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<DATE>2013-09-09</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>GOOD NEVVES <HI>FROM</HI> CANAAN.</P>
<P>Full of heauenly comfort and con&s;olation, for all tho&s;e that <HI>are afflicted either in bodie or minde.</HI></P>
<P>With a proofe of true repentance for <HI>the &s;ame.</HI></P>
<P>By <HI>William Cowper,</HI> Mini&s;ter of Gods Word, and B. of <HI>Galloway.</HI></P>
<P><FIGURE>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>LONDON, Printed by <HI>W. Stansby</HI> for <HI>Iohn Budge,</HI> and are to be &s;old at his &s;hops, at the South doore of Pauls, <HI>and at Britaines Bur&s;e.</HI> 1613.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>TO THE RIGHT WOR|SHIPFVLL, IOHN MVRRAY, one of his <HI>Maiesties Bed-Chamber.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_RIght Wor&s;hipful, be|ing &s;o far obliged to his Maie&s;ties fauour, as I confe&s;&s;e I am ne|uer able to requite it, I can of dutie doe no le&s;&s;e, then with <HI>Dauid,</HI> &s;hew &s;uch kindnes as I may to <HI>Mephibo&s;eth,</HI> for <HI>Iona|thans</HI> &s;ake, that is, take mee to the lowe&s;t, where I cannot reach to the highe&s;t, endeuouring to loue and honour all &s;uch, as I can know are
<PB REF="3"> beloued of his Highne&s;&s;e, &s;pecially whom God hath called to &s;erue and attend his Maie&s;tie, and the more neerely by calling they &s;tand in this &s;eruice, the more entirely &s;hall mine affection be toward the~. Among the&s;e, as God hath honou|red you to be one; &s;o is there rea&s;on why the&s;e, who loue you, &s;hould thanke God for you, not &s;o much for your place of preferment, as for your fidelity in it, the&s;e foure and twentie yeares, by which you haue de&s;erued the commendation of a faithfull &s;eruant, and encrea&s;e of your Ma&s;ters fauourable affection towards you.</P>
<P>It is a common &s;peech, that fa|miliaritie breeds contempt, &amp; mo&s;t excellent things by con&s;uetude be|come the le&s;&s;e regarded, but this holds not alwayes true, for of &s;uch as are wi&s;e, a knowne &amp; tried good is liked, euer the longer, the better. And I doe &s;o verily thinke of all his Highne&s;&s;e loyall &s;eruants which at|tend
<PB REF="3"> his Maie&s;ty, that as they know better then others by long experi|ence the rare qualities, wherewith his Highnes is endued from aboue; &s;o they e&s;teeme much more of his Maie&s;tie then others can: yet is it not ami&s;&s;e they &s;hould &s;till be wa|kened with warnings, who haue &s;uch an incomparable iewel in their keeping, as is called by the Pro|phet, <HI>The breath of our nostrils;</HI> and in whom, not onely the&s;e famous kingdoms vnder his Highne&s;&s;e do|minion, but all the Churches in Chri&s;tendome haue &s;uch intere&s;t. In the con&s;eruing of <HI>This one,</HI> in whom vnder God wee are all con|&s;erued; no circum&s;pection, no care, no vigilancy, no &s;eruice can be &s;uf|ficient.</P>
<P>It was a iu&s;t imputation of <HI>Da|uid</HI> to <HI>Abner,</HI> and his fellow Cap|taines, that their Ma&s;ter, King <HI>Saul</HI> being &s;leeping, they were carele&s;&s;e of him, and &s;uffered <HI>Abi&s;hai,</HI> who both would and might haue &s;laine
<PB REF="4"> him, if <HI>Dauid</HI> had not &s;tayed him, to take away his &s;peare, and pot from his head, <HI>Yee are worthie</HI> (&s;aid <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Sam.</HI> 26. 16.</NOTE> he) <HI>to die, becau&s;e yee haue not kept your Master, the Lords annointed.</HI> But heere, as there is no compari|&s;on betweene that cur&s;ed King, and our &s;acred Soueraigne: &s;o the &s;u|perexcellencie of his per&s;on makes the lea&s;t omi&s;&s;ion of any dutiful at|tendance in &s;uch as are called vnto it, a double offence.</P>
<P><HI>Alexander</HI> the Great being en|quired of where his trea&s;ure was, pointed with his finger to his friends, and dome&s;tique &s;eruants; and indeed, where they are faith|full, they are &s;ingular ble&s;&s;ings of God: for as <HI>Salomon</HI> &s;aith, <HI>The plea|&s;ure</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prou.</HI> 14. 35</NOTE> <HI>of a King is in a wi&s;e &s;eruant.</HI> And againe, <HI>Righteous lippes are the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prou.</HI> 16. 16</NOTE> <HI>delight of Kings, and the King loues him that &s;peakes right things. Ami|cus aut &s;eruus fidelis protectio fortis, munitum palatium, viuus the &s;aurus:</HI> A faithfull friend or &s;eruant, is a
<PB REF="4"> &s;trong protection, a fenced palace, a liuing trea&s;ure, &s;aid <HI>Nazianzen.</HI> Neither doe I thinke that euer <HI>A|lexander,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nazianzen. Orat.</HI> 22.</NOTE> or any Monarch, or King in the world, did countenance and credit &s;uch as &s;erue them, more con|fidently and louingly, then the King of Britaine doth &s;uch as at|tend his Highne&s;&s;e, which cannot but oblige euery loyall heart the more carefully and willingly to &s;erue his Highnes againe.</P>
<P>And this, as in regard of your Chri&s;tian profe&s;sion is mo&s;t &s;eem|ly for you, it being a duety the A|po&s;tolique Canon requires of all Chri&s;tian &s;eruants, <HI>That they &s;hould plea&s;e their Masters in all things, &s;hewing all good faithfulne&s;&s;e, that they may adorne the doctrine of God our Sauiour;</HI> &s;o is it al&s;o fitting for that place wherein ye &s;tand in the world, that ye may be an&s;werable to that fidelitie in his Highnes &s;er|uice, for which your Honourable predece&s;&s;ors haue beene greatly
<PB REF="5"> prai&s;ed before you. For it is known that the honourable hou&s;e of <HI>Coke|poole,</HI> whereof ye are a &s;onne, being a principall family of that ancient, populous and flouri&s;hing tribe of <HI>Murray,</HI> notwith&s;tanding their dwelling be in a part of the King|dom, of olde greatly giuen to mi&s;|order, troups of rebels compa&s;sing them on euery &s;ide; yet did they &s;till retain the honorable &s;tate and fa&s;hions of other honourable hou|&s;es in the land, their hou&s;e euer be|ing a terror to the euill, a refuge to the good, a barre to the aduer&s;arie, and a publique example in mo&s;t turbulent times, of loyaltie to their Soueraigne. Thus haue they liued vn&s;tayned in honour, fea|red of the wor&s;t &s;ort, loued of the be&s;t, euer gratious to their King, neuer blotted with the remi&s;si|on of any offence done again&s;t his Crowne, but alway beautified with manifold proofes of their fi|delitie in his Highne&s;&s;e &s;eruice;
<PB REF="5"> wherin &s;undrie of them haue borne honourable offices both in Court and out of it, vnto this day. And all the&s;e, by their example prouoke you to leaue the name of that hou&s;e as honourable for your part, as you haue receiued it from them: which as hitherto you haue done, &s;o I hope for the time to come it may happely be inlarged, but &s;hal neuer be impaired by any deed of yours.</P>
<P>And hereunto (right wor&s;hip|full) remember it is pietie and the true feare of God mu&s;t aduance you. God hath conioyned the&s;e two precepts together; <HI>My &s;onne</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Pro.</HI> 24. 21.</NOTE> <HI>feare God and the King:</HI> he cannot keepe the one who violates the o|ther; therefore your loue, feare, re|uerence, and fidelitie toward the King, mu&s;t be grounded on your loue and feare of God. Keepe al|way within you a humble heart; for be&s;ide that it is the way to ho|nour, it will keep you from falling. Among many priuiledges, where|with
<PB REF="6"> humilitie indues &s;uch as po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;e it, this is one, <HI>Humilis non ha|bet vnde cadat.</HI> Thinke frequently vpon your end, make readie ere it come vpon you; it is no wi&s;edome to begin to prepare, when of nece&s;|&s;itie we mu&s;t remoue. The fooli&s;h men of the world, <HI>de mortalibus immortalia cogitant,</HI> dreame of im|mortalitie in mortall things: but looke you to others who haue bin great before you and now are not, and by them learn to be wi&s;e. Liue at continuall enmitie with &s;inne; this is the onely enemie that is able to hurt you; &s;ubdue it and ye &s;hall feare none other. Such &s;ins as you haue done, vndoe them by godly &s;orrow; &s;uch as of weakene&s;&s;e you may doe, preuent them with godly care. Keep &s;o your Court on earth, that you &s;till learn to be a Courtier in heauen, holy in life, feruent in praier; by the&s;e hath a man fellow|&s;hip with God, and acce&s;&s;e to the Throne of the heauenly King, to
<PB REF="6"> &s;peake to his Maie&s;tie when hee plea&s;eth. In this holy di&s;po&s;ition, if this my little Treati&s;e may &s;erue any way to confirme you, I &s;hall be abundantly contented. I haue de|dicated it vnto you as a token of my loue, for the good which is in you toward all that feare God, and your courteous fauour &s;hewed to my &s;elfe in particular. And &s;o hoping that with as good an hart ye will accept it, as I do offer it. I re&s;t,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED><HI>Your owne in Chri&s;t Ie&s;us,</HI> William Cowper, <HI>B. of Galloway.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="quotation">
<PB REF="7">
<BIBL><HI>ESA.</HI> 1. 18. 19.</BIBL>
<Q><P>Come and let vs rea&s;on toge|ther, &s;aith the Lord: Though your &s;innes were as crim&s;on, they &s;hall bee made white as &s;now: though they were redde like &s;car|let, they &s;hall be as wooll.</P>
<P>If ye con&s;ent and obey, ye &s;hall eate the good things of the land.</P></Q>
</DIV1>
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<DIV1 TYPE="illustration">
<PB REF="7">
<PB REF="8">
<P><FIGURE>
</FIGURE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="1" REF="8">
<HEAD>GOOD NEWES From CANAAN.</HEAD>
<HEAD>My helpe is in the Name of the LORD.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P><HI>To him that excelleth. A P&s;alme of</HI> DAVID, <HI>when the Prophet</HI> NATHAN <HI>came vnto him, after that hee had gone in vnto Bath-&s;heba.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>_THE in&s;cripti|on <NOTE PLACE="marg">This P&s;alme is a P&s;alme of Repen|tance, and the v&s;e of it is threefold.</NOTE> of this P&s;alme being con&s;iderede, will let vs &s;ee that it is a P&s;alme of Repentance, made
<PB N="2" REF="9"> by <HI>Dauid,</HI> after hee had defiled the wife of <HI>Vriah,</HI> and murthe|red <HI>Vriah</HI> him &s;elfe. It &s;erues vnto vs for this threefold v&s;e. Fir&s;t, as a pre&s;eruatiue to keepe <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>A pre&s;erua|tiue to keep vs that wee &s;inne not.</HI></NOTE> vs, that we fall not into the like &s;innes; for why &s;hall wee commit that, which we &s;ee by example of others, will either commit vs to eternall damna|tion, or at lea&s;t breed vs much griefe, paine and dolor, before wee can bee quit of it? This &s;inne of <HI>Dauid</HI> thorough Gods mercie, preuailed not again&s;t him to damnation, yet yee &s;ee what angui&s;h of Spirit, what terrour of minde, what &s;ighing, what teares, what roaring night and day he &s;u&s;tained, be|fore hee could bee deliuered from it, and find him&s;elfe re|&s;tored
<PB N="3" REF="9"> to his former ioy! thus &s;hall all fle&s;h finde it, that the falles momentarie, and peri|&s;hing plea&s;ures of &s;inne, &s;hall haue &s;orrow in the ende. For the motions thereof are like the&s;e Locu&s;ts of the bottome|le&s;&s;e pit, hauing faces of men, and their haire like the haire of <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Reuel.</HI> 9.</NOTE> women, but a taile like a Scor|pion, which &s;tingeth vnto the death.</P>
<P>Next it &s;erues as a corrobo|ratiue <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>A corobora|tiue, to keep &s;uch as haue fallen in &s;in, from de|&s;paire.</HI></NOTE> to keepe &s;uch as haue fallen into the like &s;innes, that they fall not further into the deepe of de&s;peration, &s;o the Apo&s;tle Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, that the mercie of God &s;hewed vn|to <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Tim.</HI> 1. 16</NOTE> him after that he had beene a bla&s;phemer, per&s;ecutor and oppre&s;&s;or, was for an en&s;ample
<PB N="4" REF="10"> vnto all them, who &s;hal in time to come beleeue in Chri&s;t vnto eternall life. Thus the chil|dren of God, when they looke to the &s;innes of other Gods Saints recorded in holy Scrip|ture, doe not hereby confirme them&s;elues in &s;inne, but com|fort them&s;elues again&s;t de|&s;paire. It is true of them all, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il de paeniten.</NOTE> which <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> &s;pake of <HI>Peters</HI> threefold deniall, they are Re|gi&s;tred, <HI>Vt tu quo&abque; con&s;olationem haberes,</HI> Let vs meditate vpon the &s;innes of others, as <HI>Bernard</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> did; <HI>Omnino propter man&s;uetu|dinem quae in te e&s;t, domine Ie&s;u, currimus po&s;t te, audientes quod non &s;pernas pauperem peccatorem, non horrui&s;ti confitentem latro|nem non lachrymantem peccatri|cem, non Cananaeam &s;upplicantem,</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="10"> <HI>non deprehen&s;am in adulterio, non &s;upplicantem publicanum, non ne|gantem di&s;cipulum, non per&s;equu|torem di&s;cipulorum: In odore ho|rum currimus.</HI> Surely LORD IESVS for the meeknes which is in thee, we runne after thee hearing, that thou de&s;pi|&s;ed&s;t not the poore &s;inner, thou abhorred&s;t not the penitent theefe, the mourning &s;infull woman, nor the woman of <HI>Ca|naan</HI> when &s;hee reque&s;ted thee, nor the woman apprehended in adulterie, nor the Publican praying vnto thee, nor the Di&s;|ciple that denied thee, nor yet the Di&s;ciple who per&s;ecuted thy Di&s;ciples, in the &s;mell of the&s;e thine oyntments, wee runne after thee.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> Thirdly, it &s;erueth as a re|&s;toratiue
<PB N="6" REF="11"> to rai&s;e vp &s;uch as <NOTE PLACE="marg">A re&s;tora|tiue to rai&s;e vp &s;uch as haue fallen. Augu.</NOTE> haue fallen in the &s;ame maner, for here, <HI>Non cadendi exemplum, &s;ed &s;i cecideris, re&s;urgendi propo|&s;itum e&s;t.</HI> There are many who delight to heare or reade the &s;innes of God his Saints, as if they were vnto them <HI>patrocinia peccati,</HI> defences of their &s;innes. But alas, what folly is this, to loue that in <HI>Dauid,</HI> which hee hated in him&s;elfe? <HI>Hoc non est defen&s;ionem parare animae tuae, &s;ed comites inquirere ad gehennam:</HI> This is not to prepare a de|fence for thy owne Soule, but to &s;eeke companions to goe with thee into hell, flattering thy &s;elfe that thou art in &s;tate good enough, becau&s;e thou art not matele&s;&s;e: but remembe|re&s;t not that albeit thou had&s;t
<PB N="7" REF="11"> neuer &s;o many inuolued with thee in the giltine&s;&s;e of thy &s;innes, what comfort can that be vnto thee, <HI>Non enim propte|rea minus ardebis, quia cum mul|tis ardebis,</HI> Shall thy fire in hell be the le&s;&s;e, becau&s;e many will there burn with thee? Nay, by the contrarie the more matter, the bolder fire.</P>
<P>It were great wi&s;edome to <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Great wi&s;e|dome, to make other mens &s;innes a medicine for vs. Chry&s;o&s;t. in Matth. Hom.</HI> 27.</NOTE> embrace that coun&s;ell of <HI>Chry|&s;o&s;tome,</HI> that wee &s;hould not &s;o much looke to <HI>Dauid</HI> his fall, as to his ri&s;ing. Con&s;ider what he did after his fall, how hee put on &s;ackcloth, how he wate|red his bed with teares; how he roared night and day, &s;igh|ing and crying continually till hee found the forgiuene&s;&s;e of his &s;innes, <HI>Sic medicamenta no|bis</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu.</NOTE>
<PB N="8" REF="12"> <HI>de alienis vulneribus faciemus,</HI> So &s;hall we make medicaments to our &s;elues of the wounds of others, and not bee like vnto phranticke per&s;ons, who &s;lay them&s;elues with the yrons of the Chirurgian, by which they haue &s;eene him cut the fle&s;h of others, he did it of skill for cu|ring, and they of their madnes for killing.</P>
<P>In this in&s;cription of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Three things con|&s;idered in the in&s;crip|tion of this P&s;alme.</NOTE> P&s;alme, wee con&s;ider three things: Fir&s;t, how <HI>Dauid</HI> goes into <HI>Beth&s;heba</HI> and commits A|dulterie with her. Next how <HI>Nathan</HI> comes to <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;lee|ping in his &s;inne, wakens him and rai&s;eth him vp by Repen|tance: And thirdly, how hee makes this P&s;alme, and giues it to bee &s;ung publickely in the
<PB N="9" REF="12"> Church as the fir&s;t fruites of his Repentance.</P>
<P>In the fir&s;t of the&s;e again, there <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>The con&s;i|deration of</HI> Dauid <HI>his per&s;on, who &s;inned &s;hold make vs feare our owne weak|ne&s;&s;e.</HI></NOTE> are three circum&s;tances to bee con&s;idered. The per&s;on, the &s;ins which hee committes, and the time. The per&s;on that fals is <HI>Dauid,</HI> a man endued with mo&s;t notable graces of the &s;pirit, a man highly commended of God. A man who before had endured &s;trong temptations, and preuailed victor in them all. Now is ouercome, and falles mo&s;t fearfully, this &s;hould wa|ken vs, to take heede vnto that warning of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>He that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.</NOTE> <HI>&s;tands, let him take heede that hee fall not.</HI> In him let vs con&s;ider our &s;elues, &s;hall we pre&s;ume of our &s;trength, when wee &s;ee a &s;tronger then wee ouercome?
<PB N="10" REF="13"> Nay, rather let vs feare our weakne&s;&s;e, and worke out our owne &s;aluation in feare and trembling, <HI>Sit lap&s;us maiorum, tremor minorum,</HI> Let the fall of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> the greater ones make the wea|ker afraid, <HI>Ille hodie &amp; ego cras:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern.</NOTE> Hee hath &s;inned this day, and we may &s;inne to morrow, let others as they li&s;t drawe on &s;inne by examples; But let vs learne, it is a great point of wi&s;|dome, to become wi&s;e by ex|ample of others, rather then by experience in our &s;elues, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gregor. mo|ral. lib.</HI> 2.</NOTE> thus <HI>Si maiorum ca&s;us ad humili|tatem nos accingat,</HI> wee &s;hall not readily fall in the like &s;nare of the diuell.</P>
<P>As for the &s;ins hee commits, <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Dauids <HI>&s;ins are adulte|rie, murther carele&s;&s;e &s;e|curitie.</HI></NOTE> they are very heinous: fir&s;t A|dulterie, next Murther, by the
<PB N="11" REF="13"> one thinking to couer the o|ther: And thirdly, with them both he fals into no &s;mall con|tempt of GOD, that for the &s;pace of nine monethes hee keepes clo&s;e his &s;inne, frequen|ting the externall &s;acrifices of Gods wor&s;hip, but not touch|ed in his con&s;cience, with a &s;en&s;e or remor&s;e for his &s;inne, for hee was &s;o farre from being troubled for it, that when hee wrote to <HI>Ioab</HI> to expo&s;e <HI>Vriah</HI> to the &s;word of the enemie, he willed him not to be troubled for the matter. Thus wee &s;ee from one &s;inne he goes to ano|ther, <HI>Erranti enim nullus termi|nus,</HI> and &s;o for any thing wee can perceiue in him, had &s;till walked on in his &s;innes, till hee had fallen in the bottome of
<PB N="12" REF="14"> hell, if the Lord by grace had not recalled, and recouered him.</P>
<P>There is &s;uch a fellow&s;hip <NOTE PLACE="marg">Of the fel|low&s;hip and combinati|on that is a|mong &s;innes</NOTE> among &s;infull affections, they are &s;o combined together, that if we giue place to any one of them, many moe perforce &s;hal enter vpon vs, they are like the &s;eruants of a Tyrant, who fin|ding one that hath beene fugi|tiue from their Lord, do ioyne them&s;elues together to bring him backe againe: And euery one of them helpes an other, to keepe him vnder bondage, hauing once &s;ubdued him, <HI>Sic ope vicaria fugitiuum &s;uum vitia</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gregor. mo|ral. lib.</HI> 7.</NOTE> <HI>retinent, &amp; vbi &s;emel ami&s;&s;um &s;ub dominij &s;ui iure recipiunt, &s;ibi vici&s;sim ad vindictam tradunt.</HI> Thus is it a great worke of
<PB N="13" REF="14"> Gods mercie and power, when any of his Saints are deliuered from their &s;eruitude.</P>
<P>As to the third, the time <NOTE PLACE="marg">3. <HI>The time when</HI> Da|uid <HI>&s;inned warnes vs, how peril|lous is pro|&s;peritie.</HI></NOTE> when <HI>Dauid</HI> falles into the&s;e &s;innes, it is noted 2. <HI>Sam.</HI> 11. being at peace, and quietne&s;&s;e at home him&s;elfe, new ari&s;en from his after-noones &s;leepe, walking vpon the rooffe of his Palace, he &s;ees <HI>Bath&s;heba</HI> wa&s;h|ing her &s;elfe in the Garden, and by vn&s;anctified looking vnto her is &s;nared. His people are fighting again&s;t <HI>Ammon,</HI> him|&s;elf is &s;leeping at home &amp; pam|pering his body, and <HI>Bath&s;heha</HI> forgetting her hu&s;band in the battell, falles too her plea&s;ure and bathes her &s;elfe, and that not &s;ecretly at home, but euen in pro&s;pect of the Kings palace.
<PB N="14" REF="15"> In all the per&s;ecutions which <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;uffered by <HI>Saul,</HI> in all his troubles by <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> he re|ceiued not &s;uch a wound; As a man, the &s;tronger the Winde bloweth, holds his garme~ts the fa&s;ter about him, whereas the beating heate of the Sunne, makes him to lay them a&s;ide: &s;o <HI>Dauid</HI> vnder temptation was the more feruent in prayer; the more he was troubled by men, the fa&s;ter did hee cleaue to the Lord his God: but now being freed from trouble and liuing in pro&s;peritie, what a great ad|uantage doth Sathan get ouer him?</P>
<P>Sure it is, a man hath neuer <NOTE PLACE="marg">A man hath mo&s;t cau&s;e of feare when he is lea&s;t cro&s;&s;ed.</NOTE> more cau&s;e to feare, then when he findes his e&s;tate mo&s;t quiet. It is a mo&s;t dangerous thing to
<PB N="15" REF="15"> liue without &s;ome cro&s;&s;e, or temptation, that may cha&s;e a man to God. As an idle man readily fals a&s;leepe, and being a&s;leepe, any Iewell he hath in his hand, doth ea&s;ily fall from him: &s;o carnall pro&s;peritie ca&s;ts men in carele&s;&s;e &s;ecuritie, whereby &s;pirituall graces are greatly weakened into them, <HI>Facilior cautio, vbi manife&s;ta for|mido,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cyprian. de &s;implicitate praelat.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; ad certamen animus ante prae&s;truitur, quando &s;e aduer&s;ari|us confitetur,</HI> When our aduer|&s;arie &s;hewes him&s;elfe mo&s;t plainely, then is it mo&s;t ea&s;ie for vs to beware of him, <HI>Plus metuendus est inimicus cum la|tenter obrepit, cum per pacis ima|ginem fallens occultis acce&s;sibus &s;erpit, vnde etiam illi nomen &s;er|pentis.</HI> But then haue wee mo&s;t
<PB N="16" REF="16"> cau&s;e to feare him, when be|guiling vs by the &s;hew, and I|mage of peace, he creeps in by &s;ecret wayes, in&s;inuating him|&s;elfe craftily to get vantage o|uer vs, for the which cau&s;e al&s;o the name of a Serpent is attri|buted vnto him.</P>
<P>The &s;econd thing to be con|&s;idered <NOTE PLACE="marg">Nathan <HI>vi&s;its</HI> Da|uid <HI>like a whole Phi|&s;itian com|ming to cure a &s;icke Phi&s;itian.</HI></NOTE> in the in&s;cription, is how <HI>Nathan</HI> comes to <HI>Dauid,</HI> and rai&s;eth him vp, <HI>A&s;tat post peccatum propheta prophetae, ve|luti medicus medico agrotanti;</HI> Here one Prophet comes vnto an other, like one Phi&s;itian vi|&s;iting an other Phi&s;itian in his di&s;ea&s;e. This is the duetie of Chri&s;tians, &s;ince they are of one communion, to edifie one another in the mo&s;t holy faith, to exhort one another. Hee
<PB N="17" REF="16"> that is &s;tronger in the faith, ought to confirme the weaker, and hee that &s;tands &s;hould rai&s;e vp with the &s;pirit of meekne&s;&s;e him that hath fallen, con&s;ider|ing <NOTE PLACE="marg">Euery Chri|&s;tian &s;hould edifie ano|ther.</NOTE> al&s;o him&s;elfe. It was the voice of <HI>Cain,</HI> am I my bro|thers keeper, and it &s;hould bee farre from Chri&s;tians. That Lawe pertaines to vs all, <HI>Thou &s;halt not hate thy brother in thine</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Leui.</HI> 19. 17</NOTE> <HI>heart, but thou &s;halt plainely re|buke him, and &s;uffer him not to &s;inne;</HI> for it is no loue but ha|tred, to know thy brother in a &s;inne, and not to rebuke him. And truely it is no &s;mall ble&s;|&s;ing of GOD, when among Chri&s;tians, &s;uch in&s;trumentes of grace as <HI>Nathan</HI> was, doe a bound, who being endewed with grace from aboue, are
<PB N="18" REF="17"> able by grace to comfort the feeble minded, to &s;trengthen the weake, and to rai&s;e them vp that haue fallen.</P>
<P>Againe, that <HI>Dauid</HI> hauing <NOTE PLACE="marg">Man &s;innes by nature, but cannot ri&s;e without grace.</NOTE> &s;inned, ri&s;eth not till the Lord &s;ent <HI>Nathan</HI> to rai&s;e him, learns vs a le&s;&s;on, which &s;hould hum|ble vs all, and binde vs to ac|knowledge the great mercie of God toward vs, he fals by him &s;elfe, he ri&s;eth not by him&s;elfe. Nine monethes lies hee as it were dead in that graue of &s;in, till the Lord who called vpon <HI>Lazarus,</HI> called vpon him al&s;o, and made him come out of it. It is ea&s;ie for any man to fall in|to a pit, but not &s;o ea&s;ie for him to come out of it. <HI>Si &s;tare</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Bern.</NOTE> <HI>non potuit humana natura adhuc integra, quanto minus poterit per</HI>
<PB N="19" REF="17"> <HI>&s;eip&s;am re&s;urgere iam corrupta,</HI> as it was with him, &s;o is it with vs all, <HI>perditio tua ex te, &ocirc; I&s;rael:</HI> thy de&s;truction is of thy &s;elfe, O I&s;rael; but our &s;aluation is of the Lord, and from the Lambe that &s;its with him vpon the throne.</P>
<P>Thirdly, wee &s;ee this diffe|rence <NOTE PLACE="marg">Reprobate men &s;inne and repent not, not &s;o the godly.</NOTE> betweene the godly and the wicked, the one falles and ri&s;eth not. <HI>Iudas</HI> betrayed Chri&s;t; <HI>Peter</HI> for&s;ware him, the one goes on in his &s;innes, and peri&s;heth, the other is renewed by repentance. The difference then is not in &s;inne, wherein wee are al&s;o as deepe as they, but in this that the Lord hath had mercie vpon vs. O how are wee obliged to ble&s;&s;e him, who hath put a difference by
<PB N="20" REF="18"> grace betweene vs and them, where there was no difference by nature. And this is to bee marked for them who haue an eye to &s;ee, how <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;inned e|uen as they haue &s;inned, and therefore account the le&s;&s;e of their &s;innes, but haue not an eye to &s;ee that they haue re|pented, as <HI>Dauid</HI> repented, and that therefore being farre vn|like him in Repentance, they can haue no comfort, that hee was like them in &s;inne.</P>
<P>The third point of the in|&s;cription <NOTE PLACE="marg">The order of &s;inging Leuites vn|der the law Leuiticall.</NOTE> is in the&s;e words, <HI>To him that excelleth: A P&s;alme of Dauid.</HI> Wherein wee &s;ee how he dedicateth this P&s;alme, as the fir&s;t fruite and te&s;timonie of his Repentance, to bee &s;ung publikely in the Church, for
<PB N="22" REF="18"> vnder&s;tanding whereof wee mu&s;t know how <HI>Dauid</HI> ordai|ned &s;ome of the Leuites, skilled in Mu&s;icke to prai&s;e the Lord by &s;inging, and playing vpon In&s;truments, the&s;e were in number foure thou&s;and, who <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Chron.</HI> 23. 5.</NOTE> by cour&s;e &s;erued the Lord in his Sanctuarie. They were di|uided in &s;euerall cla&s;&s;es; and ouer euery one of them, &s;ome that were Ma&s;ters of Mu&s;icke, Precentors, who in &s;inging and playing excelled the re&s;t, &s;uch as <HI>A&s;aph, Heman, Idithun, &amp;c.</HI> and to the&s;e it is, that <HI>Dauid</HI> dedicateth this P&s;alme to bee &s;ung publikely, for the word <HI>Nat&s;eah</HI> in <HI>Piel,</HI> &s;ignifieth one that is an ouer&s;eer, or pre&s;ident ouer others, for his excellencie in &s;trength, or skill, or other|wayes,
<PB N="22" REF="19"> and &s;o here and in o|ther P&s;almes <HI>Dauid</HI> v&s;eth it, to &s;ignifie a ma&s;ter of Mu&s;icke.</P>
<P>The in&s;truments they v&s;ed in pray&s;ing the Lord, are mo&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Two &s;ortes of mu&s;icall In&s;truments v&s;ed in the Leuiticall Law.</NOTE> of them reckoned vp in the la&s;t P&s;alme; all of them may be reduced to two &s;orts, whereof the one are called <HI>Neginoth,</HI> &s;uch as made a &s;ound by tou|ching, from the word <HI>Nagan, pul&s;auit;</HI> the other called <HI>Ne|chiloth,</HI> &s;uch as being hollow, made a &s;ound by breathing, from the word <HI>Halal.</HI> Some|time the mu&s;icall In&s;trument was premitted, and the &s;inging voice followed, and then the Song was called <HI>Canticum P&s;al|mi,</HI> for <HI>P&s;alterium</HI> properly is a kind of mu&s;icall In&s;trument, called of the Hebrewes <HI>Naula,</HI>
<PB N="23" REF="19"> but is tran&s;lated to &s;ignifie the P&s;almes. Sometime againe the Song was fir&s;t &s;ung with the voice, and the mu&s;icall In&s;tru|ment followed, and then it is called <HI>P&s;almus cantici.</HI> What vpon this is to be ob&s;erued, &s;ee our notes vpon the one hun|dred and nineteene P&s;alme.</P>
<P>Onely now we marke, how <NOTE PLACE="marg">The godly are content to &s;hame them&s;elues, by Confe&s;&s;i|on of &s;inne that they may giue glorie vnto God.</NOTE> <HI>Dauid</HI> careth not to take &s;hame to him&s;elfe, by confe&s;&s;ing his Murther and Adultrie pub|likely in the Church, that hee may giue glorie vnto God; So is it with all Gods childre~, who hath felt the terror of an accu|&s;ing con&s;cience for &s;inne, who are grieued in them&s;elues for di&s;plea&s;ing the Lord, and are earne&s;tly &s;eeking to be reconci|led with God, they refu&s;e not
<PB N="24" REF="20"> to manife&s;t their owne &s;hame, yea and as it were with that fil|thy Leper vnder the Law, with his clothes rent, with his head bare, with a couering vpon his lips, to crie out before all the world, <HI>I am vncleane, I am vn|cleane,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Leuit.</HI> 13. 45.</NOTE> that &s;o they may get peace from God, and may giue him glory by their repentance as they di&s;honoured him by their &s;inne. I &s;peake not this <NOTE PLACE="marg">This is not to be vnder &s;tood of pri|uate &s;innes.</NOTE> of priuate &s;innes, the example wherof hath not offended thy neighbour; Such &s;innes I ra|ther wi&s;h to be buried, as I&s;rael with their paddles buried their filth without the Campe vnder the earth, nor laied open to the eyes of others: but of pub|like &s;innes, it is not our &s;hame to confe&s;&s;e the&s;e for remouing
