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<DATE>2010-02-16</DATE>
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<NAME>Zev Berger</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="A97354">
<STC T="W">L3069</STC>
<STC T="W">C5063</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">12633503</BIBNO>
<VID>199576</VID>
</IDG><!-- this text keyed from images 41-91 of defunct VID 64837, adapted now to new VID 199576. --><!-- another copy of the same text keyed as Wc5063 (two STC numbers for same text). Dual numbering retained in order to avoid overwriting one with the other. -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="frontispiece">
<PB REF="1">
<P><FIGURE>
<HEAD>the ASCENTS of the SOVL</HEAD>
<P>ASSENTS</P>
<P>Psalmodia</P>
<FIGDESC>King David plays his harp before the altar of sacrifice, while angels ascend a stairway to heaven</FIGDESC>
<Q>1 Chron 15. Cap.</Q>
<Q>Colloss. 3.16.17.</Q>
<SIGNED><FIGURE REND="inline">
<FIGDESC>monogram</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE> Design.</SIGNED>
</FIGURE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P>LA SCALA SANTA: OR, A Scale of Devotions <HI>MUSICAL</HI> and <HI>GRADUAL:</HI> BEING DESCANTS ON THE <HI>Fifteen P&s;alms of Degrees, <HI>IN METRE;</HI></HI> With <HI>Contemplations</HI> and <HI>Collects</HI> upon them, <HI>IN PROSE,</HI> 1670.</P>
<Q><P><GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<BIBL><GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c. Epictet. in Arrian. Di&s;&s;ert. <HI>lib. 1. cap. 17.</HI></BIBL></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>A. Godbid</HI> and <HI>J. Playford,</HI> Anno Dom. 1681.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="half title">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>THE MIND OF THE FRONTISPIECE.</HEAD>
<L>_GReatne&s;s and Piety combine</L>
<L>To make the <HI>P&s;almodi&s;t</HI> Divine</L>
<L>(Good Actions following pure Intents)</L>
<L>His Soul ASCENDS, his God ASSENTS.</L>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="ode">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE Right Honourable THE LEARNED AUTHOR.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">A PINDARIQ&V;E ODE.</HEAD>
<LG>
<HEAD>I.</HEAD>
<L>_ROuze up dull Quill, and never Dormant lye</L>
<L>Upon thy Cotton Pillow, &s;tiff and dry;</L>
<L>U&s;ele&s;s, and void of all Activity.</L>
<L>I'le not di&s;turb thy Re&s;t</L>
<L>To travel long, in que&s;t</L>
<L>Of &s;ome impertinent Romance,</L>
<L>To Ape the fond or &s;ighing Lover:</L>
<L>No, for by chance</L>
<L>I lately did di&s;cover,</L>
<L>In a fair view upon the Pro&s;pect-Land,</L>
<L>Greatne&s;s and Goodne&s;s walking hand in hand.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>II.</HEAD>
<L>By the &s;afe Conduct of a gentle Mu&s;e</L>
<L>I trac'd a Royal Court,</L>
<L>Which led me to the Sacred Fort,</L>
<L>Where Strength and Beauty might amu&s;e.</L>
<PB REF="3">
<L>Fifteen A&s;cents of fair and precious Stone,</L>
<L>(Not &s;uch as here are found)</L>
<L>Did mount me from the lower Ground,</L>
<L>To view a large and wond'rous Throne;</L>
<L>Whereon</L>
<L>I &s;py'd a <HI>David,</HI> and a <HI>Jonathan.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>III.</HEAD>
<L>A <HI>Jonathan,</HI> who whilom did employ</L>
<L>His Quill, to imp his Dart;</L>
<L>Whereby not to annoy</L>
<L>Young <HI>Je&s;&s;e</HI>'s Heart:</L>
<L>But Love, and needful Secrets to impart.</L>
<L>One who is able to engage</L>
<L>With the <HI>Goliahs</HI> of the Age:</L>
<L>Tho&s;e Debauchees, who complement</L>
<L>A Cloud; and labour to entice</L>
<L>The very Principles of Vertue into Vice,</L>
<L>With gaudy and prophane Embelli&s;hment.</L>
<L>Now, for the wanton Fancy's &s;ake,</L>
<L>Their Souls lye canker'd in the Ru&s;t</L>
<L>Of Ea&s;e ill-manag'd; now they make</L>
<L>Greatne&s;s a Pander unto Lu&s;t.</L>
<L>If ever Prophecy did nick the Times,</L>
<L><HI>David</HI> fore&s;aw their<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Scurrilis Cant. de <HI>Da|vide</HI> &amp; <HI>Bath.</HI> non ita pridem compo&s;.</NOTE> <HI>Dytherambique</HI> Rhimes;</L>
<L>For when he counts his Injuries and Wrongs,</L>
<L>He adds,<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 69.12.</NOTE> <HI>On me the Drunkards make their Songs.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>IV.</HEAD>
<L>Oft have I &s;een the Sun's declining Light</L>
<L>Drow&s;ily nod down to the Lap of Night;</L>
<L>But when (next Morn) the Champion wakes,</L>
<L>(For 'tis not long he Dreams)</L>
<L>About the Globe's wide Li&s;ts a gallant Ring he takes,</L>
<L>(Brandi&s;hing his Lance of Beams:)</L>
<L>And when he manages a well-dre&s;t Ray,</L>
<L>The Night-Mare Sleep (as frighted) &s;tarts away.</L>
<L>Old Darkne&s;s is di&s;mounted by the brisk young Day:</L>
<L>The World's call'd up again, and Men revive</L>
<L>With a more &s;trong a&s;&s;urance that they live.</L>
<L>Thus when the &s;hades of Drollery po&s;&s;e&s;t</L>
<L>The Seat, where Virgin Mu&s;es once did re&s;t:</L>
<L>When we de&s;pair'd that pious Lays,</L>
<L>Or u&s;eful Rhimes &s;hould e're more guild our Days;</L>
<L>A Star &s;trangely propitious did appear,</L>
<L>Darting its Splendors from the wi&s;e Men's Hemi&s;phere;</L>
<L>They'd much of Goodne&s;s, much of heav'nly Grace,</L>
<L>As far as that can mix with humane Race;</L>
<L>And did portend the overthrow</L>
<L>Of &s;ordid Wit, (if that be <HI>Wit</HI> that &s;ome call'd &s;o.)</L>
</LG>
<PB REF="3">
<LG>
<HEAD>V.</HEAD>
<L>Their low-born Mu&s;e, arm'd with Poetic Rage,</L>
<L>And Licen&s;e, ba&s;ely congeed to the Stage;</L>
<L>They trod mean Paths, who&s;e whole De&s;ign and Wit</L>
<L>Could reach no farther than the Neighb'ring Pit.</L>
<L>When as your tow'ring Soul,</L>
<L>Leaving us beneath,</L>
<L>All humane Pa&s;&s;ions doth controul,</L>
<L>And mount into tho&s;e Regions, where</L>
<L>Is nought but pure and &s;ubtle Air,</L>
<L>Where common Mortals cannot breath.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>VI.</HEAD>
<L>Go on, thou noble <HI>Hero,</HI> who do&s;t know</L>
<L>The Paths of Honour, and of Vertue too;</L>
<L>A Soul &s;o Skilful! &s;o inur'd to Good!</L>
<L>Never proud <HI>Greek</HI> or <HI>Roman</HI> under&s;tood:</L>
<L>They only built a gaudy Theater</L>
<L>Sacred to Vertue; thou ha&s;t rais'd thy &s;elf to her:</L>
<L>Such a clean Lodging ev'ry Soul may boa&s;t,</L>
<L>Who bears the Temple of the Holy-Gho&s;t.</L>
<L>Others for Pomp or Safety may provide</L>
<L>Again&s;t their fatal Day,</L>
<L>A co&s;tly Dungeon, or a <HI>Memphian</HI> Pyramid</L>
<L>(T' inclo&s;e their Souls too with their mould'ring Clay;)</L>
<L>While by the Virtue of thy &s;acred Fire,</L>
<L>(Decree'd not to expire)</L>
<L>Your Honour &s;hall (&s;urviving Fame)</L>
<L>Live in a heav'nly Cone of Flame.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>VII.</HEAD>
<L>When I peru&s;e the Comment, and the Text,</L>
<L>Nothing I find &s;o dubious, or perplext,</L>
<L><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><HI>Tin.</HI> 1.14.</NOTE>By <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Fables, or Conceits of Men;</L>
<L>But your unerring Pen</L>
<L>Dictator doth Commence,</L>
<L>And reconcile King <HI>David</HI>'s &s;en&s;e,</L>
<L>With &s;uch Illu&s;trations there,</L>
<L>As if thou wert his Privy-Coun&s;ellor:</L>
<L>Your Ver&s;ion mode&s;t, and yet faithful too,</L>
<L>Shews what thou do&s;t, and able art to do.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>VIII.</HEAD>
<L>My Numbers mu&s;t fall &s;hort, of what is due</L>
<L>To &s;uch pure Zeal, and depth of Judgment too:</L>
<L>Fifteen Degrees! Henceforth &s;hall every P&s;alm</L>
<L>Boa&s;t, that it can</L>
<L>Receive the Honour of thy skilful Name,</L>
<L><HI>THE CHIEF MUSICIAN.</HI></L>
<L>Then, Pardon Sir, if I a&s;pire</L>
<L>To ki&s;s the lowe&s;t Step of your advanced Quire.</L>
</LG>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>S. H.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="encomium">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>AD NOBILISSIMUM AUTHOREM.</HEAD>
<L>_JActitet immen&s;i <HI>Salomonem</HI> Machina Templi</L>
<L>Structorem, Graduum te Chorus ip&s;e canit:</L>
<L><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Stantia non pote|rant tecta probare Deos: Mart. utpote Chri&s;tus Templi Ex|cidium prae|&s;agivit.</NOTE>Illius obruitur moles opero&s;a ruin&acirc;,</L>
<L>Vim fru&s;tra his infers Ve&s;pa&s;iane, tuam.</L>
<L>Ficta Poetarum torpe&s;cant Numina, quorum</L>
<L>Gleba Sepulchralis Frigida Membra tegit:</L>
<L>Mu&s;arum Lymphis inca&s;s&ugrave;m labra retingunt,</L>
<L>Ni prunam Linguis praebeat Ara &s;uis.</L>
<L>Ve&s;tris a&s;pirat caeptis Deus ille Deorum,</L>
<L>Et &s;ic Divino jure Poeta cluis:</L>
<L>Te merito canimus; aujus con&s;cendere Scalam</L>
<L>Laurea &s;ubrepens ambitio&s;a cupit:</L>
<L>Te mi&s;eret Plantae; quoties tremebunda precatur</L>
<L>Ut Paradi&s;iacis in&s;ita, vivat, Agris.</L>
<L>O Dilecte Deo! pergas tibi ut Orbis Honore</L>
<L>Agno&s;cat nullum, nec Pietate, parem:</L>
<L>Oro, ut dign&ecirc;ris Triviae Tentamina Mu&s;ae</L>
<L>Qu&acirc; placid&acirc; &s;emper Fronte videre &s;oles:</L>
<L>For &s;itan in&s;olitum videar compingere Carmen;</L>
<L>Scilicet appo&s;it&egrave; &s;cribere cau&s;a vetat.</L>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Honoris ve&s;tri ob&s;equio dediti&s;&s;imus,</HI> S. H.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="4">
<HEAD>TO THE Mo&s;t Illu&s;trious And Serene&s;t STELLA.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>MADAM,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>_AS &s;oon as Nature had awaked my Duty in the tender of its Devotion to <HI>Lucinda,</HI> I was prompted by Ju&s;tice, as well as Love, to lay my next Offering at Your Feet, becau&s;e I mu&s;t avow to all the World, that nothing hath that A&s;cendant over my Soul as Ye Two have, who make my Pa&s;&s;ions high, yet hone&s;t; Ye are Twin-Stars of the fir&s;t Mag|nitude, &s;o that I cannot &s;hew Ye my Re&s;pects, without advancing my Religion, Your Piety encouraging that unto &s;ome nobler Effort, while it in&s;tructs the&s;e in the mo&s;t decent and humble ways of &s;ubmitting my De&s;ires to Heaven's acceptance fir&s;t, and then to Your Graces.</P>
<P><HI>Madam,</HI> You know I never yet approach'd You but with a Prayer, or with Mu&s;ick, (admiring the Divinity which &s;till arrays Your Per&s;on;) the Imitation of your Holy and Harmonious Mind, I think, is Work for the mo&s;t Excellent upon Earth, as the Admira|tion
<PB REF="5">of it is my chiefe&s;t plea&s;ure, and hath been the cau&s;e of pub|li&s;hing the&s;e the E&s;&s;ays of my younger time, (began about twenty years ago at my entrance into Your Service) when I aim'd at nothing but God's Grace, and Yours.</P>
<P><HI>Madam,</HI> The intent of my fir&s;t Affections would palliate their weaker Actings, &s;ince (as the &s;trength of Zeal may &s;till excu&s;e &s;ome Errors) the Daughter of <HI>Time</HI> is here with a Gift, though the Daughter of <HI>Tyre</HI> be not in her Robes: Here is no gentile Vanity, or curious Texture of Wit; no Colours of Rhetorick, nor modi&s;h Points of Court&s;hip, to inveigle Your Opinion of the pre|&s;ent.</P>
<Q><L>Yet, Madam, here is that, may well become Your Grace,</L>
<L>The mo&s;t Angelike Dre&s;s, in fa&s;hion upon Earth;</L>
<L>The way to pierce the Skies, with Ori&s;ons and Prai&s;e;</L>
<L>The way to pa&s;s our Lives, in true&s;t Ea&s;e, and Mirth.</L></Q>
<P>I wi&s;h You like the making up of this Suit (as it is) with the truth of his Devotion and Service, who is ready to wait upon You (in his Holy-day habit) both to Your Clo&s;et, and to Our Church, as</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>MADAM, <HI>The humble&s;t and faithfulle&s;t of your Mini&s;ters.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="5">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<P>_HAVING with much admiration and delight been long conver&s;ant with the <HI>P&s;alter,</HI> I find, as it is wi&s;ely appointed for the fir&s;t Book that we read or &s;tudy, &s;o it may fitly be u&s;ed to the la&s;t minute of our Life and Breathing;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 23.46. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 30.6.</NOTE> &s;ince our ble&s;&s;ed Lord him&s;elf handed his Soul unto his Father in the&s;e words of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t.</HI> And I never knew any condition, how &s;ad &s;oever, that might not receive &s;ome Entertainment,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 21.16. 21.42. 27.46. 22.44. 13.35. <HI>John</HI> 2.17. 6.32. 10.34. 13.18. 15.25. 19.24.</NOTE> &s;ome Company and Di&s;cour&s;e (as well as <HI>Mu&s;ic</HI>), and &s;o &s;ome ea&s;e and relief from that glorious Book of the <HI>P&s;alms;</HI> which is not only beautified by our Saviour his frequent u&s;e of it (both living and dying,) but by the continual Services, and be&s;t Devotion of all the Saints and Children of God: For (to &s;ay nothing of the E&s;teem it hath, even in the <HI>Mahometan</HI> Religion) there hath been no Church, either of <HI>Jews</HI> or <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> nay, &s;carce one eminent Per&s;on in either of tho&s;e Churches,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Sixty Proofs cited out of the P&s;alms in the <HI>N. T.</HI> P&s;al. <HI>1.2.</HI></NOTE> who hath not only allowed much time and attention, but likewi&s;e &s;hewn the greate&s;t remarks of Piety and Zeal, in the &s;tudious peru&s;al thereof. For the&s;e Spiritual Songs (as all &s;acred
<PB REF="6">Wor&s;hip was of old wrapt up in <HI>Metre</HI>) do, with their mo&s;t charming Melody, and &s;weetne&s;s of Expre&s;&s;ion, both &s;et forth the Law of the Lord, and the love of his Servants, (as on Mount <HI>Sion,</HI> not on <HI>Sinai, viz.</HI>) in &s;o lofty and taking a way, as that &s;urely they contain not only the Body and Sub|&s;tance, but the Spirit and Quinte&s;cence, the plea&s;ant Ta&s;ts, and be&s;t Reli&s;hes of our holie&s;t Religion! Be&s;ides the variety of Subjects, and richne&s;s of each Theme, &s;erving (as the Trea&s;ures of &s;everal Mines) for the furni&s;hing and rewar|ding both our fancies and labours with Materials, &s;ufficient to plea&s;e, to profit, to enrich our Meditations. So that truly 'tis a ravi&s;hing, and no le&s;s than Heavenly delight, to hear the holy Per&s;ons of all Times and Ages (like Birds in the Spring) de&s;canting on the &s;elf-&s;ame Subject; but with &s;uch different Notes, Melody, and Accent, as it is wonderful to ob&s;erve (while every one doth well in doing his be&s;t,) what rare Divi&s;ions are run by the joyning of &s;o full a Con&s;ort: Whil&s;t the Mu&s;ic becomes more excellent by the admirable variety thereof.</P>
<P>This hath often &s;et on work, and &s;atisfied my Thoughts with the Contemplation of our Eternal employ, the prai&s;ing of God in Heaven, perhaps too in the Songs of <HI>David,</HI> (as well as of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> &s;ince the&s;e were the Songs of the Lamb while he was here on <HI>Sion</HI>) according to our be&s;t Capacities and Vi&s;ions: So that as the Angels envy not the Cherub for &s;itting higher, or &s;eeing more than they; nor the Seraphim de&s;pi&s;e the Angels, becau&s;e the&s;e cannot reach the others Pitch in their mighty Raptures and heavenly Addre&s;&s;es, (for they are all in the &s;ame way, though concerned in &s;everal degrees of Duty;) It is my opinion, that no true <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> &s;hould be di&s;couraged, either by his own weakne&s;s, or others greater Abilities, from turning <HI>P&s;almodi&s;t,</HI> and helping the Quire with his Notes, though they be of a har&s;her kind, and flatter Key, than many others which are u&s;ed there; be|cau&s;e both in the Church here, and that above, he mu&s;t &s;ing the &s;ame which others do, though (it may be) not with the &s;ame Elegance; yet if his Heart be right, and his De&s;ires &s;incere, though his Place and Parts may be inferiour to many, his good Will and Intent &s;hall afford joy, &s;atisfaction, and bli&s;s, and &s;ecure him from the Cen&s;ure of all others.</P>
<P>Nay, he may &s;uppo&s;e the Mu&s;ic and the Mirth of Saints to ari&s;e like the Flame from tho&s;e lowe&s;t Coals of the Altar,
<PB REF="6">which lie ob&s;curely in their A&s;hes; and thence to a&s;cend by the Degrees of the Sons of Fire to the top of their lofty Pyra|mid, the <HI>Deity;</HI> and from that Central Point again &s;tream forth &s;uch Harmony and Delight, as may reach and fill, enflame and enlighten, array and gild the whole Circum|ference of the Ble&s;t Eternity.</P>
<P>Therefore &s;ince he which hath the lowe&s;t Voice may bear a Part in Mu&s;ic, we &s;hould neither contemn nor hinder their &s;inging, who cannot reach &s;o high a &s;train as our &s;elves; but bear with, or encourage, rather than &s;ilence and di&s;turb the Devotions of the weake&s;t, who may be more acceptable to God in their well-meaning, than we are to Men in our finer expre&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P>Upon this account I have often judged it expedient, that Cen&s;ure &s;hould be &s;hut out of the Church Doors, when any ones Ver&s;e or Mu&s;ic is brought within them; and though we might be able to mend that which is there allowed, yet we are rather to u&s;e than blame it, becau&s;e it is pre&s;cribed by &s;uch, whom we mu&s;t yield be&s;t able to di&s;cern what is fit for the public Wor&s;hip, which certainly differs from each Man's private Devotions, more than doth his Night-dre&s;s from the Habit he mu&s;t wear at Noon-day.</P>
<P>So that though I might plead for <HI>Hopkin</HI>'s and <HI>Sternhold</HI>'s, for the meane&s;t Tran&s;lation of the P&s;alms in our Pari&s;h Churches, (as Men do for &s;ome Cu&s;toms and Fa&s;hions) be|cau&s;e countenanced by Authority and long U&s;age; yet I would not from thence conclude, that they are the be&s;t, or that I mu&s;t keep them in my own Clo&s;et, or particular Devotions: But as I will not refu&s;e them publicly whil&s;t commanded, &s;o I will not reproach them privately; much le&s;s cen&s;ure or deter others in their &s;ingular Indu&s;try, who have not only de&s;ign'd, but attempted, both to do better than the weake&s;t Age of <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Poetry; and withall, equal the &s;tronge&s;t Reach of Sence and Expre&s;&s;ion that is found in the be&s;t Tran&s;lators of the P&s;alms.</P>
<P>Among&s;t whom I would count two very late Authors,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mr.</HI> S. W. <HI>Mr.</HI> M. S.</NOTE> (who might be fancied the two Poles, including a World of our Rithmical Paraphra&s;ts, and pretending &s;omething above them) but that the one &s;eems to be in the exce&s;s of Gaudi|ne&s;s, and liberty of Fancy, while the other is in the wor&s;e extream of meanne&s;s of Ver&s;e, and want of plainne&s;s; &s;o that as the former will be thought by &s;ome too Luxuriant and
<PB REF="7">Copious, (both in Mea&s;ure and Conceit) the latter will be found incurious, and fallen &s;hort of expectation; &s;ince he forgets the Poet, while he &s;toops to accommodate the People, and can neither afford Rhime to half his Lines, (which is ea&s;ie enough to be had in our tinkling Tongue) nor clearne&s;s to his Ver&s;e, which might have excu&s;ed the other defect, (and is but needful for the vulgar way of reading, and then &s;inging) becau&s;e the Sentence of his Ver&s;e too frequently out-runs the Mea&s;ures, and &s;o leaves that unfini&s;hed at the end of the&s;e; which &s;urely is a fault that my &s;elf (as mo&s;t others) may be guilty of &s;ometimes in tho&s;e &s;hort <HI>Cae&s;ura's</HI> we make u&s;e of, but &s;hould be avoided with all po&s;&s;ible care; for when the Stops reach farther than the Lines, the Breaks of the&s;e mu&s;t needs be as unplea&s;ant to the Ear, as it is commonly in jurious to the Sence: And &s;o are the big-belly'd <HI>Epithetes</HI> (the <GAP DESC="foreign">) wherewith &s;ome Ver&s;ions abound, which are <HI>Pedantic</HI> Charms, conjuring Ignorance into Admiration, plea&s;ing or employing tho&s;e mo&s;t of all, who lea&s;t under&s;tand their u&s;e and meaning: Whereas the words of Truth and Soberne&s;s,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 26.25. <HI>Gen.</HI> 34. <HI>Gen.</HI> 38.14.</NOTE> &s;uch as were dictated by God's own Spirit, want (no Bomba&s;t) neither the <HI>Dre&s;s</HI> of <HI>Dinah,</HI> nor of <HI>Thamar,</HI> to make them &s;eem <HI>wanton,</HI> and then <HI>alluring.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Heathens</HI> indeed &s;et out their Fables, like Pro&s;titutes, to put them off, and made them cried up by the mi&s;takes of too many; but to trick up the mo&s;t Sacred Poems in the mode of the Idolatrous <HI>Ethnick,</HI> is a Licen&s;e no Man hath a Patent for from Holy Writ: And though, with <HI>Politian</HI> and <HI>Bonamy,</HI> &s;ome have preferred <HI>Pindar,</HI> I think there are as many genuine Beauties, excellent Parts and Proportions in <HI>David,</HI> as in any uncircumci&s;ed <HI>Phili&s;tine,</HI> any mon&s;trous <HI>Pagan,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 16.12.</NOTE> we can meet with: And as he appeared to <HI>Samuel,</HI> when God him&s;elf &s;aid, <HI>Ari&s;e, anoint him, for this is he;</HI> &s;o when I look upon him in his P&s;alms, I gue&s;s &s;urely the <HI>Anoin|ted of the Lord</HI> is before me. How frequent, full, and admi|rable, are his Metaphors, Similies, Figures, and Enrichments of Phra&s;e! All which ought to have right done them, (being the <HI>Daughters</HI> to &s;o great a King) and to be cloathed accor|ding to their Quality and Excellency;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>King.</HI> 9.34.</NOTE> and that is not with <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Garments, with the Thread of <HI>Egypt,</HI> or the Garb of Aliens, but, like the Silk-worm, only with Robes &s;pun out of their own Bowels; for they are rich enough to furni&s;h
<PB REF="7">them&s;elves (as the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> did their Tabernable) both with Coverings and Ornaments: And as the Armour of <HI>Saul</HI> did not fit <HI>David</HI>'s Per&s;on, no more doth extravagant Words or Conceits become his Poems,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 16.18.</NOTE> who is &s;aid to be as <HI>prudent</HI> in his Speech, as <HI>skilful</HI> in his Mu&s;ic.</P>
<P>And &s;eeing there are &s;uch appo&s;ite Allu&s;ions and Relations in each part of the&s;e Divine Poems to the other Portions of holy Writ, which (as the Rays of the Sun do to the World) dart Light and Beauty from one corner of the Bible to the other; we need repair to no other Wardrobe than the Book of God, for the trimming out any part of it, with &s;ufficient elegancy, fulne&s;s, and embelli&s;hment.</P>
<P>Therefore I endeavour in the&s;e E&s;&s;ays, not only to have as much of the &s;ence of the P&s;alm, but likewi&s;e of &s;uch other Scriptures as it may &s;eem to relate to, (whereby it may be unfolded and adorned) that they might be compo&s;ed in the plaine&s;t <HI>Engli&s;h,</HI> and ea&s;ie&s;t manner of Ver&s;e; yet with as much of holy Writ as can be put into them, &s;tudying for Con|gruity between them and the Original, more than Curio&s;ity in the Texture; and to be full, though not prolix; and u&s;e|ful to &s;ome, if not plea&s;ant.</P>
<P>St. <HI>Hillary</HI> &s;hews us from the <HI>Revelations</HI> who it is that holds the Key of <HI>David:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rev.</HI> 3.7.</NOTE> It is too hard for any Mortal to open the Door of this va&s;t Palace. Humane Fancy may peep in, only to &s;ee it, might go far, rather than venture therein to lo&s;e it &s;elf. And if the adventurous Poet draw <HI>Stanza's</HI> of an extraordinary length (like a Body on the Wrack) the Coherence of the Parts is often loo&s;en'd, di&s;tor|ted, or undi&s;cerned; and the Mu&s;ician di&s;couraged from &s;etting or compo&s;ing &s;uch tedious Numbers into Anthems, &s;ince the&s;e are u&s;ually not long.</P>
<P>And if it be &s;o, (as I have heard) that the <HI>Hebrew</HI> Meter through the Book of <HI>P&s;alms</HI> is generally very &s;hort, &s;urely we are more obliged to conform to the Original, and mea|&s;ure our Feet (as near as may be) by that Model, or el&s;e by the Standard Mea&s;ures of our Age, which have been al|lowed, known, and directed, even to the vulgar: There|fore as I have &s;omewhat ob&s;erved the manner of the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Mu&s;ic in the&s;e <HI>P&s;alms of Degrees,</HI> (by frequent Repetitions and Re&s;pon&s;es) &s;o I have confined my &s;elf, perhaps with|out too much &s;traitne&s;s, to the Staffs, our ordinary Church Tunes do lean upon, that they may be made u&s;eful to many
<PB REF="8">by the common Notes, as they may become grateful to others by their being capable of various better Compo&s;itions, (they being de&s;igned for Anthems and Hymns, as well as P&s;alms.)</P>
