to be Davids second and to make his word good that all men be lyars And now let the world doe its worst and take the lye how it will for David having Christ of his side will alwayes be able to make his part good against all the world for Christ hath overcome the world But though all men may be said to be lyars yet not all men in all things for then David himselfe should be a lyar in this but all men perhaps in something or other at sometime or other in some kind or other Absolute truth not found in any man but in that man onely who was not man onely for if hee had beene but so it had not perhaps beene found in him neither seeing absolute Truth and Deitie are as Relatives never found to be asunder But in what thing is it that all men should be lyars Indeed in this for one to thinke that God regards not nor loves not them whom he suffers to be afflicted for we may rather thinke hee loves them most whom hee suffers to be most afflicted and we may truly say he would never have suffered his servant Job to be afflicted so exceeding cruelly if he had not loved him exceeding tenderly For there is nothing lost by suffering afflictions No my soule they doe but serve to make up the greater weight of glory when it shall be revealed But let his afflictions be what they can be yet I will alwayes acknowledge they can never be in any degree so great as his benefits and oh that I could thinke of something that I Verse 12 might render to him for all his benefits for shall I receive so great so infinite benefits from him and shall I render nothing to him by way of gratefulnesse But alas what have I to render all my rendring to him will bee but taking more from him for all I can doe is but to take the cup of salvation and call upon his Name Verse 13 and what rendring is there in this taking If I could take the cup of Tribulation and drinke it off for his sake this perhaps might be a rendring of some value but this God knowes is no worke for me to doe It was his worke who said Can yee drinke of the cup of which I shall drinke Indeed he dranke of the Cup of Tribulation to the end that wee might take the Cup of Salvation but then in taking it wee must call upon his Name upon his Name and upon no others for else wee shall make it a cuppe of Condemnation seeing there is no Name under Heaven in which we may bee saved but onely the Name of Jesus Yet it may be some rendring to the Lord if I pay my Vowes and doe as it were my Penance openly I will therefore pay my vowes to Verse 14 the Lord in the presence of all his people But might hee not pay his Vowes as well in his Closet betweene God and himselfe as to doe it publickly No my soule it serves not his turne indeed not Gods turne but he must pay them in the presence of all his people yet not to the end hee should be applauded for a just Payer for though he pay them yet he can never pay them to the full but to the end that men seeing his good workes may glorifie God by his example and the rather perhaps for that David was a King and the Kings example prevailes much with the people to make them pay their vowes to God but most of all that by this meanes Davids Pietie may not be barren but may make a Breed of Pietie in the people also which may be one mysticall reason why it was counted a Curse in Israel to be barren for he that payes not his Vowes to God in the presence of his people may well be said to be barren in Israel seeing hee begets no children to God by his Example And perhaps also the Vowes which David meanes here was the doing of some meane things unfit in shew for the dignitie of a King as when it was thought a base thing in him to Daunce before the Arke he then vowed he would be baser yet and in this case to pay his Vowes before the people becomes a matter of necessitie for as there is no honour to a man whilst he is by himselfe alone so there is no shame to a man but before people and therefore to shew that he is not ashamed to doe any thing how meane soever so it may tend to the glorifying of God Hee will pay his vowes in the presence of all his people And hee will doe it though it cost him his life for if he dye for it he knowes that Pretious in the sight of the Lord Verse 15 is the death of his Saints But that which is pretious is commonly desired and doth God then desire the death of his Saints He desires no doubt that death of his Saints which is to dye to sinne but for any other death of his Saints it is therefore said to be pretious in his sight because hee layes it up with the greater carefulnesse And for this it is there are such severall Mansions in Gods House that to them whose death is pretious in his sight hee may assigne the most glorious Mansions This indeed is the reward of Martyrdome and the encouragement of Martyrs though their sufferings bee most insufferable their tortures most intolerable yet this makes amends for all that Pretious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints for if it be so great a happinesse to be acceptable in his sight how great a happinesse must it be to bee pretious in his sight When God at the Creation looked upon all his workes it is said he saw them to be all exceeding good but it is not said that any of them were Pretious in his sight and how then comes Death to bee pretious in