<PB N="25" REF="20"> of the &s;lander, but double &s;inne and &s;hame to conceale them, how &s;o euer it bee currant now, as an vndoubted axiome among carnall men, that no man is bound to &s;weare to his owne &s;hame, &s;ure wee are, it is not warranted by any Diuine authoritie, for &s;o <HI>Achan</HI> might haue excu&s;ed him&s;elf when <HI>Io|&s;hua,</HI> willed him by confe&s;&s;ing of theft, to giue glorie to God, and &s;o <HI>Dauid</HI> here might haue &s;hifted him&s;elfe from this pub|licke confe&s;&s;ion; where the con&s;cience is &s;leeping, any war|rant <NOTE PLACE="marg">A &s;leeping Con&s;cience excu&s;eth &s;inne.</NOTE> is thought &s;ufficient to ex|cu&s;e a &s;inne, and man feares not to defraude the Lord of that glorie, hee &s;hould haue by con|fe&s;&s;ion of it, but where the Lord wakens the con&s;cience,
<PB N="26" REF="21"> all excu&s;es are &s;et a&s;ide, and man is glad to disburden him|&s;elfe, by confe&s;&s;ing his &s;inne vnto the Lord. This the Lord will haue of all fle&s;h at the length, for &s;o hath hee &s;worne, <HI>As I liue &s;aith the Lord,</HI> euerie tongue &s;hall confe&s;&s;e to me, he &s;hall then force them to giue him glorie by confe&s;&s;ing, who now wickedly defraude him of it by concealing: But happie and wi&s;e is he, who doth it in time when Mercie is to be found with the LORD.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="27" REF="21">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>PSALME. 51. VERSE 1.</BIBL>
<Q>Haue mercie vpon me, O God, ac|cording to thy louing kindne&s;&s;e, according to the multitude of thy compa&s;sions, put away mine iniquitie.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HItherto the in&s;cri|ption <NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;umme and order of this P&s;alme.</NOTE> or preface of the PSALME: Nowe followes the PSALME, wherein <HI>Dauid</HI> fir&s;t praieth for him&s;elfe to the 18. Ver&s;e; Next for the Church of GOD
<PB N="28" REF="22"> Ver&s;e 18. In the praier for him|&s;elfe, he hath fir&s;t a generall pe|tition, <HI>haue mercie on me, O God,</HI> Ver&s;e 1. then three particular petitions, fir&s;t, the remi&s;&s;ion of his &s;inne, which he expre&s;&s;eth by putting away, wa&s;hing, purging, to the Ver&s;e 8. Next the re&s;titution of peace, and ioy to his con&s;cience, which by his &s;inne he had &s;ore empaired, Ver&s;e 89. Thirdly, the reno|uation of his Heart and Spirit within him, which mo&s;t feare|fully hee had altered from the loue of God, to the loue of ini|quitie, Ver&s;e 10. 11. &amp;c.</P>
<P>This P&s;alme is frequently <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>They ca~not rightly v&s;e the words of this P&s;alme, who want</HI> Da|uids <HI>di&s;po|&s;ition.</HI></NOTE> &s;ung in the mouthes of many men, but &s;ure it is the&s;e words which were true, when <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;pake them, are but lies when
<PB N="29" REF="22"> they are pronounced by many men, for &s;o they pray, O Lord con&s;ider my di&s;tre&s;&s;e, when as in very deede they had neuer &s;uch a thing, as a di&s;tre&s;&s;ed &s;oule for &s;inne. Is not this a mocking of God to pray him to looke vpon that, which is not in thee, to pray him con&s;i|der that, which thou neuer con&s;idered&s;t thy &s;elfe, learne therefore when yee &s;ing this P&s;alme of <HI>Dauid,</HI> to take on &s;o neare as yee may <HI>Dauid</HI> his di&s;|po&s;ition, though yee haue not &s;inned as he did, yet looke vn|to your other &s;innes, and be ye humbled for them, otherwaies your confe&s;&s;ion of &s;innes &s;hall be but a profe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne, to &s;ay with <HI>Dauid,</HI> again&s;t thee on|ly haue I &s;inned, and then ei|ther
<PB N="30" REF="23"> to haue no remor&s;e for &s;in, or no confidence in Gods mer|cie, &s;hall profit thee no more then the confe&s;&s;ion of <HI>Saul</HI> or <HI>Iudas:</HI> I haue &s;inned, &s;aid the one; I haue &s;inned in betraying innocent bloud, &s;aid the other, their confe&s;&s;ion was &s;omewhat like <HI>Dauids,</HI> their heart no way like <HI>Dauids:</HI> And it is certaine that the Lord, <HI>Radicem attendit, non florem.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Haue mercie on me.</HI> What <NOTE PLACE="marg">Wher Sinne per&s;ues no refuge but to mercie.</NOTE> was <HI>Dauid</HI> his e&s;tate when hee brake out in the&s;e words, yee may &s;ee out of the 32. P&s;alme, his con&s;cience being wakned by the mini&s;trie of <HI>Nathan,</HI> hee is &s;o terrified with the liuely &s;en&s;e of his &s;inne and &s;ight of that wrath which by it he had de&s;erued, that his bones were
<PB N="31" REF="23"> con&s;umed, and the moi&s;ture of his body turned in the drogth of Sommer: In this perplexed e&s;tate the fir&s;t comfort that he findes is by looking vp to the mercie of God.</P>
<P>Naturall men may maruell <NOTE PLACE="marg">No exter|nal comfort can &s;u&s;taine a man trou|bled for &s;inne.</NOTE> what is this that &s;hould haue troubled <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;o &s;ore, was he not King of <HI>Canaan,</HI> his &s;innes were murther, and adulterie; but was there any in the Land to put him to an A&s;&s;ize? was there any to puni&s;h him? what needed hee to feare? But hee him&s;elfe tells thee what ailed him, the hand of God was hea|uie vpon him night and day, the Lord had erected a Tribu|nall in his owne con&s;cience, and did there &s;it and iudge him, wher no man might iudge him,
<PB N="32" REF="24"> there the Lord conuicted him of &s;inne, and threatned him with terrours, for &s;ure it is all the comforts of the world, if thou had&s;t them in one, cannot &s;u&s;taine thee when God in thy own co~&s;cience per&s;ecutes thee for &s;inne, examples are <HI>Baltha|&s;ar</HI> and <HI>Dauid: The &s;pirit of a man will &s;u&s;taine his infirmitie, but a wounded &s;pirit, who can beare it?</HI></P>
<P>And therefore <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;ore <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dauids <HI>ap|pellation from God to God.</HI></NOTE> &s;traitned with the iudgement of God, turnes him to the mer|cie of God, hee findes no other thing whereupon to relie his faith, he can get no other gripe whereby to hold him, that hee fall not in the pit of de&s;perati|on, but this mercie. O Lord, in regard of thy power thou art
<PB N="33" REF="24"> inuincible, who can re&s;i&s;t thee? who can indure the &s;troke of thine hand? In regard of thy wi&s;edome, thou art all-&s;eeing, nothing can be hid from thee In regard of thy iu&s;tice thou art mo&s;t holy, &amp; can&s;t not bee cor|rupted, in none of the&s;e can I finde comfort, the only hope of mine heart is in thy good|ne&s;&s;e and mercie, &s;o that now hee flees <HI>ad co~munem peccantium</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>portum,</HI> to the common harbor of all poore penitent &s;inners, who are to&s;t too and fro with the tumbling thoughts of an accu&s;ing con&s;cience, threatning more fearefull death, then the raging waues of the Sea to <HI>Io|nas,</HI> neuer can &s;ettle nor re&s;t til they come within the Port of God his mercie, euen &s;o here
<PB N="34" REF="25"> doth <HI>Dauid,</HI> terrified with Gods iudgement, before which hee could not &s;tand, he appeales to Gods mercie, <HI>tanquam ab infe|riori &s;ede ad &s;uperiorem,</HI> as the higher bench wherein the glo|rie of God &s;hineth mo&s;t emi|nently, <HI>for mercie reioy&s;es again&s;t iudgement.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iam.</HI> 2. 13.</NOTE></P>
<P>When we heare that <HI>Dauid,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Nothing in the world to be e&s;teemed mi&s;erie, but only iniqui|tie.</NOTE> and others of Gods Saints, crie for mercie, we mu&s;t remember that this includes a humble co~|fe&s;&s;ion of their mi&s;erie, and what was <HI>Dauids</HI> mi&s;erie which he craues to bee cured by God his mercie, hee tells you in the end of the Ver&s;e, no other but the mi&s;erie of &s;inne: <HI>Nathan</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Sam.</HI> 12. 10.</NOTE> had threatned him with the &s;word, &amp; that he &s;hould make his Sonne, who came out of his
<PB N="35" REF="25"> bowels, a &s;courge vnto him, but <HI>Dauid</HI> counts none of the&s;e his mi&s;erie, for which hee craues mercie, his mi&s;erie is his iniqui|tie, and the mercie he craues is the putting away of his iniqui|tie. This blinde age counts bo|dily infirmities &amp; want of tem|porall things mi&s;erie, but &s;inne they count no mi&s;erie, blinder then the Egyptians of old, who e&s;teemed &s;heepe-heards abho|minable, but Idolaters not ab|hominable: but indeede it is farre otherwaies: wert thou &s;o poore as <HI>Lazarus,</HI> filled with biles in thy bodie from head to foot as <HI>Iob</HI> was, yet if thou bee freed from &s;in, thou art freed from mi&s;erie, and bee the con|trarie, wert thou &s;o rich as that glutton clad in purple, and fa|ring
<PB N="36" REF="26"> delicately euery day <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> thou health and honor, and all the comforts of the world af|ter the de&s;ire of thine owne heart, if yet thou bee in thy &s;innes, the end &s;hall declare thou art a mi&s;erable creature.</P>
<P>This will be manife&s;t at the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Euen the wicked at the la&s;t &s;hal feare finde more then death.</NOTE> length in all the wicked, that their mi&s;erie is not in &s;ickne&s;&s;e, nay not in death it &s;elfe, but in an euill con&s;cience guiltie of &s;inne, though now they abhor nothing but death, &amp; e&s;teeme &s;inne but a pa&s;time: the day is co~ming, wherin they &s;hal &s;eeke death &amp; not find it, &s;aying, hills and mountaines fall vpon vs, and couer vs, they &s;hall be glad to be &s;mothered to the death, and to &s;uffer the greate&s;t mi&s;e|rie that can come to their bo|dies,
<PB N="37" REF="26"> vpon condition they were freed from the mi&s;erie of an e|uill con&s;cience; which &s;inne hath brought vpon them.</P>
<P>But how&s;oeuer this mi&s;erie <NOTE PLACE="marg">A comfor|table medi|tation of Gods mer|cie.</NOTE> of <HI>Dauid</HI> was exceeding great, he e&s;pies in God by the eye of faith a greater mercie to cure it, and therefore cries hee for mercie according to the multi|tude of his commi&s;erations; O Lord, I know that what&s;oeuer is in thee is thy &s;elfe, thy mer|cie is no le&s;&s;e then thy &s;elfe. <HI>Cum &s;is mi&s;ericors, quid es, ni&s;i ip|&s;a mi&s;ericordia,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hieron. Sa|uanarola.</NOTE> &s;eeing thou art mercifull, what art thou but mercie it &s;elfe? and what can mercie doe but thine owne worke? can&s;t thou denie thy &s;elfe? can&s;t thou depart from thine owne nature? what is the
<PB N="38" REF="27"> worke of mercie, but to take a|way mi&s;erie, here am I Lord before thee a mi&s;erable man, and my greate&s;t mi&s;erie is my &s;inne, doe thy owne worke, O Lord, cure my mi&s;erie with thy mercie, &s;hew the vertue of thy mercies vpon mee, <HI>aby&s;&s;us aby&s;sum inuocat, aby&s;&s;us mi&s;eriae inuocat aby&s;sum mi&s;ericor diae,</HI> one deepe calls vpon an other, the deepe of mi&s;erie calls vpon the deepe of mercie, greater is the deepe of mercie then the deepe of mi&s;erie; let therefore the deepe of thy mercie &s;wallow vp the deepe of my mi&s;erie, and put thou away mine iniquitie.</P>
<P><HI>On me. Dauid</HI> doeth not now <NOTE PLACE="marg">The humi|litie of a penitent thinks not his name worth to be named.</NOTE> as at other times expre&s;&s;e his name, as when hee &s;aid, Lord remember <HI>Dauid, &amp;c.</HI> neither
<PB N="39" REF="27"> takes hee here to him&s;elfe the name of Gods &s;eruant, as cu&s;to|mably he doth in other places, but concealeth his name, a|&s;hamed of him&s;elfe, not vnlike that forlorne child, I haue &s;in|ned again&s;t heauen and again&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Luke</HI> 15.</NOTE> thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy &s;onne.</P>
<P><HI>According to thy louing kind|ne&s;&s;e.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dauid <HI>de|pends on Gods mercy not on his owne merit.</HI></NOTE> We haue heard <HI>Dauid</HI> his petition in generall: Now the rea&s;on whereby he will moue the Lord to grant it, is not from any merit in him&s;elfe, hee vt|terly di&s;claimes that, but only from God his louing kindne&s;&s;e and commi&s;eration, vpon the&s;e two doth hee now fa&s;ten his gripes, and by the meditation of them hee conceiues &s;ome hope of fauour in the Lord, e|uen
<PB N="40" REF="28"> when in him&s;elfe hee had receiued a condemnatorie &s;en|tence of death, by rea&s;on of his &s;inne.</P>
<P>Two things are requi&s;ite in <NOTE PLACE="marg">The two eyes of a penitent &s;inner, and what lo&s;&s;e it is to want either of them.</NOTE> a &s;inner, that would haue mer|cie; fir&s;t, an eye to know his &s;innes that being a&s;hamed of him&s;elfe, he may re&s;olue, there can be no life for him, if he re&s;t in him&s;elfe. And next an eye to &s;ee Gods mercie, many haue not the fir&s;t, &amp; therefore thinke that either without a Sacrifice, or with a &s;mall &s;acrifice, God will bee plea&s;ed, they cannot mourne for &s;inne, e&s;teeming their &s;innes &s;o &s;mall that they neede no great mourning: O|thers againe haue not the other eye whereby to &s;ee Gods mer|cie in Chri&s;t, they &s;ee their own
<PB N="41" REF="28"> &s;inne, but &s;ee not God his mer|cie, and therefore are carried either to a temporall de&s;pera|tion, which may befal the god|ly that for a time they &s;eeme to them&s;elues vtterly vndone, or then to a finall, us all the re|probates doe: examples wher|of wee haue in <HI>Cain, Saul,</HI> and <HI>Iudas,</HI> from who&s;e mi&s;erable condition the Lord pre&s;erue vs.</P>
<P>Now <HI>Dauid</HI> finding nothing <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Two things in God</HI> Da|uid <HI>grounds vpon.</HI></NOTE> in him&s;elfe to comfort him, when he lookes vp to God hee &s;ees two things, as I &s;aid, that &s;u&s;taine him; fir&s;t, the kind|ne&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>His benig|nitie or kindne&s;&s;e, this is either generall.</HI></NOTE> of God; next the mani|fold compa&s;&s;ions of God; the word expre&s;&s;ing his kindne&s;&s;e is <HI>Che&s;ed,</HI> the benignitie of God, and this is either general, wher
<PB N="42" REF="29"> by hee loues his creatures con|&s;eruing them, as he made them, and delights to doe good vnto them, in &s;o farre as they are the works of his hands. <HI>Thou Lord</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Math.</HI> 5. 45</NOTE> <HI>&s;aue&s;t man and bea&s;t, he makes his Sunne to ari&s;e on the euill and the good, and &s;endeth raine on the iu&s;t and vniu&s;t.</HI> And this how&s;oe|uer it rendred &s;ome comfort, yet could it not giue full com|fort to DAVID, con&s;idering that &s;inne, the poi&s;on of the Serpent in him, made him iu&s;t|ly <NOTE PLACE="marg">Or &s;peciall.</NOTE> abhominable to God. And therefore hee ca&s;ts his eye fur|ther vnto that &s;peciall benigni|tie of God, which in effect is his mercie, whereby hee loues his owne in Chri&s;t redeemes them from their &s;innes, and &s;aues them by his grace when
<PB N="43" REF="29"> they haue lo&s;t them&s;elues by their iniquitie.</P>
<P>And this is euident by the other word immediatly he ad|ioynes <NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;peciall is in effect Gods mercy and tender compa&s;sion.</NOTE> of God his compa&s;&s;ion which is the other ground, whereupon the faith of <HI>Dauid</HI> repo&s;ed, for the word <HI>Racham</HI> &s;ignifies to loue from the verie bowells and inward affection, being deduced from the name <HI>R&ecirc;ch&ecirc;m,</HI> which &s;ignifies the <NOTE PLACE="marg">What great comfort wee haue into it.</NOTE> wombe or matrice, that with mo&s;t kindly and tender affec|tion, compa&s;&s;e and nouri&s;h the Infant within it, &s;uppo&s;e it cannot bee thankefull for the pre&s;ent, nor doe the duetie wherein it is bound, but rather be offen&s;iue to the mother that carries it, <HI>Dauid</HI> knew that the like tender affection was in God
<PB N="44" REF="30"> toward his owne poore chil|dren, yea and much more grea|ter, then the heaue~s are higher <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> from the earth; &s;o farre are the thoughts of God his loue and compa&s;&s;ion, aboue all that can bee in vs, it is po&s;&s;ible the mo|ther may forget the birth of her wombe, but the LORD cannot forget them who are his.</P>
<P>Therefore doth he not only <NOTE PLACE="marg">Compa&s;sio~s in the plu|rall number are a&s;cribed to God.</NOTE> a&s;cribe vnto God compa&s;&s;ions but great co~pa&s;&s;ions, or a mul|titude of them, &amp; &s;o he &s;peakes for two cau&s;es, fir&s;t becau&s;e where God &s;hewes mercies, he <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Becau&s;e where he &s;hewes mer|cie, he &s;hews many mer|cies toge|ther.</HI></NOTE> &s;hewes many mercies together a heape and a verie ma&s;&s;e of mercies. The royall heart of <HI>Alexander</HI> thought it not hono|rable for him to giue a &s;mall
<PB N="45" REF="30"> thing, what then &s;hall we think of our God? The ods is &s;o great that there can bee no compari|&s;on. But &s;ure where hee giues any of his chief ble&s;&s;ings, there hee giues &s;uch a trea&s;ure forth of his infinite riches of mercie, as we are not able to &s;peake of.</P>
<P>Yet for our comfort in our <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sixe ranks of mercie.</NOTE> meditation, his mercies &s;hew|ed vnto vs, &s;ince wee could <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Preuenting mercie.</HI></NOTE> know, what mercie was, wee may reduce them to &s;ix rankes, the fir&s;t I call preuenting mer|cies, whereby the Lord did vs good when wee knew him not, and kept vs from many &s;innes, which otherwaies wee would haue committed: <HI>O quanta dig|natio</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bern. de E|uang.</HI> 7. <HI>Pa|num Ser.</HI> 1.</NOTE> <HI>pietatis, quod ingratum &s;ic gratia con&s;eruabat,</HI> Many &s;innes haue we done again&s;t him, but
<PB N="46" REF="31"> farre moe &s;hould we haue done if his mercie had not preuen|ted vs, <HI>Agno&s;ce ergo gratiam eius cui debes, etiam quod non ad|mi&s;i&s;ti.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu.</NOTE> <HI>Mihi debet i&s;te quod fa|ctum est &amp; dimi&s;&s;um vidi&s;ti, mi|hi debes &amp; tu quod non feci&s;ti.</HI> Acknowledge therefore Gods mercie toward thee, euen in the&s;e &s;innes, which thou ha&s;t not done. If thou &s;ee&s;t one who is debitor to mee for a &s;in, which hee did and I forgaue him; vnder&s;tand al&s;o that thou art debitor to me for keeping thee, that thou did&s;t not the like, for there is no &s;inne which any man hath done, but an o|ther man would doe the like, if God by grace did not pre&s;erue him from it.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> The &s;econd ranke hath in it
<PB N="47" REF="31"> his &s;paring mercies, or the mer|cies <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sparing mercies.</NOTE> of his patience, though we haue beene kept from the do|ing of many &s;innes, yet haue we done enough to condemne vs. There is an other &s;ort of mercie, <HI>Peccabam &amp; tu di&s;simu|labas, non continebam a &s;celeribus &amp; tu a verberibus ab&s;tinebas,</HI> I &s;inned and thou held&s;t thy tongue, I tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed, thou &s;pared&s;t and killed&s;t mee not, when wee looke to <HI>Zimri</HI> and <HI>Cosbi</HI> &s;laine in the act of harlo|trie; to <HI>Ananias</HI> and <HI>Saphira</HI> &s;triken to death in their &s;inne, what &s;hall wee &s;ay, but it is a great mercie of God, that hi|therto wee haue not beene ta|ken away in the midde&s;t of our &s;innes?</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> In the third ranke, wee place
<PB N="48" REF="32"> his pardoning mercies, for a <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 <HI>Pardoning mercies.</HI></NOTE> man may thinke what benefit is it to mee, to bee long &s;pared, &s;eeing at the la&s;t, iudgment will come, <HI>&amp; quo diutius expectat, eo di&s;trictius iudicabit,</HI> but this fear is taken away from the godly by God his pardoning mercies, he forgiues their &s;ins in Chri&s;t, he will neuer impute their ini|quitie vnto them, but taketh them vtterly away, <HI>Peccatum non imputatum, e&s;t qua&s;i nunquam fuerit commi&s;&s;um.</HI></P>
<P>But with the&s;e is al&s;o giuen <NOTE PLACE="marg">4 <HI>Renewing mercies.</HI></NOTE> vs the fourth &s;ort, that is his re|newing mercies. There are ma|ny <HI>quorum infructuo&s;a e&s;t poeni|tentia,</HI> who repent of their &s;innes, but are not renewed by amendment of life, in whom <HI>noui&s;simus error peior e&s;t priori,</HI>
<PB N="49" REF="32"> their returning like Dogges to their vomit, is wor&s;e then their fir&s;t tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion: but the Lord when hee giues to his owne children the grace of remi&s;&s;io~, doth al&s;o giue with it the grace of renouation, whereby hee makes them new creatures, a|bounding in the fruits of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, to Gods glorie, the edification of their brethren, and the comfort of their owne con&s;ciences in Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>And yet all the&s;e were no|thing, if it were not that the fift <NOTE PLACE="marg">5. <HI>Corrobora|ting and continuing mercie.</HI></NOTE> ranke of mercies were al&s;o hea|ped vpon vs, which I call con|tinuing mercies, whereby wee per&s;euer in that e&s;tate of grace, whereunto we are once called. <HI>Adam</HI> in his be&s;t e&s;tate of inno|cencie continued not, &amp; would
<PB N="50" REF="33"> wee &s;tand in grace, if per&s;eue|rance, which hee wanted, were not communicated vnto vs. As mercie brought vs to this &s;tate of grace, &s;o it is by mercie al&s;o that we are kept in it.</P>
<P>And the la&s;t ranke is of Gods crowning mercies, whereby he <NOTE PLACE="marg">6. <HI>Crowning mercies.</HI></NOTE> &s;hall perfect his owne worke, fini&s;h that which hee hath be|gunne in vs, hee &s;hall performe to vs his promi&s;ed Kingdome, feare of euill &s;hall be farre from vs, in that Paradi&s;e no tempter &s;hall bee to &s;nare vs, mercie &s;hall compa&s;&s;e vs, no good &s;hall be lacking to vs, the Lord &s;hall bee all in all vnto vs, and from that ble&s;&s;ed fellow&s;hip and co~|munion with him, &s;hall wee neuer be diuided againe.</P>
<PB N="51" REF="33">
<P> And as this way Gods mer|cies <NOTE PLACE="marg">Compa&s;&s;ions in the plu|rall num|ber, are a&s;|cribed to God, be|cau&s;e the proofe and practi&s;e of them is ma|nifold.</NOTE> are manifold, &s;o likewi&s;e are the pray&s;es of them in re|&s;pect of innumerable per&s;ons, on whom they haue beene de|clared, for <HI>mi&s;erationes Dei &s;unt opera &amp; proce&s;&s;us mi&s;ericordiae e|ius,</HI> and &s;o his meditation is, O Lord thou ha&s;t &s;hewed com|pa&s;&s;ion to many a penitent &s;in|ner, &s;ince the beginning of the world, thou neuer reiected&s;t a|ny that &s;ought thee with a pe|nitent heart, for number they cannot bee told to whom thou ha&s;t beene mercifull, <HI>quot enim iu&s;ti, tot mi&s;erationes,</HI> let them al be gathered that are in heauen and earth, if it be demanded of them, how is it they haue been &s;aued, they will all an&s;were, <HI>Not vnto vs, O Lord, but vnto thy</HI>
<PB N="52" REF="34"> <HI>name be the prai&s;e;</HI> And there|fore &s;eeing thou, O Lord, art the &s;ame; And <HI>no &s;hadow of change is with thee,</HI> I be&s;eech thee clo&s;e not that dore of mercie on me, which hath ope|ned to receiue &s;o many &s;inners before me, and the&s;e Riuers of co~pa&s;&s;ion which haue flowed &s;o abundantly toward others, let them not bee dryed vp to mee.</P>
<P>This earne&s;tne&s;&s;e of <HI>Dauids</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Feeling of our wants, make ear|ne&s;t Prayer.</NOTE> praier, flowes from the feeling of his great &s;innes, he knew his &s;innes were great, and therfore craues he great mercies, <HI>magna &s;iquidem vulnera paribus indige~t</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> <HI>Pharmacis,</HI> yea that in this one tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, manifold &s;innes were included, and that there|fore hee needed not one, but a
<PB N="53" REF="34"> multitude of diuine commi&s;e|rations: <HI>Vniuer &s;am in &s;e Dei gra|tiam effundi, &amp; totum mi&s;eratio|num fontem in peccati &s;ui vlcera euacuari orat.</HI></P>
<P>But how &s;oeuer the mercies <NOTE PLACE="marg">The mer|cies of God are plenti|full, yet not extended to all, and why</NOTE> of God bee plentifull, yet are they not extended vnto all, they are free indeede; <HI>I haue mercie</HI> (&s;aith the Lord) <HI>on whom I will haue mercie,</HI> but &s;o that if there be any man, to who~ they flow not, he may alwaies finde the cau&s;e in him&s;elf, in his hard heart that cannot repent, it holds true in all the reprobate, which the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes of the rebellious Iewes; <HI>Yee put it from you,</HI> meaning the word of the Go&s;pell, wherein mercie and grace is offered, <HI>and iudge your &s;elues vnworthie of euerla|&s;ting</HI>
<PB N="54" REF="35"> <HI>life,</HI> therefore that mercie which is here craued by <HI>Dauid,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Act.</HI> 13. 46.</NOTE> by a mo&s;t fearefull decree was denied vnto them, God gaue that people a name <HI>Lo-Rucha|mah,</HI> I will no more haue pitie <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ho&s;.</HI> 1. 6.</NOTE> on them, whereupon followed another name, expre&s;&s;ing their <NOTE PLACE="marg">Such as will not be Gods people, &s;hall not find Gods mercy</NOTE> mi&s;erie after that once God for their &s;ins had ca&s;t them away, <HI>Lo-Ammi,</HI> that is to &s;ay, they are not my people, and I will not bee theirs. No tongue can expre&s;&s;e the mi&s;erie of that man, who for his proud conti|nuance in &s;inne, and contempt of grace offered vnto him, re|ceiues mo&s;t iu&s;tly from the Lord, that decree of <HI>Lo-Rucha|mah,</HI> I will haue no mercie on him; where the Fountayne is &s;topped the Springs of nece&s;&s;i|tie
<PB N="55" REF="35"> mu&s;t drie vp, where mercie is denied, all good things flow|ing from it mu&s;t decay. This will be the cur&s;ed condition of the damned. <HI>All fat and ex|cellent</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Reuel.</HI> 18. 14.</NOTE> <HI>things &s;hall depart from them,</HI> from which the Lord de|liuer vs.</P>
<P><HI>Put away mine iniquities.</HI> Hi|therto <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dauid <HI>en|ters to his particular petitions.</HI></NOTE> we haue heard <HI>Dauid</HI> his generall petition for mercie, now followes his three parti|cular petitio~s, expre&s;&s;ing what mercie it is hee craued, as wee &s;hewed in the beginning of the Ver&s;e.</P>
<P>His fir&s;t particular petition <NOTE PLACE="marg">Whereof the fir&s;t is a petition for the remi&s;&s;i|on of his &s;innes.</NOTE> is for forgiuene&s;&s;e of his &s;inne, the fact was pa&s;t, but the gilt re|mained, the plea&s;ure of it was &s;oone done, but the terror of it &s;till vexed him, all the comfort
<PB N="56" REF="36"> of his Kingdome could not make him merry, the torment of an accu&s;ing con&s;cience for &s;in was more &s;trong to deiect him, then all the plea&s;ures of <HI>Ca|naan</HI> were to &s;u&s;taine him, yea it is mo&s;t &s;ure that externall comforts are &s;o far from com|forting a troubled con&s;cience, that by the contrarie they en|crea&s;e the trouble thereof, and the more worldly comforts be pre&s;ented, the greater is the heauine&s;&s;e of that &s;oule, which is afflicted for &s;inne; and there|fore now when hee comes to <NOTE PLACE="marg">The griefe of &s;inne can not be a&s;|&s;waged by any worldly comfort.</NOTE> the point, hee tels where his &s;ore was, what grieued him mo&s;t, iniquitie, iniquitie; hee cryes out for this in the 32. P&s;alme; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is the man who&s;e wickedne&s;&s;e is forgiuen, who&s;e</HI>
<PB N="57" REF="36"> <HI>&s;inne is couered, and to whom the Lord imputes not iniquitie.</HI> As if he would &s;ay, hee that hath not this, hath no ble&s;&s;ing, all comforts without this are com+fortle&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>Where wee haue to take vp <NOTE PLACE="marg">What a fear full euill &s;inne is.</NOTE> what a cur&s;ed and mi&s;erable thing &s;inne is, a &s;parkle of fire come from hell, that burnes vp all the plea&s;ures of the Para|di&s;e of a good Con&s;cience, a &s;eede of Sathan, a peece of lea|uen that &s;owreth and infecteth all it comes among, turning &s;weete&s;t things into bitter. It is but a &s;mall thing to looke to, &s;oone done in the twinckling of an eye, but hath an enduring &s;ting, and produceth manifold and great euill effects, it pertur|beth all being but one, and
<PB N="58" REF="37"> &s;poyle man of the comfort of all God his creatures, mi&s;era|ble men bewitched with the deceipt of &s;inne, drunken with the pre&s;ent fal&s;e plea&s;ures ther|of cannot beleeue this, it is but a pa&s;time to them to doe wic|kedly; but let them know it &s;hall turne to bitterne&s;&s;e in the end. But of this more in the third ver&s;e, where hee com|plaines that his &s;inne was euer before him.</P>
<P>The word that in this petition <NOTE PLACE="marg">God hath his accompt Booke, wherein the debts of men, that is their &s;innes are Regi|&s;tred.</NOTE> <HI>Dauid</HI> v&s;eth is <HI>Machah,</HI> &s;ignifi|ing a &s;craping &amp; a blotting out; hee alludes as it &s;eemes to the maner of them, who haue their accompt Bookes, wherein they write vp their debts, whereof they purpo&s;e to haue paiment, although they &s;pare for a time,
<PB N="59" REF="37"> wherupo~ <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;ayeth, I know Lord thou ha&s;t thine owne accompt Booke, wherein thou write&s;t the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions of them, with whom thou minde&s;t to enter in iudgement accor|ding to that, <HI>The &s;inne of Iuda is written with a Penne of yron, and</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Iere.</HI> 17.</NOTE> <HI>the point of a Diamond.</HI> Let not O Lord my debt &s;tand Regi|&s;tred there, but of thy mercie put it and blot it out, I haue done enough for my part to put my owne name out of the Booke of life, and in&s;ert it in the Roll of them that mu&s;t come to iudgement. I know there is a &s;tanding decree in thy Booke, <HI>That death is the wa|ges of &s;inne;</HI> If my &s;inne &s;tand in thy Regi&s;ter, I am but a dead man, <HI>Lord quicken me, forgiue</HI>
<PB N="60" REF="38"> <HI>me my tre&s;pa&s;&s;e, and put away the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Colo&s;.</HI> 2. 13.</NOTE> <HI>hand-writing of thy ordinance, which is contrarie to me.</HI></P>
<P>But here let vs marke, how <NOTE PLACE="marg">The bookes are two, the booke of his Science, and the booke of our Con&s;ci|ence.</NOTE> it is that the Lord putteth &s;inne out of his two-fold Regi&s;ter, Fir&s;t out of the booke of his owne &s;cience, hee putteth the &s;innes of his children vtterly, both the gilt and the memorie of them hee putteth away, &s;o that out of his accompt booke hee &s;crapes our debt cleane a|way, that it appeares not a|gaine, according to his promi&s;e, <HI>I will remember their &s;innes no more.</HI> But out of the Regi&s;ter of our con&s;cience, hee putteth the gilt, the accu&s;ing, and tor|menting power of it, but abo|li&s;heth not vtterly the remem|brance of it. He re&s;erues &s;ome