<P>Yet would I not have them humorou&s;ly &s;et up, nor &s;ent forth &s;trangely dre&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 17.5. 19.29.</NOTE> like the <HI>Mi&s;tre&s;s</HI> of the <HI>Levite,</HI> or the <HI>Idol</HI> of the <HI>young Man;</HI> but mode&s;tly and gravely accou|tred like the <HI>Mother</HI> of <HI>Solomon,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 31.</NOTE> like our Church of <HI>England,</HI> that the Graces in the&s;e Spiritual Songs may be more char|ming, as more con&s;picuous, by being &s;uited to the benefit and conver&s;ation of all, even of the lowe&s;t, as well as of the &s;ublimer Capacities: Since by the&s;e I wi&s;h as general a good as is po&s;&s;ible, without any unde&s;erved Prai&s;e to my &s;elf, or any Detraction from another Per&s;on. For though I have pointed a two modern Men, as the <HI>Herculean</HI> Pillars, between whom I take my way; yet I have no great occa&s;ion to find fault with them, becau&s;e the one &s;tands on this &s;ide, and the other on that, of the Cour&s;e I &s;teer, whil&s;t both &s;erve to my &s;afer Convoy into tho&s;e <HI>Streights</HI> whither I am bound.</P>
<P>'Tis true, the kinds of Ver&s;e I make u&s;e of, are neither grateful nor fa&s;hionable (in this Licentious and <HI>Dyther ambique</HI> Time); but they are the be&s;t known of any, and have no &s;mall intere&s;t in the common Approbation; and, as the old Maxim told me, <HI>The more common the better,</HI> of what is good: So the late excellent Bi&s;hop of <HI>Chiche&s;ter</HI> (Dr. <HI>H. King</HI>) indu|ced me, rather (by his Example) to redre&s;s and amend the Vulgar, than to deride their lame and feeble Sence; e&s;pe|cially if (by the bolde&s;t attempts of Wit and Learning) we cannot come near the Maje&s;ty and Excellency of the fir&s;t Pen-man, it is more rea&s;onable that we &s;hould &s;ubmit our Endeavours (as <HI>Publicola</HI> did his Fa&s;ces) to the u&s;e and benefit of the mo&s;t and meane&s;t, rather than make them Trophies of our own Arrogance, and our Brethren's weak|ne&s;s.</P>
<P>Our continual work is,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mark</HI> 9.49, 50.</NOTE> to have about us that <HI>Salt</HI> of <HI>Cha|rity,</HI> which may <HI>&s;ea&s;on</HI> our Offerings both to God and Man, while we thank the one, or a&s;&s;i&s;t the other.</P>
<P>Is it not double Super&s;tition, and wor&s;e than Folly, to court the Prayers of Men in Heaven, and the Prai&s;es of Men on Earth? 'Tis enough to have an Intere&s;t quite other|wi&s;e Religion, and to forward Man's Good with God's Glory, (more than with our own); or God's Ble&s;&s;ing with our own good Deeds, rather than with others good Words.</P>
<PB REF="8">
<P>So that I would not be thought Cen&s;orious nor Singular, nor any other ways <HI>Phari&s;aical</HI> in my Entertainments here. Though I bring &s;everal Cour&s;es of Devotion, they are not worthy to be compared to the good piece of Fle&s;h, and Fla|gon of Wine, wherewith our great Exemplar once treated the People; yet (let the&s;e be never &s;uch cour&s;e Fare) they are really de&s;igned for a Ble&s;&s;ing to all, as <HI>David</HI>'s Banquet was, in 1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 16.34. and I can conclude with his Royal word, <HI>As for me,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron. 29.17, 18.</NOTE> in the uprightne&s;s of my Heart I have willingly offered all the&s;e things.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Noli altum &s;apere, &s;ed time.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="9">
<HEAD>More ERRATA's in the Fir&s;t Part.</HEAD>
<P>PAg. 11. l. 34. <HI>read</HI> off. l. 42. <HI>r.</HI> holie&s;t. p. 14. l. 3. <HI>in&s;ert</HI> thou. p. 15. l. 30. <HI>in&s;ert</HI> is the wickedne&s;s of Folly, Eccle&s;. 7.25. l. 41. <HI>dele</HI> from. p. 16. l. 2. <HI>for</HI> from them, <HI>read</HI> for Women. <HI>In Margin</HI> P&s;al. 92.13. l. 32. <HI>r.</HI> my. p. 21. l. 14. <HI>dele</HI> the. l. 20. <HI>r.</HI> were. p. 25. l. 43. <HI>r.</HI> they will. p. 27. l. 19. <HI>r.</HI> weep thus, <HI>dele</HI> this. l. 34. <HI>in&s;ert</HI> and thine, <HI>dele</HI> and. p. 28. l. 28. <HI>r.</HI> thee. p. 32. <HI>in Margin in&s;ert</HI> Dan. 4.31.32. Jer. 51.9. p. 38. l. 30. <HI>dele</HI> a. p. 40. l. 42. <HI>in Margin</HI> Deut. 32.4. l. 45. <HI>dele</HI> the. p. 43. l. 32. <HI>in&s;ert</HI> for. p. 48. l. 12. <HI>in Margin</HI> 2 King. 6.16, 23. <HI>to</HI> l. 46. <HI>in Margin</HI> Dan. 4.12, 13. p. 50. l. 25. <HI>for</HI> &s;ecured, <HI>read</HI> &s;oured. p. 53. l. 38. <HI>read</HI> we may be.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<HEAD>ERRATA in the Second Part.</HEAD>
<P>PAg. 10. <HI>in</HI> Gloria Patri, <HI>read</HI> To God, to Father, Son. p. 21. l. 22. <HI>in&s;ert</HI> are given us. p. 24. l. 20. <HI>dele</HI> as thou did&s;t the Prophet, <HI>which is twice repeated.</HI> p. 26. l. 14. <HI>for</HI> O Lord, <HI>read</HI> O God. <HI>remove the * from</HI> l. 24. <HI>to</HI> l. 20. p. 35. l. 16. <HI>read</HI> e&s;tabli&s;h his Kingdom. p. 41. l. 32. <HI>read</HI> and a fruitful. p. 45. l. 16. <HI>in Margin</HI> I&s;a. 36.10. p. 48. l. 2. <HI>in Margin</HI> Ruth 2.4. p. 49. l. 17. <HI>read</HI> the Rods. l. 33. <HI>read</HI> pre&s;erved it. p. 50. l. 4. <HI>read</HI> thou. p. 55. l. 32. <HI>read</HI> Jewi&s;h. l. 33. <HI>in Margin</HI> Jer. 38.12, 13. p. 56. l. 2. <HI>in Margin</HI> Jonas 2.5, 6. l. 17. <HI>read</HI> this pre|&s;ent &s;tate. p. 60. l. 6. <HI>for</HI> Loving, <HI>read</HI> Leaving the Brea&s;t. p. 61. l. 6. <HI>read</HI> Root. p. 62. l. 3. <HI>read</HI> Uzzah. l. 23. <HI>read</HI> Rereward. p. 64. <HI>in Margin, read</HI> Clarius. <HI>in</HI> l. 23. <HI>read</HI> &s;edem innuit Aris. p. 68. <HI>in Marg. &dagger; read</HI> nictaturus &s;im. p. 79. l. 13. <HI>read</HI> but to the people who watched there. p. 84. l. 17. <HI>read</HI> Songs of Elevation. <HI>And note: This whole 84th Page &s;hould have been the fir&s;t.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="1" REF="9">
<HEAD>THE FIRST P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXX. <HI>PSALM.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>It is a Complaint, and Prayer again&s;t the fal&s;ne&s;s, fraud, and impious De&s;igns, rather than the force, of inhumane Adver&s;aries: Becau&s;e their Strength and Power may (at lea&s;t for a Time) be from God's Will and Permi&s;&s;ion; but Deceit and Perfidiou&s;|ne&s;s owe their Birth to Men's Prevarications, and the &s;ubtil Temptations of the Evil One: And therefore ought the rather to be deprecated.</P>
<P>The Author of this P&s;alm is not known, but &s;uppo&s;ed to be <HI>David,</HI> and made by him upon the like occa&s;ion that the <HI>7^t^h,</HI> the <HI>34^t^h,</HI> and the <HI>52^d</HI> were Compo&s;ed, when he fled to <HI>Gath, ob Aethiopem Jeminien&s;em,</HI> (as<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">In P&s;al. 7.</NOTE> <HI>Ca&s;talio</HI> phra&s;eth it) or upon the implacable Fury of <HI>Saul;</HI> truly and tivilly, as well as elegantly &s;tiled, <HI>A melan|choly terrible Man:</HI> Or el&s;e upon the malicious Information of a <HI>Cu&s;hite</HI> or <HI>Edomite</HI> again&s;t an <HI>I&s;raelite</HI> indeed, in whom there was no guile; which &s;eems very probable from his De&s;cription of the Parties, who were after the way of <HI>Me&s;ech</HI> (as the <HI>Aethiopians Cu&s;hites</HI> were) and allied to the &s;ordid Tents of <HI>Kedar,</HI> or <HI>Arabia;</HI> of which Country <HI>Doeg</HI> was a Native.</P>
<P>This P&s;alm likewi&s;e looks Prophetically at the &s;worn Enemies of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI>'s Peace; &s;uch as were the confederate <HI>Arabians</HI> and <HI>A&s;iaticks</HI> at the building the Temple, and afterwards with <HI>Antiochus,</HI> at the defacing of the &s;ame: All which cruel and cunning Foes are expre&s;&s;ed by<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Ezck, 38.2.</NOTE> <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<PB N="2" REF="10">
<HEAD><GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _IN my di&spcDash;&s;tre&s;s and fear,<NOTE PLACE="marg">For S. <HI>Steven</HI>'s day, or &s;ome time of Trial.</NOTE> I cry'd unto the Lord; who &s;oon did help, as hear, when I this wi&s;h did word; From Lips, made foul by guile and wrongs, and from fal&s;e Tongues, Lord &s;ave my Soul.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Quid tibi da|bit? aut quid addet tibi?</HI> Spoken as to <HI>Saul</HI> (perhaps) by the P&s;al|mi&s;t, upon the account of <HI>Doeg,</HI></NOTE></P>
<LG>
<L>What Prai&s;e? what Profit &s;hall</L>
<L>The treacherous Tongue bring thee?</L>
<L>Poor Soul! 'twill &s;corch and Gall</L>
<L>Thy &s;elf, as well as me.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>'Twill doubly harm,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Having been &s;treightned in my Ver&s;e, I de|&s;ire to ob&s;erve in Pro&s;e the rare Elegancy of the P&s;almi&s;t here; who &s;peaking of a de&s;ert &s;tate and place among the Sons of <HI>I&s;mael,</HI> (the great Archer) he tells his &s;avage Foes, (though Companions) that they &s;hall be &s;truck with their own Weapons, as <HI>Saul</HI> was; and burnt with the Coals of the Wilderne&s;s, where Juniper mo&s;t abounds, which was the mo&s;t de&s;olate and grievous Fire, from the nature of the Wood; and &s;o proper fuel for the black Tents of <HI>Kedar,</HI> and for <HI>Me&s;ech;</HI> (the <HI>A&s;iaticks</HI>) if taken for a People wild, and wandering about in Wagons, or living in Tents covered with Skins: But if it referrs to a place, it is well rendered by the LXXII. whom I follow, with <HI>Symachus</HI> and <HI>Aquila,</HI> &amp;c,</NOTE></L>
<L>By Fire; and Shot</L>
<L>Like Darts made hot</L>
<L>From &s;ome &s;trong Arm.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="3" REF="10">
<LG>
<L>Why then? O why &s;o long</L>
<L>Do I protract my Woes?</L>
<L>By wand'ring &s;till among</L>
<L>War's Friends, and Peace's Foes:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>I'm in a Tent</L>
<L>Who are on Theft;</L>
<L>Of <HI>Arabs</HI> left,</L>
<L>And Murder bent.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>At me their Bows are bent,</L>
<L>Their Malice doth encrea&s;e;</L>
<L>They &s;ay no good I meant,</L>
<L>When I did &s;eek their Peace:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>When I &s;peak fair,</L>
<L>And &s;traight the Swarm</L>
<L>I them all-arm,</L>
<L>Their Stings prepare.</L>
</LG>
<P>Corollarium <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<P>Which may be u&s;ed, or omitted,</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>It being another Repetition of the Sence</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>It being another Return of the Mu&s;ick</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>It being another Recollection of the P&s;alm.</HI></ITEM>
</LIST>
<LG>
<L>BUT though the Sland'rers &s;ting,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver.</HI> 3, 4.</NOTE></L>
<L>Like Lightning, pierc'd and burn'd:</L>
<L>The Stones which he did &s;ling,</L>
<L>Heav'n in his Face return'd.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Live Coals from Hell,</L>
<L>By his bad Tongue,</L>
<L>And Javelings flung</L>
<L>On his Head fell.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Therefore no more will I</L>
<L>Be of &s;uch Bruits afraid;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver. 2, 7.</HI></NOTE></L>
<L>No more I'll &s;igh, or cry,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver.</HI> 5, 6.</NOTE></L>
<L>Though I'm in De&s;erts &s;tay'd:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>In all my Ways</L>
<L>Who do&s;t afford</L>
<L>I'll Ble&s;s Thee, Lord,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver.</HI> 1, 2.</NOTE></L>
<L>Such cau&s;e of Prai&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="4" REF="11">
<LG>
<L>Though I'm in De&s;erts &s;tay'd,</L>
<L>No more I'll &s;igh, or cry:</L>
<L>Or be of Bruits afraid,</L>
<L>No longer now will I.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Such cau&s;e of Prai&s;e</L>
<L>We'll Ble&s;s Thee, Lord,</L>
<L>Thou do&s;t afford;</L>
<L>In all our Ways.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<L><HI>Glory be to our King,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who &s;hall be, was, and is;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Loud</HI> Hallelujahs <HI>&s;ing</HI></L>
<L><HI>To God, the God of Peace:</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L><HI>The Lord of Ho&s;ts,</HI></L>
<L><HI>The Father, Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>The Three in One,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And Holy Gho&s;t.</HI></L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>AMEN.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="5" REF="11">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fir&s;t <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXX. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Lord, our Redeemer! a very pre&s;ent help in trouble, as I have found thee heretofore, ble&s;&s;ed be thy powerful Com|pa&s;&s;ion, &s;o I de&s;ire to approve thee when&s;oever, as at this time, I cry unto thee to deliver my Soul. O God! I &s;ee that I am fallen into a dangerous Condition, by the Lies of the Serpent, the Treacheries of my own Fle&s;h, and the Fal&s;hoods of the World, which I have &s;ought and &s;erved, li&s;tened and tru&s;ted to, and &s;o am ju&s;tly appay'd with Cou&s;enage and Di&s;grace, with Calumnies and Accu&s;ation. For what can be had from the Accu&s;er of the Brethren, from the deceitfulne&s;s of Riches, and from the Cheats of all things here below, but di&s;appointments, and vexation for &s;uch as follow lying Vanities, for&s;aking thy Mercies, and their own?</P>
<P>Alas! then woe is me! that I have heaped up &s;uch Coals of Ven|geance on my own Head, and pierced my Heart through with &s;o many Darts of Sorrow, by not delighting in the Tents of the Righteous, nor in the Tabernacles of thy Holine&s;s, but in the Dwellings of Un|godline&s;s, and in the Hou&s;e of the Accur&s;ed; &s;o that I have de&s;erved indeed to be made a Vagabond like <HI>Cain,</HI> and a Slave like <HI>Cham,</HI> in a perpetual Bani&s;hment from Comfort, and in a Captivity unto Sin, by having my Conver&s;ation according to the evil fa&s;hion of this Age.</P>
<P>But, Lord! how long, how long &s;hall I &s;ojourn, either among&s;t the Enemies of thy Grace, or of my Peace? Among&s;t the Super&s;titious or Idolatrous? Among&s;t tho&s;e who are after the way of <HI>Me&s;ech?</HI> Or tho&s;e who dwell in the black aboads of <HI>Kedar?</HI> O! prolong not my Danger and Unhappine&s;s any more among them, nor protract my Wandrings with a back&s;liding People; for I &s;eek Peace, Peace with Thee, with my own Con&s;cience, and with all the World.</P>
<P>But <HI>can the</HI> Egyptian <HI>change his Skin? Had</HI> Zimri <HI>Peace, who &s;lew his Ma&s;ter?</HI> No Lord. <HI>There is no Peace</HI> (thou ha&s;t &s;aid it) <HI>to the Wicked,</HI> who are at defiance with thee, and with them&s;elves, and make War in the face of Heaven.</P>
<P>Therefore that I may find Peace, I &s;eek thy Pardon, and my Soul's Purity, and de&s;ire thee to pre&s;erve me from the Pollutions and Snares of a perver&s;e Generation, that di&s;&s;emble as &s;trange Children, that &s;o (having no fellow&s;hip with the workers of Iniquity) I might live in the &s;weet Communion of thy Saints, and to be furthered by their Examples and Conver&s;ation in the way of Peace and Holine&s;s.</P>
<P>For, Lord! I would be a pacifick <HI>Jacob,</HI> and dwell under the &s;hadow of thy Wings, there accounting my &s;elf &s;ecure though I have no other
<PB N="6" REF="12">Covering. Thou art the be&s;t place to hide me in, and 'tis not my Sword or Bow &s;hall &s;ettle or &s;ecure me, but thy Mercy, thy Grace, and thy Spirit. No &s;trange Arms here can give me a certain or &s;afe Abode, unle&s;s thou be on my &s;ide.</P>
<P>Therefore, dear God! whil&s;t many ri&s;e up again&s;t me to trouble me, in &s;aying, <HI>Where is thy God?</HI> (&s;eeking to de&s;troy me with their own quiet) be thou a God nigh at hand to deliver me from Treachery, Malice, Turbulence, and Hypocri&s;ie. And while my Foes heap Coals of Fire on their own Heads by unju&s;t Actions, and hard Speeches, let my Mouth be touched with a Coal from thine Altar, that I may know how to keep the Door of my Lips from all Cur&s;ing and Bitterne&s;s, Lying and Bla&s;phemies, fraudulent and filthy Communication; and how to open it in Praying to thee, that I may find the Ble&s;&s;ings of Peace within, above, abroad, about me, by Repentance of my Sins, Reforma|tion of my Life, Regeneration of my Nature, and Reconciliation to thy Love.</P>
<P>O! let it &s;uffice that I have &s;tayed &s;o long in their Habitations, where the In&s;truments of Cruelty remain, where I might have been drawn either unto ba&s;e Earthly Sorrow and Di&s;traction, or to foul Helli&s;h Guilt and De&s;peration, and &s;o to inevitable De&s;truction both of Soul and Body. Let it pity thee to &s;ee my poor Soul in &s;uch a Sink, &s;uch a Gaol and Mill, in &s;uch a na&s;ty, vile, and &s;lavi&s;h State as it hath endured. And do thou cover my Head while my Foes make them ready to Battel.</P>
<P>Then &s;hall I be guarded from the &s;trife of Tongues, from the contra|diction of Sinners, from the reproach that I fear, and from <HI>Satan</HI> that is come forth again&s;t me with great wrath, becau&s;e I have called on thy Name, while thou art not angry that I cry unto thee,</P>
<P>Our Father, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="7" REF="12">
<HEAD>THE SECOND P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXI. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is an Act of Acquie&s;cence and Tru&s;t in God's Power and Pre&s;ence, made by <HI>David</HI> (as it is thought) when hunted like a Partridg on the Mountains; and pur&s;ued by <HI>Saul,</HI> when he made the <HI>54^t^h, 55^t^h,</HI> and <HI>57^t^h</HI> P&s;alm: And this, being much u&s;ed by the <HI>Jews</HI> in <HI>Babylon,</HI> (as mo&s;t &s;uitable for times of Per&s;ecution or Sick|ne&s;s) was at their going up from thence appointed to be one of their P&s;alms of A&s;cents, and therefore to be &s;ung frequently, loudly, and by Re&s;pon&s;es; which occa&s;ioned this Compo&s;ing it like an Anthem, <GAP DESC="foreign">: The Stanza's being &s;o pointed and divided as to an&s;wer alternately by Di&s;ticks (if it may better &s;uit the Mu&s;ick.)</P>
<P>The Title of it hath a difference from the re&s;t, (as the <HI>Rabbins</HI> ob&s;erve) being <GAP DESC="foreign"> and not as in others <GAP DESC="foreign">:</P>
<P>It may be &s;tiled <HI>David</HI>'s <HI>March,</HI> made by him (or &s;ome other con&s;iderable Per&s;on) while be kept the Field, either for the &s;afety of his Flocks (as <HI>Jacob</HI> did), or of his Friends (as <HI>Abram</HI>): Thus did the Royal Shepherd, and &s;weet Singer of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> exerci&s;e, and employ his Mind in the grateful Memory of the Divine Goodne&s;s. Well might he then here pray and hope like a Souldier, that God would be his Shade (as well as his Shield) as near to him as his &s;hadow; that the Sun might not hurt him by Day, nor the Moon by Night, (as <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> and <HI>Achitophel,</HI> the one by Day, and the other by Night, intended to have done.)</P>
<P>And if we look on <HI>David,</HI> as he went up the A&s;cent of Mount <HI>Olivet:</HI> This P&s;alm was very proper for his Condition then, as it is for any Per&s;on's now, in the interval of War; the Phra&s;es being throughout the whole P&s;alm Military; and allu&s;ive to Souldiers be&s;ieged, as in the fir&s;t Ver&s;e; relieved, as in the &s;econd; all-arm'd, as in the third; &s;ecured, watched, and guarded, as in the fourth; &s;hielded and &s;urrounded, as in the fifth and &s;ixth; in the &s;eventh and eighth hemm'd in, and convoy'd out for Victory and Triumph.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="13">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _WHere &s;hall I &s;eek for aid?<NOTE PLACE="marg">For the Se|cond of <HI>Sep|tember</HI> and <HI>October.</HI></NOTE> where &s;hall I &s;et mine Eyes? mine Eyes and Pray'rs, like Birds afraid, up to the Hills would ri&s;e. But whither would they ri&s;e? un&spcDash;to &s;ome dangerous height? O no, this Quarry thither flies, whence &s;prings our help, and light.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="13">
<LG>
<L>Nor hath our Health and Light</L>
<L>From things below their Birth:</L>
<L>But from the highe&s;t Rock of Might,</L>
<L>Who made both Heav'n and Earth.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Therefore, though fal&s;e foul Earth</L>
<L>Thy Soul with Foes &s;urround:</L>
<L>Shall it be mov'd from holy Mirth?</L>
<L>Shall Cares run it on Ground?</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Chri&s;t is the Ark to ground<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 8.11.</NOTE></L>
<L>Thy Heart on, when di&s;tre&s;t:</L>
<L>From head to foot he'll make thee &s;ound;</L>
<L>On him did <HI>Jacob</HI> re&s;t.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 28.11.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But he doth never re&s;t<NOTE PLACE="marg">Non dormita|bit, multo min&ugrave;s dormiet, <GAP DESC="foreign">: quamvis <GAP DESC="foreign">, &amp; ex impatienti&acirc; Iu|gentis Deus ob|dormire dicitur. <HI>P&s;al. 44.24.</HI></NOTE></L>
<L>From doing good, nor &s;leeps:</L>
<L>That with &s;uch Guards thou may'&s;t be ble&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 32.2.</NOTE></L>
<L>As he his <HI>I&s;rael</HI> keeps.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Good Shepherd he doth keep<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 22.1, 4.</NOTE></L>
<L>His Flock, ev'n in Death's &s;hade:</L>
<L>See then (if thou art of his Sheep)</L>
<L>How on thy &s;ide he's laid.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Though Dangers have way-laid</L>
<L>Thy going out, or in:</L>
<L>See how thy Husband's Arm's di&s;play'd,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>I&s;a.</HI> 54.5.</NOTE></L>
<L>To &s;ave thy very Skin.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Like the three Children's Skin,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 3.27.</NOTE></L>
<L>Thine &s;hall be &s;corch'd by none:</L>
<L>Whatever Heat thou may'&s;t be in,</L>
<L>Whatever Star hath &s;hown.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Nor &s;hall the Moon, nor Sun</L>
<L>Hurt thee, by Night or Day:</L>
<L>No Mi&s;chief &s;een, nor clo&s;ely done,</L>
<L>Shall touch thee any way.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>God &s;hall pre&s;erve thy Ways</L>
<L>And Mind, from all that's ill</L>
<L>In Youth: And when thy Life decays,</L>
<L>Ble&s;&s;ed thou &s;halt be &s;till.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Then tru&s;t and ble&s;s him &s;till,</L>
<L>Who endle&s;s Safety &s;ends:</L>
<L>God through this Vale of Sorrows, will</L>
<L>Guide us to joyful ends.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="10" REF="14" MS="y">
<LG>
<L>The Entrance, Progre&s;s, Ends,</L>
<L>Public and private Pow'rs;</L>
<L>Labours, and Studies of his Friends,</L>
<L>God ble&s;&s;es at all hours.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Then tru&s;t and ble&s;s him &s;till,</L>
<L>Who &s;till did us defend:</L>
<L>God doth, and ever will,</L>
<L>Give Ble&s;&s;ings without end:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Anti&s;trophe.</NOTE> Give Ble&s;&s;ings without end,</L>
<L>God doth and ever will;</L>
<L>He &s;till did us defend,</L>
<L>Then tru&s;t and ble&s;s him &s;till.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>The Entrance, Progre&s;s, Ends,</L>
<L>Public and private Pow'rs:</L>
<L>And Works of all his Friends,</L>
<L>God ble&s;&s;es: Lord ble&s;s Ours.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<L><HI>To God, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> Father, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And to the Holy-Gho&s;t,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Be Glory: And let ev'ry one</HI></L>
<L><HI>Strive who &s;hall prai&s;e God mo&s;t.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="11" REF="14">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Second <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXI. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>I Will lift up my Heart to thee, O Lord! And though it be ca&s;t down with the dangers and diffidence I am in, while mine Af|flictions and mine Enemies have ca&s;t a Mount about me, to hinder me from the &s;ight and hope of Succour, yet have I God's Hill to fly unto; and from thy Hou&s;e I can &s;urvey the end of the Wicked, the Redemption of thy Captives, and the height of thy Power, that is higher than the highe&s;t. But O the depth of thy Love! What a plea&s;ant Vale is this under it? How doth this &s;mile and &s;ing, and &s;tand full of Corn, that &s;trengthens Man's Heart? So that <HI>although I remain in the Valley of the &s;hadow of Death,</HI> if I can but look up to the Rock that is higher than I, to Chri&s;t (the <HI>Shecinah</HI>) the true <HI>Mercy Seat,</HI> that is placed above the <HI>Cherubims,</HI> all Types and Symbols of his Pre|&s;ence, I &s;hall neither lo&s;e my Faith, nor my Life; I &s;hall not be di&s;com|fitted, nor en&s;laved like a &s;urprized <HI>Zedekiah,</HI> I &s;hall not be fami&s;hed, nor broken up like a long be&s;ieged <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Though mine Enemies hem me in on every &s;ide, and carnal Fear cau&s;e me to cry out (as the Prophet's Servant) <HI>What &s;hall we do?</HI> Yet if I can but lift up mine Eyes to thee, which indeed are naturally as heavy as <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> his Hand, I &s;hall perceive &s;omewhat el&s;e be&s;ides Perils and Foes on every &s;ide, I &s;hall find the Mountains full of Chariots of Fire, and more for me than can be again&s;t me. For an Ho&s;t of Angels &s;hall pitch their Tents about me to &s;ecure me, and tho&s;e mighty Mini&s;ters of thy good plea&s;ure &s;hall keep me like <HI>Daniel</HI> from the power of the Lyon. So that my mo&s;t Savage Enemies &s;hall lack and &s;uffer hunger, while I want nothing that is good. For though my way be hedged up that I cannot pa&s;s which way I would, nor follow the Lu&s;ts of my Heart, and the de&s;ires of mine Eyes, as many do, yet I may look up with joy and confidence (as I tru&s;t I &s;hall) at the la&s;t day, becau&s;e my Salvation is drawing nigh.</P>