<PB N="61" REF="38"> monument of our &s;innes in our memorie, after that they are forgiuen, partly to humble vs, when wee looke backe vnto them, and partly to pre&s;erue vs from committing the like in time to come.</P>
<P>And further we &s;ee how <HI>Da|uid</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Blind are they who thinke they can make &s;atisfaction to God for their debts.</NOTE> acknowledgeth, his debt was more then hee was able to pay, and therefore di&s;claiming his owne &s;ufficiencie, hee ap|peales to Gods mercy, be&s;eech|ing the L. to blot it out, for he had not to pay it. It is a pitiful blindne&s;&s;e in the aduer&s;aries of the truth, that teacheth poore people to leane vnto mans &s;a|tisfactions, which they mu&s;t make to God for their &s;innes, either here or in Purgatorie, how wilt thou &s;atisfie that infi|finite
<PB N="62" REF="39"> maie&s;tie of God for thy manifold &s;innes, <HI>Ille figulus, tu</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ber. Scr. de quadrup. debito.</NOTE> <HI>figmentum.</HI> When thou ha&s;t gi|uen vnto him all that thou art able, either by doing or &s;uffer|ing, <HI>Nonnei&s;tud e&s;t, &s;icut &s;tella ad &s;olem, gutta ad fluuium,</HI> What is it, but as if one &s;hould com|pare a Starre with the Sunne, or a drop with a riuer, <HI>Nemo e&s;t qui mille&s;imae imo nec minimae parte debitorum &s;uorum valeat re|&s;pondere.</HI> I &s;ee it was blindnes, and &s;o it is, what&s;oeuer &s;hew of learning bee in them, who maintaine it, if they knew how great is the debt that man ow|eth vnto God, they would &s;ay with <HI>Bernard,</HI> There is none in the world able to an&s;were the thou&s;and part; nay, not the &s;malle&s;t part of that Debt,
<PB N="63" REF="39"> which man oweth vnto God. Away therefore with that bla&s;|phemous word of humaine &s;a|tisfaction, for except the Lord haue compa&s;&s;ion on vs, and for <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Mattb.</HI> 18. 27.</NOTE> giue the debt, there remaines nothing for vs, but to be pined in pri&s;on for euer.</P>
<P>And this al&s;o is to bee ob&s;er|ued, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>By three words,</HI> Da|uid <HI>expre&s;|&s;eth his &s;in, to &s;hew the greatne&s;&s;e thereof.</HI></NOTE> how <HI>Dauid</HI> making menti|on of his &s;inne, contents him not with one word, but chan|ges there &s;undrie words to ex|pre&s;&s;e it, whereof the one <HI>Pa|&s;hang,</HI> &s;ignifieth defection and rebellion; the other <HI>Gnauah,</HI> &s;ignifieth peruer&s;ue&s;&s;e or croo|ked doing; the third <HI>Chatta,</HI> &s;ig|nifieth to erre or wander from the marke. Men who do weigh &s;inne in the balance of con&s;ue|tude, can neuer knowe the
<PB N="64" REF="40"> weight of it, they e&s;teeme it but a light thing, but godly men who weigh it in the ba|lance of the Sanctuarie, and ex|amine it according to the rule of the word, find it &s;uch a hor|rible euill as wherein manifold euils doe concurre.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 2.</BIBL>
<Q>Wa&s;h me throughly from mine ini|quitie, and clean&s;e me from my &s;inne.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P><HI>_DAuid</HI> in&s;i&s;ts, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Three things which make feruent Prayer.</NOTE> in other termes hee repeates his former petition: There are three things which make earne&s;tnes
<PB N="65" REF="40"> and feruencie in prayer. Fir&s;t, Con&s;cience of &s;inne. Second|ly, feare or &s;en&s;e of wrath. Thirdly, ardent de&s;ire of mer|cie; the&s;e three were at this time &s;trong in <HI>Dauid,</HI> and ther|fore &s;ends hee vp feruent and &s;trong petitions to God.</P>
<P>More particularly we learne <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinne, a vile vn|cleanne&s;&s;e.</NOTE> here, that Sinne is a filthyne&s;&s;e which defiles a man, there is no vncleanne&s;&s;e can make vs &s;o vile, and abhominable in the eyes of man, as &s;inne maketh vs in the eyes of God; what more vile thing in the world then a Men&s;truous cloth? If euen our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e bee like vnto it, as <HI>E&s;ay</HI> witne&s;&s;eth, I pray you whereunto &s;hall our vnrighte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e be compared, or what &s;imilitude can be gotten &s;uffici|ently
<PB N="66" REF="41"> to expre&s;&s;e it. Now as it is an vncleannes indeed, would to God we could &s;o e&s;teeme of it; we can &s;uffer no vncleannes in our bodies, but incontinent we wa&s;h it away; Neither can abide it in our garments, but without delay wee remedie it: yea, the &s;malle&s;t vncleanne&s;&s;e in the ve&s;&s;els that &s;erue vs for meate and drinke, makes our very foode loth&s;ome vnto vs; But alas, wee haue not halfe of that care to keepe our Soules and Con&s;ciences cleane, from the filthy pollution of &s;inne, nor yet to wa&s;h them in that Fountaine, opened to DAVIDS hou&s;e for &s;inne and for vn|cleanne&s;&s;e, when we haue defi|led them.</P>
<P>And yet a great nece&s;&s;itie to
<PB N="67" REF="41"> doe &s;o, lies vpon vs, for we are <NOTE PLACE="marg">No part can we haue with Christ, if he wa&s;h vs not.</NOTE> warned that no vncleane thing can enter into heauenly <HI>Ieru&s;a|lem.</HI> That an&s;were giuen by the Lord Ie&s;us vnto <HI>Peter,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ioh.</HI> 13. 8.</NOTE> &s;tands for a warning to vs all; If I wa&s;h thee not, thou &s;halt haue no part with me; Oh that it moued vs, as it mooued him, that wee might al&s;o pray with him. O Lord rather then my vncleannes bani&s;h me from thy fellow&s;hip, wa&s;h I be&s;eech thee not my feete onely, but my hands and my head al&s;o, Wa&s;h my feete, that is my vncleane affections: Wa&s;h my head, that is my vncleane imaginations and &s;en&s;es. And wa&s;h al&s;o my hands, that is the vncleanne&s;&s;e of mine actions.</P>
<PB N="68" REF="42">
<P> But the word that <HI>Dauid</HI> v&s;eth <NOTE PLACE="marg">A co~fort a|ble medita|tion of Gods manifold mercies.</NOTE> imports much wa&s;hing, hee knew his &s;inne was a deepe &s;pot, not ea&s;ily rubbed away, and therefore craues he much wa&s;hing, &s;o then, his meaning is, Many &s;innes ha&s;t thou Lord forgiuen me, now I pray thee yet further wa&s;h me from this &s;inne al&s;o. Are thy mercies numbred, or are they &s;o nar|row that they cannot couer this tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion among the re&s;t, how great &s;o euer it bee. So that heere <HI>Dauid</HI> doth &s;till depend vpon the greatne&s;&s;e of Gods compa&s;&s;ion, and by it is he &s;u&s;tained, that the greatnes of his tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion driueth him not to de&s;pare, when the Apo&s;tle Saint <HI>Peter</HI> enquired at the Lord Ie&s;us, how oft
<PB N="69" REF="42"> &s;hall I forgiue my brother in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Since hee will haue vs to for|giue an o|ther &s;euen times in the day, what will he doe him&s;elfe?</NOTE> the day, if he offend me, &s;hall I forgiue him &s;euen times? Our Sauiour an&s;wered, not &s;euen times only, but &s;euenty times &s;euen times al&s;o. O word full of con&s;olation, how doth it animate vs to repo&s;e on the the Lords mercy. <HI>Nonne ma|ior Deus homine? nonne melior homine?</HI> Is not the Lord grea|ter then man? is he not better then man? If he will haue &s;o great compa&s;&s;ion in a man to forgiue his brother &s;o often in a day: what compa&s;&s;ion is in him&s;elfe to forgiue his owne poore penitent creature, that pro&s;trates him&s;elfe for mercy before him.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="70" REF="43">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE 3</BIBL>
<Q>For I know mine iniquity, and my &s;inne is euer before me.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HEere is &s;ubjoined a rea&s;on of his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Confe&s;&s;ion from a pe|nitent hart obtaines mercy.</NOTE> former petition. O Lord, I doe not hide &amp; con|ceale the iniquitie of my bo|&s;ome, I &s;eeke not now to couer it as I did before, but now I ac|knowledge it, and I confe&s;&s;e it to thee again&s;t my &s;elfe, there|fore, Lord haue mercy vpon me, and forgiue it: this is a good rea&s;on, for it is grounded on the Lords promi&s;e: <HI>He that hideth his &s;innes &s;hall not pro&s;per:</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prou.</HI> 28.</NOTE>
<PB N="71" REF="43"> <HI>but hee that confe&s;&s;eth, and for&s;a|keth them &s;hall haue mercy.</HI> And againe, <HI>If wee confe&s;&s;e our &s;innes</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Ioh.</HI> 1. 9.</NOTE> <HI>God is faithfull and iu&s;t to forgiue them.</HI> Or otherwaies we may take vp the&s;e words as <HI>Vatablus</HI> doth, Lord thou knowe&s;t that I &s;eeke not mercy from thee di&s;&s;emblingly, or for fa&s;hion, as the manner of hypocrites is, who make &s;upplication for mercy, of cu&s;tome rather then of contrition, nay Lord I feele my &s;inne a burden which trou|bles me, the very &s;ight of it ter|rifies and afraies me, therefore Lord take it away from thee.</P>
<P>So long as &s;inne is in a mans <NOTE PLACE="marg">So long as &s;inne is in the affecti|on that a man loues it there is no remi&s;&s;ion of it.</NOTE> affection that hee likes it and hath plea&s;ure in it, it is but a mocking of God to de&s;ire him to forgiue it, &s;hall hee forgiue
<PB N="72" REF="44"> that which thou wilt not for|goe? &s;hall he pardon thine of|fences &s;o long as thou ha&s;t plea|&s;ure to offend? No, no, vnle&s;&s;e thou put thine iniquity from thee out of thine affection, vn|le&s;&s;e thou find it a burden vnto thee whereof thou art weary, goe not to him to &s;eeke mer|cy: for &s;o his promi&s;e is, <HI>Come vnto mee all yee that are weary, and laden, and I will refre&s;h you:</HI> But alas, it is farre otherwi&s;e with many, who v&s;e in bab|bling manner the&s;e words of <HI>Dauid.</HI> O Lord con&s;ider my di&s;tre&s;&s;e, when as they had ne|uer &s;uch a thing as a di&s;tre&s;&s;ed &s;oule for &s;inne; and cannot &s;ay with <HI>Dauid,</HI> I know mine ini|quity and my &s;inne is euer be|fore me.</P>
<PB N="73" REF="44">
<P> But when is this, that <HI>Dauid</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">An exam|ple of that deepe &s;ecu|rity where|in Gods children may fall.</NOTE> comes to know his &s;inne? after that <HI>Nathan</HI> had reproued him without, and God had wakned his owne con&s;cience within to accu&s;e him; and this was nine moneths after the committing of the &s;in: al this time he &s;lept in a carele&s;&s;e &s;ecurity, albe|it he haunted the exerci&s;es of religion, and had &s;ome general knowledge of his &s;innes, yet it moued him not, till now God lets him &s;ee an other &s;ight of his &s;innes, then hee had be|fore.</P>
<P>In him wee &s;ee an image of <NOTE PLACE="marg">To &s;inne is of our &s;elfe, to repent is of grace.</NOTE> our corrupt di&s;po&s;ition; wee fall ea&s;ily into &s;inne, and when we haue fallen, we can doe no|thing but lye &s;till in &s;inne, ex|cept the Lord put vnder his
<PB N="74" REF="45"> mercifull hand and rai&s;e vs vp. As <HI>Adam</HI> when he had &s;inned, ran away from the Lord, &s;o is it the manner of <HI>Adams</HI> chil|dren; after &s;inne, in&s;teede of running to the Lord, to runne away alwaies, the longer and the further from him, if the Lord doe not follow and reco|uer them.</P>
<P>For this is a peece of Satans pollicy that as hee is &s;ubtill in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Satans poli|cie, fir&s;t drawes a man to &s;in then keepes him vnto it.</NOTE> alluring man to commit &s;inne, &s;o when he hath done it, he la|bours to blind the minde, that man &s;hould neuer come to the knowledge of his &s;inne till hee be pa&s;t remedy: a fearefull ex|ample whereof wee haue in <HI>Iu|das.</HI> And therefore it is a great mercy of God towards his owne, that he opens their eies
<PB N="75" REF="45"> in time to &s;ee their &s;inne, &s;o long as he &s;its vpon his mercy-&s;eat to pardon and forgiue them. Satan knows he hath no vantage by &s;inne, when true re|pentance followeth it. <HI>For, wher &s;inne hath abounded, there grace hath much more &s;uper abounded.</HI> It is not &s;inne &s;o much which condemnes men, as impeni|tency that de&s;pi&s;es mercy, and therefore Satan contents not to draw his mi&s;erable captiues into &s;inne: but when hee hath done it, hides the &s;ight of it from them alwaies till the time of grace bee expired, and they bee pa&s;t recouery, then lets he them &s;ee the vgline&s;&s;e of their &s;in, and with re&s;tle&s;&s;e torments di&s;quiets their &s;oules for it.</P>
<P>Further wee &s;ee heere that
<PB N="76" REF="46"> ther are two &s;orts of the know|ledge <NOTE PLACE="marg">A twofold knowledge of &s;inne.</NOTE> of &s;in: one which is but general, idle, &amp; works no refor|mation, and an other which is effectuall to worke conuer&s;ion. <HI>Dauid,</HI> as I &s;aid, before that <HI>Na|than</HI> came to him, he knew that <NOTE PLACE="marg">One, that is idle and workes no remor&s;e: another, that breeds repentance.</NOTE> murther &amp; adultery were &s;ins, but that troubled him not. But now God works another know ledge of &s;in in him, hee &s;ees his &s;ins in another maner, he feeles now the iu&s;t weight of them, he ta&s;tes now the bitter fruits of them, his &s;pirit is filled with angui&s;h for them and his &s;oule abhors them. It is to be lamen|ted that the knoweledge of &s;in which now is in mo&s;t part of the world, is but like that knowledge of &s;inne which <HI>Da|uid</HI> had in time of his &s;ecurity;
<PB N="77" REF="46"> they confe&s;&s;e they are &s;inners, they know that bla&s;phemy, drunkenne&s;&s;e, fornication, and &s;uch like, are &s;innes, but their con&s;cience being &s;leeping, they walke &s;till on in their &s;innes, and thinkes it is Chri&s;tianity good enough, if euery mor|ning they &s;ay, God be merciful to mee, for I am a poore &s;inner, but alas poore art thou indeed, and pittifully deceiued, this knowledge will but make thee inexcu&s;able, becau&s;e in thy words confe&s;&s;ing, and condem|ning &s;inne, in thy workes thou practi&s;e&s;t it: but there is an other knowledge of &s;in, which the Lord &s;hall once di&s;couer vnto thee, either in mercy for thy amendment, as hee doth heere to <HI>Dauid,</HI> or in wrath, as
<PB N="78" REF="47"> he did to <HI>Iudas.</HI> Pray vnto the Lord that this knowledge of &s;inne may be giuen you in his mercy for your conuer&s;ion, and not in his wrath for your con&s;u&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>And my &s;inne is euer before me,</HI> What meanes <HI>Dauid</HI> by <NOTE PLACE="marg">How &s;inne lookes not alway with one face.</NOTE> this? was not &s;inne before him ere now? It was indeede ere he committed it, it &s;tood before alluring him and hee liked it, and &s;ought occa&s;ion to com|mit it; when he had commit|ted, it was before him al&s;o. But it looked with &s;o ill fauou|red a face, that hee &s;ought to hide it, and now when his con|&s;cience is wakened, it &s;tood be|fore him, directly to accu&s;e him and it troubles him &s;o, that hee would faine be quit of the &s;ight
<PB N="79" REF="47"> therof. Oh that men could con|&s;ider this in time, how &s;inne will change her countenance; before the action, &s;inne comes like a laughing enemy purpo|&s;ing to &s;lay, but in flattering manner pretending friend&s;hip. In the action, like &s;weet poy|&s;on, deadly and yet delights the &s;en&s;e, but after the action a &s;tinging Scorpion leauing no other fruit behinde it, but guil|tine&s;&s;e in the con&s;cience, terror in the minde, angui&s;h in the &s;pirit. <HI>Si cupis peccati cogno&s;cere</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Chry&s;. in Ioan.</HI> 8. <HI>hom.</HI> 51.</NOTE> <HI>turpitudinem, commi&s;&s;um con&s;i|dera, cum liber non amplius eius perturbaris affectibus,</HI> If men could thinke of this in time, they would not bee much mo|ued with the beautifull face of &s;inne, at the fir&s;t comming to
<PB N="80" REF="48"> them, becau&s;e it is certaine that &s;inne which at the fir&s;t is before a man to tempt him, and will not let him to re&s;t till he doe it: that &s;ame &s;inne at the next time &s;hal &s;tand before him to torment him, and not let him re&s;t, becau&s;e hee hath doe it.</P>
<P>And this he further ampli|fies, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The action of &s;inne is momenta|rie, the ef|fects of it remaines.</NOTE> when he &s;aies, it is euer be|fore him, both night and day, &s;leeping and waking, go where I will, it goes with mee; no change of place changes my trouble. <HI>Sine intermi&s;sione vi|deo</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> <HI>malorum meorum imagines,</HI> and it is &s;o before me that it is again&s;t mee, <HI>Semper coram me</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Saua.</NOTE> <HI>opponens &s;e mihi, ne ad te tran|&s;eat oratio mea.</HI> Sinne is &s;oone committed, in a moment pa&s;|&s;eth
<PB N="81" REF="48"> the plea&s;ure of it, but the gilt, and terror is not &s;o &s;oone done, <HI>Paruum e&s;t ad horam pec|catum,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cyrill, Cate|chi&s;.</HI> 12.</NOTE> <HI>longaeua autem e&s;t ex eo, &amp; aeterna verecundia.</HI> That for which a man &s;innes, &s;hall not abide with him: try when yee will, yee &s;hall finde it &s;o; wilt thou &s;lay <HI>Naboth</HI> for his Vineycard, thou mu&s;t go from it; wilt thou incurre the cur&s;e with <HI>Achan</HI> for a wedge of gold, thou &s;halt not keepe it, the cur&s;e bides with thee, the gilt of &s;inne remaines, but that for which thou did&s;t &s;in, &s;hall bee taken from thee, and thou from it. The remembrance of this were a &s;ingular pre&s;er|uatiue again&s;t &s;inne.</P>
<P>It is an opinion of carnall men blinded with the deceit of
<PB N="82" REF="49"> &s;inne, that when &s;inne is com|mitted, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sin is not alwaies done when it is ended, as the foo|li&s;h thinke.</NOTE> they thinke it done, and away, and &s;o ca&s;ts it be|hinde their backe, as a thing neuer any more to be remem|bred; but truth &s;hall teach them by experience, when they are iudged that it is before them. It is now nine moneths &s;ince <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;inned, yet he finds his &s;inne before him, the cruel|ty of <HI>Iacobs</HI> &s;onnes again&s;t their brother <HI>Io&s;eph,</HI> which they committed in <HI>Canaan,</HI> mette them twenty yeeres after that, in <HI>Aegypt,</HI> though for a long time they beleeued it had been done, and forgotten. No <NOTE PLACE="marg">No length of time takes away &s;inne with|out repen|tance.</NOTE> length of time can we are &s;inne away, if it be not taken away by repentance, the &s;innes wee haue done many yeeres &s;ince,
<PB N="83" REF="49"> if we mourne not for them till we get mercy, &s;hall &s;tand vp as fre&s;h and young again&s;t vs, when we come to bee iudged as they were, the fir&s;t houre that we committed them. The Lord make vs wi&s;e to thinke vpon it: our &s;elues waxe old, our bodies are declyning to the graue, our yeeres are neere an end, and will wee take no paines to weare away our &s;ins, to make them as if they had neuer beene, or &s;hall wee let them &s;tand in their &s;trength and vigour again&s;t vs, this were a pittifull folly which will not faile to trouble vs at the la&s;t: happy are they who are iudg|ed in this world, that they be not condemned in the world to come.</P>
<PB N="84" REF="50">
<P> Further, we note heere the <NOTE PLACE="marg">The folly of &s;inners, they redeeme a peri&s;hing plea&s;ure with an en|during paine.</NOTE> folly of &s;inners, and iu&s;t man|ner of the Lords dealing with them; their folly is heere, that that they redeeme a peri&s;hing plea&s;ure with an enduring paine; Gods iu&s;tice is here, that he puni&s;heth the wicked with their owne &s;infull deedes, and lets them eat the fruit of their owne labours. This he threat|neth by <HI>Ezechiel,</HI> I &s;hall turne your waies vpon your owne heads, and truely it were a pu|ni&s;hment greater then men are able to beare, if the Lord &s;hould &s;et their iniquities be|fore them, and let them &s;ee them as they are. Let wicked <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;alm.</HI> 50.</NOTE> men con&s;ider this, that while they are multiplying &s;innes, they are but pletting coardes,
<PB N="85" REF="50"> wherewith they &s;hall be whip|ped the next day with their owne hands, they are heaping vp wrath to them&s;elues. No place of complaining again&s;t the Lords iu&s;tice, &s;hall bee left <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 2.</NOTE> vnto them, when they &s;hall clearely &s;ee, it is their owne iniquitie that vexeth and tor|ments them.</P>
<P>But now &s;eeing <HI>Nathan</HI> the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Remem|brance of sinne, re|maines af|ter remi&s;&s;i|on in the godly, and why.</NOTE> Prophet had proclaimed to <HI>Dauid</HI> the remi&s;&s;ion of his &s;in, how is it, that yet it is before him? I an&s;were, in his deere&s;t children after remi&s;&s;ion of &s;in, he will haue the remembrance of &s;inne to remaine; Fir&s;t, to keepe them in minde of God his great mercie, who &s;lewe them not in their &s;innes, as hee hath done many, that &s;o hee
<PB N="86" REF="51"> may make them the more thankfull. <HI>Vt gratior &s;it mi&s;eri|cordia dei, vt &s;entias quid tibi</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>conce&s;&s;erit. Si enim &s;emper me|mor fuer is cumuli peccatorum tuo|rum, eris etiam memor magnitu|dinis beneficentiae dei.</HI> Next the memorie of &s;inne pa&s;t, &s;erues as a pre&s;eruatiue to keepe Gods children from the like &s;innes in time to come. And thirdly, it teacheth vs to haue compa&s;&s;i|on on others, when they fall in the like &s;innes, and to re&s;tore them with the &s;pirit of meeke|nes, con&s;idering al&s;o our &s;elues.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="87" REF="51">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 4.</BIBL>
<Q>Again&s;t thee, again&s;t thee onely haue I &s;inned, and done euill in thy &s;ight, that thou maie&s;t be iu&s;t, when thou &s;peake&s;t, and pure, when thou iudge&s;t.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_NOw <HI>Dauid</HI> breks forth, and giues <NOTE PLACE="marg">Confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne mo&s;t need|full.</NOTE> glorie to God, by an open and plain Co~fe&s;&s;ion of his &s;ins, he knew it was need|full for him to doe &s;o; Becau&s;e remi&s;&s;ion of &s;innes, is promi&s;ed vpon a condition of the confe&s;|&s;ion of them. <HI>He that hideth his</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prouerb.</NOTE> <HI>&s;innes &s;hall not pro&s;per, but he that confe&s;&s;eth and for&s;ake them, &s;hall</HI>
<PB N="88" REF="52"> <HI>haue mercie.</HI> And againe, <HI>If we confe&s;&s;e our &s;innes, God is faithfull</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Iohn</HI> 1. 9.</NOTE> <HI>to forgiue them.</HI></P>
<P>But here we haue fir&s;t to con|&s;ider, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Before men confe&s;sion defileth, be|fore God it clean&s;eth.</NOTE> why is it that God re|quires confe&s;&s;ion, is it to get knowledge of that which wee haue done? Or to get out of our owne mouth, a point of Dittie again&s;t our &s;elues? <HI>Nouit omnia Deus, &s;ed expectat vocem</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amb. de paenitent. li.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 7.</NOTE> <HI>tuam, non vt puniat, &s;ed vt ig|no&s;cat.</HI> He knowes all things, when thou committed&s;t thy &s;inne in &s;ecret, hee &s;aw thee, what then craueth he? nothing but that thou in thy heart maye&s;t know thy &s;inne; In thy mouth maie&s;t confe&s;&s;e it to the end, that he may forgiue it. <HI>Op|tat &s;oluere confitentes, ne contu|maces punire cogatur.</HI> The be&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Augu.</NOTE>
<PB N="89" REF="52"> medicine for a &s;inne, is not to hide, or excu&s;e, or extenuate it, but humbly to confe&s;&s;e it. <HI>Que~|admodum nobis peccatorum vul|nera nunquam de&s;unt, &s;ic &amp; con|fe&s;sionis medicamenta dee&s;&s;e non debent.</HI> For it is not with the Lord as it is with men, before earthly Tribunales confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne defileth the confe&s;&s;or, makes him guiltie and culpa|ble, but before the heauenly it ab&s;olues him. And this is the cau&s;e why the Lord requires confe&s;&s;ion of a &s;in from man.</P>
<P>Now we haue to &s;ee what <NOTE PLACE="marg">Priuate &s;ins in what ca&s;e &s;hould they be publikely confe&s;&s;ed.</NOTE> &s;ort of confe&s;&s;ion plea&s;eth God, &s;eeing it is certaine, confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne hath beene made by many, which the Lord hath not accepted; here fir&s;t wee mu&s;t di&s;tingui&s;h the &s;innes to
<PB N="90" REF="53"> be confe&s;&s;ed, publicke &s;innes whereby God is openly di&s;ho|noured, and his Church &s;lan|dered, out of all doubt required a publike confe&s;&s;ion to God, and before men; In priuate &s;ins the confe&s;&s;ion is required to God only: <HI>Plerum&abque; non expedit</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ber. m. Cant. &s;er.</HI> 42.</NOTE> <HI>innote&s;cere omnibus, omnia quae nos &s;cimus de nobis, atque ip&s;a charitatis veritate &amp; veritatis charitate, vetamur, palam fieri velle, quod noceat agno&s;centi:</HI> yet with this exception, that when the priuate &s;in is done in &s;uch a maner, as that the euill thereof redounds to the hurt of many, and that for this cau&s;e al&s;o God per&s;ewes it to bring it to light, in this ca&s;e priuate &s;innes com|mitted by thee, knowen to none but to thy &s;elfe &s;hould be
<PB N="91" REF="53"> publikly confe&s;&s;ed, that thou maye&s;t giue glory to God, and doe good to his Church as is euident in the example of <HI>Achan</HI> and <HI>Dauid.</HI></P>
<P>Next wee mu&s;t take heed to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Three things re|quired in the trew confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne. Ber.</NOTE> the manner of the confe&s;&s;ion, if it be trew, it mu&s;t haue the&s;e three properties. Fir&s;t it mu&s;t proceed from contrition of the &s;pirit for &s;inne: <HI>Primum opus fi|dei</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Contrition.</HI></NOTE> <HI>per dilectionem operantis, com|punctio cordis est, &egrave; quo &s;ine dubio eij ciuntur daemonia, cum eradican|tur &egrave; corde peccata,</HI> confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in in the mouth, which pro|ceedes not from contrition for &s;inne in the heart, will neuer draw downe mercy to thee, more then it did to Saule, who&s;e mouth &s;aid, I haue &s;in|ned, but his heart was not grie|ued
<PB N="92" REF="54"> for &s;in. Secondly, true con|fe&s;&s;ion <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Faith.</HI></NOTE> proceedes from faith in Chri&s;t Ie&s;us, for there is a con|fe&s;&s;ion which is the daugh|ter of de&s;peration, and can not profit thee: An example wher|of we haue in Iudas, <HI>I haue &s;in|ned in betraying of innocent blood,</HI> but wanting faith he got no re|mi&s;&s;ion of his &s;inne. And third|ly, true confe&s;&s;ion hath alway <NOTE PLACE="marg">3. <HI>Correction.</HI></NOTE> with it an amendment of life: o|therwi&s;e <HI>Confe&s;sio &s;ine emenda|tione vitae est profe&s;sio peccati,</HI> confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne without a|mendment is a profe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne, thou that euery day confe&s;&s;e&s;t &s;in, and yet walke&s;t on in the &s;ame &s;innes, art no other, but a plaine profe&s;&s;or of &s;inne. <NOTE PLACE="marg">A threefold happy fruit of true con|fe&s;sion.</NOTE></P>
<P>Now confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in with
<PB N="93" REF="54"> the&s;e properties, brings downe to the penitent &s;inner, a three|fold fruit: fir&s;t vnion and re|conciliation with God en&s;ewes, for &s;in the cau&s;e of diui&s;ion be|tweene God and man is now remoued, <HI>qua&s;i duaeres &s;unt homo</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Augu. in Ioan. Tract.</HI> 12.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; peccator, quod audis (homo) deus fecit, quod audis (peccator) homo ip&s;e fecit, dele quid fecisti, vt &s;aluet deus quod fecit:</HI> Man and &s;inne are two &s;undry things, de|&s;troy &s;inne which is man his <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>It reconciles thee with God.</HI></NOTE> worke, and God can not but loue, and embrace man, as his owne worke. So long as man keepes his &s;inne, he workes di|rectlie again&s;t the Lord, hyding that which God will di&s;couer, and harbouring within him the rebel, whom God is per|&s;ewing, but when man turnes
<PB N="94" REF="55"> again&s;t &s;in, confe&s;&s;ing it, bring|ing it to light, that it may be de&s;troyed, then works he with <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ibid.</NOTE> God, <HI>qui Confitetur peccata &s;ua et accu&s;at, iam cum deo facit, accu&s;at deus peccata tua &amp; &s;i tu accu&s;as, iam coniungeris deo.</HI> Yea, he that in humble manner confe&s;&s;eth, giueth to the Lord the prai&s;e of iu&s;tice, that knowes if hee did continew in the&s;e &s;innes the Lord ought to puni&s;h him, he giues him al&s;o the prai&s;e of wi&s;|dome, that no &s;ecret thing can be hid from the Lord, and the prai&s;e of power, hee knowes there is no way to flee from the Lord, and therefore in time he flies to him, and at la&s;t he giues him the prai&s;e of mercy, that hee is gracious and readie to forgiue.</P>
<Q><PB N="95" REF="55">
<L>Bis deum laudamus,</L>
<L>vbi pie nos accu&s;amus.</L></Q>
<P>The &s;econd fruit of it is con|fu&s;ion <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>It brings Confusion to Satan.</HI></NOTE> to Sathan, it is a chiefe point of his labour to accu&s;e vs night and day, for in one of the&s;e three he is alway exerci|&s;ed, either to tempt, or to ac|cu&s;e or to torment, when hee tempts let vs re&s;i&s;t him, that we &s;inne not, if we haue &s;inned, let vs preuent the accu&s;er, and bee the fir&s;t accu&s;ers of our &s;elues, &s;o &s;hall we &s;top the mouth of our aduer&s;arie, that hee &s;hall haue nothing to &s;ay. <HI>Non cir|cumueniet te ante iudicem, cum e|nim tui ip&s;e fueris accu&s;ator, &amp; dominus liberator, quid erit ille ni&s;i calumniator?</HI></P>
<PB N="96" REF="56">
<P> The third is that true con|fe&s;&s;ion which brings comfort, <NOTE PLACE="marg">It brings peace and quietne&s;&s;e to a mans owne heart.</NOTE> peace, and quietne&s;&s;e to a mans owne heart. As a &s;icke &s;tomack is ea&s;ed by vomiting, &s;o a guil|ty con&s;cience by confe&s;&s;ion. They who will not &s;ow, how can they reape? we mu&s;t &s;ow in teares, the humble confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne, if we looke to reap the &s;weet con&s;olation of the &s;pirit, let vs not do the one &s;paringly, if wee hope to enioy the other abundantly, <HI>Modica Sementis</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ber.</NOTE> <HI>de tractio, non modicum me&s;sis est detrimentum.</HI> So long as wee keepe in the heart the plea&s;ures of &s;inne, we can not ta&s;te of the ioyes of God. <HI>Vis vt intret mel,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>vnde acetum nondum fudi&s;ti? funde quod habes, vt capias, quod non habes,</HI> no more then it is
<PB N="97" REF="56"> po&s;&s;ible to powre &s;weet hony into that ve&s;&s;el, which is filled with &s;owre Vineger already, but as after great &s;howres of raine, the aire becomes more calme and cleare, &s;o after that &s;inne is powred out with con|fe&s;&s;ion and teares, the heart is pacified, and freed from her former perturbations.</P>
<P>Furthermore wee perceiue <NOTE PLACE="marg">Publike &s;ins would haue publike re|pentance.</NOTE> here, how <HI>Dauid</HI> contents not him&s;elfe with a &s;ecret confe&s;&s;i|on of his &s;inne to the Lord, and to <HI>Nathan</HI> the Prophet, but wil haue his repentance declared in publike, and a memoriall of it extant for benefite of the Church of God. No doubt ma|ny impediments had <HI>Dauid</HI> to hinder him from &s;o cleare a confe&s;&s;ion, but &s;uch is the force
<PB N="98" REF="57"> of true repentance, that it o|uercomes all impediments and maketh the penitent man har|tily well content to giue glory to God, although it were with neuer &s;o great &s;hame to him|&s;elfe.</P>
<P>Such as had fallen in pub|like offen&s;es were not receiued <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>The forme and order of publike repentance in the pri|mitiue church. Ambros de paenitent. li.</HI> 1. <HI>c.</HI> 16.</NOTE> but vpon their publike repen|tance, yea and their &s;upplica|tion made to all the a&s;&s;embly of Gods people, <HI>Petat veniam reus cum lachrym is, petat gemiti|bus, petat populi totius fletibus, vt igno&s;catur ob&s;ecret &amp; cum &s;ecun|do, aut tertio fuerit dilata eius communio, credat &s;eremi&s;sius &s;up|plica&s;&s;e, fletus augeat.</HI> Let him that is guilty &s;eeke pardon with teares, &s;eeke it with grones, let him &s;eeke that all the people
<PB N="99" REF="57"> may mourne for him, and if twice or thrice his receiuing to the communion be delaied, let him thinke he hath praied but &s;lackly, and hath neede to aug|ment his teares, and becau&s;e many then thought &s;hame to doe this, he giues them a no|table admonition, <HI>Si homini &s;a|tisfacien dum</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Lib.</HI> 2. <HI>c.</HI> 10.</NOTE> <HI>e&s;&s;et, multos ob&s;ecra|res vt dignentur interuenire, hoc in eccle&s;ia facere fa&s;tidis, vt deo &s;upplices, vt patrocinium tibi ad deum ob&s;ecrandum &s;anctae plebis requiras,</HI> if thou hade&s;t to doe with men, thou woulde&s;t re|que&s;t many to &s;ue for thee, thinke&s;t thou euill to doe that in the Church, to make there &s;upplication to God, and to &s;eeke the helpe of the Saints of God. <HI>Vbi nihil est quod pudari</HI>
<PB N="100" REF="58"> <HI>e&s;&s;e debeat, ni&s;i non fateri, cum om|nes &s;imus peccatores, vbi ille lau|dabilior, qui humilior; &amp; iustior qui abiectior, fleat ita&abque; pro te Ma|ter eccle&s;ia,</HI> where there is no|thing wherof we &s;hould thinke &s;hame except not to confe&s;&s;e our &s;ins, &s;eeing wee are all &s;in|ners, and he is mo&s;t worthy of prai&s;e who is mo&s;t abiect. Let therefore thy mother the Church mourne vnto God for thee.</P>
<P>It is a common policie of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sathan takes away &s;hamewhere it &s;hould be, and brings it in where it &s;hould not be.</NOTE> Sathan, to take away &s;hame where it &s;hould bee, namely in the committing of it; and to bring it in where it &s;hould not be, to wit, in the confe&s;&s;ing of &s;inne: But if men bee mooued with &s;hame, I would wi&s;h they were mooued with the greate&s;t
<PB N="101" REF="58"> &s;hame, for it is a greater &s;hame to confe&s;&s;e &s;in before the An|gels and the whole world, God &s;itting in his iudgement &s;eate to condemne it, then to con|fe&s;&s;e it before his Church, God &s;itting in his mercie &s;eate, readie to forgiue it. Concea|led can it not be, for the word of God hath confirmed it with a &s;olemne oath. <HI>As I liue</HI> (&s;ay|eth the Lord) <HI>euery tongue &s;hall confe&s;&s;e vnto me.</HI></P>
<P>Two wayes in this ver&s;e, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>By two argu|ments</HI> Da|uid <HI>ampli|fieth his &s;in.</HI></NOTE> doth <HI>Dauid</HI> amplifie his &s;inne: fir&s;t that it was done again&s;t God, Next in the &s;ight of God. To &s;in again&s;t a King his com|mandement lawfull, is a great &s;inne, but to &s;inne again&s;t him in his owne face, is a double re|bellion. Sin is counted a light
<PB N="102" REF="59"> thing among men, becau&s;e they commonly weigh it in <HI>Statera &s;uarum con&s;uetudinum</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aug. cont. Parmen. lib</HI> 3. <HI>Cap.</HI> 2.</NOTE> <HI>dolo&s;a,</HI> The deceitfull balance of cu&s;tome: but if we come and weigh it in the balance of Gods word, wee &s;hall finde it heauie, which otherwayes wee thinke light.</P>
<P>This fir&s;t circum&s;tance that <NOTE PLACE="marg">That it was done again&s;t God.</NOTE> it was again&s;t God, doth great|ly aggrauate his &s;inne. Whe|ther ye looke to the goodne&s;&s;e, or to the greatne&s;&s;e of God. The Lord was good many waies to <HI>Dauid,</HI> of a Sheepheard he made him a King; and did in euery &s;tate of life &s;o ble&s;&s;e him, that as hee him&s;efe con|fe&s;&s;eth, hee was loaded with the benefits of God. Now it cannot bee but a great ingrati|tude
<PB N="103" REF="59"> to offend &s;o louing and gracious a God, who daily de|lights to doe good vnto vs.</P>
<P>Or otherwi&s;e if we con&s;ider his greatne&s;&s;e wee mu&s;t &s;ay it <NOTE PLACE="marg">What a fearfull thing it is to fight a|gain&s;t God.</NOTE> is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the Lord. <HI>Are we &s;tronger then hee? why then doe wee prouoke him to anger?</HI> This is a great argument of his power, that hee turnes again&s;t vs tho&s;e things which wee doe again&s;t him, and puni&s;heth vs with our owne deedes. <HI>Thine own wickedne&s;&s;e &s;hall correct thee,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ierem.</HI> 2. 19</NOTE> <HI>and thy turnings backe &s;hall re|prooue thee, and thou &s;hall know that it is an euill thing, and a bit|ter, that thou ha&s;t for&s;aken the Lord thy God, and procured this</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ver&s;.</HI> 17.</NOTE> <HI>vnto thy &s;elfe.</HI> The <HI>Sidonians</HI> &s;ought peace from <HI>Herode</HI>
<PB N="104" REF="60"> when hee entended warre a|gain&s;t them, and all becau&s;e they were nouri&s;hed by <HI>Herods</HI> lands, and might not want his fauour: and fooli&s;h man thinkes it nothing to fight a|gain&s;t God, who is offring him peace, which is &s;o great a good, that he is able to driue backe mans weapons vpon his owne face, and confound him with his owne thoughts.</P>
<P>But heere it is to be deman|ded, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>How &s;aies</HI> Dauid <HI>hee &s;inned a|gain&s;t God onlie, &s;eeing hee &s;lew</HI> V|riah, <HI>and defiled</HI> Bath&s;he|bath.</NOTE> how &s;aies he that hee &s;in|ned again&s;t God onely, &s;eeing he &s;inned again&s;t <HI>Bath&s;heba,</HI> en|ti&s;ing her to the &s;nare of Satan: he &s;inned again&s;t <HI>Vriah,</HI> whom he &s;lew with the &s;word of the <HI>Ammonite;</HI> and he &s;inned a|gain&s;t the whole Army, ca&s;ting them into danger for <HI>Vriah</HI> his
<PB N="105" REF="60"> &s;ake: and la&s;tly, again&s;t the whole Church in his kingdome by his euill example. The an|&s;wer <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>In all &s;inne God pro|perly is the party offen|ded.</HI></NOTE> is, that to &s;peake proper|ly, In all &s;inne, properly God is the party offended; whe|ther it be done imediatly, as in &s;innes again&s;t the fir&s;t Table, or mediatly, as in &s;innes a|gain&s;t the &s;econd table: and &s;o the wrong done to the creature is not for the hurt of &s;uch a creture, but for the interceding command of God, which is broken, for &s;inne is the tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ion of the Law; and were it not for that, no wrong were <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. Dauid <HI>&s;peaks this acording to his &s;en&s;e, for at this time he had no party, but God.</HI></NOTE> done to the creature.</P>
<P>Next <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;peakes this, ac|cording to his owne &s;en&s;e and feeling, at this time he had no partie that troubled him, but
<PB N="106" REF="61"> the Lord, for as to him that got the wrong, <HI>Non timebam</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Chry&s;o&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>eum, miles meus erat, non poterat me iudicare.</HI> He was my &s;eruant he could not iudge mee. As for others, <HI>Rex &s;um, caeterorum omnium Dominus, te &s;olum com|mi&s;&s;orum</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">uthym.</NOTE> <HI>a me &s;celerum iudicem habeo.</HI> I am their King and Lord, and finde nothing in them to trouble me, but thou O Lord, art hee to whom all creatures mu&s;t render an ac|count, thou art higher then the highe&s;t, and iudge&s;t the King and the &s;ubiect alike. What peace then can&punc; bee to mee, &s;o long as thou art a|gain&s;t mee, pur&s;uing mee for my &s;innes.</P>
<P>Heereof fir&s;t ari&s;es, a le&s;&s;on to men of power in the world,
<PB N="107" REF="61"> let them not thinke the le&s;&s;e of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Let not men thinke the le&s;&s;e of their &s;innes, becau&s;e they are done a|gain&s;t weak men.</NOTE> their &s;innes, becau&s;e they haue to doe with a weake partie, that hath neither power nor meanes to redre&s;&s;e their wrongs; let them remember, that God is their party, who will iudge the cau&s;e of the poore, the widowe, and the fatherle&s;&s;e: this &s;hould re|&s;train them from doing wrong to any, albeit they might doe it vncontrouled of men; this was a meanes of awe to <HI>Io&s;eph,</HI> he might haue reuenged the wrong in <HI>Egypt</HI> which his bre|thren had done him in <HI>Canaan,</HI> but hee would not becau&s;e hee feared God, and con&s;idered that hee him&s;elfe was al&s;o vn|der God.</P>
<P>Secondly, wee learne of this
<PB N="108" REF="62"> that &s;eeing in all &s;inne, God is <NOTE PLACE="marg">No di&s;|charge of &s;inne is &s;uf|ficient but the Lords.</NOTE> the party offended; the re|mi&s;&s;ion and di&s;charge of the &s;inne &s;hould bee &s;ought from him. This is for the&s;e carnall Athei&s;ts, who if they can ob|taine pardon from the earthly Iudge; or a di&s;charge of the partie, care nothing for the Lords part, but hee will &s;tand to his own part and make thee finde by experience, that albe|it all the world would forgiue thy &s;inne, yet if the Lord for|giue thee not, it &s;hal nothing a|uaile thee. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Men of meane e|&s;tate &s;hould haue patie~ce when they are wronged becau&s;e the offence is done vnto God.</NOTE></P>
<P>La&s;t of all, let this learne them of meane e&s;tate patience, for no wrong can be done vnto them, which fir&s;t of all is not done to the Lord, he is the principal party offended. If men could,
<PB N="109" REF="62"> as I haue &s;aid before, ponder this, it might learne them with patience to commit their cau&s;e to the Lord, and not ra&s;hly to &s;tep in into his roome, either by imprecations, or raylings, or a|ny other &s;uch carnall meane, but to re&s;erue vnto the Lord his owne honour. <HI>Vengeance is mine and I will repay it, &s;aith the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And done euell in thy &s;ight.</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>The other argument whereby he amplifies his &s;inne, is that it was done in Gods &s;ight.</HI></NOTE> The other circum&s;tance wher|by hee amplifies his &s;inne, is, that it was done in the &s;ight of God: when hee did the &s;inne, God &s;aw him, but hee forgot then that God was looking vp|on him: but now when his con&s;cience is wakened, and hee lookes backe againe to his for|mer iniquity, he &s;ees now that
<PB N="112" REF="63">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="113" REF="63">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="110" REF="64"> he did it in the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P>This is al&s;o one of Satan his <NOTE PLACE="marg">Satans de|ceit is to make man conceiue that God &s;eeth him not.</NOTE> cu&s;tomable policies whereby he drawes men vnto &s;inne to couer their minds with a vaile to darken their vnder&s;tanding, to &s;teale out of their hearts the remembrance, at lea&s;t the re|uerence of the diuine Maie&s;ty, &s;o that he is brought to thinke for a time, that either God &s;ees it not, or then doth not regard it. But this is a pittifull blinde|ne&s;&s;e, like the folly of children, who when their owne eies are clo&s;ed that they cannot &s;ee, do therefore conceit that none o|ther &s;eeth them: &s;o is it, I &s;ay with them who&s;e affecti|ons are captiued by a &s;in, they are blinded and haue not an eye to looke vp to God, and
<PB N="111" REF="64"> therefore thinke that hee is not looking down vpon them.</P>
<P>The be&s;t remedy for this is to &s;anctifie the Lord alwaies in <NOTE PLACE="marg">The reme~|brance of God is a new band to &s;inne.</NOTE> our hearts, let vs &s;et the Lord alwaies in our &s;ight, e&s;teeming of euery place as <HI>Iacob</HI> did of <HI>Bethel,</HI> The Lord is in this place, and I was not aware, that &s;o his countenance may bee an newe band to keepe vs from &s;inne, otherwi&s;e it can|not bee but a deepe contempt of God, when in our e&s;timati|on wee &s;et him inferiour to his creature, not a&s;hamed to doe that vnder the eye of GOD, which wee would be a&s;hamed to doe vnder the eie of man.</P>
<P><HI>That thou maie&s;t be iu&s;t.</HI> His <NOTE PLACE="marg">The Lord &s;trikes not without a cau&s;e.</NOTE> meaning is not, that he &s;inned for this ende: that God might
<PB N="112" REF="65"> be iu&s;tified, <HI>quod dicit vt iu&s;tifi|ceris, non habet cau&s;ae &s;ignificati|onem, non eam ob cau&s;am peccauit</HI> Dauid, <HI>vt Deus iu&s;tificaretur.</HI> No, but that for this end hee confe&s;&s;ed his &s;inne, that the iu&s;tice of God, iudging, repro|uing, and threatning him by <HI>Nathan,</HI> might bee manife&s;ted to others. It is not Lord with|out cau&s;e that thou ha&s;t de|nounced &s;o &s;harpe puni&s;h|ments again&s;t mee, by thy &s;er|uant <HI>Nathan, Ego haec mihi ma|la conciliaui,</HI> I haue de&s;erued them all, and giuen thee iu&s;t cau&s;e to &s;peake and iudge a|gain&s;t mee as thou ha&s;t done, and now I humbly confe&s;&s;e it before the world, that thou maie&s;t haue the prai&s;e of righ|teou&s;nes in all thy &s;peaking, &amp; iudging.</P>
<PB N="113" REF="65">
<P> The children of God hum|bled <NOTE PLACE="marg">Men vi&s;ited with his rods &s;hould giue him the pray&s;e of righteou&s;nes</NOTE> with a &s;en&s;e of their &s;ins, &s;pare not to &s;hame them&s;elues that they may glorifie God. So <HI>Daniel</HI> a&s;cribeth &s;hame and confu&s;ion to him&s;elfe and his people, but giues tho prai&s;e of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e to the Lord. Where the Lord &s;trikes with his rods which men may &s;ee, and hee that is &s;triken will not acknowledge his &s;innes, in ef|fect hee blames the Lord, as if hee did &s;trike without a cau&s;e; therefore <HI>Io&s;ua,</HI> when <HI>Achan</HI> was taken by <HI>Lot</HI> for his &s;inne, and the wrath of God on I&s;rael was manife&s;t, but the cau&s;e procuring the wrath, was hid|den from them, exhorted him to giue glory to God, thou &s;ee&s;t doth he, &s;ay that God is angrie
<PB N="114" REF="66"> with I&s;rael, he hath &s;uffered his people to fall before their ene|mies, this cannot be without a cau&s;e: &s;eeing the lot is fallen vp|on thee, and the finger of God points at thee, that thou ha&s;t procured this euill. I pray thee giue glorie to God, by confe&s;|&s;ing the &s;inne thou ha&s;t done, that all the people may knowe that the Lord is not angrie without cau&s;e. It is a danger|ous thing to hide our &s;innes, where the hiding of them, may hide and ob&s;cure the glo|rie of God; as the maner of hy|pocrites is, who grudge and murmure when God &s;trikes them with his rods, as if either they were puni&s;hed without a cau&s;e, or then wor&s;e handled, then they had de&s;erued.</P>
<PB N="115" REF="66">
<P> Againe, let vs marke here <NOTE PLACE="marg">Happie are they whom God iudges now in &s;uch &s;ort that he corrects them.</NOTE> the manner of God his dealing with his own, he iudgeth them in this life, that they &s;hould not be condemned hereafter. This he doth partly by his word, re|proouing them of &s;inne; partly by his rods, correcting them. Happie are they who now are &s;o iudged, for they who profit not, neither by his rebukes nor his rods; what el&s;e doe they, but re&s;erue them &s;elues to a &s;harper iudgment.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="116" REF="67">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 5.</BIBL>
<Q>Behold I was borne in iniquitie, and in &s;inne hath my mother conceiued me.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HE &s;till proceedes <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dauid <HI>&s;er|ches out the fir&s;t origi|nall of his &s;inne.</HI></NOTE> in the amplifi|cation of his &s;in, and now he rip|peth it vp from the verie foutaine and fir&s;t ori|ginal thereof, entring in a deep con&s;ideration of the vniuer&s;all corruption of his Nature. It is not in this fact onely will hee &s;ay that I am culpable, I con|fe&s;&s;e my whole Nature to bee &s;o corrupt from the verie wombe through &s;inne, as mo&s;t
<PB N="117" REF="67"> iu&s;tly making me odious &amp; ab|hominable in the eyes of God, yea now when by occa&s;ion of this one &s;inne, which hath bro|ken out in externall action, I looke to my inward di&s;po&s;iti|on and con&s;ider the originall corruption of my nature con-containing all &s;orts of &s;in with|in it, proceeding from the want and priuation of originall righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, I am a&s;hamed of my &s;elfe in the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P>To expre&s;&s;e this he v&s;es two wordes; the fir&s;t <HI>Cholel</HI> &s;ignify|ing <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>How origi|nall &s;inne is expre&s;&s;ed by</HI> Dauid.</NOTE> to creat or forme, whereby he will declare that euen in his forming in the wombe, he was infected with &s;inne, the other is <HI>Iacham</HI> &s;ignifying to warme: thereby declaring that while hee was warmed, fo&s;tered and
<PB N="118" REF="68"> nouri&s;hedde in his mothers wombe, hee was defiled with &s;in originall. At the beginning hee was but an vncleane Crea|ture.</P>
<P>Where we are not to thinke <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mariage is not blamed, when it is &s;aid that man was conceiued and borne in &s;inne.</NOTE> that hee accu&s;es the formation or fo&s;tering of a birth in the mothers wombe, the&s;e are the great and maruailous workes of God. Neither yet that hee reiects the blame on his pa|rents, or condemnes mariage, or v&s;e of the mariage-bed, the&s;e are the ordinances of God. <HI>Non</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aug. cont. Pelag. lib.</HI> 3. <HI>cap.</HI> 21. <HI>De nupt. et concupi&s;cen.</HI></NOTE> <HI>e&s;t malum quod natus es, &s;ed cum quo natuses.</HI> And againe, <HI>Natu|ra humana quae de coniugio na&s;ci|tur, opus e&s;t Dei.</HI> And to this &s;ame purpo&s;e &s;aid <HI>Ba&s;il, non ac|cu&s;at</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> <HI>hic nuptias, &s;icut quidam &s;tulte &s;unt &s;u&s;picati. Sed praeuari|cationem</HI>
<PB N="119" REF="68"> <HI>quae ab initio mundi a progenitoribus no&s;tris e&s;t commi&s;|&s;a, in medium producit, &amp; hanc fontem e&s;&s;e factam ip&s;orum fluen|torum dicit.</HI> Hee doth not here accu&s;e mariage, as &s;ome haue fooli&s;hly &s;u&s;pected, but the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion commited by our fir&s;t Progenitors, he brings out as the fou~tain of al the&s;e flouds of iniquitie, that &s;ince &s;inne haue broken out in our na|ture.</P>
<P>Here fir&s;t we may perceiue, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The rheto|ricke by which godly men moue the Lord to mercie.</NOTE> what is the Rhetoricke, which godly men v&s;e whereby they would mooue the Lord to bee mercifull vnto them, namely to pre&s;ent to the eies of his co~|pa&s;&s;ion their heauy di&s;ea&s;es and the deep, wide, and inueterate wounds which they haue re|ceiued
<PB N="118" REF="69"> from their deadly ene|mie, let vs learne by their ex|ample not to couer nor hide our &s;innes, if wee would haue mercie. A wi&s;e man de&s;ires his wound to be ripped vp, and not to bee ouerplai&s;tred, albeit the Phy&s;itian would forget it, hee wil remember and reque&s;t him to doe it. How much more &s;hould we lay open our wou~ds to Chri&s;t, that hee may cure them, he is that &s;weet <HI>Samari|tan</HI> who at the fir&s;t &s;ight of the wounds of that poore Trauel|ler betwene <HI>Iericho</HI> and <HI>Ieru&s;a|lem</HI> was moued to compa&s;&s;ion and powred wine and oyle in|to his wounds, when Prie&s;t nor Leuit had pitie vpon him, what mercie here he preached in that parable, he hath it ready to pra|cti&s;e
<PB N="121" REF="69"> vpon all that fro~ a penitent and beleeuing heart, pre&s;ent their mi&s;eries vnto him.</P>
<P>Secondly, wee &s;ee heere how <NOTE PLACE="marg">Particular &s;innes moue the godly to a dete&s;tati|on of the whole cor|ruption of Nature.</NOTE> the&s;e particular &s;innes of <HI>Da|uid</HI> leades him to a narrower inqui&s;ition and greater dete&s;ta|tion of the whole corruption of his nature, thus the children of God are moued by &s;ome particular &s;innes, wherein they are fallen to grow in the ha|tred of all &s;innes what&s;oeuer. Whereas by the contrary car|nall men excu&s;e their particu|lar &s;innes by the common cor|ruption of mans nature, as if their &s;innes, were the le&s;&s;e be|cau&s;e all men by nature are &s;in|ners, but they deceiue them|&s;elues, for the le&s;&s;e they thinke of their &s;innes, the more &s;hall
<PB N="122" REF="70"> God thinke of them when he &s;hall vi&s;it them, let vs not &s;pa|ringly iudge our &s;elues, if wee would haue the Lord merciful vnto vs.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, &s;ince this is true in <NOTE PLACE="marg">What great neede man hath to be changed out of Natures e&s;tate.</NOTE> vs all, that we were conceiued, and borne in &s;inne, what great need haue we of regeneration: <HI>for vnle&s;&s;e a man be borne again, hee can not &s;ee the kingdome of God?</HI> Let natural parents who haue been in&s;truments to their children of a naturall generati|on, whereby they are borne heires of the wrath of God, do what lies in them by prayer and good education to make them pertakers of regenerati|on, otherwaies they will cur&s;e the loines that got them, and the wombe that bare them,
<PB N="123" REF="70"> and children againe who glo|rie in the external priuiledges of blood and heritage, which they haue gotten from their parents, let them remember vnle&s;&s;e they be borne againe, it had beene better for them ne|uer to haue beene borne.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 6.</BIBL>
<Q>Behold thou louest truth in the in|ward affections, and haste taught me wi&s;edome in the &s;e|cret of mine heart.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HE proceedes &s;till <NOTE PLACE="marg">The vile|ne&s;&s;e of &s;in appeares in this, that it is contrary to Gods ho|ly di&s;po&s;i|tion.</NOTE> to amplifie his &s;inne by con&s;i|deration of that contrary holie di&s;po&s;ition, which is in God:
<PB N="214" REF="71"> the Lord is holy, his eye is &s;o pure that it cannot behold ini|quity, he loueth truth and de|lights in the holine&s;&s;e, and cleanne&s;&s;e of the heart, but a|las I am vncleane, and there|fore &s;o much the more mi&s;era|ble, that my di&s;po&s;ition is con|trarie to his.</P>
<P>Of this wee learne that the <NOTE PLACE="marg">The true knowledge of God workes true humility.</NOTE> be&s;t way to humble vs in re|gard of that &s;infull corruption which is in vs, is the know|ledge of God, when <HI>E&s;ay</HI> in a vi&s;ion &s;aw the maie&s;ty of God as it plea&s;ed him to &s;hew it, then he cried out woe is me. I am a man of polluted lippes, he knew before that he was a &s;in|full man, but a new &s;ight of God his holine&s;&s;e, di&s;couers to him a deeper &s;ight of his owne
<PB N="125" REF="71"> corruption, the &s;pots of the face not perceiued in darkne&s;&s;e, are manife&s;ted in the day, and then doe men thinke &s;hame of them, when they are di&s;coue|red by the light. So long as the eye lookes to the earth, and creatures which are in it, it &s;eemes to be quicke enough but turne it vpward toward the &s;unne, the weakne&s;&s;e of it is &s;oone perceiued: when wee looke to our &s;elues, and com|pare our &s;elues with our &s;elues, and with men like our &s;elues, we &s;eeme to be &s;ome thing, but if our eyes were open to &s;ee the Lord, and that mo&s;t excellent purity and holine&s;&s;e which is in him, then would we cry out with Iob. <HI>Now mine eies hath &s;eene the Lord, therefore I abhor</HI>
<PB N="126" REF="72"> <HI>my &s;elfe.</HI> The holy Angels co|uer their faces at the bright|ne&s;&s;e of his glory, what &s;hall man doe who is du&s;t and dwelles in lodgings of clay?</P>
<P>Againe, &s;eeing God loues <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sin is but a lying vanity.</NOTE> truth in the inward affections, let vs al&s;o &s;tudy to loue it, for in a conformity with God &s;tandeth mans felicity. By truth heere wee vnder&s;tand two things: holine&s;&s;e, and &s;inceri|tie, oppo&s;ite to &s;inne, and hy|pocri&s;ie: &s;inne is in very deede but a lie, a fal&s;hood, and a va|nitie, and therefore &s;o named by the &s;pirit of God. It &s;eemes to be an other thing then it is indeed, al that to this day haue beene inamoured with it, haue found it in the end to be but a lying vanitie, and yet vaine
<PB N="127" REF="72"> man cannot learne to de&s;pi&s;e the deceit thereof.</P>
<P>And this euill becomes &s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">Then is it wor&s;t when it is couered with hypo|cri&s;ie.</NOTE> much the wor&s;e, when it lurk|eth vnder a &s;hew of holine&s;&s;e, hypocri&s;ie is a generall lie of the whole man. In a common lie the tongue lies again&s;t the heart onely, but in hypocri&s;ie not the tongue onely, but the eye, the hand, the feet lie al&s;o, when the hand is lifted vp to heauen, and eye lookes vp, but the heart followes them not, when the knee is bowed, but the heart is not bowed before the Lord.</P>
<P>Nothing di&s;tingui&s;hes a true <NOTE PLACE="marg">The proper difference of a true Chri|&s;tian from a counter|feit.</NOTE> chri&s;tia~ from a counterfeit, but this truth, and &s;incerity in the inward affections, the ba&s;tard Chri&s;tian can counterfeit the
<PB N="128" REF="73"> true Chri&s;tians behauiour in al things, but he cannot follow him in this one, the &s;incerity of his heart. As a Painter can paint the cullour of the fire, and the forme of the flame thereof, but cannot paint the heate of it, &s;o a hypocrite can re&s;emble a Chri&s;tian in any thing, but not in his heart. <HI>E&s;au</HI> can mourne and weep bitterly like <HI>Ezechia: Ahab</HI> can put on &s;ack cloth, like <HI>Mordecai, Saul</HI> can confe&s;&s;e in word, I haue &s;inned, like <HI>Dauid,</HI> but none of their hearts were vpright in the &s;ight of God.</P>
<P>Thirdly, when wee heare <NOTE PLACE="marg">If the Lord require truth in vs, how much more is he true him|&s;elfe-</NOTE> that God loues truth we may con&s;ider that hee is true or ra|ther truth it &s;elfe, what hee loues in his creature is but a
<PB N="129" REF="73"> &s;parkle of that goodnes, which is in him&s;elf, we haue here then &s;trong con&s;olation again&s;t our naturall doubtings, and di|&s;tru&s;ts, if we con&s;ider how God is verity. Of his nature he can not breake his promi&s;e, if he re|quire &s;uch con&s;tant truth in his <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 15.</NOTE> creature, that when he &s;weares, he wil not haue him to change, but to performe the good which he promi&s;es, how much more may wee looke to finde this truth in him&s;elfe?</P>
<P><HI>Therefore thou hast taught me wi&s;edome.</HI> This is the la&s;t argu|ment <NOTE PLACE="marg">An other amplifica|tion of Da|uids &s;inne, it was a|gain&s;t know|ledge.</NOTE> wherby <HI>Dauid</HI> amplifies his &s;inne, that hee had done a|gain&s;t that knowledge, where|with God had indewed him, for the Lord had delt fauoura|blie with him, and had taught
<PB N="130" REF="74"> him the knowledge of his will, but he like a bea&s;t &s;uffered that light to be &s;uffocated by the fury of his owne affections.</P>
<P>Of this we &s;ee that the light <NOTE PLACE="marg">A fearefull thing to &s;in again&s;t knowledge.</NOTE> which God giues men, if they do again&s;t it, is a great augmen|tation of their &s;in, <HI>The &s;eruant that knoweth his ma&s;ters will and doth it not, is worthy of double &s;tripes:</HI> If I had not come, and &s;poken to you, ye &s;hould haue had no &s;inne, the Gentiles who had no more but the light of na|ture are co~uinced, becau&s;e that when they knew God, they <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 1.</NOTE> glorified him not as God: what then &s;hall become of vs, who be&s;ide the light of nature haue al&s;o the light of the go&s;pell, if &s;till we walke in darkne&s;&s;e, it &s;hall certainly aggrauate our
<PB N="131" REF="74"> &s;inne, and make our condem|nation more fearefull, then that of <HI>Sodome</HI> and <HI>Gomorrha.</HI> From which, the Lord of his great mercy pre&s;erue vs.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 7.</BIBL>
<Q>Purge me with Hy&s;&s;op and I &s;hall be cleane, wa&s;h mee and I &s;hall be whiter then &s;now.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_AFter that DAVID <NOTE PLACE="marg">After con|fe&s;&s;ion the godly ioine petition for mercy, not &s;o the wic|ked.</NOTE> had made a con|fe&s;&s;ion of his &s;in, and that not cold|lie, or for fa&s;hion, as they doe, who&s;e con&s;ciences are not wakened with the &s;ight of their &s;innes, but had by all circum&s;tances aggrauated his
<PB N="130" REF="75">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="131" REF="75">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="132" REF="76"> &s;inne, now hee returnes to his petition of mercy.</P>