<P>My Hope, my Help, cometh from the Lord, not from the Angels in his Pre&s;ence, but from the Angel of his Pre&s;ence, and of his Covenant, the Ble&s;&s;ed <HI>JESUS,</HI> who having taken our Nature that he might be &s;en&s;ible of our Infirmities, ever abides with Humanity, at thy right Hand making Interce&s;&s;ion for us. And as he made the Heavens and the Earth for us, &s;o he makes a new Heaven and a new Earth of us, by ju&s;tifying and &s;anctifying both our Souls and Bodies, through the mighty Work of his Spirit, in his Word and Sacraments: For the&s;e are the Mountains of the Lord, wherein he is apparently &s;een, Glorious in Holine&s;s, Fearful in Prai&s;es, doing Wonders, and abounding in Good|ne&s;s and Truth. If we Wor&s;hip him (as our Fathers did) in the&s;e
<PB N="12" REF="15">Mountains, in the heights of Sincerity and Devotion, we may expect to hear God promi&s;ing us graciou&s;ly, as he did <HI>Abraham,</HI> that he will be a God to us, and to our Seed after us: And we may hope to &s;ee him, as <HI>Manoah</HI> and his Wife did, in the Zealous performances of his holy Wor|&s;hip, in the Flame ari&s;ing from the Altar of our Hearts; from whence God would not accept a Service, if he de&s;ired the Death of Sinners.</P>
<P>Therefore we may be a&s;&s;ured, that if we keep in his ways he will keep us in ours, as he did his <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> both by the Pillar of Fire, and by the Pillar of a Cloud; by the flame of Affliction, as well as by the light of Pro&s;perity. And while we lay hold on the&s;e, (as <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> did on the two Columns) let us invoke thy help, O Lord; &s;aying,</P>
<P>O Lord! Though thou maye&s;t call to Baldne&s;s, to Weeping, to Weakne&s;s, or to Want; though thou maye&s;t touch the Sinew, and make it &s;hrink; or &s;trive with me as thou did&s;t with <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and begin to afflict me, or &s;eem to depart from me, &s;o that my Fle&s;h and my Heart may fail, yet O &s;uffer not my Soul to &s;lip, let not my Foot my Foundation be removed, but let it re&s;t with thy <HI>Dove</HI> upon the <HI>Ark of thy Covenant,</HI> and be fixed on the Rock <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us,</HI> that thou maye&s;t order all my goings.</P>
<P>O! do thou go out and in before me, that my going out and coming in may be ever ble&s;&s;ed. If thou go not out with us, carry us not abroad, nor let us &s;tay at home without thee. Let not the Vanities of the Day, nor the Vi&s;ions of the Night, di&s;turb our Sen&s;es, or abu&s;e our Souls. O Lord, prevent the Mid-day Devils, and the Arrows that fly by Noon, from bla&s;ting or hurting of us; nor let Nocturnal Evils, or any mi&s;chief in the dark, have Power to &s;mite us: But be thou a Succour, a Second, a God, not a far off, to pre&s;erve and pro&s;per us in all our Actions, publick and private, in our Labours, in our Studies, in our Re&s;t, in our Retirements, in our weak Beginnings, in our happier Progre&s;&s;es, and in our be&s;t Conclu&s;ions. O Lord, be with us in our entrance on the Stage of this World, in our Parts here, in our Exit hence, even now and for evermore. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="13" REF="15">
<HEAD>THE THIRD P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXII. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>De&s;eribeth <HI>David</HI>'s Joy, which is expre&s;&s;ed in the <HI>30^t^h</HI> P&s;alm, at the bringing of the Ark, and Offering for the Temple, and Dedication of his Hou&s;e to God's Service: And it is a Preparative Hymn for the Devout, in their going up to the Places of Religion and Solemn Wor&s;hip; con|taining their Thanks, Prai&s;e, and Plea&s;ure, in the return of the Comfort and Company, which they enjoyed in the public Adoration of God; and their Prayers for the longer continuance of &s;uch &s;ignal Ble&s;&s;ings: Made by <HI>David</HI> (as it is thought) upon his return to <HI>Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> after his flight from <HI>Ab&s;alom;</HI> and &s;olemnly &s;ung by the <HI>Levites</HI> at their coming out of Captivity. <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> in general (as the Temple more e&s;pecially) being the Type of God's Church, both Militant and Triumphant, that is built with the precious Stones of the Apo&s;tles and Prophets, <HI>CHRIST</HI> him&s;elf being the Rock, <HI>Caput Anguli, &amp; Caput Angelorum;</HI> to whom when many come, there is much Joy.</P>
<P>The Poem is Dramatick, (like the <HI>118^t^h</HI> P&s;alm) in which the King, Prie&s;t, and People, &s;eem to bear their Parts of Rejoycing at the public Fe&s;ti|vals (which were thrice every Year to be &s;olemnized at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI>) accor|ding to the Command of God; which occa&s;ioned the great Beautifying, Enlarging, and Fortifying of that City, intimated in the <HI>2^d, 3^d, 6^t^h,</HI> and <HI>7^t^h</HI> Ver&s;es; as well as the other rea&s;on of its Happine&s;s and Amplitude, (from the Temple of God, and Throne of <HI>David</HI>) mentioned in the <HI>1^s^t, 5^t^h, 8^t^h,</HI> and <HI>9^t^h</HI> Ver&s;es: To which may be added this rea&s;on, becau&s;e there was the great Senate of the LXXII. or <HI>Sanhedrim.</HI></P>
<P>The King beginneth the P&s;alm in the <HI>1^s^t</HI> Ver&s;e, the Prie&s;ts follow in the <HI>2^d,</HI> the People in the <HI>3^d,</HI> and they go on in the <HI>4^t^h.</HI> Then the King takes it again in the <HI>5^t^h,</HI> the Prie&s;ts in the <HI>6^t^h,</HI> and the People go on in the <HI>7^t^h</HI> (as in a Proce&s;&s;ion, and good order): The Prie&s;ts take it again in the <HI>8^t^h,</HI> and the the King concludes in the be&s;t, (though la&s;t place) with a fixt and pious Re&s;olution.</P>
<P>This may properly be &s;et for the <HI>29^t^h</HI> of <HI>May.</HI></P>
<PB N="14" REF="16">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _BLe&s;&spcDash;&s;ed be God for the good News, and Freedom, which he doth afford: From th'Hou&s;e of Bondage, like glad <HI>Jews,</HI> we come un&spcDash;to thy Hou&s;e, O Lord.</P>
<LG>
<L>Our Woes and Wand'rings now &s;hall cea&s;e,</L>
<L>While rooted fa&s;t, like Trees, we &s;tand</L>
<L>Within thy Courts; who do&s;t with Peace</L>
<L>Plant us again in our Land.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Our Joys &s;hoot up with fre&s;h encrea&s;e,</L>
<L>While rooted fa&s;t, like Trees, we &s;tand</L>
<L>Within thy Courts; who do&s;t with Peace</L>
<L>Plant us again in our own Land.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>See,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hiero&s;olyma optim&egrave; in&s;tituta concors, &amp; ideo duratura.</NOTE> &s;ee, how comely! how compact!</L>
<L>Peace makes this Gyant-City &s;eem:</L>
<L>Our Union makes her Form exact,</L>
<L>Like th' Heav'nly New <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Whither, to an Eternal Fea&s;t</L>
<L>All the Lord's Tribes at la&s;t &s;hall go;</L>
<L>And on his Hill above find re&s;t,</L>
<L>As we do in his Hou&s;e below.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Here now, (as at a Pa&s;&s;over)</L>
<L>Our Tribes (like Streams) i' th' Ocean meet;</L>
<L>To &s;erve thee, as thy Laws averr:</L>
<L>And Prai&s;e thy Name, that is &s;o great.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="15" REF="16">
<LG>
<L>Here now, (as at a Pa&s;&s;over)</L>
<L>Our Tribes (like Streams) i' th' Ocean meet;</L>
<L>To &s;erve thee, as thy Statutes are:</L>
<L>And Prai&s;e thy Name, that is &s;o great.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Here is God's Temple, <HI>David</HI>'s Throne,</L>
<L>The Bench of Ju&s;tice, Mercy's Seat:</L>
<L>Here Princes, Prophets, Prie&s;ts make known</L>
<L>How good our Church! our State how great!</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Here's the Ble&s;t Type of Heav'n above,</L>
<L>Pray then for <HI>Salem;</HI> here for Peace:</L>
<L>Since they who love this Place, do prove</L>
<L>Happy, and ble&s;t with much Encrea&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Lord, ble&s;s us, and this Place, with Peace,</L>
<L>With Plenty, and with Piety:</L>
<L>For thy Name's &s;ake, let our's encrea&s;e,</L>
<L>Our King's, and Friends Pro&s;perity.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>All Tyes, both Humane, and Divine;</L>
<L>Our Love for Men, our Zeal for God,</L>
<L>What we can do, or wi&s;h, combine<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fiat Pax in An|temurali tuo, &amp; Abundantia, <GAP DESC="foreign">. in Palatiis, Turrium ad in|&s;tar &s;tructis.</NOTE></L>
<L>To &s;eek the Bli&s;s of this aboad.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>In the Lord's Prai&s;e let none be Dumb,</HI></L>
<L><HI>But Father, Son, and Gho&s;t adore;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who was, and is, and is to come,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Thrice Ble&s;&s;ed God for evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Third <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXII. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Glorious God! to whom Prai&s;e and Wor&s;hip is due, to whom Vengeance and Holine&s;s belongs; accept the Joys, and Adorations of our Souls and Bodies, for that we have not only Freedom in our own Per&s;ons, but al&s;o Encourage|ment from our Relations to come along with them, and many more of thy People, to the mo&s;t proper place, and by the appointed way, of public Wor&s;hipping and Prai&s;ing of thee.</P>
<PB N="16" REF="17">
<P>Oh! how glad (as if we had found great Spoils) may we be to find, not only that we can, but al&s;o that others will plant them&s;elves within thy Courts, and not &s;tand in the way of Sinners, that we may pro&s;per together like Trees by the Water &s;ide, and bring forth Fruit, and that in due &s;ea&s;on?</P>
<P>Dear, and gracious Lord! when we go hence, and &s;hall be called away by Death, how happy &s;hould we be, could we come to thee as ea&s;ily as we now can come to the Church, and bring this <HI>Olive-branch</HI> in our Mouths into thy Ark!</P>
<P>Let us go up into the Hou&s;e of the Lord, let us a&s;cend unto his holy Hill; let us be tran&s;planted from the Gates of Death, to be rooted in the Porches of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem;</HI> for one day in thy Courts is better than a thou&s;and in any other. <HI>I had rather be a Door-keeper in thy Tabernacle, than to dwell in the Tents of Wickedne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P>Help us then to joyn with the ble&s;&s;ed Choir, both of the Church Militant and Triumphant, in a Le&s;&s;on of the be&s;t Service, even Love and Charity, which is the compleate&s;t Religion, the fulfiller of the Law, the filler full of Heaven.</P>
<P>For &s;ee the <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> that comes down thence, as well as that which is above, agrees in all its Parts and Graces, and by its lovely Symmetry makes up the &s;weete&s;t Harmony of Heaven and Earth, declaring Charity the bond of Peace, as Peace the breeder of Felicity.</P>
<P>Therefore while we &s;ee the pre&s;ent Concord and Conformity thou ha&s;t afforded our Nation, we look with joy upon an Emblem of that glorious Day, when thou &s;halt gather thy Children from the four Winds, and bring them together in the Clouds, to meet the Lord in the Air, and to live with him for ever.</P>
<P>Lord! 'till that time come, pre&s;erve thy Church among us from Rent and Spot, from Breach and Blemi&s;h, and meet with us graciou&s;ly (as thou did&s;t with <HI>Elijah</HI>) in the &s;oft mild Voice of thy Go&s;pel, in the favoury Breath of thy Spirit, in the &s;weet Airs of our pious and public Services; wherein make us to con&s;ent to Pray for the Peace of our Souls, and of thy People; as al&s;o for the Plenty of our Land, for the Piety of our Governours, for the Pro&s;perity of their Government and Per&s;ons; for the Purity of Religion, for the Perpe|tuity of thy Church among us; as al&s;o for Unanimity, and Uniformity in the way of thy Wor&s;hip, that we may endeavour, as well as de&s;ire, the mo&s;t durable Good here, and an eternal Good hereafter, to our &s;elves, and ours, and all thine.</P>
<P><HI>Which we be&s;eech thee grant for</HI> Je&s;us Chri&s;t<HI>'s &s;ake, who is of the Stock and Lineage of</HI> David, <HI>to whom belongs the Seat of Judgment for ever and ever.</HI> Amen.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="17" REF="17">
<HEAD>THE FOURTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIII. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is agreeable to the condition of <HI>David</HI> in the third P&s;alm; as al&s;o to the &s;ad State of the <HI>I&s;raelites:</HI> Compo&s;ed (perhaps) by <HI>Ezra</HI> at <HI>Babylon,</HI> and from that time frequent in u&s;e; being Calculated for the Times of Trouble and Tyranny. Wherein the Church (as under <HI>Antiochus,</HI> or &s;ome &s;uch in&s;ulting Oppre&s;&s;or) prayeth, complaineth, and tru&s;ts to God.</P>
<P>The Prie&s;t beginning (as it were with an <HI>Oremus</HI>) to the People in the fir&s;t Ver&s;e; and then the whole Congregation joyning and going on with him to the end of the P&s;alm.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _TO thee, who do&s;t a&spcDash;bide, a&spcDash;bove the Starry Spheres, yet ha&s;t our Griefs with Pi&spcDash;ty ey'd; to thee we &s;end our Tears.</P>
<PB N="18" REF="18">
<LG>
<L>To Heav'n this Spring of Tears</L>
<L>From hence doth bubling ri&s;e;</L>
<L>Which from low Grounds our Pa&s;&s;ion rears<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 121.1</NOTE></L>
<L>To thee, that ha&s;t our Eyes.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Nor do we need an Eye,<NOTE PLACE="marg">By <HI>Hand</HI> in the Text is un|der&s;tood <HI>help, &s;trength,</HI> or <HI>pro|tection;</HI> by tho&s;e who take the words of this Ver&s;e to imply the Ser|vant's repair|ing to his Lord for <HI>&s;uc|cour</HI> and <HI>de|fence</HI> from Fo|reign <HI>injuries.</HI> It al&s;o &s;ignifies <HI>bounty, directi|on,</HI> and <HI>corre|ction,</HI> to tho&s;e who take the meaning as I apprehend it.</NOTE></L>
<L>But to ob&s;erve thy Hands:</L>
<L>Which way for Ble&s;&s;ing us they lye;</L>
<L>By Cha&s;t'nings, or Commands.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Since oft, like <HI>I&s;rael</HI>'s Hands,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 48.14, 19.</NOTE></L>
<L>Thine, as a-cro&s;s, are &s;pread;</L>
<L>For God (not Man) be&s;t under&s;tands</L>
<L>How to Crown <HI>Ephraim</HI>'s Head.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Therefore we rai&s;e our Heads,</L>
<L>Not to repine, but pray;</L>
<L>To mark how our chief <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> leads,</L>
<L>And how we him obey.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>As Soldiers &s;till obey</L>
<L>Their Leader's Staff, and Rod,</L>
<L>And at their Becks do go or &s;tay;</L>
<L>So wait we on our God.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Thy Smile or Frowns, O God,</L>
<L>Like humble&s;t Handmaids, we</L>
<L>Do bear; and from our Lord's aboad</L>
<L>Do not (like <HI>Hagar</HI>) flee.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 21.14.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>No <HI>Jonas</HI> here will fly<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jon.</HI> 1.3.</NOTE></L>
<L>From thee;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jon.</HI> 4.8.</NOTE> (though Cha&s;ten'd) thus</L>
<L>We,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>King.</HI> 5.2.</NOTE> as meek Servants, carefully</L>
<L>Stay, 'till thou pity us.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Thy Mercy we implore,</L>
<L>Thy &s;peedy Mercy,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Multum &s;atu|rata e&s;t Anima &s;ub&s;annatione:</HI> As if play'd upon, and &s;cof|fed at, by the Soldiery, while led in Triumph; ac|cording to the expre&s;&s;ion in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 137.3.</NOTE> Lord:</L>
<L>For now our Lives are &s;corn'd; nay more,</L>
<L>Our very Souls abhorr'd.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>By tho&s;e we are abhorr'd,</L>
<L>(As we do loath their Pride)</L>
<L>Who can with In&s;olence afford</L>
<L>To wrong us, and deride.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But God &s;hall them deride,</L>
<L>Who&s;e Scorns o're-charge our Hearts;</L>
<L>When the&s;e are full, and can abide</L>
<L>No more, God takes our parts.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="19" REF="18">
<LG>
<L>And &s;ince God takes our parts,</L>
<L>To him our Tears &s;hall glide:</L>
<L>To him we'll lift our Looks and Hearts,</L>
<L>Who doth in Heav'n abide.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Now &s;ince God takes our part,</L>
<L>To him our Tears &s;hall glide:</L>
<L>To him we'll lift our Looks and Hearts,</L>
<L>Who doth in Heav'n abide.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>All Glory, Prai&s;e, and Bli&s;s,</HI></L>
<L><HI>To th' Three, in Unity;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who (as at fir&s;t) was God, now is,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And evermore &s;hall be.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXIII. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Thou great Lord and King, that dwelle&s;t in the Heavens! <HI>David</HI> hath taught me to lift up mine Eyes to thee, and the Son of <HI>David</HI> hath better in&s;tructed me to call thee by thy Spirit, <HI>Abba, Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>That gracious Name of <HI>Our Father,</HI> invites us, Lord, to call upon thee <HI>in the needful time of Trouble.</HI> For though thou dwelle&s;t in the highe&s;t Heavens, thou art not contained by them; but from that thy Throne, vouch&s;afe&s;t to look down upon what is done and &s;uffered upon Earth. So that in the deepe&s;t evils of our Sufferance, as in all the good of our Enjoyment here, we may &s;till look up, and &s;ee thy doing, and be &s;atisfied in the Wonder that thou do&s;t &s;o much for our advantage.</P>
<P>Ah! how marvellous is it in our Eyes, that when Hope and Help both fail on Earth, we can &s;eek much higher for them, and even then too, when we are ju&s;tly corrected; becau&s;e thou art a merciful King, and behold we are thy Servants for all that thou ha&s;t afforded us.</P>
<P>We &s;ubmit to thee with humble Fear, and wait on thee with Thank&s;|giving, and Prai&s;e thee for &s;miting and &s;ubduing us thy People under
<PB N="20" REF="19">thee. For thou do&s;t as the King of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> did to <HI>Benhadad;</HI> thou beate&s;t, that thou maye&s;t bring us to thy &s;elf; thou conquere&s;t, that thou maye&s;t be kind; taking away a little, that thou mighte&s;t give a better Kingdom. Wherefore we beg, and tru&s;t, that when thou ha&s;t convinced us how worthy we all are of Hate, Death, and Di&s;grace, that then thou wilt re&s;tore us to Life, Favour, and Pro&s;perity.</P>
<P>Well may we be watchful Suppliants and Expectants for &s;ome Token of thy Pity, when thy left Hand, &s;ome &s;ini&s;ter Providence is laid upon us, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t &s;till thy right Hand, the Man of thy right Hand to embrace thy Spou&s;e, when thy afflicting Hand is never &s;o heavy upon her, either by the Tyranny of Oppre&s;&s;ors, or by the Rod of Tribulation.</P>
<P>Let us rightly hearken to this Rod, and &s;ee the Hand which hath appointed it, and not look awry by Pride, Uncharitablene&s;s, Impeni|tence, or Impatience, on what thou do&s;t; becau&s;e as thy provoked Ju&s;tice is the Author, &s;o our Provocations are the ju&s;t Original of our Sorrows, and the Springs of our Sufferings. And it is well for us in our Calamities when we are not thrown out, but fall into the Hands of God, who is no le&s;s pitiful, than powerful, to deliver us with <HI>David</HI> out of the Hands of all our Enemies, and out of the Hands of <HI>Saul</HI> too: From all our wicked Foes, (I mean) and from our mo&s;t wicked &s;elves al&s;o; from our own Unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, as well as others, which fills our Souls with Shame, our State with Contempt, and our Lives with Sorrow.</P>
<P>For is not proud <HI>Lucifer,</HI> as it were, at ea&s;e, when we tumble our &s;elves down by diffidence in God, or &s;elf-deceit? And vile Oppre&s;&s;ors, like the Devils them&s;elves, are in their proper and plea&s;ant work, when they are <HI>Lording it over thine Heritage.</HI></P>
<P>Wherefore pre&s;erve us, we be&s;eech thee, from our own Ba&s;ene&s;s and Fal&s;hood, as well as from the Tyranny and Treachery of thine other Enemies. And plead thou our Cau&s;e for us with others, and with our &s;elves, for thy Son's, and for our Soul's &s;ake.</P>
<P>And when we are driven by the In&s;olence of others, or by the Demerits of our own Actings, to implore thy Mercy, and thy Pity, with all the pro&s;titute Submi&s;&s;ion, humble Confidence, and ab&s;olute Re&s;ignation of Obedient Servants. O! let us not be &s;lothful in our Duties, or doubtful of thy Providence, but diligent in all the Labour that thou calle&s;t us to, thanking our &s;elves for de&s;erving Correction, as thee our Lord for correcting us &s;o Father-like, and tru&s;ting by thy Cha|&s;ti&s;ements to prove in us more of thy Love, and of our Adoption.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="21" REF="19" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE FIFTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIV. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is entituled <HI>David</HI>'s, according to the Tenor of that in <HI>Samuel,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cap. 2. v. 22.</NOTE> being a Commemoration of his wonderful deliverance from great and many Dangers; together with a thankful acknowledgment to God, the &s;ole Author of Safety and Succe&s;s, properly u&s;ed at any time of eminent Pre&s;ervation; (as on the Fifth of <HI>November,</HI> or Third of <HI>June.</HI>)</P>
<P>It may be called, <HI>David</HI>'s Triumphs for more than one Victory, by God's &s;pecial a&s;&s;i&s;tance, as may be gathered from the repetition of the fir&s;t words, <HI>(ni&s;i quod Dominus)</HI> which imply the iteration of God's Goodne&s;s, and Man's gratitude; for when he is plea&s;ed to manife&s;t the largene&s;s of Loving|kindne&s;s to us, then e&s;pecially ought we to make our return of Gratitude with a <HI>Non nobis.</HI></P>
<P>This Divine <HI>Io Paean</HI> was compo&s;ed (probably) after the Conque&s;t of the <HI>Ammonites,</HI> who had be&s;et <HI>David</HI> on every &s;ide, according to that expre&s;&s;ion of their force and inhumane Rage, <HI>Tunc homines (Adham per contemptum) vivos deglutii&s;&s;ent nos;</HI> or (as the word <HI>Adham</HI> &s;eems to hint to me) upon his &s;ubduing of the <HI>Edomites,</HI> when he made the <HI>60^t^h</HI> P&s;alm; or (as others think) after mo&s;t of his Victories over the <HI>Phili&s;tines,</HI> &amp;c. in <HI>Chron.</HI> when the Snare was broke by the Death of his Enemies, as (in the Prophecy) the <HI>Jews</HI> Bondage was, by the <HI>Per|&s;ians</HI> breaking the <HI>Chaldean</HI> Monarchy.</P>
<P>And &s;o the late and former, the many and wonderful Deliverances of our Nation, are to own the immediate effect of God's gracious interpo&s;i|tion; and as a &s;ignall Evidence of His all-&s;waying Power, (as the fir&s;t Creation of the World was) that we might not Sacrifice to our Nets and Bulwarks, nor value our &s;elves upon the &s;tore of deeper Waters (like once Proud, but now De&s;olate, <HI>Tyre;</HI>) but that our Tru&s;t, Succour, and Defence, may be founded on him, the Supreme of all Beings, on whom depends the whole Creation.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="musical Psalm">
<PB N="22" REF="20">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _HAd not the Lord been on our &s;ide, now may the wra&s;tling <HI>I&s;&spcDash;rael</HI> &s;ay, when <HI>E&spcDash;&s;au</HI> did his Troops pro|vide; our Flocks had been the Ly&spcDash;ons prey.</P>
<LG>
<L>Had not the Lord been on our &s;ide,</L>
<L>When Men again&s;t us ro&s;e (like Waves);</L>
<L>The Surges of their Rage, and Pride,</L>
<L>Had &s;natcht us quick into our Graves.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Like Whales upon <HI>Amittay</HI>'s Son,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jonas.</NOTE></L>
<L>Death's Jaws on us they open'd wide:</L>
<L><HI>Dathan</HI>'s &s;trange End,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 16.29.</NOTE> how could we &s;hun?</L>
<L>Had not the Lord been on our &s;ide.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>When Seas of Rage &s;well'd to that height,</L>
<L>As on our Souls to whelm their Tyde;</L>
<L>Tho&s;e Torrents had de&s;troy'd us quite,</L>
<L>Had not the Lord been on our &s;ide!</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Then had the Streams our &s;trength o're-pow'r'd,</L>
<L>But we through Floods, through Foes did wade:</L>
<L>And were not, as a Prey, devour'd;</L>
<L>Nor of their cur&s;ed Teeth afraid.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="23" REF="20">
<LG>
<L>Ble&s;&s;ed be God! our Life's got free</L>
<L>From all the Toyls, their Mi&s;chief &s;et:</L>
<L>As Birds out of a Snare, &s;o we</L>
<L>'Scape &s;trangely through the Fowler's Net.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Hell Snares are broke, our Souls are freed,</L>
<L>For on God's help our Hearts are &s;tay'd:</L>
<L>God's Word &s;peaks Heav'n, and Earth his Deed;</L>
<L>His Hands pre&s;erve the Works they made.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>God keep us all, as all he made;</L>
<L>From him the Heavens and Earth proceed:</L>
<L>Upon his Truth our Tru&s;t is &s;tay'd;</L>
<L>Hell's Snares are broke, and we are freed.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>Glory be to the Father, Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And Holy-Gho&s;t, whom we adore</HI></L>
<L><HI>In Per&s;ons three, in E&s;&s;ence one,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who was, is, &s;hall be evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXIV. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Thou Lyon of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> thou Shepherd of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that leade&s;t thy People like a Flock, while we with thank|fulne&s;s look up to thy &s;trength for us, to thy &s;tay of us, and thy &s;taff over us, let us look down with Humility on our own unworthine&s;s. We de&s;erve not the lea&s;t part of that care and watchfulne&s;s of thine, which defends us daily from the ravenous <HI>Bear</HI> of this World's Temptations, from the <HI>Uncircumci&s;ed Phili&s;tine</HI> our own Fle&s;h, and from the roaring <HI>Lyon</HI> of the Aby&s;s, that goes about &s;eeking to devour, to &s;wallow us up quick, as it were, at a Mor&s;el: And yet, ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord, he hath not given us up for a Prey to the&s;e De&s;troyers; and if we give not up our &s;elves by our &s;inful fears, and ea&s;ie &s;ubmi&s;&s;ions, though <HI>Satan</HI>'s rage be like his Hell enflamed, he cannot have his will of us. That <HI>Lyon</HI> may come out again&s;t us with great wrath, and fright us by his vain Noi&s;es, but cannot fall
<PB N="24" REF="21" MS="y">upon us at once, as he de&s;ires. He hath no part, no power of us, 'till we give it to him.</P>
<P>If therefore, O Lord, we are on thy &s;ide, or thou on ours, we need not fear what Devils, or what Man can do unto us, even when they ri&s;e never &s;o proudly, never &s;o powerfully again&s;t us. Let us but &s;et the Lord our Righteou&s;ne&s;s at our right hands; let us but have righteous Hands, and innocent Hearts, and we &s;hall not be &s;o greatly moved or terri|fied, as to let the Enemy triumph over our Souls; though yet we mu&s;t confe&s;s with Grief, that many Waters have gone over them. The &s;welling Torrents of &s;inful Pa&s;&s;ions and Pro&s;perity, the mighty Floods of worldly Cares and Vanities, the &s;uper&s;luities of naughty &s;en&s;ual Plea&s;ures, have not only to&s;&s;ed and endangered, but even overwhel|med and &s;wallowed up our Lives. So that we have been &s;inking into de&s;truction, like tho&s;e that are howling in the Pit.</P>
<P>Alas! the bitter Streams of our vile imaginations and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions, have, like a deadly draught or Poy&s;on, been &s;uck'd in greedily, and &s;ent to our very Hearts; &s;o that we had been pa&s;t all means of e&s;cape, or hope of &s;uccour, if thou had&s;t not &s;tood by us, as thou did&s;t by thy Servant <HI>Paul,</HI> and not only &s;trengthened, but &s;aved us, as thou did&s;t the Prophet, by drawing us forth as thou did&s;t the Pro|phet of the dangerous Gulph of e&s;trangement and infidelity, into which our triple Enemies would have thrown us. Their Power would be great, like their Malice: Did&s;t not thou take our part, O holy Spirit! and plead our Cau&s;e. O &s;weete&s;t <HI>Je&s;us!</HI> Ble&s;&s;ed be thy omnipotent, and mo&s;t glorious Mercy, that hath made our Souls as a Bird that may fly up to Heaven and be &s;ecure. We prai&s;e, and thank thee, deare&s;t Father! for tho&s;e Wings of Faith, Prayer, Love, and Devotion, whereby we can e&s;cape the Snare of the cunning Fow|ler, and all his noy&s;om Plagues and Temptations. O! &s;till cover us, both with thy gracious Protection, and with the lovely Wings of the Holy of Holies, &s;o that we may break the Bands of <HI>Satan</HI> a&s;under, and ca&s;t away his Cords from us, and neither have the Eyes of our Faith held from &s;eeing thee, nor the Feet of our Affections from &s;eeking thee, but like thy beloved and mo&s;t loving Di&s;ciples, <HI>Peter</HI> and <HI>John,</HI> leave our Nets whereby we take others, and all tho&s;e Entanglements where|by we are &s;o caught our &s;elves, and throw off every Impediment for the better, following of our Ma&s;ter <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> under the Patronage of who&s;e Love and Power we would roo&s;t and ne&s;tle our Beings for ever: For it is he that hath made Heaven and Earth for us, for our Habitation, and will make a new Heaven and Earth about us for our Regeneration. And &s;ince this is a greater Ble&s;&s;ing than the fir&s;t Creation of Man, let our delivery from the Jaws of Hell bring him more Honour than all his other Dealings with us, even Glory for evermore. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="25" REF="21">
<HEAD>THE SIXTH P&s;almof Degrees, BEING The CXXV. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Like the <HI>11^t^h</HI> P&s;alm, &s;heweth <HI>David</HI>'s Tru&s;t and Recour&s;e to God, not like <HI>Saul</HI> to the Witch of <HI>Endor,</HI> or Wealth of <HI>Amalek,</HI> but where Believers are e&s;tabli&s;hed and &s;ecured in the Pre&s;ence of the Almighty, and perpetuity of the Church, whereby they find the goodne&s;s of their Portion, and the evil Lot of the Wicked, what&s;oever he be, whether Hypocritical, Profane, or Back&s;liding.</P>
<P>It is applied by the <HI>Rabbins</HI> to the Days of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah;</HI> and &s;o by us it may be appo&s;itely u&s;ed on Sacramental Days, or any &s;uch time of greater manife&s;tation and experience of God's Integrity, and the Faith of Man.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _WHO on the Lord do build their Tru&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">For S. <HI>John's</HI> day.</NOTE> like <HI>Si&spcDash;on</HI> they command; up in&spcDash;to Heav'n their Heads they thru&s;t, their Feet un&spcDash;mo&spcDash;ved &s;tand.</P>
<PB N="26" REF="22" MS="y">
<LG>
<L>Right &s;afe, high, &s;trong, they always &s;tand,</L>
<L>Like God's mo&s;t Holy ground;</L>
<L>The Rock of Ages on each hand</L>
<L>Doth &s;hade them, and &s;urround.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>As Hills <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;urround</L>
<L>To deck her, and defend;</L>
<L>So God encircles, and hath crown'd</L>
<L>His folk, World without end.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>As Hills, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>For lea&s;t in Sin their Suff'rings end,</L>
<L>Though an <HI>Egyptian</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">For the Rod or Scepter of Wickedne&s;s is the Tyranny of a <HI>Pharaonick</HI> Oppre&s;&s;ion over the lot of the Righteous, that is, the Church of God; which he may lay on, but will not leave, nor &s;uffer to lye &s;till, God having the Rod of their Portion in his hand, (alluding to the old way of Sor|tition by Staves, whereof &s;ee <HI>Numb.</HI> 17. and <HI>Jo&s;h.</HI> 18.) For the Rea&s;ons mentioned ob|&s;erve how aptly the Portions of the Wicked (let them be never &s;o fat or fair, like <HI>E&s;au</HI>'s here) are termed Rods to plague oft|times both them&s;elves and others, as <HI>Dives</HI>'s Portion did: But the Portion of the Godly is &s;tiled a Lot, and a plea&s;ant one, as <HI>David</HI>'s 16 <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 6. or a Cup of Ble&s;&s;ing indeed, like <HI>Jacob</HI>'s; and of abun|dance, like <HI>Benjamin</HI>'s, <HI>Gen.</HI> 33.11. <HI>Gen.</HI> 44.2.</NOTE> Rod</L>
<L>To th' <HI>Go&s;hen</HI> of the good extend;</L>
<L>'Tis thence remov'd by God.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Do good &s;till to the Good, O Lord,</L>
<L>To him who&s;e Heart and Line</L>
<L>Bend not to wrong; who&s;e Feet ne're trod</L>
<L>Ways which to Hell encline.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Since &s;uch, as crooked ways encline</L>
<L>To do, or cheri&s;h ill,</L>
<L>God &s;hall drive from him; but de&s;ign</L>
<L>Peace to his <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>For &s;uch, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>To Father, Son, and</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">The &s;uddain change in the expre&s;&s;ion of God, from the &s;econd Per&s;on to the third: As it is an elegancy in the Original, &s;o it may note, &s;uch &s;hall not know God (in the &s;econd Per&s;on of the Trinity) as a Saviour, but at a far greater di&s;tance as a Judge; <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.38, 39. who draw back, and turn a&s;ide (per|verting their way which is already crooked, <HI>Prov.</HI> 14.2.) to more depraved Obliquities, and de&s;perate Apo|&s;tacy, after a profe&s;&s;ion of the right way: But they &s;hall be tortured with Hypocrites and Unbelievers, while he &s;hall be kept (like <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> Gen. 32.) in perfect Peace, who&s;e Mind is &s;tayed on God, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 26.3. to the greater vexation of tho&s;e <HI>Edomites,</HI> who perhaps &s;ometime per&s;ecuted him.</NOTE> <HI>Gho&s;t, we bow,</HI></L>
<L><HI>One glorious God w' adore:</HI></L>
<L><HI>As in beginning was, is now,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And &s;hall be evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="27" REF="22">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Sixth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXV. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Thou immutable Lord God, mo&s;t faithful Creator, Redee|mer, and Comforter, I de&s;ire not only to believe of thee in the world, to credit what thou art in thy &s;elf; but to tru&s;t to what thou &s;aye&s;t in thy Go&s;pel, to rely on thee for what thou do&s;t at pre&s;ent, and acquie&s;ce in thee for what thou wilt do hereafter, and &s;tay my &s;elf on thee through thine everla&s;ting good plea&s;ure: For thou art the Lord that do&s;t not change, and therefore we are not con&s;umed, but are converted from Creatures to thy Children, confirmed from our weakne&s;&s;es by thy Spirit, and continued in thy &s;ervice with thy &s;elf.</P>
<P>Ah the &s;afety! the a&s;&s;urance, the &s;teadine&s;s, the &s;olace, the &s;ole and &s;upernatural &s;atisfaction that is in fulne&s;s of Faith upon thee the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> the Lamb of God, who make&s;t us thereby the Temples of the living God, the City of the Lamb, the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> that &s;hall a&s;cend up above, and be made illu&s;trious with all the Jewels of the concord, regularity, and brightne&s;s of Spiritual Graces, as with the eternal Riches of ineffable Love, and heavenly Glory: So that we &s;hall never be removed from our Abode in <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t</HI> (thou ha&s;t made our Rock &s;o &s;trong), and if we believe &s;urely we &s;hall be e&s;tabli&s;h'd for ever, for the foundation of God &s;tands &s;ure. As we &s;hall here be &s;ur|rounded with the munition of Rocks, (the Rock of Ages, and all his Angels) like <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> the holy City; &s;o al&s;o we &s;hall be wholly ble&s;t, and &s;aved to the very uttermo&s;t: For neither the bla&s;ts of Tem|ptation (the Spirit that rules in the Children of Di&s;obedience) &s;hall attack the corners of our Dwellings, as he did <HI>Job</HI>'s Sons; nor from the Wilderne&s;s a&s;&s;ault us (as he did our Saviour) to &s;poil our La|bours, or our hopes. Nor &s;hall the &s;torms of Tribulation be able to beat upon our Hou&s;e, &s;o as to make it &s;hake or totter: For though our building of Faith be rai&s;ed high, even unto the Heavens; yet it is no <HI>Babel,</HI> it is no <HI>Jericho,</HI> but a Fabrick that the Lord will ble&s;s and defend, and becau&s;e it &s;tands upright, it &s;hall &s;tand fa&s;t for ever. The &s;trength of our confidence in God &s;hall put to flight the Armies of tho&s;e Aliens that would enter and de&s;troy its &s;trong holds; for there are Mountains of Hor&s;es, and Chariots of Fire, round about the Faithful to &s;ecure them; &s;o that they cannot be immur'd or &s;hut up, when never &s;o clo&s;ely begirt by Adver&s;aries. They can &s;till look up, nay, go up to the Hill of <HI>Sion,</HI> from whence comes their help, even to <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> the Author and fini&s;her of their Faith, who not only pitched the forces of his Word and Miracles, but the red Standard of his Cro&s;s,
<PB N="28" REF="23">and the fir&s;t Camp of his Martyrs and Apo&s;tles upon the Hills of <HI>Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> to Convoy all Comers to the City of our God, and to draw all to him from the Center of the World.</P>
<P>Oh therefore! let neither the Rod, nor the Staff of the Wicked, be laid or le&s;t upon my &s;core or part, le&s;t I do or &s;uffer the evil of Sinners; but let thy Rod, and thy Shepherds Staff, both thy Cro&s;s and mine, dear <HI>Je&s;u,</HI> comfort and fill up my Cup, and make mine Heritage and Lot like thine: For then it &s;hall be good, and thou that art &s;o, ever wilt do good to me, making and keeping me upright in Heart, clean in my Hands, &s;ingle in mine Eye of Faith, and &s;ound in the Feet of mine Affections, &s;teady in the ways of thy Commandments.</P>
<P>Lord! if thy hand be not graciou&s;ly (when mo&s;t heavily) upon me, how &s;oon may I put forth my hand unto wickedne&s;s, like <HI>Cam, Pharaoh, Balaam, Achan,</HI> and <HI>Jeroboam,</HI> and like <HI>Judas, Ananias,</HI> and <HI>Simon Magus.</HI></P>
<P>This makes me yet pray more earne&s;tly, that Chri&s;t may &s;till pray for me, &s;ince he that Chri&s;t prays for &s;hall believe aright; and he that &s;o believes, &s;hall not find upon his lot the Scepter of Unrighteou&s;ne&s;s, the Rule of Satan, the Domination of Sin, the Rod of the Wicked, the Guilt or Puni&s;hment of Reprobates.</P>
<P>Oh then! that my lot and la&s;t end may be in the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of <HI>Je&s;us</HI> my Lord, that I may not fall pre&s;umptuou&s;ly, nor fear greatly, nor be driven forth with evil doers; but be led forth into the Paths of Peace into the &s;traight way that leads to life, there to ta&s;te of the Brook in the way (the quiet and &s;ufficiency thou afforde&s;t thy Flock here) and to drink of the Rivers of thy Plea&s;ures hereafter; to lye down like thy Sheep in the green Pa&s;tures of Hope, in the never fading, never failing enclo&s;ure of thine Arms, and to ri&s;e in Glory with thine Inheritance for evermore. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="29" REF="23">
<HEAD>THE SEVENTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXVI. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is thought to be compo&s;ed by <HI>E&s;dras,</HI> or &s;ome of that time, after the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Bondage, becau&s;e in the fir&s;t part of the P&s;alm it joyfully Celebrates the Return of &s;ome, as in the &s;econd part heartily wi&s;hes the Re&s;toration of all the re&s;t of the Captivity, from the Land of the North, (as the Realm of <HI>Babylon</HI> is called,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jer. 13.19, 20. Jer. 16.19.</NOTE> in regard of its &s;ite to <HI>Judea</HI>) making that apt and excellent re&s;em|blance of them to Strcams, running into the dry and de&s;olate parts of the South, which mu&s;t needs be very welcome there, and are &s;aid to flow thither as Torrents in great abundance, upon the melting of the Snows, and producing of Showers by the South Wind: So that whether you take &nun;&gimel;&bet; for the South Wind, or South part of the World, the compari&s;on may hold to either acceptation of the Word very full and elegant. The <HI>Jews</HI> flocking Southwards home, but (not all together) as the Spirit of God moved on the Waters in <HI>Babylon,</HI> in the Days of <HI>Cyrus, Darius,</HI> and <HI>Xerxes,</HI> &s;tirring up <HI>Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah,</HI> and others, to bring back the <HI>Hebrews,</HI> re&s;tore Religion, rebuild the Temple, and repair <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which had been demoli&s;hed and burnt by <HI>Nebuzaradan</HI> in the fifth Month,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Kin. 25.8.</NOTE> (<GAP DESC="foreign">) and in that &s;ame Month (about Harve&s;t time) was the Return of the <HI>Jews</HI> with <HI>Ezra, c. 7. v. 9.</HI> who had been led away Captive at their Sowing time: There|fore the Simile of the Husbandman here was rarely appo&s;ite, both to the occa&s;ion of their Joy, and &s;ea&s;on of the Year, and their manner of Exaltation.</P>
<P>This <HI>PSALM</HI> is very proper for our <HI>23^d</HI> of <HI>April,</HI> and <HI>29^t^h</HI> of <HI>May,</HI> or any &s;uch happy Time of recovery from Trouble, Danger, and Oppre&s;&s;ion.</P>
<PB N="30" REF="24">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _AFTER the long Night of a State, &s;o dark as ours, &s;o de&spcDash;&s;o&spcDash;late; who could &s;o much as Dream, that we &s;hould wake out of Cap&spcDash;ti&spcDash;vi&spcDash;ty? But when God took that Plague a&spcDash;way, that <HI>E&spcDash;gypt</HI> which on <HI>Si&spcDash;on</HI> lay; our Pangs, like Dreams, a&spcDash;way did fly, and we had &s;afe de&spcDash;li&spcDash;ve&spcDash;ry.</P>
<PB N="31" REF="24">
<LG>
<L>Pleas'd, and tran&s;ported with our Change,</L>
<L>By a Recovery &s;o &s;trange;</L>
<L>(As Cripples cur'd by Wonders) we<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Acts</HI> 3.9.</NOTE></L>
<L>Soon got both Strength and Liberty.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Soon we got well, well home; and found</L>
<L>Grief did no Soul, no Body wound:</L>
<L>But Hearts and Tongues in P&s;alms agree,</L>
<L>And they got Feet as well as we.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Then both our Chains and Silence broke;</L>
<L>Then <HI>Pagans</HI> too, the Truth thus &s;poke:</L>
<L>The Lord hath done great things for ye;</L>
<L>The Lord hath done &s;o, an&s;wer'd we.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Therefore God's Works with joy we tell,</L>
<L>Which may convince the Infidel;</L>
<L>And call up Pray'rs for &s;uch as be</L>
<L>Not yet return'd from Slavery.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>O! were our Friends (our Foes and all)</L>
<L>Redeem'd from their <HI>Egyptian</HI> Thrall;</L>
<L>From Satan, and from Sin &s;et free,</L>
<L>How welcome were their Liberty?</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Welcom as <HI>Nilus</HI> in the South,</L>
<L>And &s;weet as Show'rs in days of Drouth;</L>
<L>For all, with us, we long to &s;ee</L>
<L>Reap Mirth, who plough'd in Mi&s;ery.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Sure, Lord, thy Lab'rers, in the heat</L>
<L>Who take the pains, &s;hall ta&s;t the Wheat;<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 3.7, 8, 9.</NOTE></L>
<L>And may with &s;houts receive from thee</L>
<L>A Large&s;s of Pro&s;perity.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>We, who dropt little hopes in Tears,</L>
<L>When driven hence by Foes or Fears;</L>
<L>Now loaded back with Solace, &s;ee</L>
<L>Rich Incomes from Captivity.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Thus the poor Seeds-man &s;adly goes,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Eundo ibit, &amp; flendo port<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters">s pretlum &s;eml|nis: pretlo&s;um ob caricaiem.</HI></NOTE></L>
<L>While on the ground his Wealth he &s;trows;</L>
<L>But when the Harve&s;t Crowns him, he</L>
<L>Jogs home with Sheaves and jollity.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Veniendo ve|niet cum ex<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"> sat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="3 letters">.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>So they who &s;hed a few &s;mall Tears</L>
<L>I'th' Seed-time of their Hopes and Fears,</L>
<L>Shall glad Returns from Sadne&s;s &s;ee,</L>
<L>And &s;hock up more Felicity.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="32" REF="25">
<LG>
<L>Nay, he that goes from hence, and bears</L>
<L>To Earth his Du&s;t, to Heav'n his Tears;</L>
<L>Shall find tho&s;e precious Grains to be</L>
<L>Va&s;t Crops in ble&s;t Eternity.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>In the Lord's Prai&s;e let none be dumb,</HI></L>
<L><HI>But Father, Son, and Gho&s;t adore:</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who was, and is, and is to come,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Thrice Ble&s;&s;ed God for evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="33" REF="25">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Seventh <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXVI. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Mo&s;t dear Redeemer <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> who woulde&s;t be the Lord our Righteou&s;ne&s;s, we mu&s;t confe&s;s thou mighte&s;t ju&s;tly become our Enemy, (as <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI>'s Brethren became his Foes) becau&s;e of the multitude of our Dreams; tho&s;e vain conceits of Happine&s;s which have been tru&s;ted and lean'd upon, though but <HI>Egy|ptian</HI> Reeds, have greatly merited thy Puni&s;hment, and our farther deceptions. We have de&s;erved to be mo&s;t terribly mi&s;taken, like the hungry wretch, who dreams he eats, but he awakes, and behold he is faint, and the more afami&s;ht. Thus are our Souls but the more &s;tarved by tho&s;e Vi&s;ions of the Night; tho&s;e &s;hort un&s;atisfying plea|&s;ures; tho&s;e &s;hadows, and fond imaginations, in which we have been lull'd a&s;leep by the Fle&s;h, the World, and the Evil one, leading us Captive by them at their plea&s;ure. But, Lord, if thou wilt teach us like thy &s;elf, to lead Captivity Captive, and to &s;ubdue their triple Band that lies in Ambu&s;h again&s;t us, (as <HI>Abimelech</HI>'s again&s;t the Men of <HI>Shechem</HI>) then &s;hall we be like the Widow's Son rai&s;ed even from the Dead: We &s;hall not only recover our &s;trength wonderfully, as did the Cripple, before we go hence, but be recalled with <HI>Lazarus</HI> to newne&s;s of Life, and have our Wills and Faculties unbound, our Mouths and Hearts opened, our Hands and Feet loo&s;ed and enlarged to &s;ing the Prai&s;es of the Lord, to run the Paths of his Commands, and to teach Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ors his ways, that &s;o Sinners may be converted unto him, admiring the great things which God hath done for us, and we prai&s;e him for continually; for as God's Prai&s;e mu&s;t be ever in our Mouths upon the account of his miraculous Redemption of us, (who were conquered and taken, en&s;laved and &s;old) &s;o ought we ince&s;&s;antly to pray for the Conver&s;ion of others, (remembring tho&s;e that are in Bonds as bound with them) and that thy Servants, O Chri&s;t! who are many, may be made one Bread, and they who &s;it in the darkne&s;s of Ignorance, or in the &s;hadows of Error, may be delivered from the power of Satan, into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God.</P>
<P>Ble&s;&s;ed Lord! thou ha&s;t Brethren here that the World knows not, nor thinks to be &s;uch. O! that all the Sheep, though they have gone a&s;tray, may be reduced from their Wanderings, and brought out of their Wilderne&s;s, Condition, and de&s;ert State, by re&s;ting on the Shoulders of thy Power, and leaning on the Bo&s;om of thy Love. O thou well-beloved and be&s;t loving <HI>Je&s;us!</HI> how grateful, gracious, and de&s;irable, how profitable, &s;weet, and &s;uitable will &s;uch a &s;tream of Grace prove to thine <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in their Pilgrimage? It will be a Well
<PB N="34" REF="26">&s;pringing up, and rai&s;ing thy poor Creatures unto Life; it will be like drops upon the tender Herb, like &s;howers upon the thir&s;ty Ground, making the hard-hearted and barren Soul to rejoyce, and to break forth into gladne&s;s, and into fruitfulne&s;s: For when thy Word di&s;tills like the Dew, and thou &s;ende&s;t a gracious Rain upon thine Heritage, it mu&s;t needs be refre&s;h'd and renew'd like the face of the good Ground which thou ha&s;t Ble&s;s'd; for that which is &s;terile is nigh unto Cur&s;ing, but that which kindly receives the Rain that comes oft upon it, brings forth Food meet for him by whom it is dre&s;&s;ed, what kind of Husbandry &s;oever he u&s;eth towards it. So we be&s;eech thee grant, O thou good Husbandman! that (&s;ince thou do&s;t &s;o plentifully &s;hower among&s;t us thy benefits, and the good tidings of the Go&s;pel) we may bring forth the fruits of thy Spirit, &s;uch as are proper for our places and con|ditions, and for the Ages of our Lives, and of the World, what way &s;oever thou take&s;t with us, whether thou break us up by the Plough of Afflictions, or dig about us by forbearance and pro&s;perities.</P>