<P>This hy&s;&s;op, wherewith <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>The hy&s;&s;op by which</HI> Dauid <HI>craues to be purged.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Dauid</HI> craueth to be purged, it is as <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> cals it, <HI>Alterius reioe|nigma.</HI> Naturall hy&s;&s;op is an hearb <HI>humilis, calida, &amp; odorife|ra,</HI> of excellent vertue in medi|cine, <HI>E&s;t enim in hy&s;&s;opo vis pur|gatoria</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aug. de doct. chri&s;t. lib.</HI> 2.</NOTE> <HI>maxime pulmonum.</HI> The typicall v&s;e of it in the ceremo|niall Law was threefold; fir&s;t, the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> &s;prinkled the po&s;ts of their dores, with a bunch of hy&s;&s;op dipped in the bloud of the Pa&s;chall Lambe: <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Exod.</HI> 12.</NOTE> &s;econdly, a bunch of hy&s;&s;oppe dipped in bloud, was v&s;ed in the be&s;prinkling and clean&s;ing of the Leper: and thirdly, in the Sacrifice for &s;inne. <HI>Num|bers</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Leuit.</HI> 14.</NOTE> 19.</P>
<PB N="133" REF="76">
<P> All the&s;e were typicall, and did &s;ignifie no other, but that <NOTE PLACE="marg">All typicall purgations figure the blood of Chri&s;t.</NOTE> all his people &s;hould looke for purgation from all their lepro|&s;ie and vncleanne&s;&s;e in the blood of the Lambe Chri&s;t Ie|&s;us: who takes away the &s;innes of the world, and his blood clen&s;eth from all &s;inne. <HI>Dauid</HI> knew that the&s;e were types and figures in&s;tituted for &s;igni|fication of better things, and therefore did hee not neglect them, yet on the other part, he would not leane vnto them, as if remi&s;&s;ion of &s;innes were to be gotten by the&s;e Legall pur|gations, but by them he a&s;cen|ded to the &s;pirituall thing &s;ig|nified by them, hee had enough of the typicall hy&s;&s;op at his commandement, and
<PB N="134" REF="77"> the Prie&s;t ready to &s;pinkle him with it, when it plea&s;ed him, but he knew this would not &s;erue his turne, he lookes to the Spirituall hy&s;&s;op, and hee praies that God would purge him, without which no Leuiticall wa&s;hing could make him cleane.</P>
<P>The Spirituall hy&s;&s;op then <NOTE PLACE="marg">The pur|ging vertue of Chri&s;ts bloud.</NOTE> full of bloud, is Chri&s;t Ie&s;us. <HI>Qui humiliauit &s;e ad mortem, qui calore &s;uae immen&s;ae charitatis nos dilexit, qui odore manfuctudinis, &amp; &s;uauitatis totum mundum re|pleuit.</HI> His blood &s;prinkles not the bodies &s;o much as the &s;oules and con&s;ciences of men, for &s;o the purging vertue which is in the naturall hy&s;&s;op is internall, and by it is &s;ignifi|ed, <HI>Coram Deo opus e&s;&s;e non ex|terna,</HI>
<PB N="135" REF="77"> <HI>&s;ed interna purgatione.</HI></P>
<P>Seeing &s;o it is, that the god|lie <NOTE PLACE="marg">How car|nall Papi&s;ts are, who place &s;o great &s;an|ctification in externall things.</NOTE> I&s;raelites in v&s;ing the&s;e ex|ternall types, which were not ordained for them&s;elues, but for other things, had a &s;piritu|all di&s;po&s;ition looking euer to the thing &s;ignified by them. Is it not a &s;hame for Papi&s;ts to be &s;o gro&s;&s;e and carnall, as to place any &s;anctificatio~ in the like ex|ternall &s;prinkling of their body with their holy water, as they call it: with as great rea&s;on might they bring in againe all that ceremoniall Law, which was but for a time, and now is abrogated, But now &s;eeing the truth is come, which is Chri&s;t Ie&s;us, it is good rea&s;on the type and figure &s;hould cea&s;e. The fountaine is opened to
<PB N="136" REF="78"> <HI>Dauids</HI> hou&s;e, for &s;inne and for vncleanne&s;&s;e. Hee hath made a perfect purgation of our &s;ins by his owne blood. Now to retaine the ceremonies of Iu|dai&s;me, or to bring in from Pa|gani&s;me their &s;uper&s;titious wa&s;hings of &s;inne, as Papi&s;ts borrow from <HI>Pompilius</HI> the&s;e heatheni&s;h purgations, by &s;prinkling of water which they v&s;e, is to offer wrong to Chri&s;t Ie&s;us: for the fir&s;t, in effect, imports that Chri&s;t the veritic is not yet come, and therefore they will &s;til retaine the figure: the &s;econd imports, that albe|it hee bee come, hee hath not made a perfect purgation of our &s;innes by him&s;elfe, but his wants mu&s;t bee &s;upplied by a purging with water on earth,
<PB N="137" REF="78"> and a purging by fire in the &s;e|cond hou&s;e of hell.</P>
<P>But heere it is to be deman|ded, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinne not imputed is as if it had not beene committed.</NOTE> how it is that <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;aies, if the Lord wa&s;h him, hee &s;hall bee cleaner and whiter then the &s;now, doth he meane, that after &s;inne is forgiuen, there a|bideth no more any remain|der of &s;inne vnto him. No, this is not his meaning, but that if the Lord forgiue him his &s;in, hee &s;hall hee in as good e&s;tate with the Lord, as if he had ne|uer done it, <HI>Peccatum enim non imputatum e&s;t qua&s;i non commi&s;|&s;um,</HI> a &s;inne not imputed, is, as if it had neuer beene com|mitted.</P>
<P>That wee may vnder&s;tand <NOTE PLACE="marg">A twofold purging of &s;inne.</NOTE> this the better, wee are to
<PB N="138" REF="79"> con&s;ider, how there is a two-fold <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>One by Chri&s;ts bloud, this is our iu&s;ti|fication.</HI></NOTE> wa&s;hing or taking away of &s;inne: one, that is made by the blood of Chri&s;t: another, by the &s;pirit of Chri&s;t. The ta|king away of &s;in by the bloud of Chri&s;t is perfect euen now. For they to whom the me|rit of the blood of Chri&s;t is im|puted, haue pre&s;ently all the giltine&s;&s;e of their &s;inne remo|ued fully and perfectly; this in effect is the benefit of our-iu&s;tification. The other taking away of &s;inne by the &s;pirit of <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>The other by his &s;pirit this is our &s;anctifica|tion.</HI></NOTE> Chri&s;t, is imperfect: his vertue hath begun in vs a mortifica|tion of our earthly members; his &s;pirit daily weakeneth and &s;ubdueth in vs the life and power of &s;inne, that it reig|neth not to command vs as it
<PB N="139" REF="79"> was wont to doe, and this in effect is the benefit of &s;anctifi|cation; but this taking away of &s;inne in this life is not per|fect, for &s;ome remainders of &s;in euen in them to whom &s;inne is forgiuen, will the Lord haue remaining, for the exerci&s;e of our faith, and daily humiliati|on, as more at large wee haue &s;hewed in our Treati&s;e vpon the 8. to the <HI>Romans.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="140" REF="80">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE 8.</BIBL>
<Q>Make mee to heare ioy and glad|ne&s;&s;e, that the bones which thou ha&s;t broken may reioice.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HItherto DAVID with his confe&s;|&s;ion <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>The &s;econd ranke of</HI> Dauids <HI>petitions is for peace of Con&s;ci|ence.</HI></NOTE> of &s;in hath ioined petitions for mercy. Now he proceeds and craues that the&s;e euils which his &s;inne had brought vpon him, may be re|moued. Sinne hath many e|uill effects, at the fir&s;t it offends God, and grieues his &s;pirit, but at the la&s;t, it &s;hall grieue the &s;oule of him that did it. Let vs learne to beware of it.</P>
<PB N="141" REF="80">
<P> This petition of <HI>Dauid</HI> is to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sin &s;poiles man of in|ward peace and ioy.</NOTE> bee oppo&s;ed to his pre&s;ent di&s;|po&s;ition, &s;o &s;hall wee vnder|&s;tand it. O Lord, I heare with|in mean accu&s;ing voice of con|&s;cience, which terrifies and di&s;|quiets me, I be&s;eech thee, Lord let me heare the contrary voice of ioy and gladne&s;&s;e. Heere then he confe&s;&s;eth that which all the children of God may finde in their own experience, that &s;inne impaires the peace of con&s;cience. If wee could re|member how &s;weet is the ioy and peace which wee lo&s;e, for the vaine and peri&s;hing plea|&s;ure of &s;inne, wee would bee loath any more to make any &s;uch exchange.</P>
<P>Secondly, wee &s;ee here that there is not any te&s;timony
<PB N="142" REF="81"> &s;aue onely the te&s;timony of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Mans te&s;ti|monie of the remi&s;&s;i|on of &s;innes is nothing, without the te&s;timony of Gods &s;pirit.</NOTE> Gods &s;pirit that can bring peace to the troubled con&s;ci|ence. <HI>Nathan</HI> had before this witne&s;&s;ed to <HI>Dauid,</HI> that his &s;innes were forgiuen him, but <HI>Nathans</HI> word pacified not his con&s;cience, the mini&s;tration of the word of God hath credit with men, the mini&s;tration of the Spirit, that bringeth con&s;o|lation hee hath re&s;erued to him&s;elfe. When <HI>Martha</HI> and <HI>Marie</HI> mourned for dead <HI>La|zarous,</HI> many godly Iewes came out of <HI>Ieru&s;alem</HI> to com|fort them, but they got neuer comfort till Chri&s;t Ie&s;us came, and &s;o the godly may mourne for their &s;innes, and for the deadne&s;&s;e of their heart, but there &s;hall bee no comfort till
<PB N="143" REF="81"> the comforter come, and re fre&s;h their &s;oules,</P>
<P>But here it will be obiected, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The mini|&s;terial com|fort of Gods &s;er|uants greatly to be regarded and why.</NOTE> what then auailes the mini&s;te|ry of the word, and the con&s;o|lations of the &s;eruants of God giuen out of it. Yea very much indeed, for where the te&s;timo|ny of the word pronounced by Gods &s;eruants goes before to witne&s;&s;e mercie, there the te|&s;timony of Gods &s;pirit confor|ming it followes after, for the ble&s;&s;ing of peace pronounced <NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke.</NOTE> by the &s;eruants of God vpon the children of peace abides vpon them, this we &s;ee cleere|ly here in <HI>Dauid:</HI> Nathan pro|nounced to him vpon the knowledge of his repentance the remi&s;&s;ion of his &s;innes, hee could not feele it for the pre|&s;ent,
<PB N="144" REF="82"> but the Lord followes and iu&s;tifies <HI>Nathans</HI> Mini&s;trie, wit|ne&s;&s;ing that to <HI>Dauids</HI> heart, which <HI>Nathan</HI> had witne&s;&s;ed vnto his eare.</P>
<P>And this we haue to marke <NOTE PLACE="marg">Remi&s;sion of of &s;ins may be thine, &s;uppo&s;e thou feele it not.</NOTE> for a comfort again&s;t the&s;e &s;pi|rituall de&s;ertions, whereunto the Children of God are &s;ub|iect. Remi&s;&s;ion of &s;innes may bee thine, the &s;eruants of God with a warrand may witne&s;&s;e vnto thee, that thy &s;innes are forgiuen thee, as heere <HI>Nathan</HI> doth vnto <HI>Dauid,</HI> and yet thou not feele that it is &s;o, wee mu&s;t not therefore bee &s;o di&s;coura|ged; as to thinke wee want that grace alwaie, which we cannot <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Therefore</HI> Dauid <HI>craues not onely mercy, but &s;en&s;e of mercy.</HI></NOTE> feele.</P>
<P>It is now cleare what is the benefit which DAVID here
<PB N="145" REF="82"> craues. To wit not mercie only that he hath &s;ought before, but the &s;en&s;e of mercie al&s;o, make me to heare ioy, &s;o that I may feele it. For all the inward &s;en|&s;es of the &s;oule are in feeling; to heare the Lord, to &s;ee him, to ta&s;t how good he is, is no other but to enioy him and to feele his con&s;olations. It is thy prai&s;e &ocirc; Lord that thou &s;peak'&s;t peace to thy Saints; among the re&s;t, &s;peake peace vnto mine heart al&s;o. O what a ioy was it to that man &s;icke of the pal&s;ie when he heard that voice, thy &s;innes are forgiuen thee. And &s;uch like to that &s;infull woman when &s;hee heard, goe in peace, thy faith hath &s;aued thee. And how was the &s;oule of that con|uerted &s;inner comforted in the
<PB N="146" REF="83"> middes of the dolors of death when he hard that voice, This night thou &s;halt be with me in paradi&s;e.</P>
<P>This is the exceeding great <NOTE PLACE="marg">Great com|fort, that God not on|ly forgiues our &s;innes, but telles vs they are for|giuen.</NOTE> loue of the Lord toward his children, that he hath not only prouided a &s;ure &s;aluation for them through the remi&s;&s;ion of their &s;innes in Chri&s;t Ie&s;us, but al&s;o &s;eales vp in their heart the te&s;timony thereof by his Holy Spirit of adoption, and that for their pre&s;ent con&s;olation lea&s;t they &s;hould bee &s;wallowed vp of heauine&s;&s;e through conti|nuall temptations. Though he &s;peake not to all his children as hee did to <HI>Daniel</HI> by an An|gell; O man greatly beloued of God, nor as he did to the ble&s;|&s;ed Virgin <HI>Marie;</HI> haile <HI>Marie</HI>
<PB N="147" REF="83"> freely beloued, yet doth hee witne&s;&s;e the &s;ame to the hearts of his children by an inward te&s;timonie, when they heare it, they are aliue; when they want it, they are but dead, their &s;oule refu&s;es all other comfort what&s;oeuer.</P>
<P><HI>That the hones, which thou hath</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">A troubled mind &s;ore weakneth the bodie.</NOTE> <HI>broken may reioyce.</HI> By the&s;e <HI>Ba|&s;il</HI> vnder&s;tands <HI>O&s;sa animae &s;piri|tualia,</HI> that is as &s;aith <HI>Sauanarola</HI> and others, <HI>Vires animae rationa|lis</HI> but as this agrees not with this &s;en&s;e, &s;o there is no rea&s;on why it &s;hould be enforced. <HI>Da|uid</HI> his words, P&s;alme 32. &s;erues for a commentarie to this, there hee complaines, that through extremitie of the angui&s;h of his Spirit; the moi&s;ture of his body was turned into the drought of
<PB N="148" REF="84"> Sommer, now the marrow we know is the &s;trength of the bones, the&s;e being &s;o extenuate no maruell, his fle&s;h con&s;umed, his skinne was parched, his face withered, his &s;ight dimmed, his knees enfeebled, and the whole externall man greatly weakned, the Spirit of a man &s;ayes <HI>Salomon</HI> will &s;u&s;taine his infirmitie, but a wounded &s;pirit who can beare it?</P>
<P>Of this let vs learne that if <NOTE PLACE="marg">The mi&s;era|ble &s;tate of the wicked who mu&s;t beare the burden of their owne &s;innes.</NOTE> the &s;ight of &s;inne pre&s;ented to the godly from a iu&s;t accu&s;ing con&s;cience, doe &s;o terrifie them, and breede them &s;uch exce&s;&s;iue trouble as for a time, doth &s;ore|ly torment them. In what &s;tate &s;hall the wicked be, when the Lord &s;hall pre&s;ent their &s;ins to them &amp; wake their con&s;cience
<PB N="149" REF="84"> vpon them not in mercie, as he doth to his owne, but in wrath, not for a time, but for euer. O what angui&s;h and remedile&s;&s;e tribulation &s;hall be vnto them, the dayes of wicked mens &s;in|ning are compared to the time of a womans conceiuing, but the daies of their puni&s;hment are compared to the time of her trauelling: they conceiue their &s;innes with wantonne&s;&s;e and plea&s;ure, but &s;hall beare them with dolor vn&s;peakeable, their dolors &s;hall exceede the dolor of a woman, for &s;hee knowes once to bee deliuered of her paine either by life or death, but the wicked &s;hall ne|uer bee lighter of their &s;innes, nor bee deliuered from the an|gui&s;h of their accu&s;ing con|&s;cience,
<PB N="150" REF="85"> from which mo&s;t mi&s;e|rable condition the Lord deli|uer vs for Chri&s;t Ie&s;us &s;ake.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE 9.</BIBL>
<Q>Hide thy face from my &s;innes, and put away all mine iniquities.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_DAVID yet from <NOTE PLACE="marg">Guiltine&s;&s;e of &s;in &s;oone contracted, not &s;o &s;oone put away.</NOTE> God the fourth time &s;eekes the remi&s;&s;ion of his &s;innes, the gilt of &s;inne is &s;oone contracted, but not &s;o &s;oone gotten away, wee are happie if the examples of other men may learne vs to be wi&s;e, he was a man deerely be|loued of God, and yet how ma|nie
<PB N="171" REF="85"> reque&s;ts makes hee, before he can get his heart a&s;&s;ured of mercy: but the pre&s;umption <NOTE PLACE="marg">Fooli&s;h are they, who thinke they may get mercy for a word.</NOTE> of this age is &s;o great, that men feare not to offend the Lord, becau&s;e they thinke, mercie may be gotten for a word. But let men remember that fearful &s;entence, w^c^h the L. pronounc't vpon the people of the Iewes, for the abu&s;e of his mercy; <HI>When they fa&s;t, I will not heare their crie:</HI> And againe; <HI>Thougb Mo&s;es and Samuel &s;tood before me, yet mine affection could not be toward this people,</HI> that &s;o our hearts may be humbled with holy feare, which may re&s;traine <NOTE PLACE="marg">He that &s;eekes not to hide his &s;innes, pro|uokes the Lord to in|quire it.</NOTE> vs from offending our God, vpon pre&s;umption of mercy.</P>
<P><HI>Hide thy face.</HI> All <HI>Dauid</HI> his care, when hee had committed
<PB N="152" REF="86"> his &s;in, was to hide it from the Lord, for this cau&s;e he commit|ted murther and &s;lew <HI>Vriah,</HI> thinking if he were not aliue to perceiue it, his iniquity &s;hould neuer come to light. Now he &s;ees it with a vaine labor, <HI>Vriah</HI> is dead, but the angry counte|nance of God looking vpon his &s;inne troubles him, As the fi&s;h called Sepia ca&s;ting forth a black liquor out of hir mouth, of purpo&s;e to lurke vnder it, doth therby giue notice to the fi&s;her of the place wherin they &s;hall finde hir: &s;o fooli&s;h man, while he thinks to hide one &s;in by another, doth but ca&s;t him|&s;elf the more ope~ to the eye of God, who then looks mo&s;t nar|rowly to a &s;in when man mo&s;t craftily labours to conceale it:
<PB N="153" REF="86"> Euery &s;inner in &s;inning takes fro~ God the prai&s;e of righteou&s;nes as if the Lord were like him, &amp; were not a God that loues righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and hates iniquity.</P>
<P>But he that thinkes to hide <NOTE PLACE="marg">Hee that &s;eekes to hide his &s;in from the Lord makes an idole of him.</NOTE> his &s;inne from the Lord, when he hath done it, takes al&s;o from him the prai&s;e of wi&s;edome, and makes the Lord &s;o far as he may, like an Idoll of the Nati|ons, that hath eyes and &s;ees not. And therefore the Lord as he will be auenged of euery one that offends, &s;o principally vpon them who &s;corne him, by hiding their &s;innes from him. <HI>Woe be to them that &s;eeke in deepe</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">We to &s;uch.</NOTE> <HI>to hide their Councell from the Lord, their workes are in &s;ecret, and they &s;ay who &s;ees it?</HI></P>
<P>At this time <HI>Dauids</HI> &s;in was
<PB N="154" REF="87"> vnknowen to the world, no ly|uing <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>No man knew</HI> Da|uids <HI>&s;inne, yet is be &s;ore trou|bled, be|cau&s;e he knew that God knew it.</HI></NOTE> creature but him&s;elfe <HI>Bath&s;habe</HI> and <HI>Nathan</HI> were pri|uie to it, yet this terrifies him, that he &s;aw the Lord looking vpon it: It is no comfort to a man to haue his &s;inne hidden from all the world, vnle&s;&s;e hee knew that the Lord al&s;o hath couered and forgiuen it, <HI>alioqui</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ambro&s;. de paeniten. li.</HI> 2. <HI>cap.</HI> 11.</NOTE> <HI>ita grauis est culpa con&s;cientiae, vt &s;ine iudice ip&s;a &s;e puniat.</HI> So hea|uie is the &s;inne of any euill con|&s;cience, that albeit no creature were to iudge it, it iudges and puni&s;hes it &s;elfe.</P>
<P>He &s;aid in the third ver&s;e that <NOTE PLACE="marg">God will looke to our &s;innes, if we looke not to them.</NOTE> his &s;in was alway in his &s;ight, and now hee praies that God would put it out of his &s;ight, this is a very good ordor, if we hold our &s;innes in our eies to
<PB N="155" REF="87"> per&s;ue them, God will ca&s;t them behinde his backe to pardon them, if we remember them and repent, hee will for|get them and forgiue, other|wi&s;e <HI>peccatum vnde &s;e homo non auertit, aduertit deus, &amp; &s;i aduer|tit, animaduertit,</HI> the &s;inne from which man turnes not, God lookes to it, and if he looke to it, &s;ure he will puni&s;h it.</P>
<P><HI>Thy face.</HI> The face of God is <NOTE PLACE="marg">The face of God put &s;ometime for his mer|cy, &s;ome|time for iu|&s;tice.</NOTE> &s;ometime put for his fauor, and with this he lookes on the per|&s;ons of them, who are the chil|dren of his good will, this <HI>Da+uid</HI> praies may be lifted vp vp|on him P&s;a. 4. that God would not hide it from him P&s;al. 27. the hyding of his face did trou|ble him &s;ore P&s;al. 30. therefore it is his cu&s;tomable prayer&punc;
<PB N="156" REF="88"> <HI>Lord cau&s;e thy face to &s;hine vpon vs,</HI> P&s;a. 4. &s;ometime againe it is put for his anger or angry face, whereby he lookes on the per|&s;ons of the wicked, when he wil vex them in his di&s;plea&s;ure, or vpon the &s;innes of his owne children, when he wil humble them.</P>
<P>How fearefull a &s;ight this <NOTE PLACE="marg">How feare|full a &s;ight Gods angry face is.</NOTE> angry face of God is, &s;ee it in <HI>Dauid,</HI> for his good, the Lord who loued <HI>Dauids</HI> &s;elfe, looked with an angry countenance at <HI>Dauids</HI> &s;innes, but hee prote&s;ts hee may not indure it, and praies God to hide it from him. See it againe in Chri&s;t Ie&s;us, who endured the looks of that angrie face, not for him&s;elfe but for vs, how did it make his &s;oule heauy, and his fle&s;h &s;o
<PB N="157" REF="88"> weary that he did &s;weat blood. How mi&s;erable then are the reprobates, who mu&s;t endure for euer the &s;ight of Gods an|gry face looking vpon them? for they and their &s;ins are one, no maruell they &s;hall cry hils and mountaines fall vpon vs, and hide vs from the face of him that &s;its vpon the throne. Let vs feare and looke with an|ger vpon our &s;ins in time, that God in mercy may looke vp|on our &s;elues, and wee may finde ioy in his face, wherein the wicked &s;hall &s;ee nothing but terror.</P>
<PB N="160" REF="89">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="161" REF="89">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" EXTENT="1 page">
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="158" REF="90">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 10.</BIBL>
<Q>Greate in mee a cleane heart, O God, and renew a right &s;pirit within mee.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_NOw followes <HI>Da|uids</HI> third petiti|on, <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>The third ranke of</HI> Dauids <HI>pe|titions.</HI></NOTE> wherein he craueth the grace of &s;anctification, hee &s;ought before the forgiue|ne&s;&s;e of his &s;in, now hee &s;eekes to be deliuered from it in time to come: for it is for this end that hee praies for a cleand heart, and a renewed &s;pirit, that hee &s;hould not any more fall to the like vncleanne&s;&s;e: This is a good order in our
<PB N="159" REF="90"> prayer, when fir&s;t we &s;eeke the <NOTE PLACE="marg">Remi&s;&s;ion of &s;inne and renouation go together.</NOTE> grace of remi&s;&s;ion, and then the grace of renouation, for the&s;e two goe in&s;eparably together; to whom the Lord giues re|mi&s;&s;ion, them hee makes new creatures, &s;o that renouation of the heart is alway an vndoub|ted token of the remi&s;&s;ion of thy &s;innes; and by the contrary he who&s;e heart is not renewed but abides &s;til in his former vn|cleanne&s;&s;e, hee deceiues him|&s;elfe, if &s;o be he thinkes that his &s;innes are forgiuen.</P>
<P>This is to be marked for the common &s;ort of prophane men <NOTE PLACE="marg">They who &s;eeke for|giuene&s;&s;e and not &s;anctifica|tion &s;eeke but liberty to &s;inne.</NOTE> in this age, who &s;eeke from God mercy to forgiue for feare of his plagues, but not grace to renew them to his image for loue of him&s;elfe, this in effect is
<PB N="160" REF="91"> no other but to &s;eeke a liberty to &s;inne, while as men &s;eeke &s;in to be forgiuen, but not to be re|&s;trained, it is an argument they haue not a right hatred of &s;in, but wee &s;ee in <HI>Dauid</HI> what the di&s;po&s;ition of the godly is, as they de&s;ire mercy for be-gone &s;innes, &s;o al&s;o grace to renew them and pre&s;erue them from the power and deceit of &s;inne in all time to come, otherwi&s;e to craue that the Lord would pardon the&s;e &s;ins, which thou art of purpo&s;e to commit, it is but to mocke the Lord, by turning his grace into wanton|ne&s;&s;e. <NOTE PLACE="marg">The vn|cleane&s;&s;e of &s;inne origi|nall encrea|&s;ed by actu|all. Iob.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Dauid</HI> his heart was two waies vncleane, fir&s;t by rea&s;on of originall &s;inne wherein hee was conceiued and borne, <HI>Who</HI>
<PB N="161" REF="91"> <HI>can bring a clean thing out of that which is vnclean:</HI> &amp; this vnclean|ne&s;&s;e of heart is common to al mankind, but be&s;ide this he had defiled it with many actual &s;ins, &s;pecially this foule adultery &amp; murther, for euery &s;in pollutes the heart, &amp; leaues a new gilti|nes vpon the con&s;cience, wher|with now <HI>Dauid</HI> finding his heart ouergrowne, that it is not like the heart he had before, he praieth the Lord to giue him a new heart. He had now not on|ly &s;inned, but fallen as Ba&s;ile expounds it in <HI>Senium peccati</HI> in|to <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> the very old age of &s;in, and therefore hee de&s;ires, that the Lord would begin with him againe, and make him to renew his youth like the Eagle.</P>
<P>Many circum&s;tances are to
<PB N="162" REF="92"> bee marked heere, whereby <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinne &s;eeks the very life of the &s;oule.</NOTE> <HI>Dauid</HI> aggrauateth the great|ne&s;&s;e of his mi&s;ery: as fir&s;t, that his di&s;ea&s;e was in his heart, which is the fountaine of life. As the naturall heart is the life of the body, which when it is not well, vitall hu|mor, health, beauty, ability, and all decaies in the body: &s;o is the Lord the life of the &s;oule. So <HI>Dauids</HI> meaning is, O Lord, by my &s;inne I haue grieued thy holy &s;pirit, and forced thee to for&s;ake me. <HI>Tu proprie cor|dis</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">The heart of any Chri|&s;tian his heart.</NOTE> <HI>mei proprium es cor &amp; vita:</HI> thou properly art the proper heart, and life of mine heart. Come againe Lord, and re&s;tore life vnto mee, without thee I am dead and &s;en&s;le&s;&s;e, and an abominable creature, like a bo|dy,
<PB N="163" REF="92"> which wanting an heart is an vncleane carion, thou art the light of my minde, the peace of my &s;oule, the life of my heart. I haue lo&s;t life by my &s;inne, I am like a man wan|ting his quickning &s;pirit: when thou wente&s;t away, my life went away: Lord come a|gaine, and create a new heart within me.</P>
<P>Againe, in that hee craues a <NOTE PLACE="marg">Repentance is a new creation.</NOTE> cleane heart may bee created in him, he acknowledgeth that his &s;inne had not onely woun|ded him, but &s;laine him, and that he &s;tood in neede not of a|ny reparation, but of an new creation, wherein hee vtter|lie <NOTE PLACE="marg">And &s;o a|boue the power of nature.</NOTE> di&s;tru&s;teth the power of his nature: yea the ability of his owne free will notwith&s;tan|ding
<PB N="164" REF="93"> grace once re&s;umed, hee findes it &s;o oppre&s;&s;ed by the power of his corruption, that he is forced to craue from God the benefit of a new creation, <HI>Vt cor eius tale fieret per gratiam,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sauan.</NOTE> <HI>quale non potuit e&s;&s;e per naturam.</HI> Of our &s;elues wee fall, but of our &s;elues wee ri&s;e not againe. Not onely is our fir&s;t conuer|&s;ion a worke of Gods grace al|together and alone; but the workes of our re&s;titution by re|pentance, after we haue fallen: as it is in the Lords prai&s;e, <HI>Hee quickened vs, when we were dead.</HI> So is it his prai&s;e, <HI>that hee keepes</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 100. <HI>As we crea|ted not our &s;elues. So we cannot renew our &s;elues.</HI></NOTE> <HI>our &s;oules in life. The Lord made vs, we made not our &s;elues.</HI> Wee are content to giue him the glory of our fir&s;t creation, let vs al&s;o giue him the glory of
<PB N="165" REF="93"> our &s;econd creation. Yea, &s;o oft as we fall into &s;inne, let vs con&s;ider that our ri&s;ing againe, is no le&s;&s;e a worke of the great power, and mercy of God: then was the ray&s;ing of <HI>Laza|rus</HI> out of the graue, for other|wi&s;e wee &s;hould haue lien &s;till with others, rotting and pe|ri&s;hing in our &s;innes. And &s;o haue wee to prai&s;e the Lord, not onely for our fir&s;t and &s;e|cond creation, but for the re|newing of that benefit vnto vs, as oft as we by our tran&s;gre&s;&s;i|on haue lo&s;t that life, which the Lord did once communicate vnto vs.</P>
<P>And this that our &s;ancti|fication, <NOTE PLACE="marg">A proper compari&s;on of our fir&s;t creation with the &s;econd.</NOTE> or re&s;titution by re|pentance after that wee haue &s;inned, is called new creation,
<PB N="166" REF="94"> renders yet vnto vs a profitable in&s;truction, if we compare our new creation with <HI>Adam</HI> his fir&s;t creation. When &s;hall wee &s;ay that <HI>Adam</HI> was made a na|turall man? neuer till the Lord breathed the breath of life in|to him: the Lord fir&s;t formed his body of clay, after the &s;ame &s;hape and &s;imilitude, that now yee &s;ee the body of man in all the porportion of the mem|bers thereof. No image can be made by mans wit &s;o liuely re|pre&s;enting a man, as did that portraiture of clay, which the Lord at the fir&s;t formed with his owne hand, but al this time it lay vpon the ground, hauing eyes that &s;aw not, eares that heard not, a mouth that could not &s;peake, and feet that could
<PB N="167" REF="94"> not walke: hee was then very like vnto that which now man <NOTE PLACE="marg">Many pro|fe&s;&s;ed Chri|&s;tians are but carka|&s;es of Chri|&s;tians.</NOTE> is; but (as I &s;aid) was not a naturall man, til God breathed the breath of life vnto him. Let vs con&s;ider the like in the new creation, how many &s;hall ye find verie like vnto chri&s;tians baptized in the name of Ie&s;us. who haue a mouth to &s;peake, and an eye to looke vp vnto heauen, and an care, as a man would thinke, to heare very reuerently the word of the Lord: who when all is done, what euer they &s;eem in the eies of men, are no other in Gods &s;ight, but as the carca&s;es of chri|&s;tians: So to &s;peake, de&s;titute of that quickning &s;pirit of grace, which onely giues life to the actions of men. Let vs take
<PB N="168" REF="95"> heede to our &s;elues that we bee not of that number; for then onely haue wee this comfort that we are Chri&s;tians indeed, when we finde that quickning &s;pirit of grace, which is in Chri&s;t Ie&s;us, communicating life vnto our &s;pirits, that what we doe in the workes of Chri|&s;tianity &s;tand not in externall &s;hew, but may proceede from inward &s;en&s;e and feeling.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="169" REF="95">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 11.</BIBL>
<Q>Ca&s;t mee not away from thy pre|&s;ence, and take not thine holy Spirit from me.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_STill <HI>Dauid</HI> conti|nues <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dauids <HI>feruency in Supplica|tion.</HI></NOTE> his &s;uppli|cations, &s;eeking a remedy of the&s;e manifold mi&s;e|ries, which he found by experi|ence, his &s;inne had brought vpon him. For wee mu&s;t re|member, that all the&s;e petiti|ons proceeded from a &s;en&s;e of a contrary euill, which by his &s;inne hee had incurred, and craues that God of his mercy would diuert it. He lamemted