<P>We know that he who Sows the good Seed of thy Grace in an hone&s;t Heart with the Tears of true Remor&s;e (although the Enemy &s;hould mingle Tares among the Wheat, yet) being a painful Labourer, &s;hall Reap a good Crop at the Harve&s;t of the World, and that with Joy, and not with Grief; for godly Sorrow worketh Repentance unto Sal|vation, not to be repented of. Let us not therefore &s;orrow, as do many, for Temporal lo&s;&s;es, but rather let us rejoyce that thou poure&s;t down plentifully of thy Grace upon us, which is better than abundance of Corn and Wine. And &s;o even when we go forth, with <HI>Peter,</HI> weeping bitterly for our Sins, if we bear with us the precious Seeds of Adoption and Regeneration; and the&s;e abide with us, although we may lye down in the duft of Death, or go out of the Land of the Living here, yet &s;hall we come again with Bo&s;oms full of Joy, and with Arms full of a <HI>Je&s;us</HI> that went out before us bearing our Reproach, and who with Tears and &s;trong Cries pleaded for the handful that was given him out of the World, and &s;hall come again like a happy Reaper, bringing Sheaves of Corn with him, that the people whom he hath laboured for, and united unto him&s;elf, may be crowned with Victory, Pro&s;pe|rity, and Glory, and compleated with Gladne&s;s with him for ever|more. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="35" REF="26" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE EIGHTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXVII. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Was compiled by <HI>Solomon,</HI> as a Compendium of his <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> &s;hewing the vanity (and therein the vexation) of all worldly Travel and Care without God's Ble&s;&s;ing, in the principal in&s;tan|ces of this Life's concernment, which are the building of our Hou&s;es by &s;trength and &s;afety, as in the fir&s;t Ver&s;e; by Fruga|lity and Wealth, as in the &s;econd Ver&s;e; and chiefly by Chil|dren and Heirs, to make our Habitations, Names, and Inheri|tances to remain for ever, as much as in us lieth, as in the third: And this I take to be the meaning here of building an Hou&s;e, as it is the work of the Ma&s;ter of a Family in Oeconomy, rather than that of the <HI>Mathematician</HI> in Architecture: And in this &s;en&s;e the Phra&s;e is taken oft in Scripture; as we read,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod. 1.21.</NOTE> God gave the Midwives for their Faith, Hope, and Charity, Protection, Riches, and Progeny, to &s;upport their Families: So likewi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron. 17.10, 11.</NOTE> the promi&s;e of God's building <HI>David</HI>'s Hou&s;e, is explained by giving him I&s;&s;ue, which &s;hould e&s;tabling his Kingdom botter than <HI>Solo|mon</HI> could do, notwith&s;tanding all his Wi&s;dom, Power, and number of Women; &s;ince we read but of one Son (and he weak and infirm) which that mighty Builder rai&s;ed up to &s;up|port the Royal State, Crown and Dignity of the Hou&s;e of <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P>Well then might the Author of this P&s;alm (who hath in&s;erted his Name <GAP DESC="foreign"> in the &s;econd Ver&s;e) be a Type of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> and begin to affirm and reiterate the <HI>Ni&s;i Dominus</HI> here, and infer that, <HI>Except the Lord</HI> (<HI>David</HI>'s Lord, as well as Son) <HI>did build his Hou&s;e,</HI> Solomon, <HI>and other Kings, &s;hould but labour in vain.</HI></P>
<P>This P&s;alm might be &s;uper&s;cribed with <GAP DESC="foreign">, as being &s;ung with loud and frequent Re&s;pon&s;es by the <HI>Levites,</HI> at the erecting and re-edifying of the Temple, and therefore intended by me <GAP DESC="foreign">, as an Anthem for the Day of a Nativity, or Bapti&s;m.</P>
<PB N="36" REF="27">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _TIL God the Hou&s;e doth build,<NOTE PLACE="marg">For <HI>Shrove-Tue&s;day,</HI> or a Wedding.</NOTE> and Fa&spcDash;mi|ly maintain; Workmen, tho' ne're &s;o &s;trong, or skill'd, La&spcDash;bour, a&spcDash;las! in vain. Fa&spcDash;thers get Sons in vain; in vain the Watchmen ward our Gates, un&spcDash;le&s;s the Lord or&spcDash;dain his Ho&s;t, to be our Guard.</P>
<PB N="37" REF="27">
<LG>
<L>In vain a Life we keep,</L>
<L>Ri&s;e early, late take Re&s;t;</L>
<L>Fare hardly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">For I take it with the 72 <GAP DESC="foreign">, when others take pains with care to provide for their Fami|lies, God's Beloved thrive better, and yet do not &s;o much as lo&s;e their &s;leep, or re&s;t, in pur&s;uit of tho&s;e enjoyments, which others ince&s;&s;antly toyl for. This &s;hews the vanity of our Solicitude, as the other &s;ence (<HI>viz.</HI> &s;o he gives) &s;peaks God's Ble&s;&s;ing of hone&s;t Labour, whereby he brings Re&s;t, and makes both it, and what el&s;e got by Labour, plea&s;ant, according to <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 5.11.</NOTE> lo&s;e our loved Sleep,</L>
<L>'Till God our Stock hath ble&s;t.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But they, whom God hath ble&s;t,</L>
<L>Like <HI>Job,</HI> regain their Peace;</L>
<L>God gives his <HI>Jedidiahs</HI> Re&s;t,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nempe Dile|ctis Domini, viz. <HI>Jedi|diah's,</HI> &s;uch as <HI>Solomon.</HI></NOTE></L>
<L>And with their Re&s;t; Encrea&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Look,<NOTE PLACE="marg">All Children are given as an Inheri|tance, pa&s;&s;ing from the Fa|ther of Hea|ven to us, not purcha&s;ed by our own Ability; but the Wi&s;e and Good are more than <HI>David</HI>'s plea|&s;ant and goodly Heri|tage; for they are al&s;o a Reward (as here) and a Crown, e&s;pecially &s;uch as are born to us in our &s;tronger and youthful Age; who may be grown up, and able to give advice and a&s;&s;i&s;tance, and ready at hand to help or adorn, as Arrows in the Quiver of an Archer; &s;o that we may go in or out of the Gates of our Hou&s;e, City, or Li<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">e, with honour and &s;afety, and &s;peak either with Friends or Foes, &s;trong or great, the Judge or General. Whether it be in public in the &s;ight of all, (as <HI>Aben Ezra</HI> con&s;trues <HI>in Port&acirc;</HI>) or whether it be in the place where the People a&s;&s;emble, where the Nobles meet, where the Thrones are &s;et, the Prophets prophecy, the Right is pleaded, the Guards are kept, the Soldiers &s;tand, and the Judges fit, as they did formerly in the Gate. Vide <HI>Ruth</HI> 4.1. 1 <HI>King.</HI> 22.10. 2 <HI>King.</HI> 7. 20. <HI>Judg.</HI> 9.52. &amp;c.</NOTE> ev'n our be&s;t Encrea&s;e,</L>
<L>Children come from the Lord;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ruth</HI> 4.13.</NOTE></L>
<L>Tho&s;e Fruits of th' Womb,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 30.2.</NOTE> which &s;ome may gue&s;s</L>
<L>Man's Work, are God's Reward.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Children both give, and Ward</L>
<L>A blow; for (though but young)</L>
<L>To Parents they're a double Guard,</L>
<L>Like Weapons to the Strong.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Tho&s;e Shafts help again&s;t wrong,</L>
<L>Life again&s;t Death provide;</L>
<L>Like <HI>Jonathan</HI>'s, they home are flung</L>
<L>To &s;hield our threaten'd &s;ide.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Happy the Man, who&s;e &s;ide</L>
<L>Bears Quivers of &s;uch Arms;</L>
<L>For where&s;oe're his Cau&s;e is try'd,</L>
<L>He's quit of Shame and Harms.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="38" REF="28">
<LG>
<L>Thus we, whom God hath Ble&s;t,</L>
<L>Like <HI>Job,</HI> regain our Peace;</L>
<L>Since God gives his Beloved Re&s;t,</L>
<L>And with our Re&s;t encrea&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L>To God the Father, Son,</L>
<L>And God the Holy-Gho&s;t,</L>
<L>Be Glory; and let every one</L>
<L>Strive who &s;hall prai&s;e God mo&s;t.</L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>HOSANNA.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="39" REF="28">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eighth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXVII. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>GRacious Father! who worke&s;t hitherto as thy Son al&s;o worketh, look upon us thy Workman&s;hip, make us thy Building, who as lively Stones, well wrought and figured, would be built up a Spiritual Hou&s;e unto thee: And we know, except thy Divine Wi&s;dom thus frame and rai&s;e us, bearing up the Pillars of our Strength, hewing out the Stones of our hard Hearts to be poli&s;hed Corners of thy Temple, we &s;hall prove but &s;orry Tabernacles, but fooli&s;h Builders, and Labourers in vain: For who among&s;t us can &s;ay, that he hath made his Heart clean? Who can come to the Rock to lay a good Foundation, except it be given him from above? Or who can keep him&s;elf &s;o clean, as that the foul and wicked Spirit touch him not, nor enter in again after he hath been ca&s;t out of a Man, except thou, O Lord! who art &s;tronger than the Enemy, do&s;t watch and defend the Hou&s;e of the poor Soul? Thou mu&s;t work all our Works in us, and for us, for without thee we can do nothing. O therefore! rai&s;e, &s;trengthen, &s;tabli&s;h, and compleat us thou glorious <HI>Solomon,</HI> thou who mu&s;t edifie us by thy Apo&s;tles and Teachers, and in&s;truct us how to be Temples for thy holie&s;t Spirit, and the Heritage of the Lord for evermore.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t acknowledge that our be&s;t Skill, and carefulle&s;t Actions, our Watchings and Fa&s;tings, our Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Charities; are as Stones which thou, O Ma&s;ter Builder! mighte&s;t refu&s;e, being fit for nothing but to deba&s;e and throw us down to Hell, affording us no prop or &s;afe reliance upon them. 'Tis thou alone, O true&s;t <HI>Jedidiah!</HI> that founde&s;t thy beloved Church upon the Corner-Stone of Faith, which edifies with joy and peace, with re&s;t and firmne&s;s in believing. So build us up, we be&s;eech thee, and watch over our Souls, that we may not be found to have watch'd, or to have work'd, to have in&s;tructed our Hearts, to have clean&s;ed our Hands in vain, but to have done the Work, and compleated the Task which thou ha&s;t appointed us to do, by edifying both our &s;elves and others in our mo&s;t holy Faith. We throw our &s;elves, Lord <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> on thy gentle&s;t Bo&s;om of Compa&s;&s;ions, to be regarded and in&s;tructed by thee, and tru&s;t that we are not <HI>Judas</HI>'s whil&s;t we eat of thy Bread, and drink of thy Cup, but &s;hall be unto thee Sons and Daughters, &s;uch an Inheritance as may be the Crown of thy Rejoycing, the purch&s;e of thy Labours, the proof of thy Power, the Arrows in thy Quiver, with which thou maye&s;t triumphantly come to the Almighty, and &s;ay, <HI>Behold me, and the Children which thou ha&s;t given me.</HI></P>
<PB N="40" REF="29">
<P>Let not thine Arms be full or weary, dear Lord, 'till thou ha&s;t enclo|&s;ed our Souls within them, and made us &s;o the Children of thy &s;trength, as that we may be able to come with boldne&s;s to the Throne of Grace, and neither be affrighted when we meet with our Enemies in the Gate of Death, nor when we &s;hall &s;peak with our Accu&s;er, and our Judge, at the great Tribunal of the la&s;t day.</P>
<P>From the various Proofs of thy tenderne&s;s over thy Flock, in giving them repo&s;e and comfort, and ble&s;t content, in the mid&s;t of their hard fare, hard work, and harder want, O skilful Shepherd of our Souls, let us learn to ca&s;t our Care upon thee for our protection and provi&s;ion, for thy pre&s;ervation of our Per&s;ons, and propagation of our Families; and if thou care&s;t for us, we need take no more care than <HI>Abraham</HI> did, for God will provide for us, for our Off-&s;pring, for our chief Good, and for his Glory. The Lord &s;hall build his <HI>David</HI> a Hou&s;e, and he will be an exceeding great Reward (even above that of the Fruit of the Womb) unto his Friend <HI>Abraham,</HI> who&s;e Children we are if we believe as he: <HI>Lord, we believe, help our unbelief,</HI> that we might not throw away our loved &s;leep, much le&s;s our be&s;t beloved Souls, in carking after the things of this Life, whether they be Plea&s;ures, Profits, Power, Po&s;terity, Preferments, or vain Pa&s;t-times; for what are the&s;e in re|&s;pect of a Soul? But giving up our Souls, E&s;tates, and Concernments, into the hands of a faithful Creator, who is able to keep them and us to the very uttermo&s;t, let us be pre&s;erved not only in perfect Peace and Pro&s;perity in this Life, but al&s;o in a happy and &s;afe Repo&s;e even in Death it &s;elf, when we expect to re&s;t from our Labours, and to &s;leep in Je&s;us. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="41" REF="29">
<HEAD>THE NINTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXVIII. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is a De&s;cription of the Felicities of &s;uch Good Men, as fear the Lord, (that is, &s;ay the <HI>Rabbins</HI>) who cea&s;e to do evil, and learn to do well; who walk in the ways of God, and are not only negatively good but po&s;itively; making their own hands mini&s;ter to their Nece&s;&s;ities, (as the Apo&s;tle did) knowing that he who will not labour &s;hall not eat: But &s;uch as labour hone&s;tly, (either to obtain a lively-hood and &s;ub&s;i&s;tance here, or a better Life hereafter) &s;hall find the fruit of their Pains to be Peace and Plenty: Not the Apples of <HI>Sodom.</HI> or Clu&s;ters of <HI>Gomorrah;</HI> but tho&s;e of Mer|cies Temporal, Spiritual, Eternal: Such as are here enumerated, from the <HI>2d.</HI> Ver&s;e to the end, far better than by any other Poet.</P>
<P>Among&s;t which Ble&s;&s;ings, (as to this World) the greate&s;t are e&s;teemed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Vitam quae fa|ciunt Beatio|rem, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> Martial. <HI>lib. 10. Epig. 47.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P N="1"><HI>1.</HI> A Fruitful Meet Companion, neither barren in good Works, nor Off-&s;pring: And therefore compared to a Vine; or becau&s;e (&s;aith <HI>Kimchi</HI>) &s;he can live well and plenti|fully within Doors, and only de&s;ires that her Branches may go abroad: As a Vine (&s;aith he) will grow and flouri&s;h though rooted within a Hou&s;e, &s;o the &s;preading Limbes be carried into the Air.</P>
<P N="2"><HI>2.</HI> Then a chearful Table decently repleni&s;ht, with Legitimate, Pious, and Health|ful Children: Likened to <HI>Olive</HI> Plants, either becau&s;e they are hopeful, and flouri&s;hing, (as the <HI>Olive</HI> Tree is always green;) or u&s;eful and Ornamental, (as tho&s;e Trees are to En|tertainments in the Ea&s;t;) or Emblems of unfading Happine&s;s, (as <HI>Olive</HI> Branches were to Victors;) or not a &s;hameful and &s;purious Off-&s;pring: For it is reported of the <HI>Olive</HI> Stock, that it will nouri&s;h no Grafts, but of its own Kind.</P>
<P>The&s;e Ble&s;&s;ings being de&s;cribed by two &s;uch admirable &s;weet Compari&s;ons, (that &s;trive to chear and refre&s;h the Laborious and Pro&s;perous Man) the Author breaks off his Apo|&s;trophe by a &s;hort Epiphonema in the <HI>5th</HI> Ver. (but who the Author of this P&s;alm was appears not) and then in the <HI>6th</HI> and <HI>7th</HI> Ver. goes on to pray for other Joys for the good Man, towards the compleating tho&s;e promis'd in the <HI>2.3.4.</HI> Ver&s;es. Which indeed &s;o fed, nay fea&s;ted my eager Thoughts with that mo&s;t excellent Scripture Abundance, expre&s;t by Corn and Oyl,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Judg. 9.9, 13.</NOTE> (that which Chears and Honours God and Man) that I could not withhold from enlarging my delight in ruminating thus far upon it.</P>
<Q><L>Like the fat <HI>Olive,</HI> and the fruitful <HI>Vine,</HI></L>
<L>Chearful to make Man's Heart, his Face to &s;hine,</L>
<L>Are well bred Children, and fruitful Wife;</L>
<L>In this World's Paradi&s;e tho&s;e Trees of Life:</L>
<L>They wander not afar, but &s;till abide</L>
<L>By their own lucky Boards, or Hou&s;e's fide:</L>
<L>At Home they Live and Thrive, fix and Encrea&s;e,</L>
<L>The Pro&s;perous Signs of Plenty, Mirth, and Peace.</L></Q>
<P><HI>Pax (&s;eu Pacem) &s;uper I&s;rael,</HI> concludes the P&s;alm, as the <HI>125.</HI></P>
<P>This &s;eems proper for a Wedding day, or any &s;uch time of Fe&s;tivity, and therefore u&s;ed thus Solemnly to be Sung after the Captivity by the <HI>Levites,</HI> among the other P&s;alms of Degrees: And it is intended by me for St. <HI>Lucy's</HI> day, and <HI>New-year's</HI> Tide.</P>
<PB N="42" REF="30">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _BLe&s;t is the Man that fears the Lord, and walks in ways taught by God's word: while &s;uch a <HI>Jo&s;eph,</HI> Vice refrains, to Pri&s;on Walls tho bound he be, he &s;preads like <HI>Egypt</HI>'s patient Tree, and bears more Fruit by wearing Chains.</P>
<PB N="43" REF="30">
<LG>
<L>Who e're thou art that fear'&s;t the Lord,</L>
<L>Fearing to &s;in in work or word,</L>
<L>Plenty, with Ea&s;e, &s;hall crown thy Pain;</L>
<L>Thy Hands &s;hall get Wealth that will la&s;t,</L>
<L>The Sweets of which thy Lips &s;hall ta&s;t,</L>
<L>Doubling, by reli&s;hing, thy Gain.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Thy Wife &s;hall, like a fruitful Vine,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ruth</HI> 4.11, 12.</NOTE></L>
<L>Deck thy Hou&s;e-&s;ide, as well as thine,</L>
<L>And &s;ee thine Off-&s;pring &s;hade thy Board;</L>
<L>As plea&s;ant Olive-Plants are &s;et,</L>
<L>To grace and guard thee at thy Meat,</L>
<L>Thus art thou Ble&s;t that fear'&s;t the Lord.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>In Heav'n thrice happy &s;halt thou be,</L>
<L>As here below 'tis well with thee,</L>
<L>Thy Joys from <HI>Sion</HI> &s;till encrea&s;e;</L>
<L>Thine Age to three De&s;cents &s;hall &s;ee</L>
<L>Thine I&s;&s;ue fair, thy Nation free;</L>
<L>And (what is be&s;t) on <HI>I&s;rael</HI> Peace.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>As here below 'tis well with thee,</L>
<L>In Heav'n thrice happy &s;halt thou be,</L>
<L>From <HI>Sion</HI>'s &s;hal thy Joys encrea&s;e;</L>
<L>Thou &s;halt out-live one Age, to &s;ee</L>
<L>Good on thy Land and Family,</L>
<L>And (which is be&s;t) on <HI>I&s;rael</HI> Peace.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>Glory be to the Father, Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And Holy-Gho&s;t, the Three in One,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who&s;e Deity we &s;hall adore;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Since ev'ry Per&s;on of the Three</HI></L>
<L><HI>For ever was, &s;hall ever be,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And is, God Ble&s;&s;ed evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Ninth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXVIII. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Mo&s;t glorious and gracious Lord God, who art fit to be feared, and worthy to be loved, grant that I may not only &s;erve thee out of <HI>filial</HI> Reverence, and &s;en&s;e of Duty, but al&s;o and chiefly out of mo&s;t pa&s;&s;ionate Affection and Delight, walking in thy ways as well as learning them, and doing
<PB N="44" REF="31">thy Will as well as knowing it, from a principle of entire and true Love, and of full and ab&s;olute Choice. Grant that whether I am born unto Trouble and Care, or to eat and reap the Fruit of others Pains, both by my own and others Labours, my Repo&s;e may be after|wards more &s;weet and nouri&s;hing, and my Enjoyments more &s;olid, as my Endeavours &s;ucce&s;sful, while I have Religion, though not Riches, and that which with <HI>Content is great Gain,</HI> notwith&s;tanding the &s;hort|ne&s;s and lo&s;s of worldly Trea&s;ures.</P>
<P>If I partake of the true Vine, and of the travel of his Soul, who was full as God, and made full as Man, that of his fulne&s;s we might receive and fea&s;t for evermore, then how well &s;hall it be with me here? How much better hereafter? Come what can come I &s;hall have com|fort enough in this World, and a Crown in the next: Nay, I &s;hall be a Crown to my dear Bridegroom, a Glory to my Redeemer, as the wi&s;e Spou&s;e is to her Husband; for in this, good and true is the Word of the Lord which he hath &s;poken (not only in the Literal, but al&s;o in the Spiritual &s;en&s;e) and &s;o &s;hall his Work be; as to the Head, &s;o to the Members. He will make the Church <HI>Chri&s;t</HI>'s Wife, and &s;he &s;hall be a Vine as well as he, and &s;o great a Bearer, as that &s;he hall cover and adorn all the &s;ides of his Hou&s;e, and bring him clu&s;ters of <HI>E&s;hcol,</HI> Grapes of <HI>Sion,</HI> Loads of Comfort and Satisfactions, Tokens of Plenty and Delight, for having trodden the Wine Pre&s;s alone.</P>
<P>And then, O beloved Husbandman! when thou &s;halt vi&s;it this Vine, and behold the Off-spring which thou ha&s;t brought her with tran&s;ports of Joy and Contentation, O! then look upon me and mine, and &s;ee us grafted into the right Olive, though we be &s;prung from that which is wild by nature, that we may grow up as Plants of thy own planting, and flouri&s;h round about thy Table: For this hath God promi&s;ed unto thee, O Chri&s;t! and we be&s;eech thee to make it good unto us, by making us thy Children. O Lord! how &s;hould we prai&s;e, honour, and &s;erve thee? Were we, like <HI>David,</HI> &s;uch Olive Trees as might be fixed in thy Hou&s;e, and framed into more holy U&s;es, to be farther in&s;trumental to thy Glory? Behold a greater than <HI>Solomon</HI> is here to make us fit to attend thy Oracles, and with the Cherubs to be near thy Mercy Seat. Dear God! prepare us for &s;uch high places there, however thou cut and &s;trike us here, that we might be the better for|med, and wrought out of the World's glory, for our own, into thine, even by the beauty of Holine&s;s, that New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> that comes down from above. Then &s;hall we admire the good of Sanctity, and wi&s;h the good of thy People all the days of our life, and rejoyce in the happine&s;s of thy Cho&s;en all the days of Eternity: For as we are Ble&s;t in &s;erving thee out of thy Hou&s;e and Sanctuary, &s;o we hope to be Ble&s;&s;ed with thee in thy holy Hill of <HI>Sion,</HI> where we &s;hall &s;ee the glo|rious Harve&s;t of all Ages, the eternal Happine&s;s of our Generations, and the never-fading Peace of thy cho&s;en <HI>I&s;rael. AMEN.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="45" REF="31">
<HEAD>THE TENTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXIX. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is a Commemoration, not unlike that Solemn one, which every true <HI>I&s;raelite</HI> was to make at the Offering of the Fir&s;t-Fruits;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 26.35, 36, 37.</NOTE> and Secondly, a Progno&s;tication of the cur&s;ed End and Ruine of the Church her Enemies, from the Con&s;ideration of the wonder|ful Deliverance which God had wrought, and reiterated for his People a Juventute (both from theirs and the World's Infancy;) &s;o that at length their Adver&s;aries, according to their Prayers, &s;hall be but weak, few, like the Gra&s;s on the Hou&s;e top,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, not growing up, there being formerly a Meter, or gatherer of Gra&s;s (as we have now of Grain), mo&s;t in fa&s;hion about tho&s;e fertile Countries, where Gra&s;s is of an exce&s;&s;ive length even at this day, (as modern Travellers' affirm.)</NOTE> that withers before it's pulling.</P>
<P>But <HI>Zion</HI>'s Foes (&s;aith <HI>Ezra,</HI> or who&s;oever it was, who in his Time compiled this Prophetical P&s;alm and Prayer) &s;hall one Day be &s;o incon&s;iderable, that as they &s;hall have no Eulogies to encou|rage their Growth or Harve&s;t, &s;o they &s;hall need no Weapon to cut them down; for they &s;hall drop away &s;hamefully of their own accord, without a <HI>Dominus Vobi&s;cum</HI> &s;aid unto them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 14.25. I&s;a. 36.10.</NOTE> For all they may &s;ay (though not of a Truth) what once a <HI>Sennacherib</HI> and a <HI>Rab&s;hakeh</HI> fal&s;ly affirmed, That <HI>God is with us.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Qu&acirc; de caus&acirc; &agrave; me Selectus e&s;t hic Hymnus in Ter|tium</HI> Septembris. <HI>Propter</HI> M. O. C. <HI>nee non in Quintum</HI> Novembris.</P>
<PB N="46" REF="32">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _IF <HI>Ja&spcDash;cob</HI> did in <HI>E&spcDash;gypt</HI> tell, what Troubles in his time be&spcDash;fell; how few and e&spcDash;vil were his Days? How hard Life's travel in rough ways: In <HI>Ca&spcDash;naan</HI> well may <HI>I&s;&spcDash;rael</HI> &s;ay, From my Youth up, God was my &s;tay.</P>
<PB N="47" REF="32">
<LG>
<L>From my Youth up I met with Foes,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 28.16, 17.</NOTE></L>
<L>But to God's Hou&s;e I '&s;cap'd from tho&s;e;</L>
<L>Many a time was I a&s;&s;ail'd,</L>
<L>But I as many times prevail'd:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>God broke my Cords which they did bind,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 2.24.25.</NOTE></L>
<L>And made them Captive, if not kind.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Long did they with deep Furrows wound,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 5.19.</NOTE></L>
<L>And Plow my Back, as 'twere their Ground;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mark</HI> 15.15.</NOTE></L>
<L>But the good Husbandman now cracks</L>
<L>The Ploughman's Whip on their own Backs:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John</HI> 15.1.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>The Righteous Lord &s;tays not too long<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.13.</NOTE></L>
<L>From re&s;c'uing his who &s;uffer wrong.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Therefore &s;hall <HI>Zion</HI>'s Enemy<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 3.33.</NOTE></L>
<L>Like Fools wax faint, like Cowards fly;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 73.6.</NOTE></L>
<L>Whom Pride doth cloath, Shame &s;hall confound,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 16.18.</NOTE></L>
<L>As Corn that grows in no good Ground:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mat.</HI> 13.5.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But &s;tands (with Kings) on the Hou&s;e-Top,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 11.4.</NOTE></L>
<L>Where comes a Bla&s;t, and that's its Crop.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Dan.</HI> 4.30, 31.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Its Crop doth rot before 'tis ripe,</L>
<L>Nor can it fill the Reapers gripe,</L>
<L>Nor joy his Heart: For (what is wor&s;e)</L>
<L>It bears no Burthen, but a Cur&s;e.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>'Tis no Man's comfort, no Man's care;</L>
<L>No Man for &s;uch bids one &s;hort Pray'r.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="48" REF="33">
<LG>
<L>None in God's Name give &s;uch good &s;peed,</L>
<L>As <HI>Boaz</HI> to his Harve&s;t did:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ruth. 2.4.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>[Gloria Patri.]</HEAD>
<L><HI>But we to God will Glory give,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who, with the Son, and Spirit, doth live:</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L><HI>God Reigns, and &s;hall, as heretofore;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Ble&s;s'd be his Name for evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="49" REF="33" MS="y">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Tenth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXIX. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Deare&s;t <HI>Je&s;u!</HI> let me behold thee as an <HI>I&s;raelite</HI> indeed, in whom <HI>there was no guile,</HI> and yet how many a time, even from <HI>Herod</HI>'s per&s;ecution of thee in thy Youth, wert thou afflicted. Thou did&s;t grow up as a Stem out of a dry Ground, very poorly and de&s;picably in the Eyes of the vain proud World, who looked for another appearance and attendance than thou, O King of Glory! did&s;t affect on Earth, and therefore wert thou rejected as a Man of Sadne&s;s. And well mighte&s;t thou be acquainted with much Grief, when thou did&s;t bear our greate&s;t Sins, even tho&s;e whereby we did &s;et thee at nought, (as did <HI>Herod</HI> and his Soldiers) and even &s;ought the holy Child, the Fir&s;t-born of Grace, in our Hearts to take away its Life.</P>
<P>O Lord! we mu&s;t confe&s;s how many a time, too often, we have betrayed and expo&s;ed thy Name and Body, thy Word and Members, to Shame and Reproach, to Indignities and Sufferings: We have &s;mitten and pierced them through with many Sorrows; we have knotted the Whip, and lengthen'd out the Rods to plough thy Back, (as the <HI>Jews</HI> did by their la&s;hing Taunts when thou wert dying on the Cro&s;s) only to non-plus thy Love and patience if it were po&s;&s;ible: But the Lord is Righteous, and the Lord is Merciful, and therefore he hath cut a&s;under the Cords of the Wicked, and by his Righteou&s;ne&s;s &s;hall ju&s;tifie many, as al&s;o confound all &s;uch as have evil will towards his <HI>Zion.</HI> Grant therefore, dear Lord! that we may not prove &s;uch a Crop as grows upon the Hou&s;e, or among the Stones, which withereth as &s;oon as it is put forth. But as from our Childoood, we have been acquainted graciou&s;ly with thy Mind and Go&s;pel, &s;o grant that we may grow up in Grace, and in the knowledge of a Saviour, and have the Ble&s;&s;ing of Almighty God from the very Ground of our Hearts, to the la&s;t Harve&s;t of our Lives, and be able to ble&s;s many others, as <HI>Boaz</HI> did, in the Name of thee,</P>
<P>Our Father, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>TO thee, dear God! be all the Dominion, the Power and Glory of my Being, for thou ha&s;t prepared it from the fury of my Adver&s;aries ever &s;ince the fir&s;t motions of that evil Figment in my Heart, which hath broke out often into evil Concupi&s;cences, and endeavoured to plough with my Heifer, to plot with my naughty Fle&s;h, to bind and to deliver me a Pri&s;oner unto Satan; but my Lu&s;ts have not led me Captive, nor plough'd upon my Back as they con&s;pired to
<PB N="50" REF="34" MS="y">do, for thou, O Lord mo&s;t ju&s;t and holy! woulde&s;t not &s;uffer them to Tyrannize or Triumph too long over me, but ha&s;t broke tho&s;e Bands of Wickedne&s;s, and ca&s;t their Cords from me, that I might be thy Servant, and there the Lord my Righteou&s;ne&s;s: So that I tru&s;t they &s;hall be confounded that contend with thee for my Soul, and I &s;hall not be a&s;hamed while I wait on thee, though my Fle&s;h be as Gra&s;s that withers away. Thou art my Strength, O Lord, and my Portion for ever, who wilt, I tru&s;t, give a Ble&s;&s;ing to my Seed, to my Harve&s;t, to my Hou&s;e, to my Endeavours and Encrea&s;e, that my Work and thine may pro&s;per in my hand, and bring fulne&s;s of Joy and Satisfa|ction to my Brea&s;t, while all the vain Thoughts, and viler Sugge&s;tions of my Heart, I de&s;ire &s;o to hate, as to wi&s;h (like the Gra&s;s upon the Hou&s;e tops withered and faded away) that they may never grow up to a Crop, le&s;t (&s;owing the Wind) I Reap the Whirlwind, and have my Recompence in vanity (according to my delight or tru&s;t,) and come to nothing before my time. But, O Lord! I wait on thee for a Ble&s;&s;ing in this my day, and for thine Eternity, that I may be like a Field whom God hath enriched; if he be not on my &s;ide, I cannot pro&s;per, and I know, him whom thou ble&s;&s;e&s;t is Ble&s;&s;ed: <HI>Ble&s;s me therefore, even me, O!</HI></P>
<CLOSER><HI>Our Father,</HI> &amp;c.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="51" REF="34">
<HEAD>THE ELEVENTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXX. <HI>PSALM</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P><GAP DESC="foreign">; <HI>De dolore Profundo, &amp; ex imo corde;</HI> and not (as the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> would have it) <HI>De Profundis Purgatorii,</HI> to be u&s;ed for the Dead: It is an Act and incite|ment of Hope, under the mo&s;t weighty Pre&s;&s;ures, from this Proof, <HI>viz.</HI> That neither with the &s;tronge&s;t Angels, nor Saints departed, (much le&s;s with the greate&s;t, or be&s;t of Men upon Earth) is any Pardon or Propitiation to be found, but only with God; who alloweth us here &s;pace and place for Repentance, that he may be feared, (not &s;o &s;lavi&s;hly as to be fled from, or hated) that he may be &s;ued unto, adored, and attended on, in the holy Duties of Prayer, Prai&s;e, and Tru&s;t; which are comprized in this P&s;alm to be u&s;ed &s;edulou&s;ly and con&s;tantly night and day, according to that which the Repetition of the compa|ri&s;on in the &s;ixth Ver&s;e doth infer, which is thus glo&s;s'd on by Kimchi: <HI>My Soul waiteth in the Night for the Lord, that it may be in the number of tho&s;e who ri&s;e in the Morning-Watch to pray.</HI> And this &s;en&s;e being mo&s;t com|prehen&s;ive of the Times and Method, both of <HI>Jewi&s;h,</HI> and the greate&s;t of Devotion, I follow it in my Ver&s;ion, and de&s;ire to do &s;o in my Practice.</P>
<P>This P&s;alm was made (as &s;ome think) in the time of the Captivity, for Redemption from it, as may be judged by the la&s;t Ver&s;e: But others a&s;cribe it to <HI>David,</HI> giving it the &s;ame Date with the <HI>51^s^t,</HI> and is reckon'd the &s;ixth of the Penitentials, <HI>i. e.</HI> of tho&s;e which were u&s;ed when public Penitents were brought and recon|ciled to the Church, who might well &s;ay, <HI>Becau&s;e there is Pardon</HI> (as &s;aith the Text) <HI>or Propitiation</HI> (as the <HI>72^d</HI>) with thee,
<PB N="52" REF="35"><HI>O Lord, therefore &s;halt thou be feared,</HI> i. e. <HI>obeyed;</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">, becau&s;e the mildne&s;s of his Laws, and meekne&s;s of his Dealings, were &s;trong Motives for Repen|tance.</P>
<P><HI>Anthema H&oacute;cce &agrave; me u&s;itatum e&s;t, ut prim&ograve; factum, in Secundum</HI> Octobris.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _OUT of the Deep, wherein, like <HI>Jo&spcDash;nas,</HI> I was try'd; out of the mire of Sin, my Clay to God hath cry'd, Lord hear my Voice, give what I crave; O! let me have thy Love, Heav'ns Joys.</P>
<PB N="53" REF="35">
<LG>
<L>Too oft we chu&s;e fal&s;e Joys;</L>
<L>And &s;hould'&s;t thou be &s;evere</L>
<L>To cha&s;ten our ill Choice,</L>
<L>What Man his Ills can bear?</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But we have prov'd,</L>
<L>That thou may'&s;t be</L>
<L>Pardon's with thee;</L>
<L>Both fear'd and lov'd.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>I'le fear, le&s;t thou art lov'd</L>
<L>Too little; and I'le flee</L>
<L>(When Fear my Heart hath mov'd)</L>
<L>Unto thy Sanctuary:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Early and late</L>
<L>Grace to afford;</L>
<L>There waits the Lord,</L>
<L>Therefore I'le wait.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>My Soul on high &s;hall wait,</L>
<L>(Like tho&s;e, who watch the ri&s;e</L>
<L>Of Day) to Officiate</L>
<L>At Morning Sacrifice.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Nay, like the Guard;</L>
<L>Remove the Night,</L>
<L>Who long 'till Light</L>
<L>And them reward.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>'Till <HI>Jacob</HI>'s Star reward</L>
<L>Your Hopes, and on you ri&s;e;</L>
<L>Wait <HI>I&s;r'el</HI> on your Lord</L>
<L>With wakeful wi&s;hing Eyes.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Look 'till the Sun</L>
<L>Doth heal and ble&s;s,</L>
<L>Of Righteou&s;ne&s;s</L>
<L>And brings God's Son.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>O! &s;hield ye with his Sun</L>
<L>God's People, tru&s;t his Word;</L>
<L>Since full Salvation</L>
<L>Attends our gracious Lord:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>There's Pity &s;een,</L>
<L>Who will Redeem</L>
<L>And Pow'r in him,</L>
<L>Us from all Sin.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="54" REF="36">
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>Glory be to our King,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who &s;hall be, was, and is;</HI></L>
<L><HI>Loud Hallelujahs Sing</HI></L>
<L><HI>To God, the God of Peace.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L><HI>The Lord of Ho&s;ts,</HI></L>
<L><HI>The Father, Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>The Three in One,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And Holy-Gho&s;t.</HI></L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>AMEN.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="55" REF="36" MS="y">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Eleventh <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXX. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Deare&s;t <HI>Je&s;u!</HI> when I con&s;ider thee, crying with &s;trong Cries to thy Father for me out of the depths of thine Agony, and of thy Sufferings, both in <HI>Geth&s;emane,</HI> and in <HI>Golgotha,</HI> how am I &s;wallowed up in the Aby&s;&s;es, both of thy Pa&s;&s;ion and Compa&s;&s;ion for us! Ah! what fathomle&s;s Depths indeed! O! what unmea&s;urable Dimen&s;ions, both of Grief and Goodne&s;s, are there for us to be immer&s;ed in! and &s;ince they who are conver&s;ant among great Waters &s;ee the Wonders of the Lord, O! how may we behold the&s;e in the drops of thine Eyes, and of thy Wounds, in the Rivers of thy Tears, and of thy wonderful Sweat, in the Ocean of thy Love and Sorrows for Mankind! When thy Soul was heavy, and &s;unk down even unto Death, and all the Cataracts of Shame and Fury pa&s;&s;ed over thy Head, O King of Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Glory! yet out of the deep and horrible Pit of God's Wrath, into which thy condition was plunged for our &s;akes, how did&s;t thou reach up thy very Sighs and Groans, thy Pains and Sadne&s;s, thy Prayers, and all thy Pa&s;&s;ions, unto Heaven it &s;elf, to reach us thence a Medicine, and a Remedy, more certain Health, and a more happy Life, than the lifting up of the Serpent in the Wilderne&s;s ever brought to its beholders! I will there|fore look unto thee, and be enlighten'd, even while thou &s;eeme&s;t Eclip|&s;ed; I will &s;tay my &s;elf on the Tree of thy Cro&s;s, and &s;ecure my &s;elf under the Shadows of thy Crucifixion, when I am mo&s;t ca&s;t down or overwhelmed with the Seas of my Anxieties and Trials, for the Lord hath been deeply &s;en&s;ible of our Infirmities, and touched to the quick with humane Mi&s;eries, that he might not be fled from, (as he was for|merly, both while he &s;tood on <HI>Sinai,</HI> and on <HI>Golgotha</HI>) but that he might be feared, and approached unto with Reverence, becau&s;e there is a Propitiation with him for us, there is an Attonement made by him our High-Prie&s;t: Therefore, O God! hear my Voice, though my Sins cry aloud for Vengeance; and thou may&s;t be more &s;trict (than thou wert formerly under the more imperfect Light of Nature, or of the <HI>Iei&s;h</HI> Law) to mark the failings and &s;tumblings of Mankind now in the light&s;om day-time of the Go&s;pel; yet do thou, my Father,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jeremiah.</HI> 38.12, 13.</NOTE> and my Prince, pity me in the Dungeon of my Corruptions, and draw my Feet out of the Mire of my Lu&s;ts, out of the Clay of my earthly Mindedne&s;s, out of the Waters of my worldly Sorrows, and bring me to the de&s;ired Shore of thy &s;ure Mercies in <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us;</HI> &s;et my feet on the Rock, and order my Goings, that my Foot-&s;teps may not &s;lip, but that I may walk in the Land of the Living unto the Land of
<PB N="56" REF="37">Promi&s;e; and when I go down to the bottom of the Mountains, and the Weeds are wrapt about my Head,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Jonas.</HI> 2.5, 6</NOTE> and the Earth with her Bars enclo&s;e me on every &s;ide, that then I may not be ca&s;t out of thy &s;ight, nor into the Bonds of mine Iniquities, nor into the Belly of the lowe&s;t Hell: O our Father! &s;ince thou ha&s;t not left thy Son there, grant that my Life may be brought up from Corruption. I know Salvation is from thee alone, and with thee infinite abundance of Bowels of the tendere&s;t Compa&s;&s;ions why thou &s;houlde&s;t be reverenced and repaired unto, there is a <HI>Je&s;us</HI> in thy Bo&s;om to redeem from all Sins, from Dan|gers, Enemies, and Troubles, and to repre&s;ent us cover'd with his Righteou&s;ne&s;s; otherwi&s;e &s;houlde&s;t thou view us in our Original Nakedne&s;s, or actual Filthine&s;s, we could not &s;tand before thee in Judgment. But &s;ince there is Forgivene&s;s with thee, O God! there is cau&s;e enough why we &s;hould fly unto thee, tru&s;t in thee, wait on thee, and watch for thee, more than they who watch for the Morning, for if Light be &s;o grateful to tho&s;e who walk in Darkne&s;s, how amiable is thy Countenance to us in the gloomine&s;s of this pre&s;ent State? And how much more lovely will it be when we lie down in the Night of Death, that <HI>the Day-&s;pring from on high</HI> may vi&s;it us, and bring the joyful Morning of a Re&s;urrection, both from Sin and the Grave? O! do thou make ha&s;t my beloved Saviour, and be <HI>as a Roe, and a young Hart,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Caut.</HI> 2.</NOTE> <HI>on the Mountain of Spices:</HI> Thou that art the Hart of the Mor|ning, who out of the mid&s;t of thy deepe&s;t Woes, and dying Pangs, did&s;t cry unto God for us, do thou &s;end us timely help, for we would &s;eek thee early in the prime of our Age, (ha&s;tening from the very dawn of our Lives to prevent the Night-Watches, and like thy Spou&s;e or beloved <HI>Mary</HI>) to &s;ee the Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s ri&s;en on the Earth before we get to our <HI>Zoar.</HI></P>
<P>O! that our Prayers might a&s;cend like Incen&s;e by the meritorious lifting up of thy Body for us! Dear Lord! impute no Guilt to us, but clean&s;e us from all, that we may be ble&s;&s;ed, and holy, and happy, as we beg to be, for thy own &s;ake, O gracious Saviour! to whom be Glory, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="57" REF="37">
<HEAD>THE TWELFTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXI. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Was compo&s;ed by <HI>David</HI> in the life-time of <HI>Saul,</HI> when mo&s;t humble, innocent, and di&s;tant from the Succe&s;&s;ion to the Crown, though then &s;u&s;pected, envied, and accu&s;ed: It was appointed to be u&s;ed at the <HI>Jews</HI> Return, becau&s;e no temper better qualifies us for God's Mercy, nor more becomes us under the greate&s;t Mercies, (&s;uch as tho&s;e we have enjoyed) than that Humility, Self-denial, Re&s;ignation, and Affiance in God's Will, which are here exemplified in the fir&s;t and &s;econd Ver&s;es, and exhorted unto in the la&s;t.</P>
<P>While the P&s;almi&s;t with that frequent Elegancy in the holy Tongue, &s;uppre&s;&s;eth the Imprecation, and impo&s;eth a kind of Silence upon him|&s;elf after his Atte&s;tation, proceeding to an A&s;&s;everation, <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>If I have not,</HI> &amp;c. viz. <HI>&s;till'd and pacifi'd my Soul as the Waves, Ievell'd and &s;mooth'd my Brow like the face of the Ground, and have put my Hand upon my Mouth;</HI> viz. <HI>I have cea&s;ed from crying and throbbing, as at the Mother's command the Child doth, who although weaned, can without Sollicitude yield and conform to the Mother's Direction and Provi&s;ion.</HI></P>
<P>Thus the Compari&s;on is fitly &s;quared, As a Child is in quiet and order with its Mother, &s;o is my Soul with me: (As the <HI>Jewi&s;h, Arab.</HI> notes the Repetition to import) <HI>I have weaned it from Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions: Non arrogavi mihi magna, mirabilia, inconce&s;&s;a, inhone&s;ta,</HI> as the fir&s;t Ver&s;e intimates; and this whole P&s;alm, &s;aith <HI>Grotius,</HI> &s;avours much of a Go&s;pel Spirit, as of that gracious and mode&s;t Di&s;po&s;ition with which <HI>David</HI> was endowed, eminently, &s;o as to make him be &s;tiled, <HI>After God's own Heart.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<PB N="58" REF="38">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _NO,<NOTE PLACE="marg">For <HI>Inno|cents</HI> day.</NOTE> Lord! I do not look too high, tho to this lof&spcDash;ty pitch I fly, to &s;eek thy Throne and Ma&spcDash;je&spcDash;&s;ty. No Earthly Crown do I de&spcDash;&s;ign, nor as my Sov'raign's Son to &s;hine; my &s;ole Am&spcDash;bi&spcDash;tion's to be thine.</P>
<PB N="59" REF="38">
<LG>
<L>(Like <HI>Beth&s;hemites</HI>) I dare not pry</L>
<L>In things for me too Great, too High;</L>
<L>My Heart is humble as mine Eye.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>But the proud Foe my Heart mi&s;took,</L>
<L>Whil&s;t I his Frowns did fairly brook,</L>
<L>Without returning one Ill look.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>I &s;oon lay quiet, to control</L>
<L>The froward Pa&s;&s;ions, that did roll</L>
<L>Like Waves, about to move my Soul.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>My Soul is hu&s;h't; like a wean'd Child,</L>
<L>That from the Mother's &s;ight exil'd,</L>
<L>To any thing's &s;trait reconcil'd:</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>And &s;urely I my &s;elf behave</L>
<L>Like a wi&s;e Man, while thus I crave</L>
<L>Like a weak Child, what I would have.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>May <HI>I&s;r'el</HI> do, as I have done,</L>
<L>(To all things here indiff'rent grown)</L>
<L>Tru&s;t always &mdash; But in <HI>God alone.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>May <HI>I&s;r'el</HI> do, as we, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>Give Glory, Prai&s;e, Dominion,</HI></L>
<L><HI>To God the Father, with the Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And Spirit, thrice Ble&s;s'd Three in One.</HI></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<HEAD>Sicut erat in Principio, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>Now let us all the Lord adore,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who is the &s;ame as heretofore,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And &s;hall be King for evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>HOSANNA.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<PB N="60" REF="39" MS="y">
<HEAD>Another VERSION of P&s;alm CXXXI.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">[<HI>To be &s;ung as Mr.</HI> George Sandys <HI>Paraphra&s;e,</HI> P&s;al. 1.]</HEAD>
<L>_LORD,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.21, 22. <HI>Acts</HI> 13.22.</NOTE> I'le prelude to my Lord's humble&s;t part,</L>
<L>That I may be the Man <HI>after thine Heart;</HI></L>
<L>I hate proud Looks, and glance not up an Eye</L>
<L>At things too hard, too hidden, or too high.</L>
<L>But as a Child, whom its kind Mother weans,</L>
<L>(Loving the Brea&s;t) yet on her Bo&s;om leans,</L>
<L>I hold me at thy Hand; nor once repine,</L>
<L>But quietly repo&s;e, receive, re&s;ign:</L>
<L>Wi&s;hing our <HI>I&s;r'el</HI> thus may tru&s;t God &s;till,</L>
<L>And frame their State according to thy Will.</L>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="61" REF="39">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Twelfth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXXI. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Thou Son of <HI>David!</HI> of whom we ought to learn to be <HI>Meek and Lowly,</HI> let us &s;ee what kind of Di&s;ciples we are by regarding our dear Ma&s;ter, and find what Proficients in thy School by minding the Copy thou ha&s;t &s;et us: There appeared not the lea&s;t glance of Pride, Arrogance, or Self-love, in thy Behaviour; there was not the lea&s;t Root of Bitterne&s;s in thy Brea&s;t, for thou came&s;t to Attone the fir&s;t Sin of our fir&s;t Parents; and &s;o for all thou wert exalted far above all that are here called Gods, yet thy Spirit was not haughty (as <HI>Lucifer</HI>'s) nor thine Eyes lift up to the forbidden Fruit.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mark</HI> 13, 32.</NOTE> Thou wert willing to be ignorant (as Man) of tho&s;e things which did not befit Men to pry nicely into, that thou mighte&s;t &s;toop to the weakne&s;&s;es of thy Body the Church, and comply more ab&s;olutely with the divine Will, and Compa&s;&s;ionate more &s;eri&s;ibly the Infirmities or Ignorances of Mankind. O mo&s;t gra|cious conde&s;cending <HI>Je&s;us!</HI> how were thy Delights among the Chil|dren of Men! while thou did&s;t not behave thy &s;elf like a <HI>Simon Magus,</HI> like an Impo&s;tor that would be admired for &s;ome God below; but, like thy Servant <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> did&s;t vail thy &s;elf, that thou mighte&s;t be con|ver&s;ed withall, and did&s;t not walk too much ob&s;cured by thine own Lu&s;tre and Tran&s;cendency, but did&s;t leave the Doctors and Learned <HI>Jews</HI> to go down with thy humble Mother into <HI>Galilee,</HI> and to be &s;ub|ject unto her as a weaned Child. And though thou woulde&s;t not exerci&s;e thy &s;elf in things too high for thee, yet, O! how low woulde&s;t thou appear in thy Employments? How plain in thy Countenance? how ea&s;ie and affable in thy Conver&s;ation? that Publicans and Sinners, and little Children, might come unto thee, and hear thy excellent Di&s;cour&s;es, and ta&s;te thy miraculous Provi&s;ions, while thou wente&s;t about doing good, and telling Men that they &s;hould follow thy &s;teps in being meek, humble, quiet, and contented, doing Good, readily &s;uf|fering Evil patiently as dear Children.</P>
<P>Lord! How then &s;hould we abhor our &s;elves, when we either think of thee, or of our &s;elves! How unlike are we become to thee, if we claim any Kindred with thee! For do we not &s;till continue, like <HI>Levia|than,</HI> among the Sons of Pride? Do we &s;eem little in our own Eyes, as thy Servant <HI>David</HI> did, when thou did&s;t make him a great King? Or rather do we not lift up our Wills and Under&s;tandings, and walk with a &s;tiff Neck of Perver&s;ne&s;s in oppo&s;ition to thee, as it were, aiming even at Heaven it &s;elf, like the Tail of the old Serpent? So far are we from receiving the Kingdom of Heaven like little Children!