<PB N="170" REF="96"> before that &s;inne had &s;laine him, and made him like a dead man wanting a heart, or quick|ning &s;pirit, and now hee feares le&s;t as the dead are abhorred by the liuing, &s;o the Lord &s;hould ca&s;t him out, as a dead and abominable thing out of his pre&s;ence.</P>
<P>Whereof wee learne, this is <NOTE PLACE="marg">The plea|&s;ures of &s;in are deare bought.</NOTE> one of the iu&s;t puni&s;hments of &s;inne, it procures the ca&s;ting out of a man from the face of God, and it may let vs &s;ee how deare bought are the plea&s;ures of &s;inne, when a man to enioy the face of the creature, de|priues him&s;elfe of the comfor|table face of the Creator, as <HI>Dauid</HI> here for the carnall loue of the face of <HI>Bath&s;heba,</HI> puts him&s;elfe in danger to bee ca&s;t
<PB N="171" REF="96"> out for euer from the pre&s;ence of the Lord his God. If man could remember this in all Sa|tans tentations, what it is <NOTE PLACE="marg">For Satan &s;eekes frous man better then he can giue him</NOTE> that the deceiuer offers, and what it is againe that hee &s;eekes, hee would be loth to buy the peri&s;hing plea&s;ures of &s;inne, vpon &s;uch a price as Satan &s;elleth them, but would an&s;wer him, as the Apo&s;tle did <HI>Simon Magus, Thy money with thy &s;elfe goe into perdition, thy gaine, thy glory, thy plea&s;ure, and what euer thou woulde&s;t giue me to offend the Lord my God, goe with thy &s;elfe into perdition, for what can&s;t thou offer vnto mee comparable to that, which thou woulde&s;t &s;teale from me.</HI></P>
<P>But how is it that he praies, <NOTE PLACE="marg">A twofold pre&s;ence of God.</NOTE> <HI>Ca&s;t me not out from thy pre&s;ence.</HI>
<PB N="172" REF="97"> May a man bee ca&s;t any way from it: &s;aies hee not him&s;elfe <HI>What way can I flee from thy pre|&s;ence?</HI> This is &s;oone an&s;wered by di&s;tingui&s;hing his twofold pre&s;ence: one in mercy where|with hee refre&s;heth and com|forteth his owne; and this without intermi&s;&s;ion they en|ioy, who are in heauen: ano|ther, in wrath, whereby hee terrifies and torments without intermi&s;&s;ion the da~ned in hell. As to the~ who are vpon earth, certaine it is, hee is di&s;plea&s;ed with many, who becau&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">No ca&s;ting out from the one.</NOTE> they &s;ee not his angry face, re|gard it not, borne out with temporall recreations of the cteature, which wil faile them, and there are many againe to whom hee lookes as a louing
<PB N="173" REF="97"> father in Chri&s;t, and yet they &s;ee not his mercifull face, by rea&s;on of many interiected vailes: but to them who once haue felt the &s;weetne&s;&s;e of his fauourable face, it is death to want it. <HI>Ab&s;olom</HI> prote&s;ted hee could not want the &s;ight <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Sam.</HI> 14. 32.</NOTE> of <HI>Dauid</HI> his Father, hee &s;pake it out of his hypocri&s;ie; but to &s;uch as are truely godly, there can be no puni&s;hment &s;o heauy as to debarre them, and it were but for a &s;hort time, from the comfortable face of their heauenly father.</P>
<P>Thirdly, let vs learne how <NOTE PLACE="marg">What an al&s;ufficient good the Lord is.</NOTE> the all-&s;ufficiencie of the Lord our God, and his great power appeares in this. It is puni&s;h|ment enough to a man, &s;up|po&s;e he were Monarch of the
<PB N="174" REF="98"> world, and had all comforts earthly to vphold him; to want the countenance of God. O <NOTE PLACE="marg">It is life to &s;ee his fauo|rable face, and death to want it.</NOTE> what an infinite good, what an all-&s;ufficient Maie&s;tie is hee in him&s;elfe! a looke of who&s;e countenance refre&s;hes his cre|ature: &amp; no comfort can com|fort him that wants it; as yee may &s;ee in <HI>Belta&s;ar,</HI> how did he tremble in the mid&s;t of all his plea&s;ures, at the &s;ight of Gods anger? and here in <HI>Dauid,</HI> who once debarred from the &s;ight of Gods ioyful face for his &s;ins, could neuer re&s;t till he got it a|gaine. All the &s;ports and de|lights of his Kingdome could not refre&s;h him. Doubtle&s;&s;e he is an all-&s;ufficient God, who liues by him&s;elfe, who&s;e onely countenance comforts his cre|atures,
<PB N="175" REF="98"> and without who&s;e fa|uour, life, yea, the mo&s;t honou|rable life that can be deui&s;ed on earth, is wor&s;e then death.</P>
<P>But what moued him to <NOTE PLACE="marg">The godly feare when they re|member Gods iudge|ments on others.</NOTE> fear ca&s;ting out from Gods pre|&s;ence, who had &s;o many both externall and internall te&s;timo|nies of Gods fauour toward him? Out of que&s;tion the ex|amples of <HI>Caine,</HI> ca&s;t out for murthering his brother, &amp; the example of his predece&s;&s;or <HI>Saul,</HI> iu&s;tly reiected of God, did terrifie him, left hee for mer|cile&s;&s;e murthering his owne &s;eruant, and fearfull back-&s;ly|ding from the Lord, &s;hould al|&s;o be reiected. He remembred well the example of Gods iudgements on others for their &s;innes, and his con&s;cience told
<PB N="176" REF="99"> him within, hee was guilty of the like or greater: &amp; this made him afraid.</P>
<P>Yet was not his feare with|out hope &s;u&s;teyned by con&s;i|deration <NOTE PLACE="marg">Yet their feare is ne|uer without hope, if they feare God as a Iudge, they hope in him as a Sauiour.</NOTE> of God his vnchange|able loue, but by the inward con&s;cie~ce of his own vnfeyned repentance, and by the mani|fold examples of Gods mercie &s;hewed to penitent &s;inners. If <HI>Caine</HI> was ca&s;t out from thy face, it was becau&s;e he &s;ought not thy fauour: and <HI>Saul</HI> was reiected becau&s;e hee repented not. But Lord, I haue opened my heart to thee; thou &s;ee&s;t what griefe is in my &s;oule, for grieuing thee by my &s;innes; thou neuer reiected&s;t any, that from a penitent heart &s;ought thy mercie: <HI>Quis vnquam venit</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sauan.</NOTE>
<PB N="177" REF="99"> <HI>ad te &amp; confu&s;us abijt?</HI> Who e|uer came to thee, and went a|way a&s;hamed? Shall I be the fir&s;t that &s;ought thy face, and was reiected? Nay Lord, <HI>Ca&s;t me not, I be&s;eech thee, out of thy pre&s;ence.</HI> Thus we &s;ee, how <HI>Da|uid</HI> at one time, <HI>Et timet &agrave; iudice,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Bernard.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; &s;perat &agrave; &s;aluatore,</HI> is both af|fraid of God as his Iudge, and hath hope in God as his Saui|our; &s;omtime feare oppre&s;&s;eth his hope, but at the length hope ouercometh feare: <HI>Felix con&s;cientia in qua eiu&s;modi lucta|men.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And take not thy holy Spirit</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">The vn|cleanene&s;&s;e of &s;inne, grieues Gods Spi|rit.</NOTE> <HI>from me.</HI> The Spirit of GOD will not dwell in a polluted &s;oule. Euery vncleanene&s;&s;e di|mini&s;heth his pre&s;ence. The Apo&s;tle warneth vs heereof,
<PB N="178" REF="100"> when hee &s;aith, <HI>Grieue not the Spirit.</HI> And againe, <HI>Quench not the Spirit. Dauid</HI> felt it by his own experience, and therefore makes he this prayer to God, that the grace of his Spirit, which was weakened by his &s;inne, &s;hould not vtterly be ta|ken from him.</P>
<P>This is a petition nece&s;&s;ary alway to bee v&s;ed vnto God: <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Without the Spirit, no fellow|&s;hip with God. Rom.</HI> 8.</NOTE> for without this Spirit we can haue no fellow&s;hip with God. <HI>If any man haue not the Spirit of Chri&s;t, the &s;ame is not his:</HI> &amp; this Spirit, hee is knowne by his fruits, which are, <HI>Loue, Peace, Ioy, long Suffering, Gentlene&s;&s;e,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Gal.</HI> 5. 22.</NOTE> <HI>Goodne&s;&s;e, Faith, Meekene&s;&s;e, Temperance.</HI> Where wee finde the pre&s;ence of this Spirit by his fruits, wee are to cheri&s;h
<PB N="179" REF="100"> him; where we find a want, or decay of them, wee are to pray for them: but many prophane men in this age are like the&s;e, who know not whether there bee &s;uch a thing as the Holy <NOTE PLACE="marg">Yet pro|phane men cannot di|&s;cerne his pre&s;ence from his ab&s;ence.</NOTE> Gho&s;t, or not: they neuer felt his pre&s;ence, neyther had they euer experience of his renuing, and comforting grace; &amp; ther|fore feele no lo&s;&s;e by his ab|&s;ence. Let them enioy &s;uch things as they loue, they care not for him, becau&s;e they know him not: mo&s;t like vnto brute bea&s;ts, to whom pearles and mo&s;t excellent jewels are <NOTE PLACE="marg">What an excellent gue&s;t and worthy in|tertaine|ment the Spirit of God is.</NOTE> of no price; onely &s;uch things as affect their &s;en&s;uall appetite, are plea&s;ant vnto them.</P>
<P>But how excellent a gue&s;t this Spirit is, and how worthy
<PB N="180" REF="101"> to be harboured in our hearts, may be gather'd from this pro|per Epithet, which alway is at|tributed to him, <HI>A holy Spirit;</HI> both becau&s;e in him&s;elfe he is &s;o, and dooth al&s;o make them holy in whom he dwels. What notable effects hee workes in his own children, is &s;ummarily compri&s;ed by <HI>Bernard</HI> in three <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bern. in fe&s;t. Pente|co&s;t. Ser.</HI> 5.</NOTE> wordes: he is <HI>Pignus Salutis,</HI> the pledge of &s;aluation: all &s;peak|ing of &s;aluation without him, is but babling: hee is <HI>Robur vitae,</HI> the &s;trength of our life&punc; with|out him we haue no ability to any &s;pirituall action; and he is <HI>Scientiae lume~,</HI> the light of know|ledge: for without his &s;anctify|ing grace, all knowledge what|&s;oeuer, is but darkne&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>But heere it is demaunded;
<PB N="181" REF="101"> May the &s;pirit of God, once gi|uen <NOTE PLACE="marg">Whether Gods Spirit once giuen, may be ta|ken from his children or not.</NOTE> to Gods children, be taken from them? I an&s;wer, there are &s;ome of his gifts which may be giuen and taken away againe: the&s;e are &s;econdary and com|mon, &s;uch as God giues indif|ferently to good men and euil. So <HI>Achitophels</HI> wi&s;edome, and <HI>Saul</HI> his gift of Kingly gouern|me~t, were at length taken from them: but there are other gifts, which once giuen, are ne|uer taken away againe. The&s;e are principall and proper, com|municated only to Gods elect; as the grace of regeneration, a|doption, &s;anctification: the&s;e graces are crowned with that great grace of Per&s;euerance. The rea&s;on whereof is not in vs, nor in our &s;tabilitie; but in
<PB N="182" REF="102"> the vnchangable coun&s;ell and will of him who loued vs, for <HI>whom he loues he loues, to the end: his gifts and calling are without re|pentance:</HI> Wee may fall after grace receiued, but the Lord puts vnder his hand and rai&s;es vs vp againe: <HI>Becau&s;e I am not changed, therefore ye are not con|&s;umed,</HI> &s;aith the Lord: And truely euen at this &s;ame time when <HI>Dauid</HI> makes this praier, it is euident, hee wanted not this &s;pirit of grace, re&s;toring him by repentance after hee had fallen, and making him thir&s;t for mercy: <HI>Nullum enim certius prae&s;entiae &s;piritus testimo|nium, quam de&s;iderium amplioris gratiae.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="183" REF="102">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 12.</BIBL>
<Q>Restore to me the ioy of thy &s;alua|tion, and &s;tabli&s;h mee with thy free &s;pirit.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THree great euils <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Three great euils</HI> Da|uids <HI>&s;inne brought vp|on him.</HI></NOTE> did <HI>Dauid</HI> bring vpon him&s;elf by his &s;inne; a gilti|ne&s;&s;e which em|paired the &s;en&s;e of Gods mer|cy, an vncleanne&s;&s;e which per|uerted and corrupted all the powers of his &s;oule, vpon which two, followed horrour of a iu&s;t accu&s;ing con&s;cience. Again&s;t the&s;e three he frames his &s;upplications. Again&s;t the <NOTE PLACE="marg">His reme|die again&s;t them all three.</NOTE> fir&s;t he &s;eekes mercie to pardon
<PB N="184" REF="103"> and forgiue his &s;inne: Again&s;t the &s;econd hee &s;eekes grace to renew him, and that God would create a cleane heart within him. Again&s;t the third he &s;eekes to be re&s;tored to the ioy of Gods &s;aluation.</P>
<P>But as this is the la&s;t and <NOTE PLACE="marg">The way of a penitent &s;inner is:</NOTE> greate&s;t petition that a &s;inner can &s;eke to be comforted with the ioyes of God, &s;o are wee to remember, that in this petition wee cannot preuaile, except &s;ome other goe before it, there then is the order to be ob&s;er|ued by a penitent &s;inner, let vs fir&s;t fall downe at his feet, and mourne: <HI>ploremus coram domi|no qui fecit nos, ea quae fecimus</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bez. in Cant. &s;er.</HI> 3.</NOTE> <HI>nos,</HI> let vs therefore continew a long time lamenting our mani|fold &s;innes, and taking a view
<PB N="185" REF="103"> if po&s;&s;ibly we may, of euery one of them, that as by com|mitting them wee contracted giltine&s;&s;e, &s;o by mourning parti|cularly for them, wee may en|feeble their te&s;timony again&s;t vs. Then let vs looke vp out <NOTE PLACE="marg">From mour|ning at Gods feete to goe vp to the ki&s;&s;es of his mouth.</NOTE> of the a&s;&s;urance of faith, and require the helping hand of the Lord to rai&s;e vs vp, the&s;e two being rightly done we &s;hal finde him like that merciful fa|ther, embracing the forlorne &s;onne in his armes and ki&s;&s;ing him, from his feete we goe to his hands, from his hands to the ki&s;&s;es of his mouth, &s;uch as fall not downe to mourne at his feete, how can his helping hand rai&s;e them vp, or the ki&s;|&s;es of his mouth comfort them?</P>
<PB N="186" REF="104">
<P> See here what a deceiuer, and <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sathan in tempting makes faire offers but indeed is a robber.</NOTE> &s;upplanter Satan is, in tempta|tion he &s;eemes to be a giuer, for he makes great offers to men, if they will obey him, but in ve|ry deed he is but a robber, and &s;o &s;hall euery man finde him, when they are deliured from the deceite of &s;inne, and get their eares opened, they &s;hall &s;ee, that Satan by alluring them to &s;inne, hath taken ex|cellent things from them, for which they haue need to pray earne&s;tly vnto God, as <HI>Dauid</HI> here doth, that hee would re|&s;tore them. Let vs not there|fore harken to him when he flattereth vs the faire&s;t. Where God gets loue and obedience from man, there man gets com|fort in his God, but Satan like
<PB N="153" REF="104"> a &s;ubtill diuider doth what hee can to depriue God of that o|bedience which his creature &s;hould giue him, that &s;o he may depriue the creature of that ioy and comfort, which o|therwi&s;e he might haue in his God.</P>
<P>And again we &s;ee how there <NOTE PLACE="marg">No ioy can comfort mans &s;oule but the ioy of Gods &s;al|uation.</NOTE> is no ioy can content <HI>Dauid,</HI> but the ioy of Gods &s;aluatio~, he was a King, &amp; wanted none of the&s;e earthly comforts wherein worldly men reioyce, but none of them can comfort the heart of <HI>Dauid,</HI> it is the ioy which a|ri&s;es to the con&s;cience from the feeling of God his &s;aluation that he craues, &amp; indeed what o|ther ioy can there be, albeit the Lord would giue vs all things that he hath made, vnle&s;&s;e we
<PB N="188" REF="105"> feele him&s;elfe our father, and Sauiour in Chri&s;t, what can they helpe vs, it is true of them all, which Iob in his trouble &s;pake of his friends, <HI>Mi&s;erable comforters are ye,</HI> and yet many &s;uch mi&s;erable men are there in the world, who know no ioy, but that which ari&s;es of meat, and drinke, &s;iluer and gold, and &s;uch like things, this is but a bruti&s;h ioy, for euen the bea&s;ts haue their owne de|light, when &s;uch obiects are pre&s;ented to them, as are agre|able to their nature, and thou if thou knowe&s;t no other, in re|&s;pect thou wa&s;t made for grea|ter things, art more bea&s;tly then they. <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Three great graces &s;eeks</HI> Dauid <HI>in this peti|tion.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P><HI>And &s;tabli&s;h me with thy free &s;pirit:</HI> In this &s;hort petition
<PB N="189" REF="105"> many notable benefits, <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;eeketh from the Lord, for by this free &s;pirit <HI>Vatablus</HI> vnder|&s;tands <HI>Spiritum libertatis, qua proni &amp; faciles reddimur ad faci|endum quae Deus praecipit,</HI> that &s;pirit of liberty, which enclines our hearts willingly to doe, what the Lord commands ac|cording to that of our Sauiour, Iohn 8. <HI>Then &s;hall ye be free if the &s;onne make you free:</HI> So then the benefit <HI>Dauid</HI> here craued, is <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>That rea|&s;on may command affection.</HI></NOTE> that he may finde rea&s;on com|manding affection, as <HI>Ba&s;il</HI> ex|pounds it, and that his carnall affections haue no power to draw his heart toward exter|nal and vnlawful obiects, away from his God as they had done: for affections once let loo&s;e, are not ea&s;ily bridled and
<PB N="190" REF="106"> re&s;trained againe, but after a furious and inordinat manner caries away the heart of man, &s;uffocates light, captiues rea|&s;on, whereby they them&s;elues &s;hould be ruled, and this <HI>Dauid</HI> feeling in him&s;elfe, praies a|gain&s;t it, that the Lord would e&s;tabli&s;h him with his free &s;pirit.</P>
<P>Secondly, he is called <HI>Ruah</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>That the &s;en&s;e of Gods loue may ouer|come the terror of his accu&s;ing con&s;cience.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Nedibah</HI> the &s;pirit of liberty for an other effect which hee workes in our hearts, whereof the Apo&s;tle &s;peakes Rom. 8. <HI>Ye haue not receiued the &s;pirit of bondage to feare again but the &s;pi|rit of adoption, whereby ye cry ab|ba father:</HI> This effect is to com|fort our heart with the &s;en&s;e of Gods fatherly loue, <HI>Dauid</HI> was trouble with terrors of minde
<PB N="191" REF="106"> which his gilty con&s;cience had wakened, and now he craues the confirming &s;pirit of God or as <HI>Tremell.</HI> tran&s;lates it, <HI>Spiritum ingenuitatis,</HI> thy kindly &s;pirit, which in regeneration thou giue&s;t to thy owne children, wherby I may know that I am one of them: Euery &s;inne em|paires in our heart the te&s;timo|ny of the &s;pirit of adoption witne&s;&s;ing Gods loue, and therefore <HI>Dauid</HI> craues it might againe be renewed vnto him.</P>
<P>Thirdly, the word <HI>Nadab</HI> &s;ignifies to be willingly moued <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 <HI>That a Princely minde may be giuen him accor|ding to bis calling.</HI></NOTE> to giue, therefore among the Hebrewes their Princes were called <HI>Nedibim</HI> for their free munificence and liberality and out of this &s;en&s;e he &s;eekes a new benefite <HI>Dauid</HI> was not a
<PB N="192" REF="107"> priuate man, but a publike and therefore craue &s;o to be gouer|ned by the &s;pirit of God, that he might be made an&s;werable to his calling: For the pride of Nebuchadnezer the heart of a <NOTE PLACE="marg">A admoni|tion for men in au|thority.</NOTE> man was take~ from him, &amp; the heart of a bea&s;t giuen, &amp; <HI>Dauid</HI> hauing mi&s;ruled him&s;elf, found his gift decaied, by which hee &s;hould haue ruled his people: And therefore now praies that as the Lord had called him to be a Prince of his people, hee would not ca&s;t him away for his &s;innes, but re&s;tore to him that mea&s;ure of Gods &s;pirit, whereby hee might doe that worke according to the excel|lencie of his calling. Oh that al Kings and Rulers of people could euer remember this,
<PB N="193" REF="107"> what &s;hall purcha&s;e them re|uerence of their &s;ubiects? is it not the image of God? what &s;hall make them able to go|uerne others? is it not the &s;pi|rit of God gouerning them|&s;elues? This was <HI>Pharao</HI> his rea&s;on why he made choi&s;e of <HI>Io&s;eph, Where can we finde &s;o meet a man as this to rule, in whom the Spirit of God is.</HI> And there|fore aboue al other men &s;hould they bee mo&s;t in&s;tant to pray, that God would e&s;tabli&s;h their hearts by his &s;pirit: ma|king their affections &s;eruants to their rea&s;on, that &s;o them|&s;elues being ruled by God, they may the better rule his people.</P>
<P>Alway wee &s;ee, it is not a &s;mall thing, which <HI>Dauid</HI> heere
<PB N="194" REF="108"> &s;eeketh from God, but hee &s;ee|keth <NOTE PLACE="marg">It is an ho|nouring of God, when we &s;eeke great things from him. Sauan.</NOTE> the greate&s;t gifts that God giueth on earth to his children, <HI>Rem magnam a te peto domine, quia tu es Deus magnus Dominus, iniuriam tibi facit qui a te parua petit.</HI> O Lord, I &s;eeke great things from thee, becau&s;e thou art a great God, they di&s;honor the Lord, who &s;eeke &s;mall things from him, and they are mo&s;t welcome to him who &s;eeke greate&s;t things from him; as is euident by <HI>Salomons</HI> petition: hee of|fers him&s;elfe to be our Father, his Sonne to bee our Sauiour, his Spirit to be our comforter, to confirme and e&s;tabli&s;h our hearts. The&s;e are his mo&s;t excellent giftes let vs couet the&s;e.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="195" REF="108">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 13.</BIBL>
<Q>Then &s;hall I teach thy way vnto the wicked, and Sinners &s;hall be conuerted to thee.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HItherto we haue <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>With petiti|ons</HI> Dauid <HI>ioynes pro|mi&s;es</HI></NOTE> heard DAVIDS petitions; now followes pro|mi&s;es, which are of two &s;orts, in the fir&s;t, hee promi&s;es to bee a good in&s;tru|ment to conuert others vnto the Lord: in the next that hee &s;hall publi&s;h the prai&s;es of his God.</P>
<P>There is a dutie that goeth <NOTE PLACE="marg">Before re|mi&s;&s;ion of &s;inne goes repentance.</NOTE> before remi&s;&s;ion of &s;inne, and that is a godly &s;orrow for &s;in,
<PB N="196" REF="109"> which cau&s;es repentance to &s;aluation: for how &s;hall the Lord remit the &s;inne whereof man wil not repent. And there is an other dutie that followes it, and that is thankefulne&s;&s;e to God, and a louing care of the &s;aluation of others. Our Saui|our collected well, that many &s;innes were forgiuen to that <NOTE PLACE="marg">And after followes thankeful|ne&s;&s;e.</NOTE> penitent woman that did wa&s;h his feete with her teares, be|cau&s;e &s;hee loued him much. But alas, if it bee con&s;idered how &s;mall is our loue towards God, how little is our regard of the &s;aluation of our brethren. It may be &s;aid of many in this age, they haue but &s;mall, or no warrant, that there &s;innes are forgiuen them, who haue &s;o little, or no loue toward God,
<PB N="197" REF="109"> and their brethren, for the ar|gument holds &s;ure, they can|not but loue the Lord great|ly, to whom great and many &s;innes are pardoned and for|giuen.</P>
<P><HI>Then:</HI> Marke his words, <NOTE PLACE="marg">He is not meete to &s;peake of peace and pardon to to others, who is vn|der the power of his owne &s;inne.</NOTE> when will <HI>Dauid</HI> teach others, when God hath deliuered him from his &s;innes? A man vnder the power and gultine&s;&s;e of his owne &s;inne, is not meet to &s;peake of peace and pardon vn|to others. <HI>Obmute&s;cit facundia, &s;i aegra &s;it con&s;cientia.</HI> Eloquence is &s;ilent where, the con&s;cience is &s;icke and di&s;ea&s;ed. A pitti|full <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Nicephor. lib.</HI> 5. <HI>cap.</HI> 32.</NOTE> proofe whereof wee haue in <HI>Origen,</HI> who being compel|led either to &s;uffer the abu&s;ing of his body by an <HI>Ethiopian,</HI> or to &s;acrifice vnto Idols, made
<PB N="198" REF="110"> choi&s;e of the la&s;t, and offered incen&s;e vnto Idols, wherewith his con&s;cience was &s;o troubled, that afterward comming to <HI>Ie|ru&s;alem,</HI> and there being fir&s;t reque&s;ted, and then vpon his refu&s;all forced to teach, hee went to the Pulpit, and read there the&s;e words of the 50. <HI>P&s;alme, What ha&s;t thou to doe to take my ordinances in thy mouth, &s;eeing thou hate&s;t to be reformed, when thou &s;eest a thiefe, thou run|ne&s;t with him, and art pertaker with the adulterers.</HI> When hee had &s;o done, hee clo&s;ed the booke, and becau&s;e hee found his mouth clo&s;ed by the guilt of his con&s;cience, he fel to wee|ping and mourning, whereby he prouokt all the congregati|on to mourne with him, but
<PB N="199" REF="110"> was not able to teach any. whereof all preachers haue <NOTE PLACE="marg">A warning to Prea|chers.</NOTE> their warning, that with great care they &s;hould keepe their con&s;cience cleane, if they would &s;peake to the con&s;cience of others: and if at any time they haue hurt their con&s;ci|ence, without delay &s;hould they heale it by repentance <HI>Cum eradicantur ex corde peccata</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Bern. in a&s;|cen&s;. dom. Ser.</HI> 1.</NOTE> <HI>exinde qui in Chri&s;tum credunt, linguis loquuntur nouis.</HI> Then do they, who beleeue in Chri&s;t, &s;peak with new tongues, when old &s;innes are rooted out of <NOTE PLACE="marg">The talent of mercie we haue re|ceiued, be|cau&s;e it is greate&s;t &s;hould bee mo&s;t v&s;ed to the edifica|tio~ of others</NOTE> their hearts.</P>
<P>Againe wee &s;ee our duty craues, that when wee haue re|ceiued mercy from God for our &s;elues, wee &s;hould make vantage of it for the edification
<PB N="200" REF="111"> of others. Euery talent recei|ued from God &s;hould bee put to profit, but &s;pecially the ta|lent of mercy, as it is greate&s;t: &s;o the Lord requires greater fruit of it, both for his owne glory, and for the edification of our brethren. Seeing wee are the ve&s;&s;els of mercy, &s;hould not the &s;ent and &s;weet odour of mercy go from vs to others. This duty Chri&s;t craued from <HI>Peter,</HI> and <HI>thou when thou art conuerted, confirme thy brethen.</HI> And this duty, as <HI>Dauid</HI> heere promi&s;es, &s;o we may reade how he did performe it, <HI>Come vnto mee all yee that feare God, and I will tell you what God hath done to my &s;oule.</HI></P>
<P>The propetie of a Chri&s;ti|an <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ba&s;il.</NOTE> is, <HI>fides per dilectionem effi|cax,</HI>
<PB N="201" REF="111"> faith working by loue. <NOTE PLACE="marg">How we are bound to haue a care of the &s;al|uation of our bre|thren</NOTE> What auiles it to pretend faith toward God, where there is no loue toward thy neighbour, and wherein can thy loue bee declared more then in this, to draw thy neighbour to the participation of that &s;ame me|rit, whereunto God hath cal|led thee. By the Law a man was bound to bring home his neighbours wandring bea&s;t, if he had mette with it before, how much more then to turne againe his neighbour him&s;elfe, when hee wanders from the Lord his God? If two men walking on the way, &s;hould both fall into one pit, and the one beeing releeued out of it, &s;hould goe his way and forget his neighbour, might it not
<PB N="202" REF="112"> iu&s;tly be called a barbarous &amp; inhumane cruelty. Wee haue all fallen into one and the &s;ame myre of iniquity: &s;ith the Lord hath put out his merci|full hand to draw vs out of this pri&s;on of &s;inne, &s;hall we refu&s;e to put out our hand, to &s;ee if po&s;sibly we may draw vp our brethren with vs?</P>
<P><HI>Thy wayes.</HI> He &s;aith not, that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prophane men not on|ly commit &s;inne, but teach the way of &s;in to others.</NOTE> he wil teach &s;inners his wayes; the wayes of &s;inne can bee lear|ned without a teacher: but he will teach them Gods wayes. There are many profane men in the world, who think it not enough to commit &s;inne with greedine&s;&s;e, but will boa&s;t of their &s;innes, when they haue done them, teaching and allu|ring others to commit the like
<PB N="203" REF="112"> iniquitie: the&s;e are but like vn|to <NOTE PLACE="marg">The&s;e are like bea&s;ts.</NOTE> dogges, and other &s;uch bru|ti&s;h bea&s;ts, who when they haue auoyded their dongue, turne about their face vnto it, delighting in the &s;cent therof; and yet blinded man will glo|rie in &s;uch a bea&s;tlie quality.</P>
<P>But what are the&s;e wayes <NOTE PLACE="marg">Some wayes of God are vn&s;earchea|ble, the&s;e a man &s;hould not learne. Leuit.</NOTE> of God, which <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;ayth hee wil teach? Som of Gods waies are vn&s;earchable: of the&s;e wee &s;hould beware; neyther to teach, nor learne that which God fir&s;t hath not taught vs. But there are other of his wayes, which hee hath manife|&s;ted, as, the way of iudgement, whereby he walkes &s;tubbornly again&s;t them that walke &s;tub|bornly again&s;t him going farre from them that depart from
<PB N="204" REF="113"> him: and the way of mercie, wherin he &s;hewes him&s;elfe vp|right <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 18. <HI>But the way of iudge|ment and mercy we &s;hould both teach it to others, and learn it our &s;elues.</HI></NOTE> with the vpright man, &amp; comes neere vnto them, who with a humble &amp; contrite &s;pi|rit draw neer vnto him. The&s;e are thy wayes, O Lord, which I &s;hall teach, &s;aith <HI>Dauid,</HI> when I &s;hall learne them: I haue lear|ned the way of thy iudgment: I haue felt thou art terrible to &s;inners, and that it is a fearefull thing to fall into thine hands; let me al&s;o feel thy &s;weet mer|cie, forgiuing my &s;in; then &s;hall I teach the way of thy mercy to &s;inners al&s;o, &amp; &s;hall let them know how gratious thou art, how ready to forgiue, &amp; what they mu&s;t doe, if they would be receiued into thy fauour.</P>
<P>All the wayes of GOD are
<PB N="205" REF="113"> vnknowne to men by nature, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The way of Gods mer|cy naturally is vnknown.</NOTE> but e&s;pecially the way of his mercie. Nature could neuer haue dreamed of that way of mercy, which God hath di&s;co|uered: it &s;urpa&s;&s;eth all light that is in nature; if God had not reuealed it, man &s;hould neuer haue knowne it. Experience may confirme this: for we &s;ee it is an ea&s;ie thing to in&s;truct a man in the knowledge of Gods power, prouidence, iu&s;tice, and all, but to bring a &s;inner to the knowledge and a&s;&s;urance of Gods mercy, is a difficult thing. It is ea&s;ie to preach iudgement by the Lawe, not &s;o to per|&s;wade mercy by the Go&s;pell: this is the highe&s;t, and mo&s;t dif|ficult point of a Pa&s;tors calling.</P>
<P><HI>And &s;inners &s;hall be conuerted</HI>
<PB N="206" REF="114"> <HI>vnto thee.</HI> Marke the wordes <NOTE PLACE="marg">Conuer&s;ion of a &s;inner is Gods worke.</NOTE> of <HI>Dauid;</HI> I, &s;aith he, &s;hal teach, and they &s;hall bee conuerted. When the conuer&s;ion of a &s;in|ner is a&s;cribed to man, we mu&s;t vnder&s;tand, hee is not the wor|ker, but the in&s;trument of it. He &s;hall not want his owne re|compence: <HI>For they who conuert many to righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;hall &s;hine like the &s;tarres in the Firmament.</HI> But the glory of the conuer&s;i|on is proper to the Lord: men may plant and water, but God giues the increa&s;e. <HI>Paul</HI> preach|ed at Philippi, but God opened the heart of <HI>Lydia: Peter</HI> prea|ched to <HI>Cornelius</HI> and his kin&s;|men, but the Holy Gho&s;t brought downe the vnction, which made them Chri&s;tians. Repentance is a worke full of