<PB N="62" REF="40" MS="y">But, O! when then &s;hall it once be that we &s;hall not be High-minded, but fear, and love, and own thee to be Lord over us? Then &s;hall we not ra&s;hly venture with <HI>Uzzah</HI> to meddle with tho&s;e things which are unmeet for us, or forbidden to us; but we &s;hall be weaned from our Mother Earth, from the love of this dirty World, and from loving its foul Inclinations; and we &s;hall ca&s;t our Cares and Affairs on thee, renouncing all Self-Tru&s;ts or Conceits, to level the face of our Souls before the feet of the holy <HI>Je&s;us;</HI> that when thou come&s;t, O mo&s;t holy Spirit! to <HI>prepare the way of the Lord</HI> in us, he may find no Rock nor Mountain, nothing too hard or haughty in us, nothing untractable or inacce&s;&s;ible to ob&s;truct or oppo&s;e his Progre&s;s. But, O! let the too mighty Elevations of my vain Thoughts be brought down, and the crooked ways of my Heart be made &s;trait, and the rough ways of my Condition be made &s;mooth, that my Soul may be &s;till quiet with me, and &s;till'd and quietted by thee. Rebuke the tempe&s;tuous Motions of a froward Mind, that I may repo&s;e my &s;elf &s;weetly and &s;afely on thy Promi&s;es, on thy Provi&s;ions, and re&s;ign my &s;elf wholly to thy In&s;pirations: And God grant that all thine <HI>I&s;rael</HI> may (like <HI>Jacob</HI>) wra&s;tle with Principalities and Powers, even in the highe&s;t and mo&s;t heavenly Things; and though never &s;o much in a Night of Cares and darke&s;t perplexities, or to encounter with enraged Enemies, yet let them wait and hope on the Lord, and &s;tay and &s;trengthen them&s;elves on their God (as <HI>David</HI> did at <HI>Ziklag,</HI>) for he is a &s;ure Reward, and a con&s;tant Reward, a Pillar of Fire, and a Pillar of a Cloud, a Sun, and a Shield, in who&s;e Name we ought to tru&s;t, denying our own Conje|ctures, Affections, and De&s;ires, rather than an ab&s;olute Dependance on him for ever and ever. <HI>AMEN.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="63" REF="40">
<HEAD>THE THIRTEENTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXII. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Is a Narration of <HI>David</HI>'s Devotion, and of God's Promi&s;es and Appointment; as to <HI>David</HI> and his Seed, and the &s;etling of the Ark on <HI>Sion;</HI> which was a Type of the &s;tability of Chri&s;t's Kingdom, and of the future Felicities of his Servants, in the Reign of the Son of <HI>David,</HI> (the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> the Horn &s;poken of here in Ver&s;e <HI>17,</HI> as the <HI>Rabbins</HI> agree) which the Apo&s;tle proves, <HI>Acts 2.30.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore it was &s;olemnly u&s;ed at the Rebuilding of <HI>Jeru&s;a|lem,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Chron. 6.41, 42. Deut. 12.11. 1 Chron. 17.11, 12.</NOTE> and mo&s;t probably (as <HI>Grotius</HI> thinks) a compo&s;ition of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s at his rai&s;ing of the Temple for the Honour of God, and the Place; containing in it part of <HI>Solomon</HI>'s Prayer, part of God's Promi&s;e to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and to <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P>But <HI>Kimchi</HI> and others think it made by <HI>David,</HI> at that very time,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron. 21.26. 1 Chron. 22.1.</NOTE> when the &s;cituation of the future Temple was mira|culou&s;ly &s;hewn unto him (as it is hinted in the word <HI>Invenimus</HI>) by the Sign from Heaven.</P>
<P>For as <HI>David</HI> was ab&s;olutely forbidden the building of a Temple, &s;o 'till the Prophet <HI>Gad</HI> came to him with a Divine Command,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Chron. 17.12.</NOTE> <HI>That he &s;hould build an Altar in the Thre&s;hing-Floor of Araunah:</HI> (For all his great de&s;ire, like <HI>Abraham</HI>'s, to &s;ee &s;uch a glorious Day, and notwith&s;tanding his Devotion, like <HI>Jacob,</HI> to the Service of God) yet he knew not the place that God would chu&s;e, as his Heaven upon Earth, for his mo&s;t eminent and
<PB N="64" REF="41" MS="y">&s;uitable Habitation. Therefore his Care and Concern chiefly refle|cting on his Vows here made were the more con&s;iderable, and might well be &s;tiled <HI>Afflictions,</HI> worthy to be Commemorated as well as his former Per&s;ecutions. His con&s;tant Humility, Meek|ne&s;s, pious Sollicitude, and Affection for God's Service, demon|&s;trated in <HI>2 Sam. 7.2.</HI> and <HI>1 Chron. 17.16.</HI> and all the&s;e &s;en&s;es the word <HI>Afflictions</HI> will bear, as I have &s;hewn in my Ver&s;ion.</P>
<P>Where al&s;o I have endeavoured to be as clear as I could in the Expo&s;ition of that dark place of the &s;ixth Ver&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Hic ver&s;us plurimum Hebraeos fatigat. in|quit clarius.</NOTE> which by &s;ome Commentators (like the <HI>Jewi&s;h Arab.</HI> here) is render'd much more &s;hady and ob&s;cure; &s;o that the Elegant <HI>Ca&s;talio</HI> was forced to confe&s;s, That he under&s;tood not the meaning of the Text, <HI>viz.</HI> Ver&s;e <HI>6.</HI> Therefore herein (as all along) by the help of the Crities, with the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the Learned <HI>Hammond</HI> and <HI>De Muys,</HI> I &s;trive to &s;um up briefly as much of the &s;en&s;e as my Ver&s;e and Knowledge will give me leave to do.</P>
<P>Yet I cannot omit <HI>Buchanan</HI>'s Ver&s;ion of this hard Sentence, which is as &s;ingular, as his Paraphra&s;e el&s;ewhere is excellent.</P>
<Q><LG>
<L>Fama licet Patriae multum promitteret orae,</L>
<L>Inter &s;axa tamen Sylve&s;tribus ob&s;ita dumis:</L>
<L>Mon&s;travit Deus ip&s;e locum, Deus ip&s;e perenne</L>
<L>Hic Templum; Templique &s;acris &s;edem innuitarie</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Though Fame hath promis'd much to <HI>Judah</HI>'s Coa&s;t</L>
<L>By the Ark's &s;tay, (whereof our Towns may boa&s;t;)</L>
<L>Yet God him&s;elf hath &s;hown, and we have found</L>
<L>Old Prophecies, (which did at <HI>Bethlem</HI> &s;ound,</L>
<L>Fulfill'd on woody Hills. &mdash;</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>&mdash; where the Ark &s;tood,</L>
<L>Or where it was to &s;tand, high as a Wood.)</L>
</LG></Q>
<P>For the Woods of the Field, or the Fields of the Wood, may be taken as for the Hou&s;e of <HI>Aminadab</HI> in the Hill of <HI>Kiriath|jarim,</HI> which was a City in a woody place, from whence <HI>David</HI>
<PB N="65" REF="41">and all <HI>I&s;rael</HI> fetch'd the Ark from the Hou&s;e of <HI>Obed-Edom:</HI> So for the City of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and e&s;pecially the Mount <HI>Moriah,</HI> which was a clo&s;e Covert in <HI>Abraham</HI>'s time, witne&s;s the Ram caught in the Thicket; and was afterwards more adorned with Wood when the Temple was built thereon: This being frequently by the Prophets called <GAP DESC="foreign">, the <HI>Wood;</HI> as <HI>Bethlechem,</HI> the place of Bread, is al&s;o called <HI>Ephratah,</HI> viz. <HI>Fruitful.</HI></P>
<P>It was the City of <HI>David,</HI> where he might learn from his pious Ance&s;tors, that neither <HI>Silo,</HI> nor <HI>Gibeon,</HI> nor <HI>Nob,</HI> but <HI>Mo|riah,</HI> (which was a part of Mount <HI>Sion,</HI> and here by way of Eminency bears the name of the whole Hill) &s;hould be the chief place of wor&s;hipping the <HI>Mighty God of Jacob.</HI></P>
<P>God is &s;o called here, becau&s;e he calls him&s;elf the <HI>Almighty,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 35.10, 11. Gen. 49.24. Gen. 28.20.</NOTE> when he named <HI>Jacob, I&s;rael;</HI> and <HI>Jacob</HI> fir&s;t calls God &s;o, and is the fir&s;t of all the Patriarchs who is mentioned to have vowed a Vow; as the mo&s;t ancient <HI>Rabbi Abahu</HI> notes: <HI>Non dicitur, vovit forti</HI> Abraham, <HI>aut forti</HI> I&s;aac, <HI>&s;ed forti</HI> Jacob, <HI>quod primus omnium vovit</HI> Jacob <HI>votum dicendo, &amp;c. Dicendo quid? Dicendo omnibus, &s;eu docendo omnes, vovendum e&s;&s;e in Calamitatibus.</HI></P>
<P>But I think it a fine Dream of the <HI>Rabbins,</HI> who &s;ay,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Quam Ter|ribilis e&s;t i&s;te Locu? erit Bethel; <HI>i. e.</HI> Domus Dei, &s;eu Domus O|rationis, (Dixit) Quandoqui|dem vidi h&ocirc;c ip&s;o in loco aedifi|catum iri Templum. 2 Sam. 24.16, 17.</NOTE> <HI>Jacob</HI> is here mentioned, becau&s;e (in his &s;leep) when he &s;aw tho&s;e Degrees which reach'd Heaven, he had a Vi&s;ion of the Temple that <HI>Solo|mon</HI> built; and being amazed at the Maje&s;ty thereof, &s;peaks of it, and not of <HI>Bethel.</HI></P>
<P>And <HI>David</HI> (as they &s;ay) made the Vow, mentioned in this P&s;alm, when the Plague was &s;tayed at the Thre&s;hing-Floor of the <HI>Jebu&s;ite,</HI> and notice given him where the Temple &s;hould be built, (as I have noted before.)</P>
<P>Thus much may &s;uffice by way of Argument, becau&s;e I have wrote more in Annotations upon this P&s;alm, it being the longe&s;t and mo&s;t difficult of my undertaking: Therefore I would be excu|&s;ed by the more Critical and Learned Reader, if the pains I took
<PB N="66" REF="42">do neither plea&s;e nor profit him in the full under&s;tanding, or explai|ning the &s;en&s;e hereof; becau&s;e the&s;e Notes were not intended to nau&s;eate the public with Crambes, but to inform tho&s;e, who are of as low rank in knowledge as my &s;elf.</P>
<P>Having put the word <HI>Shechinah</HI> in the Margin of my Ver&s;es, I was once asked, why I did &s;o? Therefore I here give the rea&s;on, becau&s;e I look on that Petition of the P&s;almi&s;t in the tenth Ver&s;e, <HI>Janus</HI>-like, with two Faces, and mo&s;t fit for <HI>Solomon</HI> to make, who built both the Temple, and a place, on purpo&s;e to wor&s;hip to|wards the holie&s;t of Holies, as if he had in this manner uttered his Mind.</P>
<P>O! let me never prove &s;o Idolatrous, as to turn away to other Gods, from this place of Wor&s;hipping towards thy holy Temple (toward the <HI>Shechinah,</HI> the &s;pecial place of thy Pre&s;ence,) nor let me prove &s;o rejected by thee, as in thine Anger to be ca&s;t out from before thee; but do thou impower me here to make thy Pre&s;ence, and to meet with thy Favours in my Wor&s;hip and Ado|ration of thee.</P>
<P>Then I have doubly render'd the la&s;t Ver&s;e, becau&s;e of the fulne&s;s of the Word <HI>(Induam),</HI> I'le cloath or put on, or throw on, as the<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">.</NOTE> <HI>Retiarii</HI> did their Nets over the <HI>Secutores,</HI> i. e. pub|lickly in the &s;ight of all Men, by covering and overwhelming them to di&s;grace and de&s;troy them.</P>
<P>And this <HI>Induam</HI> is put in oppo&s;ition to the cloathing of &s;uch Men,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ver&s;. 9, 10.</NOTE> who having Truth and Righteou&s;ne&s;s vi&s;ibly about them, (as it were, their Rayment) &s;hall be manife&s;tly pre&s;erved and adorned thereby, as Judges by their Robes, through the over-ruling Pro|vidence and Tuition of the Almighty.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<PB N="67" REF="42">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _LOrd!<NOTE PLACE="marg">For <HI>Chri&s;t|mas</HI> day, as it is appoin|ted by the Church.</NOTE> think on him whom thou did&s;t find, the Man ac&spcDash;cor&spcDash;ding to thy Mind; who could for thee with all things part: With his Wives love, and his own State, that on thy Ser&spcDash;vice he might wait. Remember <HI>Da&spcDash;vid</HI>'s humble Heart.</P>
<PB N="68" REF="43">
<LG>
<L>Think on his Hand that brings thee Prai&s;e,</L>
<L>Strikes down thy Foes, ill Spirits lays,</L>
<L>And Gifts and Mu&s;ick doth afford:<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 17.49 16.16</NOTE></L>
<L>Though he did right,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.19. 6.16. 6.21.</NOTE> he had much wrong,</L>
<L>Ev'n while he brought thy Ark along:</L>
<L>Remember <HI>David</HI>'s Troubles, Lord.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Think on the King, and on his Care,</L>
<L>Who for thy Place did well prepare;</L>
<L>Lord Ble&s;s his Heir,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Chr.</HI> 22.3. 4.5. 28.14 5. 2. 15.1.</NOTE> build up his Hou&s;e:</L>
<L>He would have &s;et, and trimm'd up thine,</L>
<L>Lord! ble&s;s our acting his De&s;ign.</L>
<L>Remember <HI>David,</HI> and his Vows.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Thus &s;aid he,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 5.9.</NOTE> when he took his Oath,</L>
<L>To <HI>Jacob</HI>'s God I plight my Troth,</L>
<L>Though I am &s;afe in my new Forts:</L>
<L>I will not &s;leep, nor there &s;it &s;till,</L>
<L>'Till the Ark re&s;ts on <HI>Zion</HI>'s Hill,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 7.2.</NOTE></L>
<L>And from its<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Tabernacula.</NOTE> Curtains comes to<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">&V;&s;us e&s;t numero mul|titudinis, ad plures Templi partes indicandas; nam in Templo (inquit <HI>Kimchi</HI>) crant Domus tres.</NOTE> Courts.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>My Hou&s;e (though built) &s;hall not be<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">It &s;hall not be De|dicated, and &s;o not dwelt in 'till Con&s;ecrated; as the <HI>Jews</HI> did ever &s;ome part of their Hou&s;e for &s;pecial Wor&s;hip.</NOTE> Ble&s;t;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 19.15, 16.</NOTE></L>
<L>My Bed &s;hall yield me no more<NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg">Tandem tam long&egrave; abe&s;t ut ego &s;im dormitu|rus; ut ne oculis quidem mictaturus &s;im.</NOTE> Re&s;t,</L>
<L>Than when 'twas &s;earched for no good:</L>
<L>'Till here (with ours) God's Seat is found,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Chron.</HI> 13.5, 6.</NOTE></L>
<L>Being with lofty Cedars crown'd,</L>
<L>In&s;tead of <HI>Kiriath-jearim</HI>'s Wood.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>For in the Woods we lately found<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 7.1.</NOTE></L>
<L>Joys, which to <HI>Abram</HI>'s Hill may &s;ound,</L>
<L>When God &s;hall there be &s;een again;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gen.</HI> 22.13. 1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 16.1. <HI>Mic.</HI> 5.2.</NOTE></L>
<L>As fir&s;t at <HI>Bethlem</HI> we did hear</L>
<L>How glorious all his Goings were,</L>
<L>Up to the Mountams from the Plain.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>And while God comes with the glad Throng,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cant.</HI> 2.8. <HI>Rev.</HI> 14.1. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 114.4.</NOTE></L>
<L>In ev'ry place we hear this Song,</L>
<L>See, &s;ee, where our Beloved goes:</L>
<L>That he may &s;tand on <HI>Sion</HI> &s;till,</L>
<L>Look how he leaps from Hill to Hill,</L>
<L>And makes us skip for joy, like Roes.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="69" REF="43">
<LG>
<L>Come,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>John.</HI> 2.22.</NOTE> let's to <HI>Sion</HI> march along</L>
<L>In order, (le&s;t we Wor&s;hip wrong)</L>
<L>After the Ark our Cour&s;e is bent:<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Numb.</HI> 10.33, 35, 36.</NOTE></L>
<L>We'll wor&s;hip with the &s;olemn Cries,</L>
<L>Ri&s;e, Lord! unto thy Re&s;t ari&s;e,</L>
<L>Ri&s;e to a Temple from a Tent.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>The Train &s;hall &s;hout,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Chr.</HI> 15.27.</NOTE> and &s;o will I,</L>
<L>The Choir &s;hall rai&s;e their Voices high;</L>
<L>The Prie&s;ts &s;hall &s;hew the Sanctity</L>
<L>Both of thy Per&s;on, and their Place,</L>
<L>By being cloath'd with Righteou&s;ne&s;s:<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chr.</HI> 6.12, 13.</NOTE></L>
<L>And thine Anointed thou &s;halt ble&s;s,</L>
<L>Nor from thy<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Or <HI>Favour.</HI> See <HI>Grego|ry</HI>'s Notes on the word.</NOTE> Pre&s;ence turn his Face.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Oh!<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.21.</NOTE> never turn from us thy Face,</L>
<L>For <HI>David</HI>'s &s;ake, love <HI>David</HI>'s Race;</L>
<L>Do not his Stock (as <HI>Saul</HI>'s) di&s;own:</L>
<L>Since, if his Sons thy Laws obey,</L>
<L>Thou,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chr.</HI> 9.17.</NOTE> Lord, ha&s;t &s;worn his<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">De fructu Ventris tui, quoniam uterus &V;xoris cum omni &s;uo fructu ad Mari|tum pertinet.</NOTE> Seed &s;hall &s;way,</L>
<L>And here for ever have a Throne.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>For here hath God his Favour &s;hown,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 6.12.13.</NOTE></L>
<L>And cho&s;e our Dwellings for his own;</L>
<L>He will not &s;tay with <HI>Edom</HI><NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">Neither with <HI>Edom</HI> whom he hated; nor <HI>Obed Edom</HI> whom he ble&s;&s;ed.</NOTE> &s;till,</L>
<L>But his Provi&s;ions &s;hall ble&s;s ours,</L>
<L>Since on the Rich he dainty's &s;how'rs,</L>
<L>And can with Bread the Hungry fill.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Here will I &s;it, &s;aith God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Chr.</HI> 6.41.</NOTE> and Carve</L>
<L>To each poor Soul,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Significare vult apertam &amp; ma|nife&s;tam &s;alu|tem quae omni|bus pateat, cum &s;acerdotes &s;alu|te qua&s;i ve&s;te circumdarentur; qui nunquam deerint gratia|rum repetenda|rum Officio.</NOTE> that none may &s;tarve;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Victum eis (non vidu|am) benedicam.</NOTE></L>
<L>All Wants I will &s;o far &s;upply,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, as the 72 Interp. will ren|der it, which properly &s;ignifies <HI>Veni&s;on</HI> (a dain|ty indeed,) but it im|plies more largely any <HI>Victuals</HI> or <HI>Provi&s;ions.</HI></NOTE></L>
<L>That a large Alb of Thankfulne&s;s</L>
<L>Shall be my Prie&s;t's perpetual Dre&s;s,</L>
<L>And Saints &s;hall &s;et their Joys on high.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>On high &s;hall <HI>David</HI> &s;ee my Love,</L>
<L>As here in <HI>Sion;</HI> &s;o above,</L>
<L>Like <HI>Aaron</HI>'s Rod, &s;hall bud his<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">His Royal Dignity, Power, and Off &s;pring. 1 <HI>King.</HI> 11.36.</NOTE> Horn:</L>
<L><NOTE N="&dagger;" PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, which my&s;tically re|fers to Chri&s;t. <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 4.2.</NOTE>Glory's own Lamp lights up his Line,</L>
<L>And on his Head my Crown &s;hall &s;hine;</L>
<L>But on his Foes I'le<NOTE N="&Verbar;" PLACE="marg">Haud &s;ecus ac Re|tiarii; ut &s;upra in Com|ment.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<PB N="70" REF="44">
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>Glory be to the Father, Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And Holy-Gho&s;t, the Three in One,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Whom as one Being we adore:</HI></L>
<L><HI>Tho ev'ry Per&s;on of the Three</HI></L>
<L><HI>For ever was, &s;hall ever be,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And is, God Ble&s;&s;ed evermore.</HI></L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>AMEN.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="71" REF="44">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Thirteenth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXXII. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Lord God! that thou maye&s;t the more graciou&s;ly con&s;ider us and our Affairs, Remember our Lord <HI>Je&s;us</HI> we be&s;eech thee, and all his Afflictions, all his Humblings, all his Troubles, his Cares, and Loves, and Pa&s;&s;ions for us: look how through the whole Volume of thy Book it is written of him, That he &s;hould fulfill thy Will, O God! and therefore he begger'd him&s;elf &s;o far as to be born of the Stock and Lineage of <HI>David,</HI> that he might perform the Promi&s;e he had made, not to fail his People, but to become their Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and their Redemption; and &s;o though <HI>the Foxes had holes, and the Birds of the Air ne&s;ts, he would not have where to lay his Head:</HI> Neither would he give &s;leep to his Eyes, but would be walking, and watching, and praying, whole Nights together, that he might be doing good to us, for us, in us, and with us, that here again in this ba&s;e Earth and World of ours, he might find out an Ha|bitation for the Mighty God, and a place where his holy Dove might re&s;t. Grant then, O glorious Lord! that all his Labours and De&s;ires, his Endeavours and good Will concerning us may not be fru&s;trated, but let us be built up a Spiritual Hou&s;e upon him, and be ble&s;t in our Undertakings through him unto thy Glory; that as we have been directed, &s;o we may go on (not &s;tand &s;till) to &s;ee thy Salvation, and to wor&s;hip thy Goodne&s;s, which doth ari&s;e with healing under its Wings for us, as a Hen, and as an Eagle, to cure, to carry, to &s;ecure and feed us, to make our Natures thy Abode, our Hearts thy San|ctuary, our Souls the re&s;ting Place, both for thee, and the Ark of thy Strength; and all this, to what purpo&s;e? but for our Advantage, (not thine) that we might be a Cho&s;en Generation, a Royal Prie&s;t|hood, cloathed with Chri&s;t's Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and cover'd with thy Comeline&s;s, which inve&s;ts us with all Peace and Joy through the Holy Gho&s;t.</P>
<P>O therefore! let us lift up our Hearts with Love, and Prai&s;e, and Comfort, in believing, tru&s;ting, and begging, for thy Son's &s;ake, that neither our Faces may be turned from thee to go a Whoring after other things (that are not God, nor indeed good), nor let the face of thine Anointed be turned &s;o away from us, as not to know us at the la&s;t Day.</P>
<P>No, ble&s;&s;ed Lord! grant us &s;uch an intere&s;t in our dear Redeemer, as that we may have a Title to thy Favour, and be able to put thee in mind how thou ha&s;t &s;worn, and wilt not fail unto thy well-beloved Son, that of the Fruit of his Body thou wilt &s;et upon the Throne, and ha&s;t promi&s;ed to all true Believers (his Servants,) that if they keep thy Covenant, they and their Children &s;hall Reign with thee for
<PB N="72" REF="45">ever, and find new cau&s;e of rejoycing in thee, who ha&s;t cho&s;en the Sons of Men for thy <HI>Zion,</HI> and de&s;ired their enlarged Souls for thy re&s;tful Habitation, and chief Delight!</P>
<P>But when &s;hall we come to this Joy un&s;peakable, and full of Glory? When we have with patience waited on thy good plea&s;ure, and not fainted in our expectation of thy faithfulne&s;s, then for certain we &s;hall &s;ee thee, abundantly ble&s;&s;ing and rewarding the &s;mall Provi&s;ions made here to &s;erve thee withall, and thou wilt &s;atisfie &s;uch as <HI>hunger and thir&s;t</HI> after thy Kingdom with the Bread of Life, and with the Wells of Salvation, and they &s;hall be array'd like thy Prie&s;ts with Holine&s;s, and &s;hine like Lamps in thy Pre&s;ence for evermore. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P>HElp us, O Mighty God of <HI>Jacob!</HI> to &s;ing no Requiems to our Souls or Conditions here, 'till we have not only heard of thee with the hearing of the Ear, but hearkened unto thee with the attention of the Mind, and come unto thee with the obedience of the Will, finding out a place in our Affections and Under&s;tandings where thou maye&s;t dwell, that thou maye&s;t hereafter prepare a Man&s;ion for us, even in thy Hou&s;e, O Father!</P>