<PB N="207" REF="114"> miracles. it makes the dead to ri&s;e, the blinde to &s;ee, the dumb to &s;peake; and who can worke the&s;e but the Lord? <HI>Vera Sani|tas</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Macar. hom,</HI> 44. <HI>Repentance a worke full of miracles.</HI></NOTE> <HI>&agrave; Domino &s;olo profici&s;citur,</HI> <GAP DESC="foreign">. As one &s;heep cannot heale another, but their health com|meth from their &s;hepheard; &s;o the true health of our &s;oules cometh from the great Pa&s;tor and Shepheard of I&s;rael, <HI>Qui Leones man&s;uefecit &amp; igni vim adurendi ademit, &amp;c.</HI> Hee that tamed the Lions, &amp; re&s;trained the fire from burning, hee it is that mu&s;t tame our wilde affe|ctions, and moderate the fire of our de&s;ires. Let Preachers when they goe to any &s;uch worke, require the helping hand of the Lord to work with
<PB N="208" REF="115"> them: and let people an&s;wer, and pray with <HI>Ieremie, Conuert vs Lord, and we &s;hal be conuerted.</HI></P>
<P>As &s;inne averts man from God, &s;o it peruerts him: repen|tance <NOTE PLACE="marg">An vnpeni|tent &s;inner is a peruer&s; and mon|&s;trous crea|ture, and how.</NOTE> by the contrary turnes a man to God againe, and recti|fieth all that is in him. An vn|penitent &s;inner is a peruerted or mon&s;trous creature: for in him, that part is vndermo&s;t which &s;hould be aboue. The &s;oule that came from heauen, cleaueth to the du&s;t by his bo|dy which was made of the earth: he can looke vp to hea|uen but in regard of his &s;oule: he is but earthly minded. A|gaine, hee hath his face where his back &s;hould be, and by the contrary, the world which &s;hould be behinde him, is euer
<PB N="209" REF="115"> before him, &amp; the price of the high calling of God: euen the riches of that glorious inheri|tance, which &s;hould bee before him, he ca&s;teth it behinde his backe, and hath no thought of it. And where a wi&s;e man hath alway his heart at his right hand, <HI>Eccle&s;.</HI> 10. That is &s;et vp|on be&s;t and mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary things: this foole by the con|trary, hath his heart at his left hand, bu&s;ie about vaine &amp; vn|profitable things, neglecting that one thing, which onely is needfull. And la&s;tly, hee hath that without which &s;hould be within: for he &s;hould be more beautifull within then with|out. But the be&s;t &s;ight ye will &s;ee in him, is that which is out|mo&s;t: there&punc; hee lookes like a
<PB REF="116"> painted &s;epulchre, but within is full of rottenne&s;&s;e: So confu|&s;ed a creature, is mi&s;erable man in his &s;innes; all is di&s;ordered in him, he is <HI>Tartarus,</HI> a little hell on earth, a terror to him|&s;elfe, a trouble vnto others, e|uer vexed with re&s;tle&s;&s;e and fruitle&s;&s;e perturbations.</P>
<P>But from this time, by the <NOTE PLACE="marg">But by grace he is recti|fied and re|newed.</NOTE> grace of repentance hee con|uerteth &amp; turneth to the Lord his God, then a comfortable change and comely order is wrought in him, then the body becomes &s;ubiect vnto the &s;oule, then the affections begin to fol|low rea&s;on, and order re&s;tored makes him a quiet and peacea|ble heart, by the which he be|gins his heauen vpon earth.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="211" REF="116">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 14.</BIBL>
<Q>Deliuer mee from blood, O God of my &s;aluation, and my tongue &s;hall &s;ing ioyfully of thy righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IN the midde&s;t of <NOTE PLACE="marg">Dauid <HI>can not &s;atisfie him&s;elfe in &s;eeking mer|cie for his &s;innes.</HI></NOTE> his promi&s;es wee &s;ee how he inter|laces a new peti|tion for mercie, for &s;till he found his con&s;cience pre&s;&s;ed with the greatne&s;&s;e of his &s;inne, and therefore &s;o oft as hee feeles it, &s;o oft cals hee for mercy, &s;in is &s;oone committed as I &s;aid, but the gilt, the terror and the &s;ecret accu&s;ing voice therof not &s;o ea&s;ily di&s;charged.</P>
<PB N="212" REF="117">
<P> And that now hee di&s;cends <NOTE PLACE="marg">A generall confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne is not &s;uffici|ent.</NOTE> in particular, it is to teach vs, that a generall confe&s;&s;ion of &s;in is not &s;ufficient, we mu&s;t come to a particular, for it may truly be &s;aid, that he hates no &s;inne, who hates not one aboue the re&s;t, the &s;in which hath woun|ded our con&s;cience deepe&s;t wil grieue vs &s;ore&s;t, this is manife&s;t in <HI>Dauid,</HI> who hauing com|mitted two abhominable &s;ins, Adultery and Murther, in his particular confe&s;&s;ion makes mention of the bloud, not of the adultery, for as in griefes of the body the greater paine makes the le&s;&s;e not to be felt, &s;o is it in the griefe of con&s;ci|ence, though there be a griefe for all &s;inne in the penitent, yet the griefe for the greate&s;t &s;inne
<PB N="213" REF="117"> exceedes all the re&s;t.</P>
<P>How heauy a &s;inne the &s;hed|ding <NOTE PLACE="marg">Shedding of innocent blood a fearefull &s;inne.</NOTE> of innocent blood is, may appeare, if wee con&s;ider the&s;e particulars. Fir&s;t it is a de&s;troy|ing of the image of God, which cannot be without a great con|tempt of the diuine maie&s;ty. When <HI>Theodo&s;ius</HI> had re&s;olued to &s;lay many Citizens of Anti|ochia for ca&s;ting downe the image of his wife, the Empre&s;&s;e <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Becau&s;e it is a demoli&s;h|ing of Gods image.</HI></NOTE> Placilla: It was a notable war|ning which a certaine Macedo|nian &s;ent to him: If thou be &s;o mooued for demoli&s;hing of the bra&s;en image of Placilla, how &s;hall God be offended at the de&s;truction of man who is the liuely image of God, the lo&s;&s;e of the one may &s;oone be repared, but the lo&s;&s;e of the o|ther
<PB N="214" REF="118"> can neuer be recouered, a Bra&s;en-image ca&s;t downe may be &s;et vp againe in the &s;ame or a better e&s;tate; let a man once be &s;laine, and who can reuiue him?</P>
<P>Secondly, if a man be con&s;i|dered <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>It puts out the life of man for whom Chri&s;t died, and &s;o is iniu|rious to Chri&s;ts death.</HI></NOTE> as he is a Chri&s;tian, he is a part of the price of Chri&s;ts blood, I am commanded not to offend my brother for whom Chri&s;t died in a matter of meate and drinke, which o|therwi&s;e is lawful, how then dare I &s;lay him? Oh what a horrible crime is this to put out the life of that man, for whom Chri&s;t died, that he might pur|cha&s;e life vnto him! <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 <HI>It makes a man more vnnaturall then bea&s;ts.</HI></NOTE></P>
<P>Thirdly, the &s;imilitude of nature makes it a greeuous &s;in for a man to de&s;troy his owne
<PB N="215" REF="118"> kind Euery hearb that growes out of the earth hath a &s;eede or &s;ome other equiualent vertue, wherby it &s;eekes the con&s;erua|tion of his owne kinde: and brute bea&s;tes forbeare on ano|ther: only vnnaturall man de|&s;troies his kinde, yea wee read that Lyons and Beares haue <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cent.</HI> 4. <HI>l.</HI> 1. <HI>c.</HI> 5.</NOTE> &s;pared chri&s;tians pre&s;ented na|ked before them, but whom the bea&s;ts did &s;pare, them man more bea&s;tly then vnrea&s;ona|ble bea&s;ts did cruelly deuour.</P>
<P>And la&s;tly, the fearefull pu|ni&s;hment of it declares, how <NOTE PLACE="marg">4 <HI>It is puni|&s;hed with fearefull plagues.</HI></NOTE> feareful a &s;in it is. As in the fir&s;t plague of Egypt all the waters therof were turned into blood, &s;o is it with a murtherer, all is turned in blood to him, at his table his meate is &s;ea&s;oned
<PB N="216" REF="119"> with the thought of it, in his re&s;ting bed he is troubled with the dreames of euery one; whom he &s;ees he deemes to be a reuenger of blood, and euery noi&s;e which he heares, he feares as a me&s;&s;enger or fore-runner of blood.</P>
<P>This &s;inne then being &s;o <NOTE PLACE="marg">In what &s;e|curity are they who thinke in|nocent blood no burden.</NOTE> grieuous as it is, we may ea&s;ily con&s;ider how it comes to pa&s;&s;e, that prophane men thinke no|thing of it, the rea&s;on is here that their con&s;cience is &s;leep|ing, and cu&s;tome of &s;in hath ta|ken away &s;en&s;e: &s;o long as <HI>Da|uids</HI> con&s;cience was a &s;leepe, he thought nothing of it, as ap|peares by his letter of <HI>Vriah,</HI> let not this trouble thee, hereof it is that men &s;leeping in &s;inne count &s;hedding of innocent
<PB N="217" REF="119"> blood, &s;ome of them, but a pa&s;time, and others to be a pie|tie and religion. Of the fir&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ethnikes e&s;teeme it a pa&s;time.</NOTE> &s;ort were Ethniques, who v&s;ed combats betweene men vpon publike theaters, that by the &s;laughter of &s;ome men, they might make &s;port vnto others: Of the&s;e &s;aid Cyprian, <HI>Scelus</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Cyprian. epi&s;t.</HI> 2. <HI>Papi&s;ts thinke it good reli|gion.</HI></NOTE> <HI>non tantum geritur, &s;ed docetur.</HI> Of the other &s;orts are bloo|dy Papi&s;ts, who thinke it good &s;eruice to God to murther and &s;lay &s;uch, as are contrary min|ded to them in religion, to who~ at this time I am content to &s;peake with Era&s;mus, <HI>Non con|uenit vt hoc argumento nos Chri|&s;tianos</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Eras epi&s;t. ad vol&s;ium.</NOTE> <HI>declaremus, &s;i quam pluri|mos occiderimus, &s;ed &s;i multos &s;er|uauerimus, alioqui citius futurum est, vt nos in Turcas degenere|mus,</HI>
<PB N="218" REF="120"> <HI>quam Turcis in partes no|&s;tras pertrahamus, Et vt faeliciter cadat Martis &s;emper ancipitis a|lea, fiet vt latius forta&s;&s;e regnet pontifex aut huius cardanales, non vt latius regnet Chri&s;tus.</HI> It is not a good argument to proue our &s;elues good Chri&s;tians, be|cau&s;e we haue &s;laine many, but rather that we haue &s;aued ma|ny: otherwi&s;e it &s;hall &s;ooner come to pa&s;&s;e, that we &s;hall de|generate into <HI>Turkes,</HI> then turne Turkes into Chri&s;tians: And albeit the euent of battel which is alway doubtfull &s;hould &s;uc|ceed as we would wi&s;h, it may well be that by blood &s;hed|ding the kingdom of the Pope and his Cardinals be encrea&s;ed but the kingdome of Chri&s;t &s;hall not by &s;uch meanes be in|larged.</P>
<PB N="219" REF="120">
<P> But how&s;oeuer to &s;uch <NOTE PLACE="marg">A great mercie to be kept from &s;hed|ing inno|cent blood.</NOTE> blind infidels the &s;hedding of blood, bee either plea&s;ure or piety, yet to the godly who&s;e con&s;cience is wakened it is an abominable &s;inne: how ioy|full was <HI>Dauid</HI> when <HI>Abigail</HI> kept him from &s;hedding of the bloud of <HI>Nabal.</HI> How hear|tily did he thanke God for kee|ping him from it. And when he had &s;hed the bloud of <HI>Vriah,</HI> how earne&s;tly praies hee that God would deliuer him from it. When it was told <HI>Con&s;tan|tine,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Proof here|of in</HI> Da|uid <HI>and Con&s;tan|tine.</HI></NOTE> there was no way to cure his lepro&s;ie, but by bathing him in the blood of an infant, (vpon what re&s;pect I know not not) it was a notable an&s;were he gaue, <HI>Malo &s;emper aegrotare quam tali remedio conuale&s;cere.</HI>
<PB N="220" REF="121"> Let vs flee the burden of in|nocent bloud, and this praier for pardoning mercy that <HI>Da|uid</HI> makes, let vs turne it in a prayer for preuenting mercy, <HI>Deliuer vs from blood, wee are the &s;heepe of Chri&s;t Ie&s;us, let vs leaue the &s;hedding of blood to rauening wolues.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Deliuer me:</HI> No doubt <HI>Dauid</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinne hath fir&s;t a com|manding power after an accu&s;ing or controu|ling power.</NOTE> powred out the&s;e words from his &s;en&s;e and feeling: his &s;peech imports a captiuity, hee was not a free man, but bound with the cords of his &s;innes; the commaunding power of it at this time he was freed from, though before it bound him: but he &s;eekes to be deliuered from the controu|ling, and accu&s;ing power there|of; this vexed him &s;o that hee
<PB N="221" REF="121"> thinkes no &s;hame publikely to aske God mercy for the&s;e &s;ins, by which hee had offended God, and giuen euill example to the Church: and men who haue fallen with him in publik &s;innes, and yet cannot be indu|ced to giue glory to God, and remoue offence from his peo|ple by as publike repentance, doe plainely declare that they were neuer touched with the con&s;cience of their &s;inne.</P>
<P>In the primitiue Church <NOTE PLACE="marg">The maner of publike repentance in the pri|mitiue Church.</NOTE> &s;uch as had giuen publike of|fences, were not receiued with|out publike repentance, and humiliation, yea they made &s;upplication to all the a&s;&s;em|bly, <HI>Volo, veniam reus &s;peret pe|tat</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ambr. de paeniten. li.</HI> 1. <HI>ca.</HI> 16.</NOTE> <HI>cum lachymis, petat populi to|tius fletibus vt igno&s;catur ob&s;er|cret,</HI>
<PB N="222" REF="122"> <HI>&amp; cum &s;ecundo vel tertio fuerit dilata eius communo, cre|dat remi&s;sius &s;e &s;upplica&s;&s;e.</HI> I will that he that is guilty hope for mercy, that he &s;eeketh it with teares and mourning of the whole people: and if twice or thrice his receiuing to the com|munoin be refu&s;ed to him, let him thinke that hee hath prai|ed more &s;lackly then he &s;hould and &s;o humble him&s;elfe more intirely then hee hath done. And againe to the &s;ame pur|po&s;e, he &s;aies, If thou had&s;t a doe to &s;ati&s;fie a man whom <NOTE PLACE="marg">How fooli&s;h are they who hauing committed publicke &s;innes, re|fu&s;e to make pub|like repen|tance.</NOTE> thou had&s;t offended, how ma|ny woulde&s;t thou reque&s;t to &s;ue for thee at his hands? Now &s;eeing thou ha&s;t to &s;eeke recon|ciliation with God, why im|ploie&s;t thou not the praiers of
<PB N="223" REF="122"> all his his people, <HI>Vbi nihil e&s;t quod pudori e&s;&s;e debeat, ni&s;i non fateri cum omnes &s;imus pecca|tores.</HI> For among vs nothing &s;hould be a matter of &s;hame, &s;eeing wee are all &s;inners, but not to confe&s;&s;e our &s;innes, <HI>Vbi ille laudabilior qui humilior, &amp; iu&s;tior qui abiectior.</HI> Heere hee is mo&s;t worthy prai&s;e, who is mo&s;t humble, and hee is mo&s;t iu&s;t, who is mo&s;t contrite, and deiected for &s;inne. <HI>Fleat itaque pro te mater Eccle&s;ia,</HI> let there|fore thy mother the Church mourne for thee.</P>
<P>But if men who haue offended <NOTE PLACE="marg">This is be|cau&s;e they are not tou|ched with the &s;en&s;e of &s;inne.</NOTE> were touched with the &s;en&s;e of &s;inne, as <HI>Dauid</HI> was, they would not be a&s;hamed as publikly to confe&s;&s;e it and &s;eeke mercy as he did. For as I &s;aid, hee found
<PB N="294" REF="123"> him&s;elfe &s;traited with his own &s;innes. <HI>Infernus quidam animae rea e&s;t Con&s;cientia,</HI> a guilty con&s;cience is a hell to the &s;oule and a &s;ore pri&s;on, not like other pri&s;ons: for where&s;oeuer the guilty man goes, he carries his pri&s;on with him, and this is the equity of Gods iudgements, who inwraps &s;inners in their &s;innes, and bindes them with the coardes of their own tran|gre&s;&s;ions, whereof they cannot complaine.</P>
<P>And this appeareth out of <NOTE PLACE="marg">How &s;inne binds and captiues a man.</NOTE> his owne words, when he &s;aies, <HI>Deliuer me,</HI> His &s;peech tels, he found him&s;elfe captiued. Two manner of waies doth &s;inne &s;trait, and bind any man; fir&s;t, by the commanding power, of it, for then it oppre&s;&s;eth a
<PB N="225" REF="123"> man in &s;uch a &s;ort, that hee can neither eate, nor &s;leepe, till he obey it. An example of which tyranny we haue in <HI>Ammon,</HI> &amp; many mo. Next by the control|ling or accu&s;ing power thereof, whereby in &s;uch &s;ort &s;inne committed, &s;o &s;traites a man, that it &s;uffers him not to heare nor thinke of any other thing, but of her accu&s;ations onely, whereby the &s;oule of man is filled with re&s;tle&s;&s;e feares, and horrible perturbations. Now at this time <HI>Dauid</HI> was not trou|bled with the commanding po|wer of &s;in, but onely with the tormenting, &amp; accu&s;ing power thereof; and from it heere hee praies the Lord to deliuer him.</P>
<P><HI>From blouds:</HI> The word is plural, <HI>from blouds.</HI> Noting vn|to
<PB N="226" REF="124"> vs, how <HI>Dauid</HI> found euery <NOTE PLACE="marg">Innocent blood when it is &s;hed fals not to the ground, but biaes on the head of him that &s;hed it.</NOTE> drop of <HI>Vriah</HI> his bloud a bur|den vnto him. By the phra&s;e of holy Scripture, the bloud of him that is &s;hedde is &s;aid to lie vpon his head that &s;hed it. It &s;eemeth vnto men, that the bloud of the man &s;laine is &s;pilt on the ground: but the &s;pirit of God &s;aith, that it lieth on the man &s;layer. A fearefull thing: the bloud which before was in the body of thy neighbour, to con&s;erue his life, thou ha&s;t now taken it vpon thy head, to pro|cure thy death, and to crie vn|to God for a vengance again&s;t thee. If this were con&s;idered, it might &s;erue for an awe-band to keepe murtherers from ha&s;t|ing as they do, to &s;hedde inno|cent bloud.</P>
<PB N="227" REF="124">
<P> And albeit <HI>Dauid</HI> was farre <NOTE PLACE="marg">Many waies may men be guilty of &s;inne, albeit by their own hands they doe it not.</NOTE> from <HI>Vriah,</HI> when he was &s;lain; for the one was in Ieru&s;alem, the other in Rabbah of the Ammonites, yet the burden of that bloud lieth heauy on him, becau&s;e hee was the man who coun&s;elled <HI>Ioab,</HI> how to &s;lay him with the &s;worne of the Ammonites. Many waies haue men, whereby to excu&s;e them|&s;elues in their &s;inne; &s;pecially, if they did not euill with their owne hands, if they were farre off, when the turne was done: but you &s;ee how little all the&s;e auaile, where the con&s;cience cannot excu&s;e a man.</P>
<P><HI>O God of my &s;aluation.</HI> So the godly &s;tile the Lord; not onely <NOTE PLACE="marg">Prai&s;e of our &s;aluati|on properly belongs to God.</NOTE> becau&s;e he is the author of the beginning, but of the progre&s;&s;e
<PB N="228" REF="125"> al&s;o, and perfiting of our &s;alua|tion: he not onely gaue life to our &s;oules, when we were dead in &s;in, but he keepes our &s;oules in life: we fall, and he rai&s;eth vs vp: we wander, and he recalls vs: we &s;inne daily, and he for|giueth vs. And it is for the&s;e renewing mercies, wherby the Lord euery day &s;aues vs from a thou&s;and deaths, in which o|therwi&s;e we &s;hould peri&s;h; that we prai&s;e the Lord as the God of our &s;aluation: giuing him this glorie with the Apo&s;tle, <HI>The Lord hath deliuered vs from &s;o great a death, he doth deliuer</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">2. <HI>Cor.</HI> 1.</NOTE> <HI>vs: in whom al&s;o we tru&s;t, that yet hereafter he will deliuer vs.</HI> For the time pa&s;t he hath deliuer'd, for the time pre&s;ent hee doth deliuer, and for the time to
<PB N="229" REF="125"> come he will deliuer vs: In all the&s;e re&s;pects wee reioyce in him as in the God of our &s;alua|tion.</P>
<P>Againe, hee acknowledges <NOTE PLACE="marg">Many great deliueran|ces receiue the godly but the greate&s;t is deliuerance from &s;inne.</NOTE> that the deliuerance of a man from his &s;innes, is not a worke of mans Power. No, it re|quires the powerful hand, and &s;auing health of the mighty God of our &s;aluation. Many great deliuerances hath the Lord giuen to his annointed; hee &s;aued <HI>Noah</HI> from the de|luge of waters, <HI>Lot</HI> from bur|ning in Sodome, he &s;aued I&s;ra|el in the Red &s;ea, and <HI>Ionas</HI> in the Whales belly, he &s;aued <HI>Da|niel</HI> from the Lyons, and <HI>Peter</HI> that he did not &s;inke, when he walked in the water: but the deliuerance of a man from the
<PB N="230" REF="126"> hands of Satan, and &s;inne is a greater work then any of the&s;e, let vs be thankefull to our God for it.</P>
<P><HI>So &s;hall I &s;ing:</HI> a &s;oule oppre&s;|&s;ed <NOTE PLACE="marg">God hath fitted the exerci&s;es of his wor&s;hip for our &s;tate.</NOTE> and borne downe with the terrors of &s;inne, cannot &s;ing to the prai&s;e of God&punc; a Chri&s;tian in that e&s;tate, an&s;wers al that find fault with him, as the I&s;raelites of old did the Caldees, <HI>How can</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 97.</NOTE> <HI>wee &s;ing a &s;ong of the Lord in a &s;trange land?</HI> (and how can I &s;aies the Chri&s;tian) &s;ing ioyful|lie, &s;o long as the Comforter that &s;hould refre&s;h my &s;oule is away? But ble&s;&s;ed be the Lord who in euery &s;tate hath proui|ded a remedy for vs, that when we are not di&s;po&s;ed for one ex|erci&s;e of Gods wor&s;hip, the Lord &s;hould licence vs to go vn|to
<PB N="231" REF="126"> an other. Are we &s;o afflicted <NOTE PLACE="marg">Iam.</NOTE> that we cannot &s;ing, at lea&s;t let vs pray that wee may be com|forted?</P>
<P>And in that he &s;aies hee will <NOTE PLACE="marg">In &s;inging p&s;almes our affection &s;hould be conforma|ble to the word wee &s;ing.</NOTE> &s;ing ioyfully, it learnes vs how we &s;hould alway conforme our affections to the words which God puts either in our eares or in our mouthes. If the word of the L. when we heare it or &s;ing it, haue a promi&s;e of mercy or a &s;ong of thank&s;giuing, &s;hould wee not receiue it and vtter it with ioy? and if on the other hand it containe a threatning, or a confe&s;&s;ion of &s;inne, &s;hould we not heare it with griefe and contrition: this is it which is taught vs in that parable, if the Lord Pipe we &s;hould dance, if he mourne we &s;hould &s;orrow,
<PB N="232" REF="127"> And as his word is, &s;o &s;hould we conform our affections. But this di&s;couers the Athei&s;me of this age, whether they heare the word or reade it: no change of the Scripture changes their heart: one Chapter or P&s;alme makes them not to reioice, and another to bee &s;orrowfull, be|cau&s;e they heare all, they &s;ing all after one manner, that is, for fa&s;hion &s;ake, without any &s;en&s;e or feeling.</P>
<P><HI>Of thy righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</HI> But <NOTE PLACE="marg">A two-fold righteou&s;|nes in God worthy pray&s;es.</NOTE> how is this that Gods righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e is the matter of our thank&s;e-giuing? Are not his righteous iudgements fearefull and terrible to &s;inners? But we mu&s;t knowe the &s;ortes of Gods righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e: there is one wherby he puni&s;heth the wic|ked
<PB N="233" REF="127"> and impenitent, another whereby he pardoneth the be|leeuing penitent. And of this &s;pake <HI>Abraham: God forbid that the Iudge of all the world &s;hold do vnrighteou&s;ly;</HI> He meant in condemning godly <HI>Lot</HI> with the vngodly Sodomites. And this is greatly for our comfort, that the Lord when hee par|doneth our &s;innes, he is a righ|teous God, both becau&s;e hee hath &s;o promi&s;ed, as al&s;o that our &s;innes are already puni&s;h|ed in Chri&s;t Ie&s;us: &s;o that the mercie which we get doth no way violate his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e. And we whom he hath recey|ued into mercie, are in &s;uch &s;ort to prai&s;e him for his mercy, that we may al&s;o &s;ing ioyfully of his righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="234" REF="128">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 15.</BIBL>
<Q>Open thou my lippes, O Lord, and my mouth &s;hall &s;hew forth thy prai&s;e.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_THis Ver&s;e contai|neth a new peti|tion, <NOTE PLACE="marg">The tongue to &s;peake, a great bene|fit of God.</NOTE> wherein he craues that God would open his tongue, which his &s;innes had clo&s;ed, that hee might prai&s;e God, as hee was wont to doe. The naturall v&s;e of the tongue is Gods great benefit, yea, and a miraculous worke, that a member of fle&s;h &s;hould bee an interpreter of a heaue~ly mind, and as it were, a Trenchman,
<PB N="235" REF="128"> whereby the &s;pirit of one man knowes what is the meaning of another.</P>
<P>But as Con&s;uetude drawes Gods mo&s;t excellent workes in <NOTE PLACE="marg">Di&s;-e&s;teemd now, be|cau&s;e it is common.</NOTE> contempt: &s;o among the re&s;t this is thought nothing, to &s;peake with a tongue only, be|cau&s;e it is common; yet Gods children acknowledge it to be Gods benefite, and the Lord glories in it as in his own work. When <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> complayned that hee was not meete to bee the Lords Emba&s;&s;adour, becau&s;e he was not cloquent, but &s;low of &s;peech, he receiued this an|&s;were, <HI>Who hath giuen the mouth to man, or who hath made the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Exod.</NOTE> <HI>dumbe or the deafe, or him that &s;eeth, or the blinde? Is it not I, the Lord?</HI> When he will he makes
<PB N="236" REF="129"> the dumbe to &s;peake, and the cloquent to be &s;ilent: <HI>Out of the mouths of babes hath hee ordained</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al.</NOTE> <HI>&s;trength:</HI> hee openeth the mouths of children to confe&s;&s;e his name, &amp; clo&s;es the mouthes of ancient men, as we &s;ee in <HI>Za|chary,</HI> and all to teach that the benefit of the tongue is from the Lord.</P>
<P>This benefit &s;in tooke away from man that now naturally, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Sin takes away the v&s;e of the tongue, that man cannot &s;peake as be he &s;hould.</NOTE> when he opens his mouth and moues his tongue, he &s;peaks to the offence and di&s;honour of God who made him: the bene|fit to &s;peake he hath it giuen of God, but abu&s;eth it &s;o through the corruption of his nature, that he &s;peak's not as he &s;hould like vnto a man &s;icke of the pal&s;ie, who by natural &s;trength
<PB N="237" REF="129"> moues his hand; but through his corrupt humours moues it inordinatly, and as this way the <NOTE PLACE="marg">It had been good for many men that they could neuer haue &s;poke~.</NOTE> mouing of the hand is a pain to the one, &s;o is the mouing of the tongue without order both a &s;inne and puni&s;hment to the o|ther. Of the&s;e it may be &s;aid that Satan opens their mouths, and not God, and good had it beene for them to haue beene &s;tricken with naturall dumb|ne&s;&s;e all their daies, for &s;o &s;hould their &s;innes haue beene the fewer, and their puni&s;h|ment the le&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>And this is the lo&s;&s;e, of the <NOTE PLACE="marg">The mani|fold euill effects of &s;inne.</NOTE> tongue, whereof now <HI>Dauid</HI> complaines, and which he cra|ueth to be redre&s;&s;ed. Where we haue to marke, how manie fearful euils his &s;in had brought
<PB N="238" REF="130"> vpon him: it had &s;tolne away his heart, peruerted his &s;pirit, &s;topped his eares, and clo&s;ed his mouth, that hee could not thinke, nor will, nor heare, nor &s;peake as he was wont to doe; therefore prayes he again&s;t all the&s;e in &s;euerall petitions, that God would create a clean hart in him, renue a right &s;pirit in him: that God would make him heare ioy &amp; gladne&s;&s;e, and open his mouth to &s;peak again the pray&s;es of God.</P>
<P>Such are the mi&s;erable ef|fects <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Sinne takes away &s;en&s;e of mi&s;ery, duety and all. Eph.</HI> 4.</NOTE> of &s;in: it takes from man all &s;en&s;es both inward and out|ward, and leaues him without feeling; &s;o that he is no more moued when hee doth euill, then if it were good, yea, not touched with fear of the iudg|ment
<PB N="239" REF="130"> due to &s;inne: but as <HI>Lots</HI> kin&s;men made a mock of Gods iudgements, when they heard it, &s;o doe they make a mocke of &s;inne, &amp; of all that may follow it; but one day they &s;hall feele the bitter fruits thereof. Men in their &s;ins are like vnto fooles or young children: when their parents or friends peri&s;h they mourne not, for they know not the lo&s;&s;e, and they care not to exchange the charters of their inheritance with trifles, but when they come to the yeares of di&s;cretion, and feele the lo&s;&s;e, then they mourne, and lament for that which in their ignorance they little regarded. It is euen &s;o with men, who as long as their &s;inne blinds them, cannot mourne, but when God
<PB N="240" REF="131"> &s;hall waken them, and they &s;ee the euil of it, then they take vp a bitter lamentation for it, and can get no re&s;t night nor day, til God of his mercy pardon and forgiue it.</P>
<P>Againe ye &s;ee, that if we be <NOTE PLACE="marg">They who can not &s;peakc to the pri&s;e of God are &s;tricken with a &s;ore plague.</NOTE> gouerned by the &s;pirit of God, we will account that wee are &s;tricken with dumne&s;&s;e, when we cannot &s;peake to the prai&s;e of God. Many are &s;uch in this age, who haue a tongue for e|uery purpo&s;e, but none for the prai&s;es of God, they are &s;trick|en with a &s;ore plague, and yet they feele it not, their heart is bound by Satan with the cords of their &s;innes, and &s;o their tongues cannot be loo&s;ed to glorifie God: from this mo&s;t mi|&s;erable e&s;tate the Lord deliuer vs.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="241" REF="131">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 16.</BIBL>
<Q>For thou de&s;irest no &s;acrifice though I would giue it, thou de|lightest not in burnt offerings.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_IN this ver&s;e <HI>Da|uid</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ioy for Gods mercy and &s;orrow for our own &s;innes a|gree well in the godly.</NOTE> giues a rea|&s;on, why hee promi&s;ed no o|ther duety of thankefullne&s;&s;e to the Lord, but to prai&s;e him, as hee prote|&s;ted hee would doe in the for|mer ver&s;e: the rea&s;on is, becau&s;e the &s;acrifice in man or from man which God likes be&s;t, is the &s;acrifice of a contrite &s;pirit. Then ye &s;ee, that <HI>Dauid</HI> when he &s;acrificed prai&s;e, &s;acrificed
<PB N="242" REF="132"> al&s;o a contrite &s;pirit, what is it to giue thankes for Gods mer|cies, if all the &s;ame time we be not &s;orrowfull, that we &s;hould haue offended &s;o mercifull a God? The thankes giuen by many is ta&s;tles to God, becau&s;e when they are touched with &s;ome &s;en&s;e of that God hath done to them, they feele no remor&s;e of that euill, they haue done again&s;t him: happy is the &s;oule wherein the&s;e two meete together; a ioy for Gods mercies toward vs, and a &s;or|row for our &s;innes again&s;t God.</P>
<P>And againe, ye &s;ee that if a <NOTE PLACE="marg">What prai&s;e is accepta|ble to God.</NOTE> man prai&s;e God truely, he of|fers with prai&s;es him&s;elfe, and all that he may doe: <HI>My &s;oule prai&s;e thou the Lord, and all that</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>P&s;al.</HI> 103.</NOTE> <HI>is within mee prai&s;e thou his holy</HI>