<P>And with us be mindful of all Degrees among&s;t us, from <HI>David</HI> upon the Throne, to <HI>Job</HI> upon the Dunghill; be good unto them in all their Cares, Vows, Prayers, Devotions, and Afflictions, accor|ding to the multitude of thy mo&s;t tender Mercies, and comfortable Promi&s;es: Let the King rejoyce in thy &s;trength, O Lord! and do thou make his Power to flouri&s;h, and his Righteou&s;ne&s;s to blo&s;&s;om like the Rod of <HI>Aaron;</HI> ordain a lu&s;tre of Honour and Happine&s;s for him and his Hou&s;e for evermore; let not his Candle go out in ob&s;curity, nor quench the Light of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> but let his Enemies be inveloped with di&s;grace and di&s;appointments, and cloath thy Prie&s;ts, and our Church of <HI>England,</HI> with Honour, Pro&s;perity, and perfect Redemption, that the Horn of <HI>David</HI> may bud among&s;t us, and the Power of Godline&s;s &s;hoot forth every where in our Land, in the great City, in Princes Courts, and in thy Hou&s;e and ours, &s;o that thou maye&s;t have Mercy on <HI>Zion,</HI> and repair the breaches of thy <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> while &s;he that &s;ate Di&s;con&s;olate as a Widow may now be fea&s;ted with Bread from Heaven, with the <HI>Manna</HI> of Divine Ordinances duly admini&s;tred; &s;o that no Soul among&s;t us may go empty away, but that even he who gathers lea&s;t may have no lack.<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 16.18.</NOTE></P>
<P>Lord! thou can&s;t make thy holy Viands, like <HI>David</HI>'s Provi&s;ion at the Pa&s;&s;over, be dealt &s;o plentifully to every one, as that none &s;hall be unprovided for, or a&s;hamed, who depend like <HI>Ruth</HI> upon thy Bounty; but they who de&s;pi&s;e thee &s;hall be wrapt up in Confu&s;ion as in a Cloak</P>
<P>Therefore let thy Servants joy in thy Salvation, and all our People know the Lord, acknowledging his Goodne&s;s and his Bounty that ble&s;&s;es the Abundance of the Rich, and fills the Hungry with good things, that both may have Bread enough, and neither want nor repine, but &s;eek their Food of God, while he makes tho&s;e that depart wickedly from him to continue in &s;hame and &s;carcity.</P>
<P>Ah! that we may &s;tand in a we and not &s;in, le&s;t we inherit the pro|motion of Fools, in&s;tead of the Kingdom and Crown of <HI>David;</HI> &s;o provide for us, gracious Ma&s;ter, in every &s;tate and condition, as may &s;eem be&s;t to thy God-like Wi&s;dom, and prove mo&s;t to thine Eternal Glory, if not to ours, O! <HI>Our Father,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="73" REF="45">
<HEAD>THE FOURTEENTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXIII. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Was compo&s;ed by <HI>David</HI> (as &s;ome think) at his Coronation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 5. 1 Chr. 1. 2 Pet. 1.7. 1 Sam. 17.29. 1 Sam. 18. 2 Sam. 1. 2 Sam. 3. 2 Sam. 10. &amp; 9. &amp; 18. &amp;c.</NOTE> after his eight years Civil War, to exhort the People to Love and Amity, according to the exhortation of the Apo&s;tle, for tho&s;e were the Graces which did mo&s;t adorn his Life, both when a public and a private Per&s;on; and &s;o this P&s;ahn, as the next, was fitted for the mo&s;t Solemn Times of Wor&s;hip, and the happy Return from Bondage and Captivity, becau&s;e it magni|fies the pious Accord, Uniformity, and Ble&s;&s;ed Communion of the Church of God in all Times.</P>
<P>It Celebrates the Excellencies of Love, both in and towards God and Man; it reflects much Joy from the Con&s;ideration of the My&s;ti|cal Union between Chri&s;t and his Members, whom he owns as Bre|thren, who &s;hall live, and live together al&s;o with him, though he is their High Prie&s;t, Rock, and Prince, according to the mo&s;t apt Compari&s;ons of the holy Oyl, and high-born Dew; which Similies,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In <HI>Zoroba|bel,</HI> and <HI>Jo|&s;hua,</HI> Types of the <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah.</HI></NOTE> as well as the Subject, were &s;o well calculated to the Time, when there was a Prince and an High Prie&s;t re&s;tored again to <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> that it is no wonder we find it placed among the Graduals.</P>
<P>Some apply it to all the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> Love one towards another, who were Brethren of the &s;ame Stock (as we are all in <HI>Adam;</HI>) and likewi&s;e to their Love of their Ruler, who was higher than the re&s;t, (as was &s;hewn in <HI>Saul</HI>) like Mount <HI>Hermon</HI> and <HI>Sion,</HI> more advancing than other Hills: Therefore to animate us with the like affections towards our Brethren, Parents, and Superiours, they &s;ay, the Prie&s;t's Ble&s;&s;ing is compared to the Sacred Oyl, and the Prince's Favour to the fruitful Dew, (according to that expre&s;&s;ion of the Wi&s;e&s;t of Kings) which de&s;cends from the highe&s;t to the lowe&s;t, and is both plea&s;ant and profitable to all;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 19.12.</NOTE> as the Heathen Poet <HI>Meander</HI> (once quoted by St. <HI>Paul</HI> him&s;elf) could &s;ay,</P>
<Q><GAP DESC="foreign">.</Q>
<PB N="74" REF="46">
<P>Some of the <HI>Rabbins</HI> think it a particular Eulogy of the Con|cord and Conformity among the Prie&s;ts in their Religious Exerci&s;es; and therefore mention is made of <HI>Aaron</HI> the <HI>mo&s;t Anointed</HI> of the Lord (as he may be termed, rather than <HI>chief Anointed,</HI>) becau&s;e mo&s;t Oyl was expended on him.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _BE&spcDash;hold how plea&spcDash;&s;ant 'tis!<NOTE PLACE="marg">For Saint <HI>George</HI>'s, or <HI>All-Saints</HI> Day.</NOTE> how good! But, O! how rare, and hard to find, Brethren, of the &s;ame Hou&s;e and Blood, be&spcDash;come of the &s;ame way and mind.</P>
<PB N="75" REF="46">
<LG>
<L>Like <HI>Samp&s;on</HI>'s Honey, &s;trong and &s;weet,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 14.14.</NOTE></L>
<L>'Tis thus to &s;ee Men's Hearts and Hands,</L>
<L>As <HI>Jonathan</HI>'s and <HI>David</HI>'s meet,</L>
<L>Twi&s;ting together in Love's Bands.<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Sam.</HI> 18.3.</NOTE></L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>When Prince and People &s;o are one,</L>
<L>As that the Oyl, pour'd on his Head,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sam.</HI> 19.39. 5.3. 19.23.</NOTE></L>
<L>Down to the lowe&s;t Limb doth run;</L>
<L>In Grace, and Peace, and Pardon &s;pread.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>'Tis like the precious Ointment &s;hed<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Levit.</HI> 8.12.</NOTE></L>
<L>Upon the High Prie&s;t's hallow'd Crown,</L>
<L>Which both perfum'd his Beard and Head,</L>
<L>And thence upon his Clothes fell down.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Thus have I &s;een Clouds big with Rain</L>
<L>Fir&s;t give their Dews to all the Hills,</L>
<L>And then &s;how'r Wealth on the low Plain</L>
<L>As Friend&s;hip benefits di&s;tills.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>On Friend&s;hip's Fleece God's Love brings down<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Judg.</HI> 6.38, 39.</NOTE></L>
<L>Ble&s;&s;ings, as numberle&s;s as Drops;</L>
<L>Which from Mount <HI>Sion</HI> deck the Town,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Vide</HI> Ham|mond.</NOTE></L>
<L>And cloath the Fields from <HI>Hermon</HI>'s Tops.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>As to the Vale, the&s;e Mountains are;</L>
<L>So to the Weak, the Potent prove</L>
<L>U&s;eful and kind, though di&s;tant far;</L>
<L>Yet center'd, like the World, by Love.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>For all our Comforts come from Love,</L>
<L>By Love, God gives the Happy Life;</L>
<L>That Ble&s;t below, and be&s;t above,</L>
<L>There without end, here without &s;trife.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="76" REF="47">
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri.</HEAD>
<L><HI>Glory to him who makes our Bli&s;s,</HI></L>
<L><HI>To the one God, in Per&s;ons three;</HI></L>
<L><HI>As in beginning was, now is,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And &s;hall be to Eternity.</HI></L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>AMEN.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="77" REF="47" MS="y">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fourteenth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXXIII. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Ble&s;&s;ed Father! who ha&s;t made many of us of one Blood and Kind: O ble&s;&s;ed Saviour! who ha&s;t made us many of one Bread, and one Lump: O ble&s;&s;ed Spirit! who art the Love, both of the Father, and of the Son, &s;hed this abroad into all our Hearts abundantly; look upon us graciou&s;ly, O thou only one, mo&s;t loving and pitying Lord God! that we may look upon thee better (though it be but darkly at the be&s;t) in that Sea of Gla&s;s before the Throne, in that cleare&s;t mirror and reflection of thy favour to Mankind, to wit, in Chri&s;t incarnate, in whom God is mo&s;t won|derfully, wi&s;ely, and kindly &s;een to reconcile the World (what is that but Vilene&s;s, Vanity, and Vexation, Frailty, and a Cur&s;e) unto him&s;elf, that Man might be far more able than he was by the Gla&s;&s;es and Laver of the Tabernacle, both to &s;ee his Spots and Pollutions to get clean from them, and that God might be con&s;ider'd and admired not &s;o much in the broken Gla&s;s of Nature, nor in the blotted Book of the Creature, (which &s;hew us his power and greatne&s;s) as in the Face of a Redeemer, in the Te&s;tament of the holy <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> which mo&s;t plainly, and yet mo&s;t gloriou&s;ly &s;peaks thy Love and Goodne&s;s, and calls for ours; &s;ince if thou ha&s;t &s;o loved this naughty World, and us that help to make it wor&s;e, how ought we to love thee, and al&s;o to love one another?</P>
<P>O how good, as well as how plea&s;ant, a thing it is to know <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> as our Head, and we our &s;elves his Members! This is as &s;weet and u&s;eful as Life it &s;elf, to make our &s;hort Lives here not tedious to our &s;elves or others; nay, this is <HI>Life Eternal,</HI> becau&s;e Charity never fails: We &s;hall have that Grace for all if we are <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> we &s;hall keep it always if we are Saints, for it is Holine&s;s, and will be Happine&s;s; it is the Oyl that from our Head, from our everla&s;ting <HI>Aaron,</HI> falls down to the very Skirts of his Clothing, to revive and refre&s;h the lowe&s;t and mo&s;t humbled Sinner (if believing), and it is that Anointing from above which we mu&s;t not want, e&s;pecially at the la&s;t Article of Life, in the greate&s;t extremities of Temptation, but we mu&s;t carry it along with us into our Father's pre&s;ence; then &s;hall we be in his &s;ight as a Field which the Lord hath ble&s;t, then will he &s;mell the Odour of our elder Brother's Ve&s;t upon us, and we &s;hall inherit the Promi&s;es, and abide in his Love in the participation, and in the propa|gation thereof, Divine Love being the Dew of Heaven that cau&s;es the fruitfulne&s;s of the Earth; it makes us high and white like <HI>Hermon,</HI> plea&s;ant and &s;afe as Mount <HI>Sion;</HI> it makes our Superiours, and the
<PB N="78" REF="48">great ones of the Earth, not to be Rocks of Offence to us, but to be rather, as the &s;hadows of a Rock in a dry Land, needful Supports, convenient Sanctuaries and Refre&s;hments, and it cau&s;es God to com|mand a Ble&s;&s;ing on us from all degrees of People above us, and of conditions round about us. Therefore,</P>
<P>Dear Lord! help us to live in &s;uch Concord and brotherly Kindne&s;s, as that we may be Ble&s;&s;ed from all our Relations, from our Superiours, by having the Oyl of Spiritual Ble&s;&s;ings, and the Dew of Temporal Favours be&s;towed on us, Love and good Will from Equals, Prayers and good Wi&s;hes from Inferiours; being &s;o careful and affectionate, both for thy Prie&s;ts, and for our Princes, as that neither <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> nor <HI>Aaron</HI> may be murmured at, but obeyed by us, and we may be prote|cted and guided by their Hands in the Spirit and Practice of all true Love and Charity, for the honour of our Chri&s;tian Profe&s;&s;ion, and for the glory of thy holie&s;t Name, O <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> our Lord! who live&s;t and reigne&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="79" REF="48" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE FIFTEENTH P&s;alm of Degrees, BEING The CXXXIV. <HI>PSALM,</HI></HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="commentary">
<P>Was compo&s;ed by <HI>David</HI> (<HI>De Muys</HI> thinks) as well as the former, and appointed to put the People in mind of their more &s;olemn Times of Meeting with that pious, charitable, and un&s;potted Souls, with which they ought to approach God; this being an Euge, an incitement to all, who are the Lord's Servants, to be con&s;tant and pure in his Service, as a particular <HI>hoc age</HI> to the Prie&s;ts at the Canonical Hours of Prayer, and &s;tated Times of public Wor&s;hip, to lift up clean Hands, and holy Hearts.</P>
<P>It is a proper Clo&s;e to the preceding Hymns, being often &s;ung at Midnight at the end of the Nocturnal Offices by the <HI>Jews,</HI> and de&s;ign'd by me for the Eves of our greater Fe&s;tivals: It is an Exhor|tation generally directed not only to the Prie&s;ts, who kept the Watch in the Temple, &s;o to the People, who watched these Days and Nights, for many departed not, as you may gather from <HI>P&s;al. 92.2.</HI> and <HI>Luke 2.37.</HI></P>
<P>It &s;eems to me mo&s;t probable, that this P&s;alm was compo&s;ed by <HI>Ezra</HI> the Prie&s;t, or &s;ome of his Time, not only becau&s;e it is the la&s;t of the Graduals, which were accommodated for the Return from Captivity, but becau&s;e it is Dramatic; chiefly concerning the Prie&s;ts, who &s;tand by night in the Hou&s;e of the Lord; or as the <HI>72</HI>^d, in the Courts of the Hou&s;e, which was not built in <HI>David</HI>'s time; and therefore it is not &s;o likely a compo&s;ition of <HI>David</HI>'s, but of <HI>Ezra,</HI> when the holy manner of wor&s;hipping God was re&s;tored, <HI>Ezra 8.6.</HI> and the Prie&s;ts &s;et in their Cour&s;es, <HI>Ver&s;. 7.</HI></P>
<P>In the fir&s;t Ver&s;e of this P&s;alm I &s;hould &s;uppo&s;e the Choir joyning to the Mu&s;ic, and then the Chief Prie&s;t (for that Watch) giving the re&s;t Directions as in the &s;econd Ver&s;e, and they again in the third Ver&s;e ble&s;&s;ing him, (for it is <HI>Ble&s;s thee,</HI> and not <HI>yee</HI>) though in my ver&s;ion I u&s;e the Plural throughout.</P>
<PB N="80" REF="49">
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="metrical Psalm">
<P><GAP DESC="music"> _ALL ye,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A <HI>Nocturnis</HI> for <HI>Chri&s;t|mas</HI> Eve.</NOTE> who God's Do&spcDash;me&spcDash;&s;tics are, &s;ee you, with An&spcDash;gels wait; and in your Cour&s;es, like each Star, by Night &s;hine at Heav'ns Gate.</P>
<LG>
<L>Look while ye &s;tand,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Among the <HI>Jews</HI> the Choir &s;tood, the People kneeled, the High-Prie&s;t &s;ate, and the wa&s;hings of their Hands and Feet (&s;o frequent during the time of their officiating) were call'd <HI>Sanctifications.</HI></NOTE> or kneel, or &s;it,</L>
<L>Ye &s;erve and ble&s;s the Lord;</L>
<L>Look that your Hands God's Altar fit,</L>
<L>And to his Prai&s;e accord.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Look ye be clean, for Holine&s;s</L>
<L>Becomes God's holy Place;</L>
<L>Watch well,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="foreign">, in the 72. is &s;hort of the Ori|ginal, though it means in holy Things, as well as Places, for it &s;ignifies <HI>Holine&s;s</HI> in the Ab&s;tract (<HI>Chri&s;t</HI> typified by the Ark of the Covenant); and &s;uch Holine&s;s in Men as could adapt them for the di&s;charge of their Duty, which is hinted by the Apo&s;tle, 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2.8. And this was &s;ignified by the <HI>Jews</HI> often wa&s;hing their Hands and Feet before their Praying, which was &s;tiled <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>Sanctification: &V;t alibi indigitavi.</HI></NOTE> and Pray, that Filthine&s;s</L>
<L>None of God's Works deface.</L>
</LG>
<LG>
<L>Then God, who made the World, and &s;tays</L>
<L>On <HI>Sion,</HI> Grace &s;hall &s;end;</L>
<L>'Till he &s;hall Ble&s;s, and we &s;hall Prai&s;e,</L>
<L>From hence, World without end.</L>
</LG>
<PB N="81" REF="49">
<LG>
<HEAD>Gloria Patri, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<L><HI>To God the Father, God the Son,</HI></L>
<L><HI>And God the Holy-Gho&s;t,</HI></L>
<L><HI>Be Glory giv'n, by ev'ry one</HI></L>
<L><HI>Who make the Lord their Boa&s;t.</HI></L>
</LG>
<CLOSER>AMEN.</CLOSER>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="prayers">
<PB N="82" REF="50">
<HEAD>CONTEMPLATIONS and COLLECTS ON THE Fifteenth <HI>PSALM</HI> of <HI>DEGREES,</HI> BEING The CXXXIV. PSALM.</HEAD>
<P>O Thou that accepte&s;t not the Per&s;ons of Princes, nor regar|de&s;t the Rich more than the Poor, &s;ince they are all alike the Works of thy Hands! grant that we may not be &s;uch Fools as to forget thee in any time of our quiet, fulne&s;s, or repo&s;e, le&s;t thou come at an Hour when thou art not look'd for by us, and find us unfit for thy Appearance, who can&s;t trouble whole Nations even at Midnight (at a time when we lea&s;t think of Di&s;turbance or Remove), as we have great Examples in the People of <HI>I&s;rael, Egypt,</HI> and <HI>A&s;&s;yria;</HI> for there is not any Darkne&s;s (no not the &s;hadows of Death) where the workers of Iniquity can hide them&s;elves from thine Eyes, though all the Mountains of the World &s;hould cover them; thou beholde&s;t all our Goings, though thy Foot-&s;teps are too little regarded by us.</P>
<P>Therefore let us not think to do mi&s;chief or wrong like the Evil one, who &s;owed Tares while other Men &s;lept; nor to commit Vio|lence or Robbery;<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>King.</HI> 3.20.</NOTE> nor to Defraud or Deceive, like the <HI>Harlot</HI> at Mid|night; but even at that Sea&s;on be Cha&s;t, and Pious, and Charitable, like <HI>Boaz,</HI> denying our &s;elves, and ma&s;tering our Concupi&s;cences, and (like <HI>Samp&s;on</HI> in <HI>Gaza</HI>) di&s;appoint the malice of that implacable Adver&s;ary, who hunts after our Souls, and cea&s;es not, like a Dog, to go about <HI>&s;eeking whom he may devour.</HI></P>
<P>Lord! deliver thou my Darling from his Power, as thou did&s;t St. <HI>Paul,</HI> even at &s;uch a di&s;mal time when I may &s;eem in his very Jaws; then let my Soul e&s;cape and get away, and find a way to &s;erve thee, (as that cho&s;en Ve&s;&s;el did) who could Pray and &s;ing Prai&s;es unto thee even at Midnight; &s;o let us endeavour to wor&s;hip the Lord with holy Wor&s;hip, with clean Hands, and a pure Heart, that we may &s;tand on his holy Hill, and remember in all the Formalities of outward Cleanne&s;s to keep our Spirits pure; and in all our Approaches to thee, to keep our &s;elves un&s;potted of the World; to this end give us inward Holine&s;s, and the Sanctifications both of Heart and Life, that in the darke&s;t hour of Temptation, in the deade&s;t time of Di|&s;tre&s;s, in the cloudie&s;t night of Trouble, or of Agonies, we may lift up our Prai&s;es and Adorations unto thee, who can&s;t &s;end thine Angel (as thou did&s;t once thy Son, at &s;uch a time) to comfort and recover our vile Natures, and to command Deliverances unto thy People, even from thy mo&s;t holy Place.</P>
<PB N="83" REF="50">
<P>O! that we may be of the number of tho&s;e who qualifie them|&s;elves by thy Service for the better di&s;charge of their Duty and thy Will; that having the filthy Garments of our own evil Thoughts, Words, and Actions (like <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI>'s the High-Prie&s;t's) taken off from us, we may not have <HI>Satan</HI> left at our right Hands to accu&s;e or com|mand us, but may &s;ee <HI>Je&s;us</HI> at thy right Hand interceding for us; and being cloathed in the long Robes of his Righteou&s;ne&s;s, we may lift up our Hands in thy Sanctuary, and ble&s;s thee for evermore, who ha&s;t made the Heavens as well as the Sea, for thy Children to adore thee in, O!</P>
<P><HI>Our Father,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="introduction">
<PB N="84" REF="51" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE FIFTEEN P&s;alms of Degrees, OR ASCENTS,</HEAD>
<P>Are &s;o called, becau&s;e they were &s;ung Anthem-wi&s;e by &s;everal Parts of the Choir, with Elevation of Voice on &s;ome higher Ground, or place of advantage; perhaps on the Steps of the Temple, which in <HI>Ezekiel</HI>'s Vi&s;ion are mentioned to be Fifteen in number:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Ca. 40. v. 22.34.</NOTE> And ju&s;t &s;o many Stairs, &s;ay the <HI>Talmudi&s;ts,</HI> were there mounting from the Women's Court to the Men's, on which, they fancy, the&s;e <HI>PSALMS</HI> were &s;ung, and therefore thus termed, <GAP DESC="foreign"> (<GAP DESC="foreign">, as <HI>Aquila</HI> and <HI>Symachus.</HI>)</P>
<P>But I think rather becau&s;e they were much u&s;ed by the <HI>Hebrews</HI> upon their coming up from <HI>Babylon,</HI> and at the building of the &s;econd Temple,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Cap. 8.</NOTE> as may be gue&s;&s;ed from <HI>Nehemiah;</HI> at which time they might indeed begin very properly with the <HI>120</HI>^t^h P&s;alm, by rea&s;on of the contempt and calumniation of their ill-willers at that time; who were &s;uch as are there de&s;cribed <HI>Arabians,</HI> crafty and cruel Adver|&s;aries, who maliciou&s;ly oppo&s;ed both their unloo&s;ing the Chains of Cap|tivity, and the erection of their Buildings.</P>
<P>Need was there then of Songs of E<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="3 letters">ation and A&s;cents to ad|vance God's high Deliverances of them, and exalt his Prai&s;e and Glory in the mo&s;t excellent way of rejoycing, which was in their emi|nent Mu&s;ic, as the Title <GAP DESC="foreign">, rendered <HI>Cantica Digni|tatum,</HI> may likewi&s;e bear.</P>
<P>As al&s;o to revive their drooping Spirits by &s;ome plea&s;ant kind of Melody or lofty Note, well known to the <HI>Jews</HI> by the name of <GAP DESC="foreign">, which &s;ome &s;uppo&s;e may here import no more than this <GAP DESC="foreign">, as <GAP DESC="foreign"> in the front of other P&s;alms, <HI>viz.</HI> to notifie that the Tune or Key the&s;e were to be &s;ang in, was the &s;ame with &s;uch other P&s;alms as were known to begin with the word <GAP DESC="foreign">.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="51">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