<PB N="243" REF="132"> <HI>name:</HI> As he &s;hewes in the &s;ub|&s;equent ver&s;e; <HI>The &s;acrifices of God are a contrite &s;pirit.</HI> Where|in he declares, that in thanke&s;|giuing to God, hee offered a thankefull heart for bee-gone mercies, a &s;orrowfull heart for bee-gone &s;ins, a re&s;olute heart in time to come to amend: And this is the prai&s;e wherein God delightes.</P>
<P>But heere ari&s;es a threefold <NOTE PLACE="marg">A threefold doubt mo|ued.</NOTE> doubt: fir&s;t &s;eeing the legall &s;a|crifices commanded by God; how can it be &s;aid the Lord de|&s;ires not that which he com|manded? &s;econdly, is not the Apo&s;tles praecept <HI>To doe good</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Heb.</HI> 13.</NOTE> <HI>and di&s;tribute forget not, for with &s;uch &s;acrifices God is plea&s;ed?</HI> And thirdly, are not wee comman|ded to <HI>offer vp our bodies a liuing</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 12.</NOTE>
<PB N="244" REF="133"> <HI>&s;acrifice holy and acceptable to God,</HI> how is it then that heere <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;peakes that God de&s;i|reth no &s;acrifice.</P>
<P>To the&s;e it is an&s;wered, that <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>The fir&s;t is an&s;wered,</HI> Dauid <HI>doth not &s;imply re|iect legal &s;acrifices.</HI></NOTE> <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;peakes not &s;imply, but by way of compari&s;o, the&s;e ex|ternal &s;acrifices, if they be alone wanting the internall &s;acrifices of a contrite &s;pirit, are not ac|ceptable to God, and of this for the fir&s;t doubt, we learne that if vnder the law externall wor|&s;hip without the inward plea|&s;ed not the Lord, far le&s;&s;e will it now plea&s;e him vnder the go&s;|pell: <HI>Cur&s;ed</HI> (&s;aid Malachie) <HI>is the man who hath a male in his flocke, and vowes an &s;acrifices a corrupt thing to the Lord:</HI> And this cur&s;e is now double vpon them, who giue not the be&s;t
<PB N="245" REF="133"> they haue to the Lord, drawing neere him with their lips, but far from him in their hearts.</P>
<P>As to the &s;econd, externall <NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;econd an&s;wered, almes and &s;uch &s;acrifi|ces are ac|cepted of God if they flow from faith.</NOTE> &s;acrifices of almes and &s;uch like now commanded, plea&s;e the Lord out of all doubt, if they proceed from faith in Chri&s;t, offered out of a contrite &s;pirit, not puft vp with conceit of me|rit, the humble heart makes a &s;mall gift to be great, an exam|ple whereof we haue in the wi|dowes mite, it was a &s;mal thing but becau&s;e it proceeded from a great affection, Chri&s;t accoun|ted it the greate&s;t gift was offe|red that day: And the want of a good heart on the contraty makes a great gift to be &s;mall, an example whereof we haue in <HI>Cain</HI> his &s;acrifice, in it &s;elfe
<PB N="246" REF="134"> rich enough, but becau&s;e it proceeded from a poore affecti|on, it was not acceptable to God: Ten thou&s;and riuers of oile, and all the bea&s;ts on thou|&s;and mountaines, yea in all the Fore&s;t of Lebanon are nothing to the Lord, if the heart be not rightly &s;et that offers them.</P>
<P>And as to the third, we are <NOTE PLACE="marg">The third an&s;wered wee are bound to offer our bodies but euery offe|ring of the body is not acceptable to God.</NOTE> bound to offer vp our bodies vnto him, but remember euery offering of the bodie plea&s;es him not, &s;ome of a blinde zeale becomes the buriers of their owne bodies, like <HI>Baal</HI> his Prie&s;ts, Turki&s;h Derbies and Popi&s;h Penitentiaries, cutting, lancing and renting their fle&s;h; or el&s;e defrauding their bodies of that due, which they owe vnto him, prodigall of them in
<PB N="247" REF="134"> their blind zeale, not moderat|ly &s;ubdueing them by di&s;ci|plin. If euery &s;uch &s;acrifice had plea&s;ed God, the Apo&s;tle would not haue &s;aid, <HI>though I feede the</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">1. <HI>Cor.</HI> 13.</NOTE> <HI>poore with all my goods, and though I giue my body to be bur|ned, if I haue no loue, it is no|thing:</HI> we mu&s;t fir&s;t &s;ee, that the heart be &s;acrificed to the Lord, and then the body in the re&s;o+nable &s;eruice thereof, for no vnrea&s;onable &s;uduing of the body plea&s;es God.</P>
<P>But what &s;hall be &s;aid of ma|ny <NOTE PLACE="marg">Athei&s;ts conuinced who do not &s;o much as offer exter|nall &s;acri|fice to the Lord.</NOTE> profane Athei&s;ts, who now doe not offer &s;o much as ex|ternall &s;actifices? they will not re&s;ort to the a&s;&s;emblies of Gods &s;aints, to giue God in his hou&s;e external praier and prai|&s;es: neither offer they to the
<PB N="248" REF="135"> poore externall almes, nor to God the externall &s;eruice of their bodies, they bow not the knee, they lift not their hand, they v&s;e not the members of their body as weapons of righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and how then &s;hal we thinke they make con&s;cience of Gods in|ternal wor&s;hip. But now to the words in particular.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="249" REF="135">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 17.</BIBL>
<Q>The &s;acrifices of God are a contrite &s;pirit: a contrite and a broken heart, o God, thou wilt not de|&s;pi&s;e.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_WE fir&s;t learne that <NOTE PLACE="marg">Some offer to the Lord that which is theirs, but not them|&s;elues. Sauan.</NOTE> if any man would offer a &s;acrifice conuenient for the Lord, let him prepare the &s;pirit and the minde, God him&s;elfe is a &s;pirit, and will be wor&s;hipped in &s;pirit, hee lo|ueth truth in the inward affe|ction, <HI>Corpora fecit propter &s;piritus, ideoque etiam &s;piritualia non corporea quaerit:</HI> hee made al&s;o the bodies for the &s;pirits,
<PB N="250" REF="136"> and therefore &s;eekes he not bo|dily without &s;pirituall &s;eruice. Some there are <HI>qui &s;ua dant, non &s;eip&s;os,</HI> who offer to him not them&s;elues, but that which is theirs, but it is a blinde folly to thinke thou can&s;t plea&s;e him with gifts, when thou wilt not giue the &s;eruice of thine heart, and &s;pirit vnto him.</P>
<P>But lea&s;t wee &s;hould thinke <NOTE PLACE="marg">Contrition of spirit many waies&punc; expre&s;&s;ed in &s;cripture.</NOTE> that euery &s;pirit is acceptable to God: he addes this epithet, That a Contrite &s;pirit is Gods &s;acrifice, or as after he cals it a broken heart&punc; it is called by <HI>Ioel</HI> a rent heart, by <HI>E&s;ay</HI> it is com|pared to a brui&s;ed reed, and it is al&s;o called a pricking of the heart and a melting heart: &s;uch as was in <HI>Io&s;iah.</HI> All which im|ports none other but that in|ward
<PB N="251" REF="136"> vnfained &s;orrow which is in a penitent &s;oule, for of|fences done again&s;t God.</P>
<P>Then were bea&s;ts vnder the <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>As bea&s;ts in the Law were</HI> 1. <HI>bound,</HI> 2. <HI>&s;laine,</HI> 3. <HI>&s;acrificed, &s;o mu&s;t our &s;pirits be.</HI></NOTE> law &s;aid to be &s;acrificed to the Lord, when they were taken from commo~ &amp; prophan v&s;es, bound with cords to the horns of the Altar, afterward &s;laine &amp; offered by fire vnto God. And &s;o is it to be done with our af|fections, if wee minde to &s;acri|fice them to the Lord, we mu&s;t fir&s;t &s;eparate them from their wonted wanderings, wee mu&s;t binde them with the cords of Gods word, and lay them downe at the feete of Chri&s;t as his captiues, by godly &s;orrow: we mu&s;t &s;lay that &s;infull plea|&s;ure which was the former life of our affection, and then be|come
<PB N="252" REF="137"> they &s;acrifices vnto God.</P>
<P>But heere the difference is <NOTE PLACE="marg">But in the&s;e &s;acrifices bea&s;ts offe|red lo&s;t their liues, here men &s;acrificed recouer their liues.</NOTE> great: for bea&s;ts &s;acrificed vn|der the law lo&s;t their liues, and became dead creatures, that they might be &s;acrificed. But we, when wee are &s;acrificed, of dead creatures are made liuing: wee being dead in &s;innes and tre&s;pa&s;&s;es, then begin to liue when &s;inne is &s;laine, and &s;infull lu&s;ts mortified in vs. Oh that wee could remember this, that the &s;trife betweene vs and &s;in, is here, Who &s;hall &s;lay other: if &s;inne liue, we mu&s;t die: if we &s;lay it, we &s;hall liue: except we binde our affections, and deli|uer them captiues to Chri&s;t, they &s;hall binde vs, and deliuer vs captiues to Satan.</P>
<P>And that yet better we may
<PB N="253" REF="137"> know the quality and valour <NOTE PLACE="marg">Three things con|curre to a contrite &s;pirit.</NOTE> of a contrite &s;pirit, let vs con&s;i|der the&s;e things in it: fir&s;t, an inward &s;orrow for &s;inne, which cau&s;eth repentance to &s;aluati|on, <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>An inward &s;orrow.</HI></NOTE> not to be repented of. Sinne is contracted with carnall plea|&s;ure, but is di&s;&s;olued with &s;piri|tuall di&s;plea&s;ure: euen as the cau&s;e of &s;ickene&s;&s;e is remoued by medicine, which is contra|ry to it. And this godly dolor is not onely profitable to cure &s;innes pa&s;t, but al&s;o to preuent them in time to come. <HI>Cum do|lemus admi&s;&s;a, admittenda exclu|dimus,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Amb. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>de paeniten. cap.</HI> 10.</NOTE> <HI>&amp; fit quaedam de condem|natione culpae, di&s;ciplina innocen|tiae:</HI> for when wee mourne for &s;innes done, we clo&s;e the doore vpon &s;innes to be don, and the damning of our former faults,
<PB N="254" REF="138"> becomes a di&s;cipline, whereby we are in&s;tructed to amend in time to come.</P>
<P>Secondly, in a contrite &s;pirit there is a great &s;incerity: it is <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Sincerity without di&s;|&s;imulation.</HI></NOTE> that <HI>ble&s;&s;ed &s;pirit, wherein there is no guile;</HI> no couering nor di&s;|&s;embling of &s;inne: for as in a thing which is brayed &amp; &s;tam|ped, the very inward parts of it are made manife&s;t, and that which before was with a skin or &s;hel, is now pre&s;ented to the eye of man: &s;o is it in a &s;oule truely humbled: the&s;e &s;innes which were &s;ecret &amp; couered, the contrite &s;pirit ca&s;ts them out, and makes them open to God &amp; man, fearing no &s;hame in the eyes of man, if &s;o be it may finde mercie in the eyes of God. And therefore &s;aid
<PB N="255" REF="138"> <HI>Augustine</HI> of contrition, that it was <HI>Sanitas animarum, holo|caustum medullarum,</HI> a health of the &s;oule, and an offering to God, not of any outward mat|ter, but of the inward marrow.</P>
<P>And thirdly, this true con|trition is neuer without faith, <NOTE PLACE="marg">3 <HI>True faith with an earne&s;t de|&s;ire of mercie.</HI></NOTE> which cau&s;eth &s;uch a veheme~t de&s;ire of mercie, as maketh the &s;oule of man to long, to wait, to faint, to crie, to hunger, to thir&s;t for Gods con&s;olation: the delay whereof makes the &s;oule of the creature pine a|way with inward griefe, and he becoms like that book, wherin <HI>Ezechiel</HI> &s;aw written, lamenta|tions <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Aug. Ezech.</HI> 11.</NOTE> and wo: for &s;till he cries, Wo is me, alwayes til the com|forter com, and a&s;&s;ure him that his &s;innes are forgiuen him.</P>
<PB N="256" REF="139">
<P> Now this being &s;poken of <NOTE PLACE="marg">A contrite &s;pirit called &s;acrifices in the plurall and why.</NOTE> the contrit &s;pirit, we are to &s;ee, why hee cals it &s;acrifices in the plurall number, the rea&s;ons heereof are two, fir&s;t becau&s;e this is more worth in Gods eies then all the legall &s;acrifices, though they were ioyned in one, this one excelleth them al, &amp; next becau&s;e in the contrite &s;pirit are many &s;acrifices, for it &s;trikes the life of euery &s;infull affection, and &s;o &s;acrifices ma|ny bea&s;ts to the Lord: <HI>Nam &s;i</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Gregor. Moral.</NOTE> <HI>vis compunctionis in intimis affi|cit, omnis &s;trepitus prauae &s;ugge|tionis obinute&s;cit,</HI> for if once the &s;ting of godly compunction touch the heart, incontinent the whi&s;pering of wicked &s;ug|ge&s;tion is &s;ilenced.</P>
<P>Vnder the law &s;uch as wee
<PB N="257" REF="139"> Nobles and Princes offered <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>As Princes vnder the law multi|plied exter|nall &s;acri|fices: &s;o now pow|erfull Chri&s;tians are di&s;cer|ned by ma|nifold in|ternall ob|lations.</HI> 2. <HI>Chro.</HI> 7.</NOTE> great oblations, which far ex|ceeded the offerings of the poore. Wee read at one time <HI>Salomon</HI> offered many thou|&s;and &s;acrifices, the common people contenting them&s;elues with the offering of Pigeons and &s;uch like more &s;imple &s;a|crifices: But now Princes a|mong Gods people in Gods e|&s;timation are they, who &s;acri|fice mo&s;t of their &s;infull affecti|ons vnto him. If the Lord &s;hould &s;end vs to the bo&s;ome of the earth, to the deepe bot|tome of the &s;ea, to the vtter|mo&s;t ends of the world, to &s;eeke a &s;acrifice for him, wee might mo&s;t iu&s;tly be a&s;toni&s;hed, and &s;pecially the poorer &s;orte, who&s;e meanes may not extend
<PB N="258" REF="140"> to the furniture of &s;o great a &s;acrifice, but now O man, &s;ince <NOTE PLACE="marg">They are inexcu&s;able who &s;acri|fice not to God, &s;ee|ing that which be craues is within them.</NOTE> the Lord requires no thing, but that which is within thee, or at lea&s;t may be and &s;hould be, if thou haue not to offer him a contrite &s;pirit, a &s;orrow|full heart for &s;inne; is not all excu&s;e taken away from thee? God hath proclaimed to men, what is the &s;acrifice that plea|&s;eth him, and if any man offer it not vnto him, it is not be|cau&s;e he may not, but becau&s;e he will not: for in this &s;acrifice the poore may excell the mo&s;t rich and honourable men in the world. <NOTE PLACE="marg">A contrite &s;pirit is cal|led Gods &s;acrifice, becau&s;e he is the giuer of it.</NOTE></P>
<P>And yet further, that hee cals the contrite &s;pirit the &s;acri|fices of God, imports that he is the giuer of this grace: he pow|ers
<PB N="259" REF="140"> vpon his people the &s;pirit of grace and compa&s;&s;ion, which cau&s;es them to mourne: hee takes away the &s;tony heart and giues them a heart of fle&s;h. E|uen as he prouided a &s;acrifice for <HI>Abraham,</HI> when hee called him to wor&s;hip on Mount <HI>Moriah,</HI> &s;o doth hee not onely honour his children to be wor|&s;hippers of his maie&s;ty, but al&s;o giues vs grace, whereby we doe it: that &s;uch wormes as we are haue place to &s;tand before &s;o great a maie&s;ty as he is, it is of his fauour: that we haue hearts di&s;po&s;ed to pray to him or prai&s;e him, is of his grace: and that hee an&s;wers vs, is of his own vn&s;peakable mercie. And in the&s;e re&s;pects is the &s;acrifice we offer called Gods &s;acrifice.</P>
<PB N="260" REF="141">
<P> Hee is not like vnto other <NOTE PLACE="marg">Earthly kings loue mirthbetter then mour|ning, the Lord doth not &s;o.</NOTE> Kings, for commonly they loue mirth better then mour|ning, <HI>Io&s;eph</HI> mourning for <HI>Iacob</HI> his father, might not come be|fore <HI>Pharao: Nehemiah</HI> with his &s;ad countenance was afraid to &s;tand before <HI>Artarxerxes: Mor|decai</HI> with his mourning weed, entred not the courts of <HI>Aha|&s;uerus,</HI> but we are mo&s;t welcom to the Lord, when wee come with our mourning weedes: <HI>Achabs</HI> &s;ackcloth profited him &s;omething, but <HI>Iezabel,</HI> hir atti|ring and painting of hir face a|uailed nothing, &s;he was ca&s;t to the dunghill, as a portion for dogges: Our face is neuer &s;o plea&s;ant, as when it is watered with the teares of a penitent heart. <HI>My Doue that mourneth</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Cant.</NOTE>
<PB N="261" REF="141"> <HI>in the clefts of the rocke, let me &s;ee thy face.</HI></P>
<P>Now in this that wee haue &s;poken concerning the &s;acrifi|ces <NOTE PLACE="marg">The great &s;acrifice of Chri&s;tians which maks al other ac|ceptable, is Chri&s;t.</NOTE> of God, let vs remember, that there is one great &amp; prin|cipall &s;acrifice, which for the valour of it &s;elfe is acceptable to God, that is the &s;acrifice of Chri&s;t once for all offered vp|on the cro&s;&s;e, all other only in this and for this are acceptable to him.</P>
<P><HI>Thou wilt neuer di&s;pi&s;e.</HI> What <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>The end of godly mour|ning is ioy. Macar. hom.</HI> 15.</NOTE> fruite ari&s;eth of a mourning heart for &s;in he now &s;ubioynes, the Lord neuer di&s;pi&s;eth it, at no time, in no per&s;on. It ren|ders comfort not onely for the time to come, but al&s;o for the time pre&s;ent, <HI>ip&s;aelachrymae &s;unt vice delitiarum,</HI> for euen teares
<PB N="262" REF="142"> are in &s;teed of delights, and Gods children finde more &s;o|lid ioy in their pre&s;ent mour|ning, then worldlings can in their mirth and greate&s;t reioy|cings. And as for the time to come, we know that our mour|ning will be turned into ioy, and all teares &s;hall be wiped a|way from our eies, <HI>&s;icut po&s;t ve|hementes</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Chry&s;. in Math. hom.</HI> 6.</NOTE> <HI>imbres aer purus effici|tur, ita lachrymarum pluuias &s;ere|nitas mentis &s;equitur.</HI> For as af|ter the &s;howers of raine the aire is clearer, &s;o after the teares of repentance, the mind becomes calme, perturbations cea&s;e, and the &s;oule is pacified. <NOTE PLACE="marg">Contrition of &s;pirit an excellent grace and we &s;hould delight in it.</NOTE></P>
<P>Since a contrite &s;pirit is &s;o ex|cellent a grace, as brings com|fort pre&s;ently, and much more for the time to come, for <HI>they</HI>
<PB N="263" REF="142"> <HI>that &s;ow in teares &s;hall reape in ioy: Ble&s;&s;ed are they that mourne, for they &s;hal be comforted.</HI> What a folly is it that we ca~not mourn, how &s;hall the Lord gather our teares, which we &s;catter not? or how &s;hall he wipe tho&s;e teares from our eies, which we neuer &s;hed? or &s;hal he comfort vs that mourne not? No &s;acrifice is more acceptable to him, none more plea&s;ing to him, none more profitable for our &s;elues: and why then are we not care|full to be more abundant in it? <HI>Nemo potest, &amp; in hac vita &amp; in</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg">Aug.</NOTE> <HI>futura gaudere: Nece&s;&s;e est vnam amittat, qui alteram vult po&s;side|re:</HI> No man can haue plea&s;ure here, &amp; hereafter al&s;o. He that receiues his con&s;olation heere, let him looke for de&s;olation
<PB N="264" REF="143"> hereafter, that an&s;wer giuen to on, &s;erues for all the wicked, <HI>In thy life time thou receiued&s;t plea|&s;ures,</HI> <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>E&s;a.</HI> 65. 13.</NOTE> <HI>and</HI> Lazarus <HI>paines: now therefore is hee comforted, and thou tormented:</HI> And again, <HI>My &s;eruants &s;hall eate and yee &s;hall be hungry, my &s;eruants &s;hall drinke and ye &s;hall be thirsty, my &s;eruants &s;hall reioyce, and ye &s;hal be a&s;hamed, my &s;eruants &s;hall &s;ing for ioy of heart, and ye &s;hall cry for &s;orrow of heart, and &s;hall houle for vexation of minde,</HI> God make vs wi&s;e, that wee may make choi&s;e of the be&s;t, to mourne now with Gods &s;eruants, and hereafter al&s;o be comforted with them.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<PB N="265" REF="143">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 18.</BIBL>
<Q>Be fauourable vnto Sion for thy good plea&s;ure, build vp the wals of Ieru&s;alem.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_NOw followes the <NOTE PLACE="marg">The &s;econd part of the P&s;alme, contayning a praier for the Church.</NOTE> &s;econd part of the P&s;al. where|in he praies for the Church of God, after that he hath praied for him&s;elfe. His order is ve|ry good; to haue done the &s;e|cond, and neglected the fir&s;t had beene vnprofitable: for with what &s;ucce&s;&s;e can&s;t thou pray for others, who art not reconciled with God, thy &s;elfe? And again if he had contented
<PB N="266" REF="144"> him with the fir&s;t, and negle|cted the &s;econd, he had beene vndutifull.</P>
<P>For all they who are liuely <NOTE PLACE="marg">The gody prefer the welfare of the Church to their own priuate <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word">.</NOTE> members of the Church, pre|fer the good of the whole bo|dy, vnto their own particular welfare; as we &s;ee in good <HI>Ne|hemiah:</HI> all his honor and pre|ferment in the Court of <HI>Artah|&s;hast,</HI> was not &s;o plea&s;ant vnto him, as the de&s;olation of Ieru|&s;alem was grieuous. The wic|ked by the contrary, like <HI>Tobi|ah</HI> and <HI>Sanhallat,</HI> with the re&s;t of the&s;e Samaritans, are grie|ued, when they heare that Ie|ru&s;alems wals are a building: and mi&s;erable <HI>Haman</HI> made a plain confe&s;&s;ion, that all his ho|nour, wherunto he was aduan|ced, did him not &s;o much good
<PB N="267" REF="144"> as the welfare of <HI>Mordecai,</HI> and of the people of the Iewes, did him euill. Wo be vnto all them that are of &s;uch a di&s;po&s;ition; not onely &s;trangers, but ene|mies to I&s;raels Co~mon-wealth, they &s;hall neuer reioyce with the ioy of Gods children: but wee will pray for Ieru&s;alem, <HI>That pro&s;perity may be within her wals, &amp; peace within her Palaces.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Dauid</HI> had hurt his people, <NOTE PLACE="marg">Repentance teacheth vs to repaire wrongs we haue done.</NOTE> not onely by giuing them an euill example, &amp; by wakening Gods wrath again&s;t them; but by deliuering a number of them to the &s;word of the Am|monites for <HI>Vriah</HI> his &s;ake: and now he benefites them by his prayer. This true repentance will teach vs, fir&s;t, to re&s;tore the Lord to his glory, and then to
<PB N="268" REF="145"> repaire the wrong wee haue done to any man, &s;o far as we may.</P>
<P>Againe, we haue to marke <NOTE PLACE="marg">An example of happie loue be|tweene a good King and his peo|ple.</NOTE> <HI>Dauid</HI> his father loue to his people: hee had hurt them twice, once now by his adulte|ry and murther, and after by numbring the people, for the which God dimini&s;hed their number by pe&s;tilence. And both the times his heart was &s;ore grieued for them, as he de|clares by his prayer, that both heere and there he makes for them: <HI>It is I</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>that haue &s;inned, and committed the euill, but the&s;e poore &s;heepe, what haue they done? O Lord God, let thine hand be on me, and on my fathers hou&s;e, and not on thy people for their destruction.</HI> What a loue
<PB N="269" REF="145"> is here! he wi&s;heth him&s;elfe to be &s;triken, that his people may be &s;pared: and they againe re|payed him with the like louing affection, for when he would haue gone out to battel again&s;t <HI>Ab&s;alom,</HI> they would not let him hazard him&s;elfe: <HI>Thou art</HI> (&s;aid they) <HI>more worth then ten thou&s;and of vs.</HI> A happy har|monie, where a King with ten|der affection embraceth his people as his owne children, and they again e&s;teeme and re|uerence him as their father.</P>
<P><HI>For thy good plea&s;ure.</HI> He ney|ther <NOTE PLACE="marg">The Church is pre&s;erued by Gods mercy, not their merit.</NOTE> pretends his merits, nor his peoples innocency, but ap|peales to Gods mercie: the good plea&s;ure of his owne will mou'd him to chu&s;e a Church, and it is the &s;ame that moues
<PB N="270" REF="146"> him to con&s;erue it. Euen when the &s;ins of his people procure that he &s;hold de&s;troy it, if there were no more to pre&s;erue the Church, but hir owne de&s;er|uings, or the fauour, fidelity, and con&s;tancie of Kings, prote|ctors thereof, it could not con|tinue long; but God is the buil|der of Ieru&s;alem, his fauour is the wall thereof, and therefore is it, that neither the &s;innes of them who are within, nor ma|lice of them who are without it can ouercome it.</P>
<P><HI>Build vp the wales.</HI> He praies <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ieru&s;alems materiall walles were foure.</NOTE> both for the materiall and &s;pi|rituall wals of Ieru&s;alem. In re|gard of materiall wals, Ieru&s;a|lem was a &s;trong City, of foure quarters, euery one of them by walles deuided from another.
<PB N="271" REF="146"> The fir&s;t &amp; highe&s;t was mount Sion, in it was the City of <HI>Da|uid,</HI> called by <HI>Io&s;ephus</HI> the &s;upe|riour city, exceeding &s;trong in regard of the naturall &s;ituation thereof: the &s;econd was called the daughter of <HI>Sion,</HI> becau&s;e it &s;eemed to come out, as it were, of the bo&s;ome of the o|ther, in this was the mount <HI>Moriah,</HI> whereupon the Tem|ple &s;tood: this City was com|pa&s;&s;ed with a &s;trong wal wher|in &s;tood three&s;core of &s;trong Towres. The third was beau|tified with many ample &s;treets plea&s;ant ports, and compa&s;&s;ed with a wall, whereupon were fourteene Towers. The fourth was inhabited by all &s;orts of Artificers, compa&s;&s;ed with the third wall which was twenty
<PB N="272" REF="147"> and fiue cubits high, and had in it foure&s;core and ten Tow|ers &s;trong, high and foure cornered.</P>
<P>And albeit in <HI>Dauids</HI> daies <NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Externall &s;tate of a citie de|pends on Gods ble&s;|&s;ing&punc; P&s;al.</HI> 127.</NOTE> the city was not as yet brought to this perfection, but was ra|ther in the building, yet <HI>Dauid</HI> knew, <HI>except the Lord build the hou&s;e, they labour in vaine that build it, and except the Lord keepe the Citie, the keeper watches in vaine,</HI> and that many flouri&s;h|ing Cities and &s;trong Ca&s;tles haue beene made de&s;olat for the &s;innes of them that dwell in them: and therefore fearing lea&s;t his &s;inne had procured a cur&s;e in Ieru&s;alem, like the cur&s;e of Iericho, hee praies euen for the externall &s;tate thereof.</P>
<P>But much more may wee
<PB N="273" REF="147"> think he had regard to the &s;pi|ritual <NOTE PLACE="marg">Ieru&s;alems &s;pirituall walles.</NOTE> wals therof, which his &s;in had demoli&s;hed, and he praies God to repaire againe. The fir&s;t, innermo&s;t, and &s;tronge&s;t <NOTE PLACE="marg">1 <HI>Gods prote|ction.</HI></NOTE> wall of Ieru&s;alem, is the Lords fauourable protection: this is called by <HI>Zacharie</HI> a wall of fire compa&s;&s;ing Hieru&s;alem, which wil burne and con&s;ume the enemies that inuade it: the <NOTE PLACE="marg">2 <HI>Holines and vnitie.</HI></NOTE> &s;econdarie walles are holines and vnitie, for an vnholy peo|ple are naked, like the idola|trous I&s;raelites, after their wor&s;hipping of the golden Calfe, and this breach of ho|line&s;&s;e euer procures breach in vnitie among people, &amp; makes a rupture in the wall, whereby the aduer&s;arie may ea&s;ily get vantage. Now <HI>Dauid</HI> knew
<PB N="274" REF="148"> that by his &s;inne hee had pro|cured to be depriued of Gods fauour, and that his &s;ons and &s;eruants &s;hould rebell again&s;t him, as he had rebelled again&s;t the Lord his God: and there|fore he craues that the&s;e euils may bee remoued, his filthie &s;inne pardoned, the fauoura|ble protection of God conti|nued, and vnity betweene him and his people pre&s;erued&punc; And this for Ieru&s;alems wailes.</P>
<P>Wherof let vs learne what <NOTE PLACE="marg">No enemies can de&s;troy the walles of Ieru&s;alem, only the &s;ins of inhabi|tants.</NOTE> it is that makes the Church a prey to her enemies: what de|&s;troyes the wals of Ieru&s;alem: No force, no multitude, no po|licie, nor engine of the enemy, only the &s;innes of them who dwell within it. God make vs wi&s;e to take this to heart, le&s;t
<PB N="275" REF="148"> our &s;innes make a breach in Ie|ru&s;alems walles.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="part">
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL>VERSE. 19.</BIBL>
<Q>Then &s;halt thou accept the &s;acrifi|ces of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, euen the burnt offering and oblation, then &s;hall they offer Calues vp|on thine Altar.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>_HIs petitions are <NOTE PLACE="marg">An heart to offer prai&s;e and prayer to the Lord, is an argu|ment of mercie.</NOTE> concluded with a promi&s;e of thanke&s;-giuing. Whe~ thou &s;halt be fauourable to vs, then &s;hall we offer, and thou &s;halt accept. Multiplicatio~ then of &s;acrifices is an effect of Gods fauour, to haue a heart rightly &s;et to pray
<PB N="276" REF="149"> to the Lord, or prai&s;e him, is an argument of mercie. When God was angrie with I&s;rael, he &s;ent vpo~ the~ the Caldeans, who tooke away the daily &s;acrifice; but it is an effect of a farre more fearefull wrath, when God de|liuers vp men to the hardnes of their own hart, &s;uffering them &s;o to be captiued by Satan, that they can neither repe~t of their &s;ins, nor pray for graces which they want, nor yet giue thanks for benefits that they haue re|ceiued: where the heauens be|come bra&s;&s;e, and &s;end downe no dew: what maruell the earth be like iron, and can ren|der no fruit; but if the Lord looke on vs in mercie, as he did on <HI>Peter,</HI> then &s;hall we mourne for our &s;innes, and if hee be fa|uourable
<PB N="277" REF="149"> vnto vs, as heere <HI>Da|uid</HI> prayes, then &s;hall we be wil|ling &s;acrificers of prai&s;e, and thankes vnto him.</P>
<P>The order of his wordes <NOTE PLACE="marg">If our per|&s;ons be not first in fa|uour with God, our actions can|not plea&s;e him.</NOTE> makes this cleare vnto vs. When thou &s;halt bee fauoura|ble to vs, then &s;halt thou accept our offerings. Except fir&s;t our per&s;ons be in fauour with God, our actions were they neuer &s;o good in &s;hew, will not bee ac|ceptable to him. Examples hereof wee haue in <HI>Abel</HI> and <HI>Cain,</HI> God looked fir&s;t to <HI>A|bel,</HI> and then had re&s;pect to his &s;acrifice. Let vs therefore a|boue all things haue a care that we may be in fauour with our God, reconciled with him in Chri&s;t, otherwi&s;e all our pray|ers and oblations what&s;oeuer,
<PB N="278" REF="150"> are but an abomination to the Lord.</P>
<P>And la&s;t of all, we &s;ee heere <NOTE PLACE="marg">Thanke&s;gi|uing an e|ternall due|tie we mu&s;t di&s;charge to the Lord.</NOTE> how the greate&s;t and mo&s;t en|during duetie wee owe vnto God for all his benefites, is thanke&s;giuing, hee is content the profit of them all be ours, hee craues no more but prai&s;e. Wee want not matter for which wee &s;hould prai&s;e him; onely we want affection: and therefore haue we to pray, that the Lord among all the re&s;t of his great goodne&s;&s;e, wherein he is daily abundant toward vs, would al&s;o ble&s;&s;e vs with a thankfull heart, that in this du|tie al&s;o wee may abound to|ward the Lord our God. To whom be prai&s;e, glorie, and ho|nour for euer.</P>
<PB N="279" REF="150">
<P> <HI>Now vnto the King Immor|tall, Euerlasting, Inui&s;ible: Vnto God onely wi&s;e be honour and glorie for euer. A|men.</HI></P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
